Web Summit 2024: The Far Pavilion
Hot takes on marketing fresh from last week's big event in Lisbon
Never heard of Web Summit? Let me enlighten you. It’s a massive event for the tech industry, when 70,000+ people descend on Lisbon for almost a week of networking, keynotes and pitching on topics like AI, commerce, fintech, growth, creativity, startups and, of course, marketing.
As a first-timer, it’s the biggest event I’ve ever been to, bar none. Opening night felt like an arena concert. Pharrell Williams was one of the speakers.
Marketing insights
I went along to the event on a Women in Tech ticket for the networking opportunities and marketing insights. Here’s my summary of the general gist of the marketing talks I hotfooted it to (running shoes a necessity) -
Most marketing is boringly underwhelming.
Brands tend to play it safe or prioritise fleeting connections over genuine relationships. Patience creates value.
Shoehorning faux values into a trend or issue puts buyers off.
I enjoyed the reframing of needy-sounding brands in Joey Camire’s keynote You can’t sell thirsty. He talked about brands that exude desperation for growth via attention-seeking behaviour. This might reveal itself in marketing patterns like repetitive customer contact. Hello, three emails a day beauty brand. If you were human, you’d be decidedly creepy.
In Camire’s words, these brands “join the chorus, instead of singing solo”.
I learnt a new word - digilantes - for those keyboard warriors poised to scold a brand that aligns itself to the “wrong” cause or says the wrong thing.
The thirsty talk was thought-provoking, because it made me evaluate brands that desperately crave selling to the midlife market, while at the same time giving women the ick with their messaging (Is your neck aging faster than your face?)
I also learnt that just the right amount of friction is memorable, via Dan Gardner’s keynote The Internet Sucks. Gardner talked about the sweet spot that lies between two extremes. At one end, buyer overwhelm causes decision-making tension. At the other end, we find passivity, with buyers doing no brainwork at all. Gardner urged us to design for wonder and delight, saying that digital brands should feel “as human as a human”.
Sairah Ashman, Global CEO of Wolff Olins, mentioned friction too in The Flattening of Everything. Ashman revealed how the quest for efficiency made brands friction-free and forgettable. And here’s a scary stat Ashman shared - 85% of the $4 trillion spent on marketing annually is wasted on unnoticed assets. $4 trillion wasted.
Speaking of unnoticed assets, moving between pavilions at Web Summit reinforced the gulf between the best of marketing aspiration and standard messaging in action.
Ironically, the marketing talks all happened in Pavilion 5 on the furthest stage before Web Summit petered out at the far exit. Everything else was happening in the vast expanse of Pavilions 1-4 and on the Main Stage. All the talk at the marketing deep-end was about differentiation, unblanding, standing out. And lots of the comms in the rest of the event read like repetitive, AI-generated bland-speak. I lost count of the number of times I saw the words unlock, elevate, empower, disrupt, navigate on display stands. Marketing was physically and metaphorically the far pavilion.
Generational marketing
I also went to a insight/market research talk which (of course) focused on Gen Z buyers. As if being digital-savvy, questioning and curious were traits that only this generation possesses. Speaking of curious (yes, I’m Gen X and still curious - who knew?) I find this supersized focus on marketing to Gen Z baffling. So many brands seem to assume that tech, fintech, AI etc is just too confusing for the analogue brains of older generations. It’s patronising and clichéd.
Women in tech
Some of the startup chat was inspiring. Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer at Twelve, Etosha Cave, was super-impressive. Twelve just raised $645 million in their quest to decarbonise aviation by turning CO2 into jet fuel. Watch this space.
Rosanne Longmore, CEO of Irish femtech startup Coroflo (the world’s first breastfeeding monitor) talked about their own recent investment. She helped challenge the narrative that female healthtech founders are less likely to get funding.
All this talk of the gender funding gap, AI bias and the challenges faced by women in tech made the official follow-up email feel a little, I don’t know, tactless. See what I mean?
To be fair, the top image is a rotating carousel of four - one shows Etosha Cave and another shows women mingling at a networking event.
Lisbon tips
The best coffee by far at the event itself was in the German Park exhibition area, where the piped birdsong also soothed the soul. Loved the swing seats but not so impressed with the slogan - “Starting Tomorrow Today.” Rewording the ubiquitous “the future of … blah blah blah” that I see all over tech messaging. But the coffee was great.
I was lucky to get custard tart recommendations from a local, the knowledgeable Jo Duxbury. Try a pastel de nata at Manteigaria (various locations around Lisbon).
And if you’re travelling to Lisbon, I highly recommend staying at Locke de Santa Joana. The Edinburgh and Dublin Locke hotels are excellent and the newly-opened Lisbon branch was no exception. Once a 17th century convent, it’s bang in central Lisbon, a couple of minutes from the Marquês de Pombal Metro station and a block away from Avenida da Liberdade.
