(*Spanish version below)

Madrid, January 27, 2010. These and many other questions captivated today the minds of IE Business School students, with the help of media industry experts and teachers during the event organized by IE Marketing Club. Are any answers easy when it comes to marketing?

Independent business advisor MonicaDeza Pulido, Honest & Smart partner Pablo Melchor, Mobile Dreams Factory manager director and professor of mobile marketing at IE Alberto Benbunan and moderator Elad Drukman from IE marketing club, started the discussion with the current and expected trends in digital marketing. 

On one hand it seems that "sooner or later, everything will go digital" as Ms. Pulido says, and the development of social media, smart phones and new technologies such as augmented reality and 3D TV are contributing to a very fast paced change  of the media landscape. On the other hand, Mr. Pablo Melchor argues that marketing trend setters are "going back to the basics", and try to come up with solutions to a classical problem - "how do I influence the purchase decision?" 

Digital marketing is providing some answers, by making it easier to provide the advertising content in the right context, to the right moment and to the right customer. Customer loyalty is also much easier to build through "digital relationship platforms", but requires a change in the mindset from focusing on quick results to long term expectations. 

The speakers also addressed the potential and developments of marketing through mobile devices, "the only personal media". While this channel is associated with significant hype, the development is still slow because the technology changes very fast (e.g. from bluetooth to WiFi, from SMS to mobile e-mail) and most of the traditional tools are less relevant for the channel. However Mr. Benbunan has strong faith in the growth of proximity marketing. Moreover, current handhelds are contributing to a change in consumption behavior from voice focus to social interaction, internet browsing and mobile applications. 

Experts and professors conclude that "marketing got harder". The consumption of media (in a traditional sense) is decreasing and new communication channels require an integrated complex approach but at the same time more selective in order to be efficient. Sensitive issues such as the balance of high interactivity and contextual content with privacy protection are giving headaches to the marketing professionals. The new landscape forces entire companies to redefine themselves and marketing organizations to restructure and embrace digital marketing or slowly become irrelevant.

But for current MBA students it's all good news. Since the "analogue generation" faces adaptation problems, organizations are looking for talents to help them address the emergence of "the digital natives". Are IE students prepared to face this challenge?

To find out more about digital marketing and other waves in this sector that you can ride to storm the corporate world, follow us on IE Communities.

IE Net Impact hosted a fundraiser on the lawn of Serrano, 99, raising over €900, half of which will go to the school's Haiti Initiative, whose intent is to help the victims of the recent tragedy in Haiti. The event kicked off at 15:00, right after classes released on the afternoon of Friday, January 23. Slowly the students paid the €5 charge if they brought a cup and €8 if they did not. The students' generosity was on display as many paid more than the entrance fee. The music played and the beer and wine was poured until all was empty. The event proved to be one of the best mixers organized by the school, allowing students from the English language and Spanish language International MBA intakes to mix with each other and students from other masters programs. The Football Club took advantage of the nice weather and gathering of students to put up nets and kick around the lawn. This is the first of, hopefully, many Bring Your Own Cup fundraisers by IE Net Impact.

III Gay & Lesbian Business Forum 4 de febrero de 2010

En tiempos de crisis una adecuada gestión del talento es más urgente que nunca, por otro lado, en estos momentos en los que  las ventas se resienten surgen oportunidades que se materializan en nuevos nichos de mercado.

Tolerancia, uno de los activos en alza para atraer la inversión

Las tres "T" son valoradas por los expertos en marketing urbano y muchos sociólogos como uno de los factores de desarrollo de una gran ciudad o capital. : TALENTO, TECNOLOGIA Y TOLERANCIA.

Según estos estudiosos el "índice de creatividad", un indicador que mide el nivel de tolerancia o apertura a diferentes clases de personas o ideas es un de los factores a tener en cuenta a la hora de evaluar el futuro desarrollo, y por lo tanto la capacidad de atracción de inversión de una gran capital.

Madrid es, sin duda, una de las capitales de referencia en la acogida de todo tipo de talento.

LGBT en la Estrategia

Existen pocas, muy pocas empresas para las que la diversidad forme parte de su planteamiento estratégico, IBM es una de ellas. En España, esta precocidad les ha llevado a ser de las pocas multinacionales que a estas alturas tienen una estrategia consolidada de gestión de talento LGBT.En 2010 IBM celebra el 25 Aniversario de la implantación de sus políticas de diversidad a nivel mundial.

Desde sus comienzos, IBM apadrinó ieOut y ha sido uno de sus principales patrocinadores, con gran ilusión han financiado las tres ediciones del LGBT@WORK y el resto de actividades del club.

LGBT Strategy
Only a very small number of companies include diversity as an integral part of their strategic approach, and IBM is one of them. In Spain, IBM's vision has resulted in the company being one of the few multinationals that now have a consolidated strategy for LGBT talent management. In 2010 marks the 25th anniversary of the implementation of IBM's global diversity policies.
Ever since ieOut was first launched IBM has shown enormous support. The firm is one of the club's main sponsors, funding the three editions of the LGBT @ WORK and other activities.

Marketing y Comunicación

La botella de Absolut fue un hito en el inicio del "marketing rosa", fue uno de los primeros guiños "hey chicos, pensamos en vosotros/as" ¿Oportunismo? ¿Inteligencia de mercado? Son muchas las empresas que han comprendido la necesidad de lanzar mensajes inclusivos. 

Visibilidad Lésbica y emprendedurismo.

La invisibilidad es, sin duda, uno de los grandes problemas de las lesbianas. Incluirlas dentro del colectivo LGBT fue un éxito del activismo de cara a la consecución de los derechos más elementales. Sin duda, la unión hace la fuerza, pero esta estrategia, quizás, no les ayuda de cara a abordar su problemática concreta. 

La homofobia en el trabajo afecta a las mujeres de un modo distinto que a los hombres, muchas de ellas huyen de grandes organizaciones y montan sus propios negocios enfocados o no al público lésbico. Bollo & Butter es una de esas empresas surgidas de la idea de dar servicio a este nicho de mercado tan importante pero invisible.

Agenda

Please register for this meeting by clicking here.

Pinchad aquí para registraros, por favor

IE presents the 2010 Meet the Board seminar series, featuring a monthly presentation by market experts from IE Fund Board of Directors.

Please join Mr. Fernando Barnuevo, Chairman of the IE Fund Board of Directors and member of our International Advisory Board Member on Wednesday, January 27, 2010, at 18:00 CET (Madrid time) for our first seminar entitled "How the Global Financial Crisis has Changed the Face of Investment Banking".

The seminar will be delivered both in-person, in IE´s Madrid campus, and via on-line streaming video.

For attending in-person, please register here (you first need to login). Places are limited. You will receive the information on the venue once registration has been closed.

To follow the event on-line, please register here (you first need to login). You will receive the information on how to access the event, once registration has been closed.

We look forward to your participation and invite you to IE's  'Meet the Board' market experts over the coming months.

64 SEATS AVAILABLE.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER AND TO OBTAIN MORE INFORMATION.