The 5th Integrated Marketing Communication Conference made an significant impact at the CTICC last week in what was arguably the most successful execution of the conference series to date. Top industry leaders delivered refreshing, insightful and thought-provoking content.
Day 1 of the conference kickstarted with Nicholas Haralambous, with his keynote on Mobile Marketing Mobile Entrepreneur and GM at Lodestone Consulting. Key points he made:
– “œMobile is not simply a single channel that we can dip in-and-out of occasionally. It should be used as a common thread running through all aspect of marketing, advertising and communication.“
– “œWe are a mobile first continent but only 1% of advertising spend goes to mobile. What are we doing with our budgets?“
Following Nic was ABSA Africa‘s CMO, Sizakele Marutlulle who presented a case study which illustrated that an integrated marketing approach aimed at engaging your target audience through “œout of the box creative thinking“ can result in a successful brand-building initiative:
– “œContext is king, content is queen and communication is changing. We do connect, but we don’t converse. Optimize the synergy between the ABCD, i.e. Audience, Brand, Content and Delivery.“
– “Great brands win when they don’t focus on their competition. They win when they focus on their customers.”
Each delegate was also given the opportunity to pre-select a maximum of 4 preferred workshops conducted by top agencies. Day one‘s hosts included Ogilvy South Africa, Everlytic, Prezence Digital, Conversion Camel and Atmosphere Communications.
Rounding off the first day was Abey Mokgwatsane, CEO of Ogilvy SA with his presentation on the notion of “˜Data‘ and “˜Creativity‘ being at war and Andy Gilder, Head of Group Digital Strategy at Machine with “œThe Internet of Things“.
Mokgwatsane pointed to:
– “œThe fundamentals of the way we understand business strategy is changing. The crucial thing is to find a complementary balance between data and creativity, mass media and one-to-one media.“
– “œYou can’t be creative without being effective and you can’t be effective without an element of creativity.“
Gilder noted that:
– “œThe future of digital is not social or mobile. It‘s physical.“
– “œStupid ideas with cool tech functionality are still stupid ideas. Agencies and brands must combine the simplicity of tech with brand essence to make IOT relevant.“
Day 2 of the conference continued on an inspiring note with Black River FC‘s Ahmed Tilly. Tilly‘s keynote presentation on “œThe Business of Feelings“ was one that resonated with the audience:
– “We are not living in the Information Age. We‘re living in the Emotional Age. Advertising that fails to evoke the desired emotion is a waste of the consumer’s time.“
– “Cult brands don’t make their logos bigger. Their followers do.”
Following Ahmed‘s keynote was Jonathan Ratcliffe of Google South Africa who took the audience through various case studies on Google‘s most impactful products including YouTube and Search:
– “œViral doesn’t just happen. You need great content, good PR and investment to kick start views.“
– “œMoon-shot thinking is choosing to be bothered by those things considered to be impossible. That‘s where innovation begins.“
Interactive workshops that kept delegates tuned in during the course of Day 2 include The Jupiter Drawing Room, Clicks2Customers, Acceleration Media, Strike Media and the DMMA.
Final keynotes were presented by Xolisa Dyeshana of Joe Public and Rebecca Cronje of Atmosphere Communications. Dyeshana presented on the topic of Direct Marketing, using powerful case studies to emphasize the incredible impact that this form of marketing still has:
– “œDirect marketing has the ability to change lives if used effectively and harnesses creativity.“
– “The smaller the budget, the more spectacular the thinking needs to be.”
Rebecca Cronje ended the day off with an enlightening keynote on the shifting roles of PR:
– “œIn the old days, advertising “˜sold‘, PR “˜told‘ and now digital “˜shares‘.“
– “œIf we don’t embrace expanding our skill set and accepting the massive shift in power from the marketer/advertiser to the consumer, we will lose and alienate customers.“
A unique component of the conference was the opportunity for delegates to complete real-time surveys rating the performance of each speaker and workshop host via SMS.
“œIn terms of quality of content and delegate attendance, this Cape Town edition of the IMC Conference stood out. Our biggest change has been the time extension of workshops which has given workshop hosts more time to engage and interact with delegates. The increase in the number of meeting requests by delegates has been testimony to that.“ ““ Jaco van Zyl, MD of Conferences at Living Your Brand.
Registration for IMC Conference Johannesburg taking place on 9th and 10th September 2013 is now open.
