Always On: Advertising, Marketing, and Media in an Era of Consumer Control

The Luxury Marketing Council -
Upcoming Evening Event

Author Christopher Vollmer, leader of Booz & Company's North American Media and Entertainment team, shares insights from his new book –

Always On: Advertising, Marketing, and Media in an Era of Consumer Control (McGraw-Hill, 2008)

Generously Sponsored by Booz & Company and its management magazine, strategy+business. Hosted by Club 101.

Featuring
Christopher Vollmer, partner in Booz & Company's global Consumer and Media Practice, based in New York, and celebrated author of Always On, the first book in the McGraw-Hill "Future of Business" book series, so-branded with Booz & Company and strategy+business.

With / Moderated by:
Greg Furman, Founder & Chairman, The Luxury Marketing Council


Christopher Vollmer's new work explores the future of advertising, marketing and media. His premise is one any marketer is concerned about and wrestling with - that we stand at the beginning of a new consumer-centric age - an era with potentially enormous returns for leaders in marketing, advertising and media - IF they get their approach right.

As with the Internet that helped to shape it, the new media environment is "always on," digitally accessible to audiences from anywhere at any time, and responsive to their control. The audience is "always on," always present: constantly seeking opportunities and value, taking advantage of the multiplying media around it, and (at the same time) being bombarded with ever more media in ever more forms. Marketers are "always on" as well: they have no respite or downtime because the rapidly changing nature of their audiences-and the means of connecting with them-requires continual experimentation, innovation, and shifts in strategy.

As consumers get used to this new media environment, the world of marketing is shifting to one of media fragmentation and splintered audiences, constant experimentation, fine-grained insight through new engagement metrics and other means, continual innovation of the visible advertising message, and the changing business infrastructure underlying it. You need only look at the dramatic steps companies like Nike are taking to realize that the future of advertising is not coming-it is here.

Consumers are in control; they have greater access to information and greater command over media consumption than ever before. The emergence of a host of new media—the Internet, DVRs, iPods, mobile phones, and other devices—has created a sharp decline in the efficacy of analog media (TV, radio, and print) to shape brand preferences and consumer behavior. The corporate demand for marketing accountability and return on investment has reached a crescendo. And, the previous exclusive relationships between marketers and ad agencies are collapsing.

Marketing in this new era requires new types of customer awareness. Instead of being satisfied with knowing how many people are exposed to their brand messages, some marketers are working hard to determine how their messages are received, whether they're powerful enough to generate customer response, and exactly what those responses are. They have learned a primary lesson of this new engagement-focused media environment: it doesn't matter how many people are watching; what counts is whether they're paying attention and responding. With knowledge of this kind, marketing is being reborn as a consumer-centered craft.

The emergence of new media, models, and metrics creates challenges, but also opportunities for more effective marketing and advertising. For years, marketers have been waiting for practice to catch up with potential for the arrival of technology and media formats that would enable better targeting, stronger accountability, and more granular consumer insight. Now the waiting is over and the new operational reality will reshape every link in the media and marketing value chain.

The thought leaders at Booz & Company and strategy+business magazine have collaborated to create an up-to-the-minute exploration of this turbulent, yet promising new digital media era and its implications for corporate executives and marketing and advertising professionals, creating today's hottest guides for tomorrow's highest profits. It's not enough to stay on top of the latest trends. Successful companies need to think big, think smart, think fast, and think ahead – to cash in on the future.

Giving you profiles of the best in the business and deep explorations of the most advanced and effective innovations and strategies in the marketing world, Always On introduces you to the companies that are reshaping the ways we will reach customers in the future. These philosopher gurus are reshaping how we should reach highly charged minds.

Figuring out the best mix of traditional and online marketing strategies for any brand requires experimentation, networking, innovation, analytics, and risk-taking - qualities that have never been adequately nurtured in a marketer's traditional career path. Always On puts you at the front of the race for successful advertising innovation, with the latest effective approaches and techniques - essential competitive knowledge in a marketing and advertising world that never quits.

Please join us to hear author Christopher Vollmer discuss luxury-relevant concepts from his latest book Always On: Advertising, Marketing, and Media in an Era of Consumer Control. The future of advertising and marketing is now - hope you can join us!

Praise for Always On

“… a must-read for anyone who wants to succeed in the 21st Century. … addresses the highest level of consumer-centered advertising and marketing strategy in a way that will pay big dividends for the reader." -- Robert L. Dilenschneider, CEO of The Dilenschneider Group, former president and CEO of Hill and Knowlton Inc.

“… captures the dramatic changes taking place in the marketing-media ecosystem and renders them and their implications with striking elegance. …a wealth of practical guidance.”
-- Randall Rothenberg, CEO and President, Interactive Advertising Bureau

“… the book to read if you want to understand the ever-accelerating chaos that now marks the world of advertising, marketing and media… captures the essence of how the Internet is putting control in the hands of consumers, and offers straightforward guidance for executives and companies to not only survive – but thrive – in that world as it changes.”
-- Dave Morgan, founder of TACODA, former executive vice president of global advertising strategy, AOL division of Time Warner

“Always On is a pretty indispensable read for anybody involved in marketing to the 21st century consumer. It offers practical no-nonsense guidance and can offer people 'in the know’ genuine competitive advantage, whilst the others stick their heads further in the sand and kid themselves nothing’s changed!”
-- Jon Wilkins, founding partner, Naked Communications

“Advertisers and agencies both need to adapt fundamentally to the digital media landscape. This book offers valuable insights to both groups as they map their future.”
-- Mark Read, CEO, WPP Digital

About Christopher Vollmer

Christopher Vollmer is a Vice President in Booz & Company’s Global Consumer and Media Practice, based in New York, and he leads the firm’s North American Media and Entertainment team. He focuses on growth and portfolio strategy as well as advertising and consumer marketing in the media, entertainment, and consumer products industries.

Since joining the firm in 1995, Christopher has worked with the senior management of many of the leading global media, entertainment, and consumer goods companies. He has helped develop innovative growth strategies, strengthen operating performance, and redesign organization structures. His clients span a wide range of businesses including television, music, film, magazines, video games, sports, broadband/digital, wireless, and consumer goods.

His client work has spanned all major media and entertainment sectors, both traditional and digital. His key areas of focus include:
• Growth strategy development
• Due diligence and acquisition assessment
• Advertising sales strategy and organization
• Consumer marketing
• Digital business models and related new business development

For his client efforts for Wolters Kluwer, a global information company, Mr. Vollmer received the Professional Excellence Award (PEA), Booz & Company’s most prestigious honor for outstanding and innovative customer service. In 2005, he was recognized as a global young leader by the Atlantik-Bruecke, a private, non-partisan association dedicated to fostering transatlantic understanding.

Most recently, Christopher has led the firm’s Future of Advertising campaign, and recent cross-industry research with the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4As) on the marketing and media ecosystem, which has focused on how marketing and media are being redefined by digital technologies and new business models. His initial work in this area resulted in the article, “The Future of Advertising Is Now,” which appeared in the Summer 2006 issue of strategy+business and provided the initial inspiration for Always On. His subsequent interviews with leading marketing and media executives later appeared in CMO Thought Leaders: The Rise of the Strategic Marketer (strategy+business books, 2007).

Most recently, he has published the book Always On: Marketing, Advertising and Media in the Era of Consumer Control (McGraw Hill, 2008) which further reveals the strategies of today's leading companies who are redefining the playbook for marketing, advertising and media and provides practical guidance for senior executives on how to move their businesses forward in an increasingly digital world.

Christopher holds an MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania and an MA in International Studies from the University of Pennsylvania. He also graduated with a BA in English from the University of California at Berkeley. He is fluent in German.

He lives in Old Greenwich, Connecticut, with his wife and two children.

Click Here for More on the The Future of Business Series

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