Social media presence? Check. What’s next?

Singapore, Singapore, May 26, 2012 --(PR.com)-- Marketers need to bridge silos in order to fully integrate digital and traditional brand-building strategies

While marketing professionals today acknowledge that social media has fundamentally changed how consumers engage with brands, few realise the importance of not just including, but integrating social media into their long-term marketing communications plan. Instead, the danger is often to think of social media as its own entity, separate from other marketing initiatives. As a result, consumers are often left confused about the brand’s value proposition, marketing efforts are duplicated and resources are wasted on messages that serve no impact on consumers.

As Jon Hoel, Practice Lead Community Marketing at digital agency Possible Worldwide explains, “Although the concept of integrated marketing communications has been around for decades, and most of our marketing is integrated in one way or another, many companies still fail to realize a single view of the customer and communicate as a unified business.”

Because consumers see companies as one entity and one brand, their interaction with a brand through various consumer touchpoints determines their ultimate value of the brand. Merely having a social media presence is not enough to deliver true value and relevance; rather it is how brands do social, and how social media contributes to the overall marketing strategy that counts. Jon adds, “Businesses today need to adopt a new mindset and approach, planning for social media and internal collaboration tools from a whole-of-business perspective across multiple touch points, and empowering employees to communicate with customers in a more authentic way.”

Furthermore, the challenge of achieving reach and engagement at scale in an increasingly fragmented and questioning environment seems all the more pertinent within Asia, as countries struggle to play catch-up with their European counterparts in terms of digital development and technological infrastructure. Suresh Ramaswamy, Regional Director, Social of Leo Burnett/ARC Worldwide notes, “Each market within Asia is varied in terms of maturity and nuance, so the challenge is to develop work in tune with relevant social & cultural hooks that are either specific to the country or universal.”

Adrian Lee, Chief of Digital Marketing & Technology at Yolk, a Grey Group company elaborates, “The key challenge is the shift away from mass communication to a two-way conversation between consumers and companies, with people becoming more and more vocal as more avenues are open to them. This makes the challenges and opportunities unique in Asia, together with the fact that we are seeing less than homogenous consumer behaviors across the region in their consumption of digital.”

The reason why many brands in Asia find it difficult to integrate their digital and traditional marketing strategies essentially boils down to one thing - execution without purpose. According to Gregory Birgé, Founder and CEO of F5 Digital Consulting, “From operationalising social media across the organisation to getting their brand message across, their consumers are often neither heard nor taken into account despite all the technologies and platforms available today. Tools are not properly used, and behind tools and technology, brands rely solely on partners who are mostly just doing Digital Marketing instead of Marketing in a Digital World.”

In light of the challenges above, a two-day conference on “Integrated Marketing Communications 2012” will be held on 30 – 31 July in Singapore and 2 – 3 August in Hong Kong. With expert insights from Lisa Watson, Regional Segment Manager, Hewlett-Packard Asia Pacific, Timothy Hou, Associate Director of Communications, Marina Bay Sands, Sean Seah, Vice President eBusiness, Loyalty and Partner Marketing (Global) of Langham Hospitality Group and the above-mentioned speakers among others, this conference aims to enable brands to relook both their traditional and digital marketing strategies and develop a crystal clear value proposition that not only rises above the social media clutter but is heard by potential consumers at the right place and time.

Attendees can also look forward to learning strategies on developing a holistic crisis communications framework as well as specific tools to calculate the long-term ROI of marketing efforts and customer engagement plans across platforms.

Conference Details:
Title: Integrated Marketing Communications 2012
Date & Venue: 30 - 31 July 2012, Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel, Singapore
2 – 3 August 2012, Regal Hongkong Hotel, Hong Kong

Organiser: Pacific Conferences
Contact Person: Ms Shakirah Djuanda
DID: (65) 6592 7365
Email: shakirah@conferences.com.sg

Full programme can also be found at: http://www.conferences.com.sg/conf-imc9.htm

About Pacific Conferences
Pacific Conferences specialises in organising business conferences aimed at providing interactive, insightful information and analysis about issues facing businesses in Asia-Pacific. Our conferences are developed through thorough research and a deep understanding of the critical concerns facing industry professionals. They are addressed by experts and leaders who have deep knowledge and practical experiences in their respective areas.

More information may be found at www.conferences.com.sg