The Branding of Davos
The World Economic Forum induces a binge of generous corporate giving
BY JEFF CHU Davos
The World Economic Forum may have started as a meeting of minds. But if
anything, it's now a mecca for advertisers and corporate marketing types.
You don't even have to have access to the forum itself to notice. CNBC
has slathered a pavilion across the street from the Congress Center with
its logo. And a few meters away, Sun Microsystems has rechristened a
house nearby with the company name and logo. So what does this mean for
those of us who are attending? Booty.
At an area euphemistically called "Documentation," you could pick up a
selection of coffee table books-an art history tome called "From Monet to
Moore" (Sara Lee); "A History of Progress" in auto development (Audi); or
"What Is Knowledge?", a think piece with stunning photos (ABB). And there
were other trinkets as well; Audi, for example, also offered classical
music CDs and toy cars. That's in addition to what most participants got
at registration: a canvas briefcase; Compaq's iPaq pocket PCs loaded with
software just for the weekend-e-mail capability, Intranet access-as well
as a promised upgrade to make the gadget useful post-Davos; and a
Waterman pen, courtesy of the New York Stock Exchange.
Many firms, organizations and even countries also buy the idea that a way
to a Davos attendee's heart is through the stomach. One of the Big Five
accounting firms had a dinner on Thursday night at the posh Belvedere
Hotel. Another is on the social agenda for tonight. Coca Cola targeted
the media crowd with a press lunch and a big fridge full of drinks just
outside the press room. Saudi Arabia goes all out with a reception for
forum guests; the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce flew a crew of designers and
engineers from London to oversee the technical side of the production.
And South Africa hosts a dinner next week, with President Thabo Mbeki as
the host.
The point of all this wining, dining and gift-giving? In theory, it's
good for business. A representative of one of the Big Five firms says, "A
ton of business gets done in Davos, and I'm not talking about at the
sessions." Whatever label the WEF officially slaps on participants-Media
Leaders, Global Leaders of Tomorrow, Technology Pioneers-these men and
women are above all in the top ranks of consumers and potential
investors. They are industrialists and CEOs, music industry bigwigs and a
few remaining dotcom stars. Oprah Winfrey is coming, and Quincy Jones is
already here. They control sizable personal budgets as well as company
ones. If you can get some of these high-flying hundreds to fall in love
with the iPaq, for example, this word-of-mouth could be handy for sales
figures. (Not that that's likely, given the technical glitches that have
plagued the devices in the past couple of days.) And if you can convince
a techie that the next Bangalore can be found in the sands of Saudi
Arabia, you could soon be rolling in riyals.
The commercialization of Davos is shameless. And so am I. As a lowly
journalist, I didn't get the iPaq or the pen. But I've loaded up on
books-four nice ones at last count-and those little Audis could make a
terrific gift for a young cousin. I got a WEF canvas bag, too, to take
all my loot home. It's not a bad take for the first 24 hours. And you'd
better believe I'll be back for more documentation.
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