Lee Hunt

World Screen Weekly, June 7, 2007

Interim Managing Director

Promax/BDA

The annual Promax/BDA conference has become known for its strong speaker lineup, which in the past has included Anne Sweeney, Larry King, Chris Matthews, Anderson Cooper and Ted Koppel, among others. This year is no different, with former U.S. President—and husband of a current presidential candidate—Bill Clinton set to deliver the keynote speech, in which he will address the challenges of globalization.

Clinton is just one of a host of high-profile speakers taking part at this year’s Promax, set for June 12 to 14 at the Hilton Hotel in New York. Others slated to appear include John Waters on his creative influences; Kenneth Cole, who will discuss strategies for building a solid brand identity; and John D. Miller, the chief marketing officer at the NBC Universal Television Group. “He’s one of the most respected marketers out there,” says Lee Hunt, the interim managing director of PROMAX/BDA. In addition, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, executive producers and writers on Lost, will be on hand to discuss the immersive off-screen world developed for the hit series.

According to Hunt, attendance is expected to be up on last year’s 3,400, with the organization’s members “looking for guidance right now. The industry is in such a dynamic state. On May 31 the world turned upside down with the Nielsen pod ratings [tracking average ratings for commercial minutes aired within a single program.] We will have had a couple of weeks to absorb the impact that might have. That’s going to end up being a topic at a lot of the panel discussions.”

Hunt, himself a brand strategist who has worked mostly with television networks on their launch and rebrand efforts, continues: “The biggest shift that we’re going to be dealing with this year is that [where we used to be] television designers or television marketers, we’re now content marketers. Television is the platform we primarily work in right now, but that’s begun to change incredibly.”

There will be a number of sessions this year addressing this shift, including one specifically on harnessing the power of the Internet, and another on 3-D virtual worlds like the popular Second Life.

Conference sessions also include New Best Practices, where Hunt will look at the year’s groundbreaking marketing strategies; Shades of Green, on eco-friendly marketing efforts; and Get Out of Jail Free: Best Practices for Guerilla Marketing, with Sam Ewen, the president of Interference Inc., whose controversial campaign for the Cartoon Network made headlines last February.

Another key focus at this year’s event will be “demographically based marketing strategies,” Hunt says. “How to target and market to young men, kids, high school and college students.” In addition, Promax is working with The CW on Making the Cut, a contest that allows design and marketing students to create their own promo for the series Supernatural.

The three-day conference and exhibition wraps on the night of June 14 with the Promax and BDA 2007 Promotion and Marketing Awards, which received a record 11,500 entries this year.

—By Mansha Daswani