We took to the test track for Illuminate 2024: The Intersection of Marketing and Technology at the Porsche Experience Center in Atlanta. Cella created an elevated experience of our own for attendees providing interactive instruction and opportunities to roll up our sleeves and apply new concepts in real time. From discovering how to create a complete marketing campaign in 30 minutes using AI to exploring talent strategies utilizing a global workforce, Illuminate delivered content that resonated with where marketers are right now.

Aligning with our theme, The Intersection of Marketing and Technology, this year’s event featured keynote speaker Alex Wallace, EVP and Head of Media at Yahoo!, former Head of Media and Content at Verizon Media, and former Senior Vice President of NBC News, who discussed how marketers can navigate the AI revolution. Some came to Illuminate well-versed in AI, while others were just beginning their journey in applying it to marketing techniques. Alex’s ideas and practical approach showed how we can make AI a part of everyday life, to make work easier and efficient – from simplifying basic tasks to developing major campaigns – and even more effective. AI is already everywhere, and many of us are already using it in daily life. From predictive text to photo editing to cultivating personalized customer experiences, our Illuminate attendees were encouraged to try new tactics using a variety of AI tools. 

In this moment of our global use of AI, there’s a misconception that if you belong to a large, well-known company, your organization by default is already advanced and farther along with using AI than most. The reality is, sometimes the larger companies take a longer time to get up to speed with using new martech (marketing technology) tools, and AI is definitely high on this list. Smaller companies may have more flexibility for implementing new AI options into their tech stack and marketing strategy overall. 

Similarly, there’s a prevalent mentality that if you’re a leader in the digital, marketing and creative space, you have to make extreme, high-visibility moves that completely redo the martech stack or you start from zero with a grand new campaign or take some other action that makes a big splash. However, if we learned anything during Illuminate 2024, it’s not that those big moves are the most important. What matters is always pursuing steps that enable you to make progress and move in the direction you want to go. Always be trying something new. Innovation does not have to come with a six- or seven-figure price tag. Few of us have budgets like that, but we can try a new tactic like implementing a new AI tool to create efficiency, revise our processes, demo new technologies or make bolder moves on social media. Some tactics come with a zero-dollar price tag, while some are lower-cost investments. Be ok with the fact that not everything will work. Smaller steps help you discover what can get your marketing strategy moving in the right direction, often without significant financial outlays. 

The big wins for attendees:

  • Hands-on opportunities to learn new concepts and discover methods for implementing them on a larger scale for their organizations.

  • Data-driven business cases. We heard it over and over: The strategies our presenters shared gave attendees the roadmap they need to build an effective business case to present to executive leadership to advance their own creative and marketing organization’s strategies.

  • Research and resources presented by our all-star team of speakers delivered information that many of our attendees had not heard of before. Illuminate provides a one-of-a-kind opportunity for practitioners to educate themselves and go back to their organizations with actionable insights and strategies.

Illuminate is strategically designed as an intimate, immersive experience. It provides attendees with an environment where they can  connect with industry peers, have deep discussions about what’s working, and identify challenges and solutions that can be realistically applied. Cella places a high value on Illuminate because it presents an opportunity to give back to our professional community by providing training and insights for people who want to grow and lead.

Continuous improvement and education are a must in our industry. Cella’s company culture is focused on continuous learning and development while fostering an environment where people can grow professionally and refine their expertise. When industry pros take time to attend a conference like Illuminate and learn from experts, discover innovations and try new things, it can potentially be transformational for them as well as their organization. 

Education, constructive conversations, world-class instruction, real-time application, networking and exchanging ideas – that’s the value of attending Illuminate. If you couldn’t join us for Illuminate in Atlanta, don’t miss it next year. Relationships genuinely matter to us, and we’re committed to the success of our Illuminate attendees and clients. And it’s not a catch phrase. We mean it, and we live it out each day.