10 Reasons To Attend MAD Week

With only one week to go until MAD Week 2014, some of the keynote speakers share their thoughts on why MAD Week is a must-attend event for those in digital, marketing or media.

1. Stay abreast of top trends in the industry

“We live in a world where things are constantly changing, so staying on top of trends and best practice is really important. MAD Week really gives people an opportunity to hear from others across different industries and is a great opportunity to share ideas and learning to stay at the forefront of what you’re doing as a marketing professional.”

Emma Jensen, Director of Customer Lifecycle, Optus

2. Address your challenges

“MAD Week is a wonderful formula bringing together a group of marketers to share the challenges they are facing which will be addressed throughout the week. We want to hear the challenges marketers are facing and look at those problems and look at the ways to solve them. We are extremely excited about it and I’m really looking forward to it.”

Bill McNamara, CEO, Marketing Decisions

3. Network with different industries

“With this year’s MAD Week focus on the customer and how to better engage them, it’s an event which no-one can afford to miss. MAD Week is the perfect opportunity to meet new people from different industries and perhaps find the answers to your own business challenges from other people’s experiences. It’s a brilliant chance to take time out to think about the bigger picture and meet some new industry buddies along the way.”

Nicole Bardsley, Director of Brand and Communications, Virgin Mobile

4. Step out of your comfort zone

“MAD Week allows you to see what the best in the industry are doing. There’s nothing like stepping out of one’s comfort zone and connecting with bright people and companies who are doing amazing stuff, learning from them, getting excited about new ideas and bringing them back to your own organisation. We owe it to one another to work together to continuously raise the bar in our industry. I’m really looking forward to it!”

Elaine Herlihy, Head of Marketing and Brand, Westpac

5. Learn from the experts

“In an industry as dynamic as digital advertising, keeping up to date with new trends and networking with professionals across the all aspects of the digital advertising supply chain is a must. I’m personally looking forward to hearing Lucinda Barlow from Google, Nick Adams and Harry Lowes from Telstra and Cameron King of News Corp. I’m also looking forward to hearing from a number of our members, including Westpac, Optus, Virgin Mobile, Expedia, NRMA and more.”

Alice Manners, CEO, IAB

6. Solve problems with your peers

“At any event like MAD Week, it’s always great to hear from professionals in similar jobs to you in different industries and hear about the problems they face. Often the kinds of people you meet through networking can actually tell you the ways they’ve solved potential problems. The networking that MAD Week provides is invaluable in that regard.”

Tony Gruebner, Head of Customer Intelligence, Sportsbet

7. Get a fresh perspective on Customer Experience

“MAD Week provides different perspectives on how brands are tackling the common challenges of customer experience. The challenges are generally not all that different between various organisations and just hearing how different businesses are tackling those challenges provides ideas to come back and trial and test within your own business is invaluable.”

Justin Lee, Head of Customer Experience, Expedia

8. Take new ideas back to Your business

“MAD Week gives you the opportunity to reflect on your own business. At the end of the day you if you can walk away with one or two ideas that you can go back and apply to your business tomorrow that will make a difference to you and your organisation and your career path, just do it.”

Greg Smith, Chief Marketing Officer,The Co-Op

9. Value for Money

“I think it’s fantastic that so much is happening all within the one week. MAD Week provides an incredible amount of value in a few days. It’s a great opportunity to talk to different businesses about what they’re doing with their marketing strategies and understanding the latest trends across different industries as well.”

Steph Tully, Chief Marketing Officer, Qantas Loyalty

10. Have fun!

“MAD Week is a fantastic forum to discuss the major challenges we all face as marketers moving forward, and to learn from each other’s experiences. It’s also about having some fun as an industry, which is why many of us choose to work in marketing and advertising instead of accounting.”

Chris Maloney, Digital Marketing Director, McWilliams Wines

There are limited tickets available for MAD Week events – for registration enquiries please email enquiries@cirrusevents.com.au  

For more information about MAD Week visit www.madweek.com.au