Conquering content

Thurs 20 March, 2025

Curzon Cinema, Westgate Oxford

Hey there camper.

We’re happy you’re here 😎 All the info you need for today is below, so just pick your seat around the campfire and get stuck in.

Agenda

9.30 - 10.00

Register, grab a brew and a bite, chat with our exhibitors in the bar area.

10.00 - 10.30

SCREEN 2 | Welcome happy campers

SCREEN 2

SCREEN 1

  • SPEAKER: Jem Leslie – Digital Marketing Manager at Bottle PR, part-time app developer, and trained opera singer.

    Having real people in the real world share good stuff about your brand is basically every marketer’s wet dream. And while the value of User-Generated Content is that it’s authentic and unscripted, that doesn’t mean there isn’t anything you can do to make it a whole lot more likely to happen.

    So Jem’s going to be giving us a boatload of strategies for encouraging our audience to start and join conversations that include our business.

    She’ll share tried-and-tested methods, unpacking which ideas work best in different contexts - from private communities and forums to public product reviews and social channels. We’ll also be exploring the differences between professional, open-call, and spontaneous UGC, and how to make sure we’re aiming for the right kind of UGC for the right goal.

    Then we’ll finish up by thinking about how to get the most from any UGC that does come our way – both how to capitalise on it when it’s good, and how to respond to and manage it when it’s not.

10.30 - 11.20

  • SPEAKER: Kate Redfern – Head of Copywriting at Contentsquare, former barrister (the wig and gown kind), and owner of the world’s most gorgeous/opinionated horse.

    When we work in a team, we can’t just create content in isolation. But ‘too many cooks spoil the broth’ is a popular saying for a reason, and often we end up with either a messy overload of opinions that we can’t do anything with, or something gets missed because the right people didn’t weigh in.

    So this session will be looking at how you can get input on your content from the right people, at the right time, in the right way.

    We’ll start by thinking about exactly who should – and shouldn’t – get involved, and how to know what kind of feedback to ask for and listen to. We’ll also learn how to set expectations, dodge meddling, and keep feedback discussions on track – as well as how to sidestep unhelpful HIPPOs (highest-paid person’s opinions)! Plus we’ll think about how we ourselves can give clear, specific, actionable feedback to others creating content around us.

    Whether you're managing a team or collaborating with clients, this talk will give you what you need to build stronger creative processes – which lead to better work.

  • SPEAKER: Luan Wise – marketing consultant and author, LinkedIn Learning Course Instructor, and lover of campervan adventures.

    There’s no question that when companies mindlessly rely on AI tools to create their content for them, real quality goes out of the window. But if we ignore AI completely then we’re missing out on something that could not only save us time and money but also help us achieve things we haven’t been able to do before. To stay at the top of our game, we need to get comfortable using AI to support and complement our work.

    So Luan will be talking us through a whole host of proven, practical ways that AI tools can speed up and strengthen our social media efforts.

    With examples from real-world brands of all sizes and industries, she’ll share exactly how AI can help us with everything from content ideas and creation to data analysis and social media listening. But always in a way that keeps us in the driving seat, never letting go of authenticity and the human touch.

    Plus she’ll be highlighting key things to think about and watch out for – like bias in whatever tools we use, copyright issues, and the potential ethical questions that might pop up.

11.30 - 12.20

  • SPEAKER: Bethany Joy – freelance brand voice strategist, host of Marketing Camp, and bordering-on-obsessive Tom Selleck fan.

    Our company’s content always has a micro job to do – it’s got to get people to click, to read, to understand, to like, to join, to buy. But it’s got a macro job too. Every bit of content we put out into the world adds another pixel to the picture people have in their minds about what our business is like.

    So Bethany will be laying out how we can develop a consistent and compelling organisational voice, so our content builds our brand in the long-term as well as serving our marketing goals here and now.

    We’ll start by looking at how we can get people on board with the work – whether that’s sign-off from the higher-ups or buy-in from the teams around us. Then we’ll be thinking about the key things we need to be aware of, both before we start and as we move the project forwards.

    And we’ll end by exploring what we need to do to make sure the work sticks and gets embraced across the whole of our organisation, so we can be sure that all our effort has been worthwhile.

    Tip: This talk is mainly aimed at mid-size companies, rather than solo businesses or freelancers

  • SPEAKER: Ray Saddiq – Global Head of Marketing at Rise at Seven, former Head of SEO for Monzo, and big-time coffee addict.

    Almost 40% of Gen Z choose TikTok or Instagram over Google when they’re searching with commercial intent (i.e. when they’re looking to buy something). The numbers for older generations aren’t that high yet – but they’re growing all the time. There’s no escaping the reality that the average buyer journey looks very different than it did even two or three years ago.

    So Ray will be walking us through the impact of this shift and helping us gear up for how our content can keep bringing in sales in this new context.

    He’ll kick off with an overview of social search - as we know this is still quite a new topic for a lot of us - guiding us through how it works, when and why customers are using it, and how it’s shaping their behaviour. Then he’ll touch on the ways traditional SEO strategies are evolving in response.

    And the big focus will be on giving us advice and ideas for what boxes content needs to tick in a social-search driven world, to please both people and algorithms - taking inspiration from some of the brands (big and small) who are best navigating the new search landscape.

    Tip: This talk will be a good fit if you're a product-based company, and/or in the B2C space

12.30 - 1.20

  • SPEAKER: Dan Holt – Managing Director of Boss Digital, creator of Mary's Marketing Adventures, and one of the few adults who still enjoys watching Danger Mouse.

    It's been long enough now since content was declared king that we all know we need a plan to manage that unruly monarch. But most content strategies are all foam and no beer. It's too easy to be distracted by shiny new trends or personal opinions and agendas - so we fail to nail the basics, and end up with something that never quite delivers the hoped-for value to the business.

    So Dan’s going to share how to avoid getting side-tracked by all the wrong things and instead build a strategy that not only has clear goals but actually stands a chance of smashing them.

    He’ll be taking us through the seven most important things we need to know and do if we want our content to actually lead to growth. And along the way he’ll offer up plenty of real-life examples of both good and bad content strategy in action.

    We’ll also learn why “create once, distribute everywhere” is absolutely terrible advice, why we almost certainly don’t need to publish content as often as we think, and why contrary Mary is consistently such a pain in her boss’s arse.

    Tip: This talk will be especially useful for anyone in B2B marketing

1.20 - 2.30

Grab a lunch box from the long hallway between the screens, then head towards the bar to find a spot to settle down.

  • Here's your chance to put those marketing muscles to work on behalf of the community! We'll be splitting into groups to hear about different marketing challenges local companies are facing, then working together to offer up ideas and solutions.

2.30 - 3.40

  • SPEAKER: Pete Way – freelance Creative Director, government-funding assessor for innovative businesses, and dyed-in-the-wool Crystal Palace fan.

    Whether it’s an ad campaign or a white paper, a video or a social post, the key ingredient is always the same thing: a good idea.

    But where might we stumble upon these ideas? How do we know if they’re really any good? How do we develop and fine-tune them? How can we get other people excited about them?

    To help answer these (and other) questions, Pete will be sharing insights and lessons learned from 30+ years of creating award-winning content – from producing TV shows like The Big Breakfast and Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway to directing campaigns for brands like Paddy Power, Nike, AstraZeneca, and Aldi.

4.00 - 5.00

5.00 - 6.00

Join us in the bar area for drinks - first one’s on us!

Don’t forget to trek the exhibitor trail

The growth-masters at Zest are keen to be grilled on exactly how your company's digital marketing efforts can be making you more money.

The creative duo behind Story Ninety-Four will be all set up to help you explore the world of podcasts and videos.

The Hubspot wizards at Babelquest are more than ready to chat about CRM, helping you get better acquainted with your customers and your data.

And the brilliantly friendly Oxford College of Marketing will be offering advice on practical resources and helpful courses to plug the gaps in your knowledge.

Some very good questions

  • We don’t want you getting hangry when you’re trying to learn. So we’re kicking things off with hot drinks and cinnamon buns, you’ll be getting a tasty lunch (from the cracking team at Tikka and Tadka) and some fresh fruit in the middle of the day, and your first drink at the after-party is on us. Plus there are a few snacks in your goody bag to keep you going.

  • The cinema has free, public wifi - it’s called ‘CURZON OXFORD FREE WIFI’ and you don’t need a password.

  • There’ll be people on the stands all day, from 9.30am-6pm - so you can wander around the exhibition anytime. But we don’t want you to miss out on the talks, so really the best times to chat with exhibitors are in the morning during registration (9.30-10am), at lunchtime (1.20-2.30pm), and during the after-party (5-6pm).

  • You’ll be happy to know that our commitment to the camping metaphor doesn’t extend to making you dig a hole in the ground. If you need the loo, just head down the long hallway that spans the entrances to the various screens.

    The Accessible toilets are closest to the bar, just before screen 1 where the walls are painted blue. The Men’s toilets are slightly further along, where the walls are painted green. And the Women’s toilets are a little further down again, just past screen 3 where the walls are painted yellow.

  • We know it’s a full-on day and you might need a bit of down time to re-charge. So during the lunch slot (1.20-2.30pm) we’ve designated Screen 1 as a quiet space. You can take your food in there and just sit quietly, away from the crowds and with no pressure to chat to anyone.

  • Yep, we’re staying put. All the sessions, including lunch and the after-party drinks, are happening in the Curzon. Easy.

  • We’ve decided not to. In our regular meet-ups we always steer clear of recording sessions, so we’re sticking to that same IRL ethos today too.

    But we’ll be emailing you tomorrow with the session slides, so you can at least look over all the content no matter which talks you choose to go to today.