Dispatches from BMA14: Series of Short Reports from the Tell Your Story Team at #BMA14 in Chicago

 

When I was in college, all of the advertising classes were focused on the sex appeal of consumer marketing.  There wasn’t a focus on business-to-business marketing; I didn’t even know it existed.  Fast forward a certain number of years, and here I sit, attending a global business-marketing event – BMA14. BMA14 kicked off today with a huge statement – there are almost 1,000 attendees, making this the largest Business-to-Business marketing conference in the globe!

 

The presenters have been fantastic.  I’ve seen a variety of companies present, from USG to Airbus to Facebook.  I have learned so much, and one of the biggest things that I was reminded of was summarized by a quote from Beth Comstock, CMO of GE: “BtoB does not stand for Boring to Boring.” How right she is.

 

A few highlights that piqued my interest:

 

• Airbus uses 18” seats on planes that are being used on long haul flights.  They studied how you sleep in a 17” versus 18” seat and won’t do anything smaller than 18” because of how poorly you sleep in a 17” seat.  I can’t imagine flying that far in a smaller seat!
• Facebook has transformed their business to be a mobile first company.  Consumers check their phones an average of 150 times per day (39% of people are doing this in the bathroom). One out of five minutes on your phone is spent on Facebook or Instagram
• Aon sponsored Manchester United.  They developed brand recognition all over the world because of the sponsorship. Anecdotally, it was mentioned that even 8 years olds now know Aon because of the affiliation with the team.  A child will likely carry that brand with them forever

 

I don’t know how the presentations tomorrow will beat everything that I’ve heard today, but I’m looking forward to it.