Thousands of marketers will descend on the Penn District in Midtown Manhattan for Advertising Week New York this week to network with peers and listen to the newest in thought leadership on trends including generative artificial intelligence (AI), commerce media and sports marketing. The annual confab, which is celebrating 20 years, is again hosted in what was formerly the Manhattan Mall, a sprawling, multi-story venue that last fall saw snaking lines — and a few delays — to get into marquee panels.
Organizers have retooled the placement to streamline navigation but still caution that attendees will want to are available in with a concrete gameplan as attendance is heading in the right direction to surpass 17,000, up from 15,000 in 2023. Below, Marketing Dive has assembled a guide for tackling the four-day gathering.
“We’ve barely modified the ground plan. This yr we’ve actually zoned it, hopefully, to make it a much easier space for people to navigate since it is so big,” said Ruth Mortimer, global president of Advertising Week.
Navigating the Penn District
The Penn District entrance for Advertising Week will be found at 100 West thirty third Street in New York between sixth and seventh Avenues, right across the corner from Herald Square and a number of blocks from Penn Station. Advertising Week greeters and signage are present to point people the best way. Mortimer beneficial that guests download the Advertising Week app, review it ahead of arrival and bookmark their desired sessions to attend. The app also has a Slido function for panels that allow for audience Q&As.
The Penn District is a sprawling, multi-story complex
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Inside the Penn District, each level is assigned a particular zone reflecting the discussion tracks and lounges that will be found therein. There are 28 content tracks in 2024. The top floor, or second level, of the Penn District is the Leadership Zone carrying the Great Minds and Insights stages, in addition to the CMO Lounge for brand marketers.
“Our Great Minds stage actually doubled in capability this yr in response to feedback that more people wanted to find a way to get in,” said Mortimer.
The CMO Lounge, which was trialed last yr, has been expanded to higher accommodate senior-level marketers who need to sustain with their day jobs while on the conference. The lounge features private meeting rooms, a wellness space and even AI-powered wine tastings.
“The idea is: If you’re a marketer, you’ll be able to come to Advertising Week and each be pampered and do your job higher,” said Mortimer, who explained that sister conference Advertising Week Europe recently saw a 75% increase in brand marketers.
The ground floor of the Penn District comprises a podcast studio and registration area while the primary lower level has been made into an Entertainment Zone containing the Creativity Stage and Media Stage. An Excellence! Lounge sponsored by Group Black and Equality Lounge presented by The Female Quotient may also be found on this floor. On Thursday, the ultimate day of Advertising Week, it is going to have a Podcast Zone for audio marketers and media people.
On the second lower level, or bottom floor, is the Trends Zone, which features The Marketplace Stage, The Tech Stage and The Innovation Stage, together with a press room that can accommodate news announcements. New this yr is a Scale Up Lounge that’s all about growing personal brands and businesses.
“This yr, we’ve integrated lots more networking spaces into Advertising Week,” said Mortimer. “There’s quite a lot of content however the thing we felt people wanted much more from us was a reason to stay and do business.”
What to drop in on in
Chats with celebrities like Drew Barrymore, Terry Crews, Lil Jon, Al Roker and Michael Strahan line the agenda and are sure to draw big crowds. Other than snagging a $1,499 Super Delegate pass, which grants access to reserved seating, the perfect guarantee to get right into a top-billed talk is to arrive early — and be prepared to pivot when something reaches capability.
AI, which dominated the 2023 show, is less outstanding on the schedule this yr, while still occupying talks from brands like Under Armour, Moët Hennessy and Hershey.
“AI, as a standalone thing, shouldn’t be quite as prevalent as a trend. It’s more coming into reality. Commerce media, I’d say, is absolutely big for us this yr,” said Mortimer. “Effectively, I’d say that is the yr where anyone with a heavy-traffic website realized they may very well be in promoting.”
Much of the programming within the Trends Zone centers on media networks from each retailers and other verticals which have ramped up their digital media monetization bets, equivalent to ride-hailing apps (Uber and Lyft) and travel firms (several talks are from United Airlines).
“We stopped terming it ‘retail media’ because there have been so many businesses that weren’t in retail,” said Mortimer. “I definitely think there’s going to be quite a lot of buzz about that one.”
Addressing the upcoming elections shall be one other hot button issue, according to Mortimer. Advertising Week is publishing research in partnership with Cint that analyzes consumer sentiment around politics and its impact on marketing.
Specific days shall be dedicated to topics equivalent to the business of promoting (think M&A) and Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) deals for school sports. A recent NIL+ program on Tuesday, done at the side of Group Black, Greenwood Ave and Lockstep Ventures, has a match-making marketplace to connect student athletes with business partnership opportunities.
Beyond stage programming, Advertising Week is hosting several special events, including private dinners and a wrap party at Terminal 5 with performances from Eladio Carrión alongside Latin Mafia and Alex Sensation. The Future is Female Awards, for the primary time sponsored by Spotify, are Monday evening on the Cutting Room. Advertising Week can be working with the Ad Club of New York to offer two recent scholarships for girls.
If all of that sounds exhausting, the show this yr is outfitted with what Mortimer said were “more refreshments places than ever before.” Snapchat, Viant, Epsilon and Cint are behind a number of the food carts and cafes scattered across the Penn District.
20 years in business
The expanding presence of commerce media, NIL and other emergent tracks at Advertising Week speaks to the gathering’s chameleon-like nature (retail media didn’t have its own dedicated space until last yr). Advertising Week, which was acquired by Emerald Holding two years ago, operates in an events category that has broadened in scope over the past twenty years and seen a proliferation of area of interest offerings in areas like programmatic, social, retail media and AI.
“There is more out there than ever before, particularly for marketers,” said Mortimer. “The thing that Advertising Week tries to do, and perhaps in barely alternative ways than we used to before, is absolutely bring together that concept of entertainment of education.”
Advertising Week also has its heritage to lean on. The organization is publishing a book for its twentieth anniversary celebrating the pop icons and mascots which have helped kick off the yearly festivities since 2004.
“Advertising Week, over the past 20 years, has all the time been about taking a look at what’s next,” said Mortimer. “I feel that’s quite a useful brand proposition to have since it means you’ll be able to type of never be out of touch.”
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