Chicago — Reinventing marketing was the key topic in an EXPO keynote session yesterday featuring Sergio Zyman, former chief marketing officer of The Coca-Cola Co.

“The old rules of marketing are dead,” he told attendees at McCormick Place. “You've got to have a plan.”

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Brand positioning defines strategy, he said, stressing that advertising must appeal to consumers rather that the marketers themselves. What were once considered “tried and true” marketing tactics are no longer true, he said, adding the Internet has caused significant changes in every industry.

“We’re going to go through tremendous change,” he told suppliers. “All of us have routines, but if you want to reinvent your marketing future, you have to kill some of them. In business, you actually have to go through a change to get to where you want to be.”

Routines, he says, prevent marketers from tapping into their creative energy. He encouraged companies to set strategic plans, give budgets to projects, invest in marketing and communicate about their brands as much as possible to achieve successful business and return on investment.