Recognised as the leading marketing and communication conference in South Africa, The IMC Conference hosts a two-day event focused on applying various combinations of communication disciplines. Through the inspiring keynote presentations, the nine renowned and prominent speakers executed the conference theme - Building a Truly Integrated Marketing Ecosystem: Internal, Partnerships and External Delivery brilliantly, by providing delegates with best-practiced techniques to create a truly integrated communication strategy.
Jaco van Zyl, Managing Director of IMC Conferences, says: "We are delighted that the Durban Conference was a such a huge success, the ideas and expertise of our speakers at the conference allowed for marketing practitioners' to access the latest insights and innovative ideas and the incredible line-up of workshops that took place offer delegates an holistic experience of the conference's offering."
Unpacking this year's theme of Building a Truly Integrated Marketing Ecosystem, Sibonile Dube, Communications Director of South and Southern Africa, Unilever, unpacked the importance of internal marketing and branding through positive association, she reiterated the importance of companies marketing inwardly to their employees to ensure that external marketing strategies are implemented effectively. In keeping with the same theme, Mike Silver, Managing Director of Stretch Experiential, discussed employee engagement, the theory behind experience-lead marketing and took the audience on a journey to unpack the new employee experience of integrating experiential communication tactics.
Creative Director of Net#work BBDO, Suhana Gordon presented on the importance of client-agency relationships, how this has deteriorated of the years, she also looked at what are the elements needed for a healthy trustworthy relationship. Echoing this sentiment, Kelly Putter, Creative Director of OFYT, encourage client-agency partnerships to be more human and not just business, explaining that partnerships should have deep understanding and mutual trust for one another.
Opportunities, inspiration and consumer behaviour happens all the time and not just during offices hours, this was the words of Avukile Mabombo, Marketing Manager of Brandhouse, he challenged delegates to not look at a job as 9-5 and noted that the only way for a brand to know their consumer more intimately is by being present in their natural environment. Tom Manners, Managing Director of Clockwork Media explored the external communications theme and encouraged delegates to create great emotive and valuable content that is sharable and gains commercial action from the consumer of the brand.
The importance of paid media and getting your content seen by the right audience was discussed by Kirsty Sharman, CEO of RetroViral. This was then also explored further by Mike Sharman, Co-Founder of RetroViral Media, as he focused on remarkable content for a brand and how seeding it to the right influencers and create results for a brand that amplifies talkablity in the online space.
Lani Carstens, Managing Director of John Brown Media SA presented on how consumers have a limited attention span and brands need to ensure incredibly content that can engage consumers across a multitude of platforms.
Workshop topics at the conference address the crux of active marketing, the Future of Mobile Marketing Promotions, also addressing a quantifiable ROI in the world of content marketing and how Digital is transformational and super sexy. Workshop hosts included: Bloom Marketing, Always Activate, John Brown, Clockwork Media, Dentsu Aegis Network, Phat, Platinum Seed and Quirk.
The IMC Conferences, Silver Sponsor Phat is delighted at the success of Durban, "Following our involvement in 2014 Johannesburg IMC Conference and the remarkable synergy between us and the IMC Conferences, Phat Brand Activation has decided to again team up with IMC Conferences for 2015. We are thrilled with the success of the inaugural Durban conference and believe that the conferences are an effective medium in which we can communicate and live our Brand's motto of 'Nothing influences people like people'. We look forward to working together again for the Cape Town and Johannesburg conferences," says Christopher de Bod, Director at Phat Brand Activation.
The IMC Conference will be returning to Cape Town and Johannesburg later this year for what is proved to be the most recognised Marketing and Communication Conference in South Africa.
Cape Town Dates: 3 -4 August 2015
Johannesburg Dates: 12-13 October 2015
ABOUT THE INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATION CONFERENCE (IMC CONFERENCE):
The IMC Conference, now in its fourth year, is a two day event that takes place in Durban, Cape Town and Johannesburg, with a central theme focused on applying various combinations of communication disciplines. The conference aims to expose delegates to the latest IMC trends by educating, entertaining and engaging them with the incredible line- up of industry experts, the unique event format and the customised workshops feature. For more information, visit www.imcconference.com or call (021) 180 4111. Also connect with us on Facebook and Twitter to get the latest news.
Official Media Partners of the IMC Conference:
Adlip.com, Africa.com , Biz Takeouts, Biz Community, Juice Content, Media Update, Omni Vision, TheMarketingSite.com ,The Red Zone and World Wide Creative
Official Silver Sponsor:
Phat and Platinum Seed
Official Travel Partner:
Kulula.com
