Aurora recently joined fellow marketing leaders and experts at The Marketing Society’s Digital Day 2022 in central London on Tuesday, June 28th.

We are super inspired by all the great speakers and enjoyed so many incredible campaign examples that we are now fizzing with ideas on how to bring even more purpose to everything we do at Aurora.

Hosted by the brilliant Sophie Devonshire, CEO of The Marketing Society and Katz Kiely, Founder and CEO of BEEP, this was an intense programme full of storytelling, discussions and interaction that really got our creative juices flowing.

A key topic that was discussed throughout the day, and one close to our hearts, was the metaverse. Damian Ferrar, SVP Innovation Director & Global Head at Jack Morton discussed all things Metaverse and explored how the world could look now we have left the old normal, never to return and what brands could do next with this technology to progress how we all interact in the workplace. This is something that we look at every day, and to hear other ideas from other companies focusing on the metaverse, allowed us to reflect on our own ideas and plans. 

Lockdown was discussed when Johnny Winn, Head of Advertising at Virgin Media O2, shared how he made something amazing happen during the COVID pandemic when O2 hosted millions in a virtual Fortnite music gig. It was amazing to see how so many of us faced the challenge of lockdown with new and fresh ideas.

We also had a fascinating look into the future, marketing in 2032 to be specific, with Michael Omoniyi, Founder & CEO of The Common Sense Network. He discussed the importance of great storytelling and its growing importance. We completely agree and believe stories are key for brands to show the world what they are all about beyond their communities.

Something that all marketeers need to ensure they do, whether inhouse or agency side, is out of the box thinking. Aimée Bryan, Head of Play Propositions, Creative Play Lab at the LEGO Group, shared her belief that designing for the edge and being bold with our ideas can actually help us reach the masses and add value to our mission. This was great to hear and is something that we at Aurora, ensure we do with everything we work on. 

We then got to hear about someone’s personal career journey with Giles Rhys Jones, CMO at what3words, explaining why he left the security of a really successful career in advertising to join a small social enterprise.

Using his expertise and knowledge, Giles was able to take a quirky and super smart idea and turn it into a globally recognised brand..

The premise is simple – the planet has been split up into 3m squares and each location is given a unique combination of three words.

While it proved extremely useful for everyone looking for their friends at Glastonbury this summer, it has already helped emergency services locate people in an instant and is an app that is literally saving lives.

It showed how sometimes the most simple ideas can be the best ideas and that, with the right level of execution, our work can provide real purpose for the world around us.

Reminding us of our own dynamic agency duo who lead Aurora, we heard from Laura Jordan Bambach, President & CCO UK at Grey London and Chris Wildish, European Director of Content and Digital at Kelloggs and Pringles who discussed their huge success in the gaming world as their campaign brought a character out of the game and into the real world.

This was a great tale of the two industries joining forces and working together to collaborate on an epic project. 

Laura and Chris admitted they didn’t always agree and the discussion really encouraged us to be fearless in our approach.

Later, Aurora joined forces with fellow professionals from Sky and The OZone project as six groups formed dens to answer the important question: ‘How can you build trust in the age of the unreal’ and it was fantastic to see so many varied and clever ideas coming to fruition from a short brief in such a short space of time.

We also enjoyed the quickfire Q&A which taught everyone in the room how meaningful connections can be made through sharing our thoughts and ideas.

Elliott Bretland, Aurora PR Executive, said: “It was brilliant to be part of The Marketing Society’s Digital Day and listen to so many inspiring talks from industry leaders.

“Today’s programme has given us a host of new ideas on how we can boost our purpose in the work we do and we are excited by what can be achieved creatively.

“We really look forward to attending more events to boost our knowledge further and share our own perspectives.”

This was a day of real insight, learning and inspiring stories. We already can’t wait for the next event!