January 2006

VCU’s Adcenter is well-known for its intensive graduate school for future advertising professionals. Their Master’s degree program offers real-world course studies in copywriting, art direction, strategic planning, creative media planning, and creative brand management.

Brand management took center stage on Friday, January 27th when PGM Artists’ Phil McIntyre helped kick off the VCU Adcenter’s 2006 guest speaker series. McIntyre spoke on behalf of the brand strategy firm he founded with partner Iain Greenway, The Brand Gallery.

Rick Boyko, former co-president and CEO of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide and one of the advertising industry’s top creative talents, is the VCU Adcenter’s new Managing Director. Mr. Boyko wants to ensure this speaker series, which has included some of the most respected and innovative thinkers in the advertising and communications fields, remains a relevant, must-attend event for his students.

McIntyre covered a lot of ground, including the state of branding today, the current media landscape, and a presentation of case studies from the roster of PGM Artists, including The Brand Gallery . A lively post-presentation Q&A session left little doubt in McIntyre’s mind that these students were ready to be tested in the real world.

“They may be students,” said McIntyre as he left the stage, “but they’re VCU Adcenter students. This group is incredibly savvy about the ad business, and extremely hungry to have their shot at being a part of it.”

After the session, McIntyre added, “It was heartening to meet members of the next generation of advertising professionals. It’s an incredibly exciting time for our business and these students will be helping us rewrite many rules of the game.”

Posted by PGM at 05:31 PM | Permalink

EXPERT ROUNDTABLE ADDRESSES SHIFTS IN ADVERTISING BUSINESS MODEL
Broad Implications for Marketers and Investors

Marketers are scrambling desperately to keep pace with the increasingly sophisticated demands of consumers, according to a recent roundtable on shifts in the advertising business model, hosted by Lyceum Associates, Inc., a Greenwich-based financial research firm. A full transcript is now available.

The discussion group met at the Yale Club in New York City on December 13, 2005 and included both industry practitioners and private and public equity investors. Featured industry practitioners included Donna Granato, Director of Finance and Investor Relations, MDC Partners; Steve Hannah, Chief Executive Officer, The Onion; Sam Huxley, Nontraditional Media, Y&R; Alex Kakoyiannis, Managing Partner, Navigame; Andrew Klein, Managing Partner, Revolution Marketing; Phil McIntyre, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, The Brand Gallery; Livingston Miller, Co-founder and Chief Creative Officer, Seiter & Miller; Sean Mills, President, The Onion; Andrew Sispoidis, Co-founder, IGA Partners.

“Participants focused on the ways in which technology is cutting a broad swathe across the advertising business model and radically changing consumer behavior, especially among young adults,” commented Sydney Williams, president of Lyceum. “With new distribution channels appearing in every product cycle, marketers are hard-pressed to capitalize on the dizzying array of emerging opportunities.

“The combination of Internet-driven technology and rising wealth has enabled consumers to hold significant sway over marketers. Consumers expect a marketing experience with customized content and delivery, fewer touch points, and subtler persuasion.”

Mr Williams went on to address implications for the investment community. “Any industry or company with exposure to the consumer faces shake-up from this seismic shift. Investors should regularly review these trends for their scale and focus, and how the key players are responding: the consumer product company, the ad-funded content and/or distribution company, and the agency.”

Lyceum Associates is a financial research firm based in Greenwich, Connecticut. As an alternative to traditional Wall Street service, Lyceum offers interactive, full-length workshops and roundtables, which feature thought leaders from a variety of backgrounds and expertise. Lyceum comments periodically on themes relevant to investors through a monthly newsletter called Perspectives.

Contact:
Sydney Williams
Lyceum Associates, Inc.
(203) 540-5208
info@lyceumassociates.com

Posted by PGM at 12:46 PM | Permalink

Greenwich Time (Business)-When it comes to the exchange of information, nothing beats face-to-face conversation, particularly when discussions involve weighty topics such as business trends and investment possibilities.

Providing a venue for close interaction was the goal when the Greenwich husband-and-wife team of Sydney and Beatriz Williams started Lyceum Associates last year.

Webster's New World Dictionary describes "lyceum" as a lecture hall or an organization providing lectures -- an appropriate term for the business that develops roundtable discussions among institutional investors, economic thinkers and industry experts.

Last month, Lyceum hosted a session at the Yale Club in New York on changes in the advertising business model. The event involved advertising industry practitioners and private and public equity investors.

Lyceum's monthly Perspectives newsletter then featured ideas from the roundtable that can be put into action.

"Participants focused on the ways in which technology is cutting a broad swath across the advertising business model and radically changing consumer behavior, especially among young adults," said Sydney Williams, president of Lyceum, in his commentary about the roundtable.

"With new distribution channels appearing in every product cycle, marketers are hard-pressed to capitalize on the dizzying array of emerging opportunities," he said.

"The combination of Internet-driven technology and rising wealth has enabled consumers to hold significant sway over marketers. Consumers expect a marketing experience with customized content and delivery, fewer touch points and subtler persuasion," he said.

Williams earned a master's degree in business administration from Columbia University and spent a decade in institutional equity sales with Deutsche Bank.

The Williamses started their roundtables with a bang in June 2005 as they hosted a session featuring R. Glenn Hubbard, dean of the Columbia University Business School and former chairman of President Bush's Council of Economic Advisers, as the guest speaker.

The session addressed topics including health-care reform, tax reform, the direction of the economy and the energy market.

"We're trying to take participants out of their day-to-day echo chambers. At the end of the day, it's about conversation," Sydney Williams said, noting that roundtables typically include 20 to 25 participants.

One participant at last month's event was Phil McIntyre, chief executive officer of The Brand Gallery , a New York brand strategy firm, who thought the session gave participating investors much to consider.

"It raised questions for investors. Where do they put their money? People are trying to read tea leaves," McIntyre said.

"Institutional investors have moved beyond traditional research services. There's always been a lot of success in bringing the right people together," Williams said. "We're developing future roundtables to continue the conversation."

Ravenel Curry, managing director of Eagle Capital Management in New York, has attended several Lyceum roundtables.

"It's better than a one-to-one meeting because you get the benefit of hearing other people's questions. When you're in the investment business, you need to know what's going on in every area," he said.

Copyright C 2006, Southern Connecticut Newspapers,
Inc.

Getting around to business trends
By Richard Lee
Assistant Business Editor

Posted by PGM at 04:39 PM | Permalink