CMS Asia 2014: Exploring the world of content marketing

Content Marketing Summit (CMS) Asia is a premier event where some of the greatest minds, savvy brands, renowned publishers, innovative technology enablers and leading practitioners from across the world come together to explore the exciting world of content marketing.

While 'content' as a discipline isn't anything new, the rapid expansion of digital media and the growing clout of social media have altered content marketing in unexpected ways. According to experts worldwide, metamorphosis presents exciting new opportunities for brands, publishers, agency partners and independent creators alike.

Content Marketing Summit (CMS) Asia, as the name suggests, is a premier event where some of the greatest minds, savvy brands, renowned publishers, innovative technology enablers and leading practitioners from across the world come together to explore the exciting world of content marketing.

Backed by ACMA (Asia Content Marketing Association), CMS Asia endeavours to bring leading practitioners from across the world together to explore the world of content marketing.

To be held during January 31-February 1, 2014, it is a two-day conference where the first day is reserved for speaker presentations and panel discussions around the subject. The second day will see workshops on content marketing to put learning from the first day into action. There will be two workshops, one for the brands and the other for the agencies, content creators and publishers.

The event is a property of Kontent Café, which is a part of the Sirez Group. "There was no such event across Asia on content marketing so we thought of starting it from India. Next edition we plan to take it to Singapore and Hong Kong. We also have plans to felicitate good work in content marketing space through CMS Awards on the first day," says R P Singh, CEO, Sirez Group.

Singh adds that the event is being promoted on TV and online with heavy focus on social media. Though the sponsors are not yet finalised, the event partner is afaqs! and it is supported by ACMA Singapore.

The organisers have also confirmed participation from Volkswagen, Groupon, Yahoo, GroupM, Adobe and Economist as speakers.

Speaking about the event, Umang Bedi, managing director, South Asia, Adobe, and advisory board member of CMS Asia, comments, "If content is at the heart of what you do, you must recognise the importance of marketing it right. The playing field for marketers has not only widened tremendously, but is changing and evolving. There is no standard playbook to ensure success because content marketing is both a science and an art. A platform like CMS Asia will give you the opportunity to not only understand the science behind content marketing, but also listen to and interact with industry experts and see the art behind it."

The event targets marketers, publishers and content creators (writers, bloggers, journalists).

"Clearly, the objectives and expectations from the event are threefold: SHARE - knowledge and ideas by thought leaders and practitioners; CONNECT - marketers, publishers, content creators, technology enablers; and ACTION - translate learnings into actionable steps through workshops," Singh adds.

"Most conferences and summits stop at enlightening. But with CMS Asia, we want that enlightenment or wisdom gained to translate into action. A day dedicated to practical workshops is all about that. We at ACMA (Asia Content Marketing Association) are excited about this, as it's a much-needed initiative in this part of the world," says Vaasu Gavarasana, co-founder of ACMA and APAC business head of Yahoo!.

"While the discipline of content marketing itself isn't anything new, the rapid expansion of digital media and the growing clout of social media have altered content marketing in unexpected ways. This metamorphosis presents exciting new opportunities for brands, publishers, agency partners and independent creators alike," says Vijay Simha Vellanki, co-founder of Kontent Café, the start up behind CMS Asia.