BORRELL’S 2022 LOCAL ADVERTISING CONFERENCE
“THE PATH TO 2032″
#BorrellMiami2022
March 6-8, 2022 – Miami Hilton Downtown
Borrell’s annual conference is back, bigger and better than ever. Mark your calendar for March 6-8, when we return to Miami for our 12th annual event.
Our 2022 conference is themed “The Path to 2032.” It features a unique, in-depth look at what’s shaping our post-pandemic marketing and advertising landscape and how to successfully navigate the future. You’ll learn from the best — companies are morphing into digital powerhouse. These include digital agencies, broadcast and print companies, local cable systems, start-up local pureplays, and companies that are building businesses to serve the industry.
Registrants will experience a full-immersion opportunity, including a healthy dose of networking. The program includes a dozen hours of networking time – two breakfasts, two lunches, four breaks and two cocktail parties.
MONDAY, MARCH 7
8:30 AM
Keynote Speakers Sponsored By: 
We’re kicking off Day 1 with four dynamic presentations to get your juices flowing. The first session offers a vision of what 2032 is likely to look like, and the second taps a world-renown transformation expert to discuss the path to get there. How is that transformation playing out today? For the follow-up sessions, we’ll hear from CEO Bill Wilson of Townsquare, who’s driven measurable transformation within his organization, and John Garrett, who’s defying the gravity of print by starting up newspapers across three states.
2032
Over the past two decades, the Internet has recrafted the media landscape in two distinct waves triggered by two economic cycles. We’ve just entered a third wave, triggered by the pandemic. Gordon Borrell will describe what the landscape is likely to look like in 2032, and how forces such as demographics, altered work habits, buying habits, and technology are pushing us toward the final stages of the democratization of media channels.
Getting There: A Path To The Future
Keying off our first presentation, we’ve asked Scott Anthony to offer his view on how companies can navigate the coming decade. Scott is a founding partner of Innosight, where he’s spent the past 20 years helping leaders design new growth strategies, build innovation capabilities, navigate disruptive innovation, and manage strategic transformation. He’s written eight books, including “Eat, Sleep, Innovate” (2020), and “Dual Transformation” (2017), which describe how forward-thinking organizations can navigate disruptive change and own the future. He will address how even the smallest of companies can navigate tricky transformation to become world-class businesses.
SPEAKER: Scott Anthony, Founding Partner, Innosight*
*Speaking live via televideo from Singapore.
Morning Break | 10:15 AM Sponsored By: 
Dual transformation within media companies is certainly a great story. But does it work? We’ve selected three examples — one from the radio industry, one from a local TV broadcaster, and one involving a newspaper company — where it’s been put to the test.
Townsquare’s Transformation
Formed from a bankrupt radio group in 2010, Townsquare has emerged as a shining example of transformation. Its Trojan Horse strategy to buy small-market radio stations to drive its digital initiatives has paid big dividends. CEO Bill Wilson describes how the company has navigated dual transformation with its 322 radio stations in 67 cities, and its fast-growing separate division called Townsquare Interactive.
With a Different Vision, Newspapers Become a Growth Opportunity
It’s hard to imagine that someone would launch a newspaper just as the industry began its precipitous decline — and harder still to comprehend that it could grow over 17 years from one publication to 36, serving 2.5 million readers. This session features the energetic, entrepreneurial founder of Community Impact Newspaper who continues to defy gravity by building a hyperlocal news operation serving print and digital readers in Texas, Arizona, and Tennessee.
SPEAKER: John Garrett, CEO & Founder, Community Impact Newspaper
Future Media Moguls: Bring On the Influencers
Some media companies are placing bets on a rising media star: the influencer. Salem has created the Salem Influencer Network, and Scripps has invested in Misfits Gaming Group, an esports company that recently expanded with the creation of influencer marketing agency. This session features the Chief Strategy Officer of Misfits, who will discuss the strategy behind Unpause Media, the agency that aims to bridge the gap between generational audiences and brand partners.
Rapid-Fire Case Studies
Get ready for a fast-paced session of ideas on how to generate new revenue. This session features a half-dozen five-minute case studies of dynamic, profitable programs presented in rapid-fire succession. This is one of the most popular features of Borrell’s event.
SPEAKERS: Kim Safran, VP Sales, iPublish Media Solutions; Sarah Belleau, Director of Partner Growth, Frequence; Dan Scherer, VP of Channel Partnerships, Infillion; Melissa Sheehan, CRO, AdCellerant; Julian Frachtman, CEO, Airtory; Kevin Gianatiempo, Media Mint
12:30 PM
LUNCH & DESSERT WITH SPONSORS
2:00PM
BREAKOUT SESSIONS
The afternoon features nine drill-down sessions from which to choose. The breakouts are arranged in three themed sessions in adjacent presentation rooms. Each session features three to four panel presentations in an interactive setting with ample opportunity to ask questions.
Strategies for Streaming Video, OTT, CTV Sponsored By: 
Local advertisers will spend $21 billion this year on streamed-video advertising, twice as much as they spend on local broadcast TV spots. Where’s it coming from, and how can you tap it? Three 45-minute panel discussions will draw on the expertise and success of those on the front lines.
- Best Practices in Selling & Managing OTT/CTV. This panel discusses best practices, how should you sell, and what you should sell. It examines how companies are tapping into the growing stream of OTT as well as cookie-less advertising and how the audience targeting changes once cookies are gone.
MODERATOR: Taryn Tatarinowicz, Director of Training & Market Development, Borrell Associates | PANELISTS: Chris Stumph, VP of Partnerships, LocalPagePop; Brian Hunt, Head of OTT/CTV Ad Sales, Sinclair Broadcast Group; Erika Cooper, VP of Digital Sales, Televisa Univision; Lauri Baker, SVP, Infillion - Cross-Media Attribution. This panel will address the emerging challenge in attribution of video audiences across different platforms. Topics include targeting, CPMs, and multi-touch attribution looking at the entire funnel beyond TV and digital.
MODERATOR: Ray Arroyo, Director of Agency Sales, Sinclair Broadcasting | PANELISTS: Bryan Shetsky, Founder/CEO, Lamark Media; Michael Beach, CEO, Cross Screen Media; Bob Ivins, Chief Strategy Officer, TVSquared - SMB Revenue for Video. SMB revenue is a large and generally untapped OTT revenue stream. This panel examines pricing, churn, and the emergence of self-serve platforms to capture more of the SMB revenue. Panelists will also address where the opportunities are and how a lot of the spending is going to social video and other video products.
MODERATOR: Jim Brown, President, Borrell Associates | PANELISTS: Joe Weir, SVP, Cox Media Group; Jennifer Scilabro, SVP, Nexstar; Paolo Romanacci, Sales Director, Compulse
Running a Successful Digital Agency Sponsored By: 
Running a successful digital agency is a fierce business. There’s an average of more than two dozen in each market across the U.S. and Canada – all competing for the hearts and minds of local businesses. For this track, we’ve put together three 45-minute sessions addressing key strategies, product profitability, what to outsource, how to win new customers, and how to wallop the competition.
- Most (and Least) Profitable Products & Outsourcing. Selling digital services are certainly popular, but not nearly as profitable as selling a media company’s “O&O” inventory. So what IS profitable among hot-selling products such as SEO, website design, social media management, video production, and other services? What’s best to outsource – or not tackle at all? This session identifies the most profitable products, those that are loss-leaders, and the in-between.
MODERATOR: Daryl Hively, Guarantee Digital | PANELISTS: Angenette Natkowski, Director of Sales, Salem Media; Kimberly Sonneborn, Beasley Media Group - Digital Agency’s Big Challenge: Attracting New Customers. Most media companies can claim less than 15% of all local businesses as their clients. Having a digital agency is a way to reach that other 85%. In this panel, speakers discuss their success developing a completely new customer base, and how successful they’ve become in cross-selling print, broadcast, cable, or other core product offerings to those new customers.
MODERATOR: Corey Elliott, EVP Local Market Intelligence, Borrell Associates | PANELISTS: Bryce Jacobson, Chief Revenue Officer, Seaton Publishing; Gary Smith, VP of Advertising, Seattle Times - Crowded Marketplace: Beating Out the Competition. With roughly 2,600 media-born digital agencies and 3,700 competing independent digital agencies in the U.S., competition has become fierce. And it’s about to get tougher. The number of media-borne agencies peaked in 2021, while the number of independents is on a path to double by 2025. This session examines the benefits to each, and tricks on what type of products, services, and sales tactics can help win the business.
MODERATOR: Daryl Hively, Guarantee Digital | PANELISTS: Jessica Reyna, Kill Your Competition; Jolene Sherman, Lee Enterprises; Jay Donovan, TEGNA
Alternative Sources of Revenue Sponsored By: 
Four 40-minute panel discussions will address:
- Who Do You Call When the Next Big Revenue Opportunity is Too Hard or Too Different? Everyone has a day job, with monthly and quarterly goals. But the next big revenue opportunity is right there, and you can’t get to it. Your team is built to do X but the next thing requires Y. In this session, you’ll learn how the GNI funded Technology Resource Center helps local publishers with small and large technological and business strategy challenges. We’ll discuss two big opportunities for your company, as well as how we can work together on them.
SPEAKER: Guy Tasaka, Managing Director, LMA Technology Resource Center - What’s the Long-Term Revenue Potential for Reader Revenue? Many news organizations were forced to accelerate their reader revenue strategy because of the decline in advertising after COVID-19. But now, many publishers are seeing revenue for subscriptions or memberships that exceed their predictions. Hear from two publishers on how their thinking has shifted when it comes to audience and metering content, as well as what they project reader revenue to bring in in the next few years.
MODERATOR: Penny Riordan, Local Media Association PANELISTS: Eric Barnes, CEO, The Daily Memphian; Vince Johnson, Group Publisher, Sumter Item and Gulf Coast Media - Sticky Strategy: Storytelling & Sponsorship. If you don’t have a storytelling sales strategy, it’s time to build one! Local media companies and ad agencies are finding six-figure sales success by focusing on combining the power of storytelling and sponsorship while engaging unique audiences. Discover actionable revenue growth steps and hear success stories combining sponsorship, custom storytelling and distribution, which they playfully call The Peanut Butter and Jelly Plan.
MODERATOR: Julia Campbell, The Meta Branded Content Project | PANELISTS: Peter Lamb, Lamb Consulting; Lenora Howze, The AFRO; Stephanie Slagle, Senior Director of Brand Agency and Sales Strategy, Graham Media
- The Missing Revenue Pillar: Philanthropic Funding. Hear how 16 publishers raised $5M in 9 months to fund news operations in LMA’s Lab for Journalism Funding, and how you can incorporate philanthropy into your overall revenue strategy.
MODERATOR: Nancy Lane, CEO, Local Media Association; Panelists: Dr. Frances Murphy Draper, Publisher and Chairwoman, AFRO-American Newspapers; Jane Wooldridge, Senior Director for Journalism Sustainability and Partnerships, The Miami Herald; Karen Rundlet, Director of Journalism, Knight Foundation
5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Cocktail PartySponsored By: 
TUESDAY, MARCH 8
PROGRAM STARTS AT 8:15 AM
Day 2 drills down on trends noted during Monday’s sessions. With so many local businesses (and individuals) enabled to become their own “media” companies, are they ready? Tuesday’s first presentation profiles these novice marketers and how they view the world, and other sessions examine how to recruit new workers. We also drill down on the exploding categories such as streaming video/OTT/CTV, sports gambling, and automotive marketing. The afternoon offers an exciting and interactive 90-minute session with the marketing leaders of tomorrow — six students from the University of Miami’s student-run marketing agency, Orange Umbrella.
An Army of Novice Marketers
Brace yourselves: An army of 20-somethings are storming the advertising world. Local research guru Corey Elliott has studied the phenomenon and describes how novice marketers are likely to view things, and whom they are teaming with as they evolve into masters.
SPEAKER: Corey Elliott, EVP of Local Market Intelligence, Borrell Associates
What the Future Holds for Local Auto Dealer Advertising
The past two years have been the most dizzying in automotive history. Sticker prices are up, ad spending is down, new cars are sold before they arrive on the lot, and used cars face unprecedented demand. Yet, there’s great opportunity for those who can help local dealerships alter their marketing to meet automotive’s new norm. The founder and CEO of one of the nation’s leading marketing services and technology companies for local dealerships offers his insights on the future of dealer advertising.
State of the Screens, 2022
Video advertising is booming, with more than $34 billion forecast to be spent this year by local businesses across TV, cable, and OTT channels. Remarkably, 60% is forecast to be spent on OTT. In this “State of the Screens” presentation, video analyst Michael Beach lays out the major trends in viewing, interactivity, and response rates, and where he sees things headed in 2022. The session will be followed by Q&A
Morning Break | 10:15 AM Sponsored By:
Where Video is Headed in 2022: Rich Insights from 1 Billion Monthly Views
The video marketplace has exploded to the point where it’s likely to be the No. 1 local advertising format — beating out spending on paid search — within two years. Few companies have as much insight as STN Video, and few have the perspective of its CEO, Matthew Watson. STN Video owns exclusive rights to all of the major leagues’ digital video content, as well as distribution rights from 200 other top video producers in everything from news to lifestyle, distributed across more than 1,900 local sites. In this session, Watson will offer a glimpse of what he’s learned watching the explosive growth in online video and where he sees the opportunities for local media in 2022 and beyond.
Recruiting the Right Talent
You’ve got the vision and strategy. Now all you need is the right talent. Finding them has been a major problem since the pandemic. In this session, recruiting expert Robert Hawthorne lays out the results of a new Hawthorne/Borrell study on issues around recruiting managers, sales reps, and other personnel. He also offers tips on how today’s companies can attract top talent without having to offer top dollars.
SPEAKER: Robert Hawthorne, President, Hawthorne Executive Search
Tackling Diversity & Inclusion
There’s been a lot of talk about striving for gender and racial diversity on staffs, but how can that be achieved at the local level – particularly in smaller, rural markets where it’s always more difficult to recruit?
SPEAKER: Monique Akanbi, Field Services Director, Society For Human Resource Management (SHRM)
High-Growth Category: Online Gambling
Ad spending by online betting apps has skyrocketed, yet more growth is to come. Half of the states in the U.S. have yet to approve sports betting, and online gambling is available in only six. What does the future hold, and is there a “local” advertising play? Ezra Kucharz, Chief Business Officer of Draft Kings and former president of CBS Local Digital Media, offers his perspective.
Preview of Borrell’s 2022 Local Advertiser Survey
What are we about to discover about local ad buyers? Borrell’s annual survey of local marketers – the largest local advertising survey in the nation – is about to kick off. Jim Brown gives a brief overview of what we’re asking this year, and why we’re asking it.
12:30 PM
LUNCH & DESSERT WITH SPONSORS
2:00PM
The Voice of Our Next-Generation of Marketers
How will those 20-somethings change the face of marketing and advertising? This interactive, 90-minute session features six University of Miami marketing students who offer their views of the world. Moderated by their college professor, the panel will discuss the importance of influence marketing, the role of social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram, how they view print and broadcast media, and where they’d advise a business to spend their marketing dollars.
MODERATOR: M.J. Barnes, School of Communications, University of Miami
SPEAKERS: Ally Polner, Computer Science & Business Sustainability major; Ashleigh Lloyd, Marketing & Business Law major; Ayden Roche, Marketing & Entrepreneurship major; Mia Porter, Africana Studies & Sociology major; Samantha Frankel, Advertising major; Jared Harwin, Business Analytics major
Wrap-up: Observations and Key Takeaways from 2 Days of Full Immersion
With a lot of help from attendees, this session boils it all down. What was most interesting? What was BS? What are the biggest takeaways you’ll bring home? This session brings it all into perspective and unlocks the insights of fellow attendees. If you’re planning to do a post-conference presentation for your staff when you get home, attending this session gives you all you need.
Panelists: Corey Elliott, Jim Brown, & the audience
CONFERENCE ENDS AT 4 PM
*Subject to change; agenda will be updated throughout the year as we confirm speakers and sessions.