[IMCC] "Out-imagine your competition" - Dan Pinch

Earned media - start a public conversation

Comedian Paul Snodgrass, MC for the event, launched proceedings unconventionally with a "Mexican clap" (similar to a Mexican wave but conducted in a room, not a stadium) and welcomed to the podium Dan Pinch, creative director at Atmosphere and founding member of +one at the King James Group, to discuss 'PR and the power of earned media for brand building'.

Pinch (@danpinch) focused on earned media - both traditional and new media - editorial coverage which a company doesn't pay for, but gets people talking.

"The more earned media you have, the less you have to pay on advertising," said Pinch.

PR 2.0 should aim to start a public conversation, said Pinch, which can be consumed and interacted with everywhere and isn't necessarily forgotten quickly. Active contributors in the social media sphere, whether it's blogs, Twitter or Facebook, latch onto new interesting things and put a different spin on it and spread it even further.

Integrated media campaign

Pinch maintained that a campaign is not as powerful if it is not integrated into various media, both online and offline. As an example, he used the Kulula 2010 FIFA World Cup campaign that employed various media platforms which in turn generated hype and had people talking both online and offline. The campaign saw a 33% increase in ticket sales.

He noted that old school creative teams need to be reshuffled and become more integrated, involving PR and marketing departments together to generate creative ideas.

"If you want to be an interesting brand, you have to do creative things," said Pinch. "If you can't outspend your competition, you can out-imagine them."

Bad advertising costs

Chris Moerdyk (@ChrisMoerdyk) - corporate marketing analyst, advisor and media commentator, and Bizcommunity non-executive chairman and columnist - was the second keynote speaker for the morning, presenting on 'Getting the most out of your marketing budget'.

"Marketing is nothing more than a checklist by which to ensure absolute efficiency," he said.

Moerdyk began by highlighting that R50 billion is wasted every year in South Africa on bad marketing and advertising decisions. Twenty percent of marketing in the country doesn't work and, in his opinion, damages the brand.

Getting the most out of a marketing budget

Refering to Colin Adcock's 12-point marketing checklist, Moerdyk noted that it is important to look at each point in relation to the other, but the most important things to do are to "audit campaigns, actions and strategies before, during and after the campaign".

Moerdyk suggested using a 'zero budget departure' - start assuming you don't have enough money at the beginning of the campaign. He also suggested considering dual branding - targeting the same market together with another brand that you are not in competition with.

As with Pinch, he advised having the PR and marketing departments work together.

Role of social media

Social media doesn't play an enormous role in selling products, but it does in the measurement of a brand's success, said Moerdyk. "It is important to monitor online conversations on social media and is imperative as a strategy."

Using social media requires a different approach in different companies, said Moerdyk, and it is important to do one's homework but to not become obsessed with it.

Other keynote speakers for day one of the conference include Dale Hefer, founder of Chillibush Communications and Sarita Mans and Christina Forsdyke, CRM director and strategic planning director respectively at Wunderman.

Day two's keynote speakers are Vincent Maher, co-founder of Mo-tribe; Walter Pike of Pike.co.za; Ben Wagner, CEO of Stonewall; Prof. Melius Weideman, SEO Author and research professor at Cape Peninsula University of Technology.

For more:

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