Baltimore (Feb. 21, 2007) -- On Jan. 24, Vertis Communications hosted a roundtable event with top leaders from the advertising, marketing, interactive, word of mouth and public relations fields to discuss media fragmentation and the impact it has had on today’s marketing campaigns. Keynote speaker Dave Balter, of BzzAgent, Inc., presented compelling examples of evolving technologies and their effects on marketing and awareness for brands; additionally, Balter touched upon the evolution of media and the increasing challenge of measuring results. “As leading communicators in our respective fields, we cannot work in a bubble –we need to share insight and best practices across the board in order to improve the way our clients build brand awareness in the marketplace. This is why we created the consortium – so experts could openly discuss the challenges being faced by the industry and collaborate as leaders,” said Ann Raider, chief strategy officer for Vertis Communications. “As host of this annual event, we intend to revisit the topics and progress that have been made since our initial discussion.” Consortium participants included members from BzzAgent, Inc., Carat Fusion, Formula PR, Hill Holliday, Interpublic Group, Jack Morton Worldwide, Lowe Worldwide, Neo@Ogilvy, Vertis Communications, and Weber Shandwick. Peter Temes, founder and president of I L O Institute moderated the four-hour event, which covered the following topics: - The Magical World of “Flogging” – The Internet has given every consumer a voice and freedom of expression, which in turn, affects brand authenticity and integrity - How Many Voices Can I Afford? – Marketers continuously struggle to connect on a personal level with their audience, and this has become increasingly challenging due to the number of media outlets available to consumers - It’s More Than Just a Product – Today’s marketers are tasked with designing and delivering more than a product, they must create an entire brand experience that relates and connects with consumers - Understanding the Target Segment – In order to successfully launch a campaign, marketers must first ask themselves what they want to offer that target audience and how that segment likes to be spoken to; by answering these questions, marketers will have a better understanding of where to allocate their resources - Embrace Change, it is Here to Stay – Mobile marketing, viral marketing, online platforms – all of these create an opportunity to connect with consumers on a different level; however, many marketers and brand managers are resistant to these new ideas and miss out on opportunities to connect with different types of consumers; for any organization to mature, it must understand the ideal customer it wants to target and how to speak to them - Top Marketing Tools – Based on link popularity, the power of search rankings cannot be ignored. A brand’s ability to interrelate its Web content by the use of links will increase its audience and content distribution ten-fold "Marketers continue to search for the right media to reach consumers; however, it is clear that consumers themselves are the media channel of the future," said Dave Balter, founder and CEO of BzzAgent, Inc. "The consortium gave us an opportunity to discuss the impact of media fragmentation and the techniques and technologies marketers are developing to embrace change. We look forward to revisiting some of these topics at the next event in order to keep up with the changing landscape."