A marketer’s guide to Advertising Week New York 2024

A marketer’s guide to Advertising Week New York 2024

Thousands of marketers will descend on the Penn District in Midtown Manhattan for Advertising Week New York this week to network with peers and hear the latest in thought leadership on trends including generative artificial intelligence (AI), commerce media and sports marketing. The annual confab, which is celebrating 20 years, is again hosted in what was formerly the Manhattan Mall, a sprawling, multi-story venue that last fall saw snaking lines — and some delays — to get into marquee panels.

Organizers have retooled the location to streamline navigation but still caution that attendees will want to come in with a concrete gameplan as attendance is on track to surpass 17,000, up from 15,000 in 2023. Below, Marketing Dive has assembled a guide for tackling the four-day gathering.

“We’ve slightly changed the floor plan. This year we’ve actually zoned it, hopefully, to make it a much easier space for people to navigate because it is so big,” said Ruth Mortimer, global president of Advertising Week.

Navigating the Penn District

The Penn District entrance for Advertising Week can be found at 100 West 33rd Street in New York between 6th and 7th Avenues, right around the corner from Herald Square and a few blocks from Penn Station. Advertising Week greeters and signage are present to point people the right way. Mortimer recommended that guests download the Advertising Week app, review it ahead of arrival and bookmark their desired sessions to attend. The app also has a Slido function for panels that allow for audience Q&As. 

People mill about several floors of the Penn District venue

The Penn District is a sprawling, multi-story complex  

Permission granted by Shutterstock

 

Inside the Penn District, each level is assigned a specific zone reflecting the discussion tracks and lounges that can be found therein. There are 28 content tracks in 2024. The top floor, or second level, of the Penn District is the Leadership Zone carrying the Great Minds and Insights stages, as well as the CMO Lounge for brand marketers. 

“Our Great Minds stage actually doubled in capacity this year in response to feedback that more people wanted to be able to get in,” said Mortimer.

The CMO Lounge, which was trialed last year, has been expanded to better accommodate senior-level marketers who need to keep up with their day jobs while at the conference. The lounge features private meeting rooms, a wellness space and even AI-powered wine tastings. 

“The idea is: If you’re a marketer, you can come to Advertising Week and both be pampered and do your job better,” said Mortimer, who explained that sister conference Advertising Week Europe recently saw a 75% increase in brand marketers.

The ground floor of the Penn District contains a podcast studio and registration area while the first lower level has been made into an Entertainment Zone containing the Creativity Stage and Media Stage. An Excellence! Lounge sponsored by Group Black and Equality Lounge presented by The Female Quotient can also be found on this floor. On Thursday, the final day of Advertising Week, it will have a Podcast Zone for audio marketers and media people. 

On the second lower level, or bottom floor, is the Trends Zone, which features The Marketplace Stage, The Tech Stage and The Innovation Stage, along with a press room that will accommodate news announcements. New this year is a Scale Up Lounge that is all about growing personal brands and businesses.

“This year, we’ve integrated a lot more networking spaces into Advertising Week,” said Mortimer. “There’s a lot of content but the thing we felt people wanted even more from us was a reason to stay and do business.”

What to drop in on in

Chats with celebrities like Drew Barrymore, Terry Crews, Lil Jon, Al Roker and Michael Strahan line the agenda and are sure to draw big crowds. Other than snagging a $1,499 Super Delegate pass, which grants access to reserved seating, the best guarantee to get into a top-billed talk is to arrive early — and be prepared to pivot when something reaches capacity. 

AI, which dominated the 2023 show, is less prominent on the schedule this year, while still occupying talks from brands like Under Armour, Moët Hennessy and Hershey. 

“AI, as a standalone thing, is not quite as prevalent as a trend. It’s more coming into reality. Commerce media, I would say, is really big for us this year,” said Mortimer. “Effectively, I would say this is the year where anyone with a high-traffic website realized they could be in advertising.” 

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