Three lessons learned from the VOLUM 2024 conference

All of Gasta 's customers have a website and are involved in marketing. They will probably find something interesting in my summary.

Sometimes we at Gasta take part in courses and conferences. It's healthy to get out and about, and in my own opinion, you're never fully trained. But not everyone can attend everything, so it's nice that those who do participate actually share with the rest. The VOLUM conference in Bergen calls itself the "Conference for Technology, Design and Creativity". Not particularly specific, but you get the idea. Given that all of Gasta 's customers have a website and are involved in marketing in one way or another, I think most people will find something interesting in my summary.

So, here are three lessons learned from Volume Conference 2024:

1. A strong brand makes it easy for the brain

When we make a choice, 90% of it is unconscious and only 10% conscious. This is called the "illusion of choice", according to Babak Behrad of Trigger Oslo. A strong brand makes it easy for the brain to choose that particular brand. If you compare marketing with dating, Behrad believes that you should spend more time charming people and building relationships (branding) than on pickup lines (short-term sales stunts).

"We should spend more time charming and building relationships (branding) than on pickup lines (short-term sales stunts)."

2. The art is to create relationships

One of the main themes of the conference was "Warm connections in a cold, digital world" and several lectures touched on this. The main line was something like this: It's not what companies do, innovate or deliver that is most important. The most important thing you do is to create security, trust and some kind of feeling. We scroll and scroll, so information quickly disappears for us. But feelings, they stay.

Or as technologist Stefan Hyttfors said:

"They'll remember how you made them feel"

3. People don't have much time, dare to be "the pink horse"

Okay, I'm mixing several lectures here, so you have to take the quotes with a pinch of salt. But the point stands.

UX guru Vitality Friedman said that people simply don't have the patience or time for everything that pops up on the screen these days. News letters? No, thanks. Promotional code? Maybe afterwards. Feedback form? Boring. People have little time and are impatient. That's why you need to create solutions and marketing that captivate. And to do that, you need to capture attention and stand out. Or as the entrepreneurs behind the app Fjelltoppjakten later in the conference put it:

"Dare to be the pink horse in the pasture"

A lot to take in, and maybe something feels a bit woolly? Feel free to contact me at ingvild@gasta.no or +47 928 81 906 for a marketing chat.