DR4WARD

ALFRED UNIVERSITY TO LEARN, TWEET, AND BLOG AT CANNES LIONS 2008

Alfred University was the first college to take advantage of the student delegate package launched by the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival in 2007.I will be taking a second group of Alfred University student delegates to Cannes Lions 2008 from June 14 - 21 to learn about the future of 360 Degree Branding,  Integrated Marketing Communications and Social Media from the biggest brands.

To share our wonderful experience the students and I will be posting on Twitter throughout the day during the Festival and we will also be blogging daily at Dr4Ward.com. If you would like to follow us you can receive automatic blog updates by subscribing to receive email updates or RSS Feeds at Dr4Ward.com. You can also follow our Tweets throughout the day after signing up for a free account and joining Twitter. For those of you not familiar with Twitter, according to Wikipedia it is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows users to send "updates" (or "tweets"; text-based posts, up to 140 characters long) to the Twitter website, via short message service (SMS), instant messaging, or a third-party application such as Twitterrific or Facebook.   

I will be taking Alfred University students Irving Escobar, Ashley Fantigrossi, Stephanie Hankins, Kayla Peterson and Scott Liao to the Cannes Lions 2008 55th International Advertising Festival as student delegates. The students majors include Art & Design, Marketing and the MBA Program and they receive course credits in their related disciplines for their participation in the International Marketing and Advertising Program that I developed. Scott Liao will be attending the prestigious Roger Hatchuel Lions Academy held during the Festival. Kayla Peterson and Scott Liao will also have their art and design work on display at the Festival in the Young Lions Zone .

I have been very impressed with Cannes Lions and the industry commitment to mentoring and training students and young professionals through the Young Lion Zone for Cannes Lions, Master Classes, Young Lions Competition, and the Roger Hatchuel Lions Academy. Young Lions and Students get a world-class experience during their week at the Festival and the fantastic line-up of speakers, seminars and workshops provide education and training for the global leaders of the future.

The Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival is the largest gathering of worldwide marketing, advertising, media and creative professionals, each year drawing more than 10,000 delegates from 80 plus countries.  Students and professionals attend over 50 comprehensive seminars and 25 interactive hands-on workshops with the best marketing, advertising, and creative professionals from around the world. Daily film screenings, exhibitions, Content Showcases, and galas/award ceremonies, celebrate the best strategic and creative marketing from over 50 countries entered in a variety of competitive media categories. For a flavour of the Festival, view video and images from Cannes Lions 2007.

I look 4Ward to your feedback.

Keep Digging For Worms!

MARVEL IRON MAN BOX OFFICE BLAST OFF

My wife and I had a blast at the Friday, May 2nd opening of Iron Man (starring Academy-Award nominated Robert Downey Jr. and Oscar winner Gwyneth Paltrow.) My wife, who is not a Super Hero Fan like me like me, loved the movie. I also heard from another female professional who is not a Super Hero movie fan who thought the movie was great. Although not a scientific study both of these responses point to the potential of Iron Man to attract a much broader audience beyond the comic book crowd and appeal to a larger female and older audience thanks to a tremendous performance by Robert Downey Jr. Jeff Bridges makes a great villain too and the whole supporting cast comes through with flying colors. Iron Man offers plenty of fun and exciting action for all and the sound track rocks too.

The Iron Man opening weekend box office blasted past $100 million exceeding expectations. However, the broader potential appeal with women and the non-Super Hero crowd may give Iron Man surprising staying power at the box office.

I only have one concern with Marvel after watching the film. I wanted to buy an Iron Man comic book, video, t-shirt or some other paraphernalia after the film and could not find anything. I went to every store in the mall after seeing the film and I even stopped at Target and could not find any Marvel related signagage, promotion or products. Seems like a missed opportunity for fans and Marvel.

Did you have any trouble finding Iron Man products at retail? If you found them, where were they?

I look 4Ward to your feedback.

Keep Digging For Worms!