Martech experts from InterContinental Hotels, McDonald’s and TransUnion to speak at new ADMA techmix event in Sydney on Fri, May 15

Australian marketers are awash in technology, finding themselves trying to understand too many tools, software, hardware and platforms involving multiple vendors – whilst juggling the issue of tighter budgets and getting a return on investment.

To help marketers navigate their way through the dizzying array of technology, ADMA has created techmix, a new one-day event to be held Friday, 15 May at Sydney’s Wentworth Sofitel Hotel, featuring international and local marketing technology experts.

techmix, a vendor-neutral event, has been designed to help marketers understand the plethora of marketing technologies out there, how companies can successfully integrate them into their marketing function, and what opportunities are possible once the technology is in place.

Says Jodie Sangster, CEO, ADMA: “For the last couple of years marketers have been telling me they are drowning in technology and they can’t take advantage of data and the insights derived from it. They’re under pressure to buy the latest and greatest, and to be knowledgeable about what their company needs, when they don’t understand what to buy, what would be good for their business, how to implement the technology and how it all fits together.

“Compounding the tech problem are a wealth of other issues: highly complex marketing environments, multiple mediums, more channels than before, millions of empowered customers to understand, tighter marketing budgets and getting that return on investment from the technology to satisfy the CEO.

“There is also the issue that some organisations don’t have staff with the right skillset to understand and run with the tech. But get the right mix of technology with the right people to manage it, and you’ll be in a better place.”

techmix will be the first event in Australia to open the marketing technologies tool box, allowing delegates to understand who the suppliers are, what the tools are and how they should fit together.

To date, there are 12 local and international speakers confirmed for techmix. The three first international keynotes are announced:

• Andrew Knott (above, left), VP digital & media, McDonald’s (Singapore). Knott will talk about grappling with today’s marketing technology landscape, looking at the evolution of marketing and ad technology, what a leading campaign should look like in 2015, and what’s coming up for tech-driven marketing.

• Ken Chaplin (above, centre), SVP & CMO, TransUnion (USA). Chaplin, who made Forbes Top 50 Most Influential CMOs list in 2014, will talk about how to execute a tech-driven marketing strategy that harnesses the power and relevance of intelligent data and digital channels.

• Atique Shah (above, right), VP-global guest & campaign marketing, InterContinental Hotels Group (USA). Shah will discuss how to instil a tech-savvy culture within the marketing function and how to avoid common pitfalls with tech implementation, drawing on his experience across five industries.

At techmix, delegates will hear how some global marketers ‘survived’  the technology implementation process, get inspired by those that know and understand the technology intimately, hear real-life success case studies from top brands, glean insights into emerging technologies, get tips on best practice and watch live demonstrations of technology in action.

In addition to keynotes, there will be three tracks — data, engagement and analytics — with sessions with international and local speakers looking at topics around automation, cross-channel optimisation, customer data management and media attribution analytics.

techmix is an event for the growing community of delegates who are now sitting at the crossroads of the marketing and IT realms: chief marketing officers, chief digital officers, customer experience officers, chief technologists, marketing technologists, IT directors, digital marketers and analytics professionals.

The current program and speaker bios can be viewed at www.admatechmix.com.au.

More speakers will be announced in the coming weeks.