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Separate marketing technology fact from fiction at MarTech Conference in 2 weeks

Uncover the truth about the rapidly evolving martech landscape

Scott Brinker on April 24, 2017 at 5:00 pm

We’re two weeks away from the MarTech Conference in San Francisco, May 9-11 — the world’s largest independent marketing technology conference designed for senior-level marketers and technologists.

I stress the the word independent because unlike most of the big marketing events these days that are run by Adobe, HubSpot, IBM, Marketo, Oracle, Salesforce, or alliances of smaller vendors, MarTech is produced by Third Door Media with no conflict of interest. Those other events are fantastic — but they’re inherently and intentionally biased.

With MarTech, there’s no pay-for-play or hidden agenda in the editorial program and no rules excluding who can exhibit.

There is only one goal: to illuminate successful real-world practices at the intersection of marketing, technology, and management — no matter which software products or analyst frameworks are employed.

This independence lets us ruthlessly call out fact from fiction in examining today’s rapidly evolving marketing technology environment. For instance:

Fiction: The marketing technology landscape is consolidating.
Fact: It isn’t — but that’s actually a good thing, and we’ll explain why, as we give you the first look at the new 2017 marketing technology landscape in my opening keynote on May 10.

Fiction: Best-of-breed marketing stacks are a mess to integrate and manage.
Fact: You’ll see dozens of real-world stack close up at MarTech that show how best-of-breed solutions have become conceptually elegant and operationally effective.

Fiction: AI, big data, and analytics are squeezing the “art” out of marketing.
Fact: Not even close. In fact, the more “scientific” marketing becomes, the more it actually elevates the importance of creativity and intuition. It’s important to understand what AI can and can’t do for you in the year ahead.

Fiction: CMOs have to be technologists themselves to lead in today’s environment.
Fact: Nope. But they do need technical leadership embedded on their team. You’ll hear CMOs and senior marketing technologists from top brands share how they make such collaborations thrive.

Fiction: The hardest part of modern marketing is implementing the technology.
Fact: Figuring out the technology is relatively straightforward. It’s organizational change that’s the tricky part. MarTech will feature tracks on Digital Transformation and the Agile & Human dimension of technology-powered marketing.

And that’s just a taste of the issues that will be candidly tackled in over 70 sessions with more than 100 speakers from leading brands such as AARP, Adobe, Campbell’s, CapitalOne, Electronic Arts, Equinix, Facebook, Forrester, GE Digital, Google, Heifer International, Hilton, IBM, IDC, Legendary Entertainment, LogMeIn, Lowe’s, McKesson, McKinsey, Medtronic, Microsoft, MongoDB, Mozilla, Oracle, Pinterest, Salesforce, San Francisco 49ers, Sapient Razorfish, Sears, Spotify, Sprint, Staples, The Economist, Unum, Visa, Zendesk, and more:

Want to learn more? You can read a more in-depth preview of the program here.

2 ways to attend MarTech

The ultimate MarTech experience: All Access Pass

Get the full MarTech experience for just $1,795, a $100 savings off on-site rates. You’ll get 3 days of networking with martech leaders and experts, more than 70 presentations and keynotes across 8 tracks, and demos and solutions from over 100 leading martech vendors. Also, you get breakfast, hot lunches, snacks all day and all of the structured and unstructured networking activities and conveniences that make attending MarTech a unique, productive and enjoyable experience. Register now.

Dive into the martech ecosystem with an Expo+ Pass

Meet more than 100 amazing martech vendors in the Expo Hall. You’ll find solutions and providers, attend full-length presentations and connect with your peers at the 2 networking receptions including the Stackies Awards ceremony. Buy an Expo+ pass now for just $99.

I hope to see you there!

P.S. – You’ll find even deeper savings if you register as a group! Team discounts of 10%-20% are available. Learn more.

Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily MarTech Today. Staff authors are listed here.

About The Author

Scott Brinker

Scott Brinker is the conference chair of the MarTech® Conference, a vendor-agnostic marketing technology conference and trade show series produced by MarTech Today's parent company, Third Door Media. The MarTech event grew out of Brinker's blog, chiefmartec.com, which has chronicled the rise of marketing technology and its changing marketing strategy, management and culture since 2008. In addition to his work on MarTech, Scott serves as the VP platform ecosystem at HubSpot. Previously, he was the co-founder and CTO of ion interactive.