1. Be distinctive

The first lesson is one of those: be distinctive. For Ann Handley, this was the core of her Marketing Renaissance. "Make sure you're human and that you're different," was her motto. To put it simply, do the opposite of what others are doing. Her example was compelling: the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District,  an inter-communal water supply company, takes a very human and distinctive approach to its communication – particularly on X . As a consequence, its Communications Manager has now become the public face of the company. 

Matt Navarra – a social media specialist – also highlighted the importance of distinctiveness. "If everyone zigs, just zag." That's what it came down to. He denounced the fact that all brands are using the same banal tactic, with social media challenges often getting claimed by a host of brands. 

2. Search is so much more than just Google

It would be unthinkable to talk about search without mentioning SEO rock star Neil Patel. His most telling slide: Google now represents 18% of all search queries. Only 18%.

People are now searching, at a massive pace, through social media and even Apple's App Store. Which is, incidentally, processing half a billion searches every week. 

This immediately gives us a whole new perspective on search that forces us to look far beyond SEO and traditional channels.

3. Back up your sustainability claims

Catarina Occhio gave marketers a heads-up about a new European directive: the Green Claims Directive. It will take effect in 2027 or 2028 and requires any sustainability claim to be firmly substantiated. Her message? Take care not to make any green claims you are unable to substantiate. Not just because of this legislation, but in the first place because customers will penalise brands that make unsubstantiated claims.

4. Invite the Ferrari pitstop team for a change 

Optimise or rethink? Let's be honest: marketing people tend to focus on the first option. While the latter can generate so much more value. That was the point made by Neil Perkin. He illustrated this with a great example.

Two surgeons relaxed after an operation watching an F1 race, which gave them the idea to invite the Ferrari pitstop team to see if maybe they could apply the same principles to revolutionise their approach to surgeries. The team accepted the invitation. The result? Their operations took half as long, with fewer technical problems.  

5. How do you ensure your message gets through?

“Why is communication still so difficult? We have all the tools and methods… now also AI…” That was the question posed by bestselling author Thomas Erikson. His conclusion? A message is whatever a person imprints in his mind. And, painful as it may be for marketers, no one else can change this.  So if we are smart, we revise our approach to make sure it is tailored to the different types of people who each absorb your message in their own way.  “Anyone can open the most complex code if they know the combination”, Erikson concluded.