4 Takeaways from DX3 – Digital Marketing & Retail Event

As a former marketing conference organizer, I went into DX3 with certain expectations. Let me start off by saying, my expectations were pleasantly exceeded. The conference I started, Canadian Internet Marketing Conference (CIMC) was born in Squamish, B.C. in an old railway station – picture lots of plaid and major west-coast vibes. DX3 was quite the contrast – convention centre venue with an implied suit and tie dress code. Attendees arrived early in the morning and were eager to network all through the night. The conference floor was huge with lots of interactive displays, unique vendors, and tons of experiential marketing stimulus.

Here are my 4 takeaways from the conference:

The future of online clothing retailers
My favourite booth demonstrated a body scan technology that could be used to take precise measurements which removes the barrier of buying clothing online. Something that would benefit me when shopping on Indochino’s website. Another interactive that stood out to me was the Art & Science booth. They used advanced technology to digitize my body onto a giant screen!
The Uber of life insurance
The company that surprised me the most was Juniper Life Insurance. Speaking to their founder, Darryn Shrosbree, I felt as though I was hearing about the next Airbnb or Uber. His story is inspiring, and their marketing strategy of post-client follow up is so unique. Fortunately, our conversation was filmed for Marketing Jam, and the full episode will be available April 9, 2018!
Using tools to enhance influencer marketing strategiescis
Regarding PR, I had some great conversations with Richard from #PAID and James from Cision surrounding ways to implement engaging and compelling influencer marketing strategies and utilize various PR tools.
Reddit…my new favourite platfrom
From a social media standpoint, it was interesting to hear from Jon Brock, VP Partnerships at WorldGaming about important Reddit is from them to learn about their audience and engage in conversations surrounding the gaming industry. I also ran into Snapchat, while donning my Snapchat Spectacles, which I was told are now collector’s items!

Overall, the conversation that stood out to me the most was with Tamir Bar-Haim, Country Manager for Amazon. As we all know, Amazon is a powerhouse company taking over the online marketplace and now streaming into brick and mortar grocery stores. Almost every person I spoke with, even in passing, mentioned something along the lines of “look out for Amazon, they’re going to take over.” However, once meeting Tamir, I immediately noticed how humble and gracious he was, which I believe is a direct reflection of the brand. He was confident but down-to-earth. You can tell that at Amazon, they don’t rely on media to boost their egos. They keep their heads down, but ears perked, ready to listen. Our conversation will be available on marketingjam.ca this month!

Other Marketing Jam episodes I would like to shamelessly plug are with James Connell, VP Marketing at Roots and Leanne Gibson, Managing Director for Twitter. With James, I was able to chat with him about Roots’ collaboration with the Vancouver-based artist, Douglas Coupland and their philosophy and strategy behind their partnership. Leanne from Twitter said something that really stuck with me and was that “Twitter is a news site, not a social media platform”. Stay tuned for both episodes coming up on marketingjam.ca.

All in all, DX3 was a jam-packed, information overload in the best way possible!