India’s only marketing festival is back with a bang

NEW DELHI: The second edition of Star FLOW – The Change Festival, which promises to be bigger and better than last year, will witness global marketing gurus and their Indian counterparts come together to shake up traditional theories and practices.
The inaugural edition of India’s only marketing festival held in 2019 saw W Chan Kim speak about his Blue Ocean Strategy, while campaign manager for Barack Obama, Roger Fisk said individuals are organisers that need to be activated.From ‘Psychology of Business’ and ‘Artificial Intelligence’ to the ‘Female Consumer’, several Indian and foreign speakers discussed a range of topics.
The 2020 edition, to be held on February 19 and 20 at the Leela Ambience in Gurgaon, promises more. The event will kick off with a keynote address by the best-selling author of ‘Hooked’ and ‘Indistractable’, Nir Eyal. Eyal teaches about the intersection of psychology, technology, and business. Termed by the MIT Business Review as ‘The Prophet of Habit-Forming Technology’, his books are for marketers looking to create and market products that consumers keep coming back to.

Equally thought-provoking will be the session by futurist, Sophie Hackford, co-founder of 1715Labs — a spin out from Oxford University’s Astrophysics Department. Her talk on ‘Exploding People’s assumptions on the Future of Tech’ will encompass how technology changes how we live, work, transact, love, by weaving together complex developments in quantum computing, AI, data, asteroid mining or virtual reality.
The session on ‘The Era of Open Innovation’ by Charles Leadbeater, an authority on innovation and creativity, will be another one to look forward to. But perhaps the most inspiring will be a person whose story inspired the movie, 3 Idiots. Sonam Wangchuk, innovator, education reformist and Ramon Magsaysay Awardee, will speak on ‘Simple Solutions to Complex Problems through Innovation.’ Add to this line-up, speakers such as Marty Neumeier, among others, and you have a powerful mix that will provoke marketers to look beyond the norm.
Joining the discussions will be several stalwarts from India Inc to share their views on issues such as ‘How to succeed in a difficult economic scenario’, ‘Brand Building vs Performance Marketing’ and ‘Sustainability and a Circular Economy’. And this year, a parallel track of talks has been added to showcase inspiring stories that will take marketers from the boardroom to grassroots.
The festival will also enable participants to learn hands-on, with a set of workshops on themes, including Persuasion in Marketing (Neuromarketing), Applying Behavioural Science, Blockchain & Marketing, Rural Marketing, Design Thinking and Neuromeasurement.