10 Predictions for the 2015 World Social Marketing Conference

The next World Social Marketing Conference (WSMC), hosted in Sydney, Australia, is just around the corner and many social marketers from around the world will be packing their bags and getting ready to meet at this bi-annual, international gathering of like-minds. 

As a young social marketer myself, I have had the privilege of attending this conference the past two occasions. With the the next one so close, I find myself reflecting and questioning whether we as social marketers have in fact moved the needle on some of the world's most pressing social issues. On top of that, have we moved forward as an industry since we last came together in 2013?

Sure the WSMC is  fun, easy and popular (pun intended)... but I want to ask the question...
Can World Social Marketing Conferences push us to measure ourselves against our own goals and objectives for the field?

I thought it was the perfect opportunity to ask this question and set the stage for the 2015 conference to be a tangible KPI (key performance indicator) for social marketing as a whole - measuring both advances in social change and advances in our approaches as academics and practitioners. 

After the 2013 World Social Marketing Conference, held in Toronto, Canada, a well respected blog managed by Ogilvy Public Relations called Social Change exChange posted a blog titled '10 Reflections on the 2013 World Social Marketing Conference.' Blog author, Jennifer Wayman, reflected on the presentations and discussions from the conference to formulate 10 key takeaways. 

I'd like to use this list of 10 observations a as benchmark for the 2015 WSMC. Let's take a few minutes to re-visit the list and see if we can in fact determine metrics of success or room for growth that will be revealed at next week's conference. 

Here are my 10 predictions for the World Social Marketing Conference 2015:

1.  Social change marketing, as I’m now referring to our discipline, is still brand challenged — most notably by the ever-growing confusion with “social media” and the fact that to some “marketing” is a bad word.  Yes, we need to do a better job of “marketing social change marketing.”  So let’s stop talking about it, and let’s start doing it.
Prediction: This one was recently acted upon by none other than Ogilvy Public Relations themselves, who recently re-branded their 'social marketing practice' to Social Change. It sparked some heated debate, and also gained some much-deserved support. I predict that the dust still hasn't settled on this one and we again will face a lively discussion of 'what do we call ourselves" at WSMC 2015. 

2.  It was refreshing to hear some presenters admit they don’t have all the answers and call for the field to collaborate on finding solutions to big problems.
Prediction: We are still facing big problems, and over the past two years a silver bullet solution was not revealed. I predict there will still be a call to the field collaborate and work together. 

3.  It was disheartening to see the divide that still exists between academics and practitioners.  As my colleague, Tom Beall, eloquently said: Let’s build on our commonalities and not exploit our divisions.
Prediction: Tensions were high at the 2013 WSMC with not only the divide between academic and practitioners, but the corporate world as well.  This one isn't so much of a prediction as it is a hope. I am hopeful that us social marketers have grown to realize we all need each other (see point #2) and can demonstrate that here in Sydney. 

4. I wish there were more time to experience the culture of Toronto.  To open the conference, we were treated to a beautiful blessing from a member of First Nations followed by a performance by a World Champion Hoop Dancer — something I’d never seen before and thoroughly enjoyed.  Yet, I found myself wishing for more opportunities to experience the culture of Canada and the beautiful city of Toronto throughout the next 2 1/2 days.  The next time we gather, I hope there are more opportunities to do so that are baked in to the conference agenda.
Prediction: As a Canadian, I appreciated this comment :) And I agree that it would be awesome to integrate more opportunities to experience the culture directly in the conference agenda. However, I know how  jam-packed the conferences usually already are. I predict the opportunities to learn about Australian culture will come from local examples and hearing from local thought-leaders. (Side note: this isn't enough for me either, so I moved to Australia in January!)  

5.  Presentations that rely heavily on visuals and compelling stories are far more engaging than text-heavy slides.  (This is not a new learning but one that was re-confirmed after watching 2 1/2 days of consecutive presentations.)
Prediction: Long-live Prezi, Keynote and video content. Keep it short, informative and exciting. I predict that we'll get the usual mix of some very text-heavy presentations and then some knock-outs (fingers-crossed in the keynotes).  It will be interesting to see if any new media or presentation formats make an appearance.

6. Experts from outside the field of social marketing but who work in a related field bring a valuable perspective — we should strive to hear more from them.
Prediction: I am a big fan of the conference organizers and I know how incredibly hard they work to pull these events together.  The line-up, particularly keynotes, includes a lot of the familiar faces in the social marketing realm. I predict the diversity of disciplines again may be limited and this could be due to the way we market ourselves (see point #1)!? Either way, there has been an effort to cover relevant and timely topics such as the session covering Ebola communications. 

7.  The solutions to our society’s most wicked problems will only be solved with the involvement of ALL sectors of society.  (Jay Bernhardt)
Prediction: This point still remains very true and I personally wish that when we social marketers approach a social issue, we aim to look at the big picture and try to assess the programs and communications happening from all angles (i.e. top-down Government strategies and policies, direct to consumer communications, corporate efforts and grassroots movements). There is still a lot to be done to address society's most wicked problems, but we also have a lot to be proud of in terms of how far we've come to find solutions. The sooner we can acknowledge that a multi-sector approach is already happening, the better we can optimize our collective efforts against society's most wicked problems. I predict this will again be a topic of discussion in Sydney. 

8. Both sides of public-private partnerships need courage for there are always detractors.  (Celeste Bottorff)
Prediction: I really hope that in 2015 we can see a maturity in the world of public-private partnerships. Both parties essentially need each other and authentic partnerships are incredibly powerful. I predict that we will hear more examples of corporate involvement and success and most of all, I hope that we social marketers accept this as a win.

9. Social and Marketing go together like a horse and carriage.  Lyrics by Nancy Lee.  Vocals by Nancy Lee’s Granddaughters.
Prediction: This one is easy, I predict that we are all in for another treat from Nancy Lee. What would be a WSMC be without some sort of light-hearted reflection on the topic. 

10. There is amazing insightful, creative, and innovative social marketing work happening around the world.  I’m inspired and am looking forward to getting back to work to apply some of what I learned this week!
Prediction: This conference continues to draw attention and bring people from all over the globe together. It is a pretty spectacular thing to think that in one room, you can find the world's leading innovators thirsting for knowledge on how to make local, national and international social change happen. I predict that we will yet again be left inspired and motivated to go back to our roles to continue to make an impact as the change 'heros' that each of us are. 

I want to hear your predictions too and of course, see if they come to fruition. Let me know your thoughts below or come find me at the conference.  
Looking forward to meeting new social marketers and catching up with familiar faces.
 See you next week in Sydney! 

Melissa

Source: Jennifer Wayman, Social Change exChange, News and View, Ogilvy Public Relations. 2013 (http://socialchange.ogilvypr.com/2013/04/10-reflections-on-the-2013-world-social-marketing-conference/)