Brands Go Direct to Tech

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Can weeklong trips to Silicon Valley teach old-school marketers new digital tricks?

Colgate-Palmolive, Bacardi, Unilever and Coca-Cola—which have built their global brands largely on the back of traditional advertising platforms—are hoping that they can.

The treks, which involve groups of 20-40 from each company, are arranged by Michael Kassan (pictured), CEO of Los Angeles media consultancy MediaLink and a slick operator who never met a conference panel he couldn’t moderate. The marketers visit Google, Facebook, Apple, Twitter, Microsoft, Amazon and Yahoo in search of digital solutions to marketing problems—a clear acknowledgement that today’s digitally savvy consumers are forcing the hands of brands that continue to spend the bulk of their marketing dollars on traditional advertising.

Implied in these tours is skepticism about the depth of digital knowledge and capabilities at ad agencies.

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