[The content of this article has been produced by our advertising partner.] Organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), the 2023 edition of the popular two-in-one conference offers a timely platform for marketing and e-commerce professionals to meet and plan for the future as businesses resume normal gradually For the first time, visitors will have a chance to personally attend two of Asia’s premier marketing and etailing events, MarketingPulse and eTailingPulse, under one roof to exchange knowledge and build partnership with industry leaders and experts from around the world on March 15 at the HKCEC. Under the theme of “Master the Future”, the conference will be a timely platform for marketers, brand owners and e-tailing professionals to update their knowledge and best practices from industry leaders to grasp the ever-changing market trends and customer behaviour, build cross-sector connections and discover the latest customer experience innovations. This year, the two events will be packed with inspirational talks and panel discussions from key executives of leading brands, alongside with InnoTalks, practical know-how workshops and networking occasions as well as exhibition of bespoke solutions and innovative technologies. Empowering local independent retailers to work smarter “MarketingPulse and eTailingPulse provide independent retailers good opportunities to meet, exchange and learn from each other so that they can get smarter and be more competitive against the huge groups of giant e-commerce players,” says Arnault Castel, founder of kapok, a major lifestyle brand in Hong Kong which is renowned for its authentic yet approachable fashion and design. A Frenchman who has lived in Hong Kong for more than 20 years, Castel found his first select store in 2006 and now operates 9 retail stores in the city and a webshop. “Hong Kong is ideal for a concept store like kapok as its audience is passionate about fashion and lifestyle and is very receptive to new products and styles. Our role is to nurture and enlighten our customers and partners, it’s natural for us to work with niche brands which design and produce the best products at a fair price, so that they can continue to grow and our clients can enjoy unique products, extremely well-designed and made at a fair price.” Castel says customers in Hong Kong are very fluent shoppers, both online and offline. “Now the same customers shop with us online and offline and expect the same level of service across the board. They are now very savvy in getting information and navigate very easily from their phone to physical stores. We need to be able to follow them without hiccups along this journey and be super consistent on our service level across all platforms.” At the upcoming event, Castel will share a session with Baptiste Le Gal, Chief Revenue Officer APAC of Vestiaire Collective, to speak on the topic of “A deep dive into the future of retail with kapok and Vestiaire Collective”. They will share the strategies on the future of retail and discuss how retailers can evolve marketing campaigns and retailing strategies to prepare for the next big change under the new normal. Secrets of successful brand building The two speakers will be joined by some 50 key executives of leading brands from a variety of business sectors. Mauro Porcini, PepsiCo’s SVP & Global Chief Design Officer, will share with audiences his vision of the future design and how it works with marketing to revolutionise brand storytelling. “Marketing needs to reinvent itself and understands how to work with the world of design to build holistic end-to-end experiences with brands and products,” remarks Porcini. Dennis Chan, co-founder of Qeelin, will draw on his successful experience in building the luxury jewellery brand to shed light on the art of brand creation, which requires not only creativity and resources but also know-how. Carmen Chiu, Regional Managing Director, APAC of Fortnum & Mason, will tell the success stories of marketing an icon of British luxury not only for the past 300 years, but also for the present time and the future by leveraging ground-breaking campaigns, O2O channels, in-stores experience, and connecting with the values of today’s consumers. Margareth Henriquez, PhD, CEO of Baccarat, and Clément Brunet-Moret, CEO APAC of the company, will share their experience and tips on the art of marketing luxurious brand, brand building and customer engagement. Audiences will also be able to hear from Brian Yiu, CEO of FILA China, Gao-na, Head of Mengniu Overseas Business, HK & Macao Region, Mengniu Dairy, and Juliana Lam, Founder & President of Innotier Limited on insider tips and tricks for building lasting brands. Embracing tech, data and content Technology, scientific data and content are increasingly exploited for marketing to prepare for a rapidly changing world. Silvia Garcia, former President of Happiness Institute and Director of Global Marketing at Coca-Cola, will apply her knowledges of neuromarketing to demonstrate how happiness can help brands reach customers’ hearts, and how important it is to the longevity and profitability of a company. Moritz von der Linden, who was Global Chief Digital Marketing Officer of Mars, the confectionery manufacturer from 2020 to 2022, will share inspirational tips on how to exploit technologies to accelerate marketing innovation, drawing from his experience in marketing much-loved snacks such as m&m’s, Maltesers, and Snickers. David Bell, founder of the A-list celebrities’ favoured flats Pretty Ballerinas will share the brand’s unique concept and its DTC and omni channels to prepare for future expansion. Engaging young customers with music and toys Often referred to as the first generation of true digital natives, Gen Z and the millennials are the biggest customer demographics in this next decade. Gaëtan Belaud, Global Head of Ads Resellers of Spotify will discuss how to win the hearts of the young generation, who are making up a unique yet robust force of consumption in today’s world. Customer engagement across different borders will be the topic covered by Alex Zhou, Chief Customer Officer of POP MART, the collectible toy giant in China on the back of “blind box” economy. Zhou will share tips of optimising the customer journey to satisfy the expectations of today’s sophisticated consumers. Visitors to this year’s event will also have a chance to meet the mastermind behind AYAYI, China’s first hyper-realistic virtual human by RM GROUP and see how this ground-breaking technology can be potentially utilised by the brands. The sharing session on the talk of the town – ChatGPT is definitely one of the highlights that all markers and AI enthusiasts should not be missed. A panel of digital marketing experts including Keith Li, Chairman of Hong Kong Wireless Technology Industry Association Ltd and CEO of Innopage, Ka-wai Shek (Ar Shek), founder of OnlineMarketingPlayer.com and veteran digital consultant of HDCourse, Ivan So will delve into the current state and future potential of ChatGPT, and how this AI-powered language model that has revolutionised the way we interact with technology (session in Cantonese). Also listen to Bin He, Tim Hortons China’s CCO to share success stories of introducing the famous restaurant brand in Canada to mainland China – by embracing localisation to stay relevant, transforming the brand style and exploiting innovative technologies to achieve rapid growth. More detailed event programme could be found on website: https://www.marketingpulse.com.hk SCMP readers enjoy 65% discount at HK$683 by using the exclusive discount code: MBU03G3P for a full pass to the MarketingPulse and eTailingPulse (original at HK$1950). Register now: https://bit.ly/3Eqyhmk Date: March 15, 2023 Venue: HKCEC