Emerson Group hosts record-breaking Retail Industry Day
PHILADELPHIA — Hundreds of attendees — ranging from Emerson Group clients, to retailers, to agencies, to members of the private equity community — gathered at the Ritz Carlton in downtown Philadelphia on Oct. 1 to attend the 7th Annual Emerson Group Retail Industry Day.
With a robust lineup of diverse, powerful speakers and record-breaking attendance, the day proved nothing short of impressive and delivered on the goal of providing on-trend, relative content to help brands navigate today's evolving retail landscape.
"The intent is really to be on trend with issues related to the changing dynamics in the consumer and the retail environment that help our clients continue to be competitive," said Matt Poli, VP of Emerson Marketing, a division of the Emerson Group. "... My hope is that our clients take one or two things out of the day that they could apply to help their business grow."
With attendance growing at a rate of 15% to 20% each year, the 2014 Retail Industry Day attracted a record-breaking 275 participants. While the day is designed for and geared toward Emerson Group clients, the company's expanding roster of relationships has no doubt resulted in a broader mix of both attendees and presenters compared with prior years. This year's event featured presentations by two well-known retailers: Alex Gourlay, EVP and president of customer intimacy and daily living at Walgreens, and Matthew Martin, VP of marketing at Family Dollar.
"It was really, really terrific for our clients to get two very disparate perspectives on [retailer] strategy, who their core shopper is and where they are headed," said Poli, who kicked off the day's events with opening remarks. "I really think the evolution is in the quality of subject matter experts, retailers' involvement and the content being more and more applicable to the client base."
Additional highlights from the day included:
A moving presentation by guest speaker Aron Ralston, an adventurer and wilderness advocate who is known for amputating his arm after becoming trapped by a boulder while hiking in Utah's Blue John Canyon.
An insightful session, titled "Finding Patterns in the Pixels: Connecting the Dots to Use Uncertainty to Your Advantage," by Vikram Mansharamani, author, global equity investor and lecturer at Yale University.
A data-rich session by Bob Sanders, EVP healthcare practice leader for IRI, titled "The Data is Just the Beginning: How Syndicated Data Creates Fertile Ground for Fresh Insights."
A dynamic presentation by Gary Vaynerchuck, entrepreneur, author and CEO of VaynerMedia, titled "On the Right Track but in the Wrong Race: How to Get Customers to Really Care About Your Brand."
"Building content that is specific and unique for small- to medium- sized brands competing in HBC is what is vital. ... This day is about bringing new content to help our clients compete," Poli said. "So, content is always key."