Strategy and Creativity Matters Most in Today’s Media Communications

Last week I had the opportunity to attend the 2013 Spring Communications Media Management Association (CMMA) Professional Development Conference at McDonald’s campus in Oakbrook, Illinois. CMMA is the premier organization for media managers and provides professional development and networking for many enterprise organizations, such as Best Buy, Bank of America, Microsoft and Monsanto. Its always rewarding to hear that Globecomm’s Tempo product is the perfect solution to many of the challenges that Media Managers are facing today. With one platform delivering enterprise video everywhere, Tempo solves many of the headaches that these managers face within their organization.

This year’s conference was themed, “Get a Seat at the Table” and encourages Media Managers to become a strategic partner with all of their internal departments by:

· Consistently building and providing trust with their Senior leadership

· Continuously making a creative impact

· Defining an internal brand and promoting it within the company

The overall content of this year’s conference was fantastic and very well received from all attendees. I have two personal favorite keynote speakers from last week, which I would like to share.

The first was Ms. Bridget Coffing, Chief Communications Officer and SVP Corporate Relations, McDonalds. Bridget’s session was focused on the power and importance of strategic communications. From the moment Bridget began her presentation her honest and sincere perspective on the state of her business today was compelling. Bridget has been with McDonald’s since 2000 and she quickly reminded us that in 2005 McDonald’s was being slammed in the media from almost every direction as the company posted their first ever revenue decline. She discussed the importance of a team’s ability to develop and apply corporate messages in both favorable and unfavorable times as long as the over-all message “gets it right”. One of the most eye opening statements she provided was McDonald’s being mentioned in the media 22 times every second. Wow, that is a lot of communications to keep up with!

Another great keynote was delivered by Francesco Cordua, Director, Retail Design forMcDonald’s. Francesco leads the very talented team who transformed the McDonald’s brand strategy. With a direct, quick-witted confidence, his presentation focused on how design is strategic and creative decisions not only matter to the brand, but most times they define the brand. He provided examples of how McDonalds’s Creative Services overcame the challenge of finding their strategic partnerships and seats at the table.

Aside from the great content of this year’s spring conference the Tempo team also had a lot of laughs with our customers and prospective customers. One of my favorite moments was viewing the Tempo partner video. This was our first year to participate in the partner video segment and I think Tempo did a great job engaging the organization on our product. Our piece is different; a little edgy with a really cool soundtrack. We accomplished exactly what we intended to do; inspire intrigue and curiosity about Tempo.

“What is Tempo?”... exactly what people were asking after watching. That was precisely our strategy.

Check it out for yourself http://tempoeverywhere.com/videohome.html

Jennifer Flavin, Manager Enterprise Sales at Globecomm