Getting To Know You – Rethinking Digital Branding

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An organisation’s website is often the first place consumers go to look for information about brands these days.

Be it a car manufacturer, government department, travel firm, charity or a multinational FMCG product, consumers make a whole set of assumptions about the brand based on the online experience. This evening event will look at how that relationship can be framed and enhanced.

As a recent AOL/Henley Centre report discovered, online’s impact is huge as almost half of UK online consumers have changed their mind about brands as a result of using the Internet. Is that because one brand site is better at communicating the brand’s offering than another site? Or are decentralised consumer postings on online forums and blogs saying more about a brand or the services it offers than the official site?

Moreover, with almost every brand imaginable having an online presence these days, how do you develop a meaningful brand experience for fast moving consumer goods online? What do you really want to know about a can of fizzy drink?

WAP’s re-emergence and the growth of increasingly sophisticated 2.5 and 3G handsets will also be catered for as we consider how to develop branding in mobile space.

Our panel of industry branding experts will address virtual and mobile branding, exploring specific cases that reveal the issues and opportunities facing today’s consumer brands in digital media.

Margaret Manning - CEO, Reading Room
In 1996 Margaret jointly founded Reading Room, now one of the UK's top five independent award winning digital communications company with 2 UK locations and Sydney office. Margaret is also lead project director for many of Reading Room's larger project for clinets such as The Disability Rights Commission, British Library, The Law Society and The Energy Saving Trust. A keynote speaker, presenting for amongst others, the Institute of Directors, Professional Services Marketing Group, IIR, QDOS, New Media Group, The Law Society and The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, she is also the Internet editor of FD Centre magazine, and is one of the regular team of experts commenting in Internet Magazine. Prior to joining Reading Room Limited she was a senior manager at 3i plc involved in business process re-engineering.

Richard Crabb - Design Director, Start Creative
Richard has many years experience in design and brand management in business to business and consumer goods and services, on both the client and agency side. Working as Design Manager for Virgin Atlantic he managed global development of the brand culminating in a very successful corporate identity rebrand and livery programme. Operating in a similar capacity as Brand Manager for UK telecoms brand Orange he delivered award winning brand development and management tools across the UK business. He is currently heading up the Design Team at UK top ten independent agency Start Creative, the agency have picked up numerous industry awards and accolades for design and branding across a mix of clients including: Royal Mail, Hertz, Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Mobile, and the BBC.

Craig Hill - Managing Director, Digital Outlook
Craig has 20 years of experience in marketing, IT and multimedia, starting his full-time career explaining what that funny ‘mouse thing’ was dangling from the keyboard of Apple Lisa and Macintosh computers. For the last 10 years he has specialised in the introduction of new multimedia technologies in media, playing an active role in the introduction of PC-based Digital Video technologies in the early 90s, and establishing Foresight New Media as one of the pioneering UK New media agencies in 1995. Over an 8 year period, Foresight developed in a number of new market areas, including a multidiscipline online and offline marketing agency, opening international offices, own product development and interactive TV, all through organic growth and joint ventures. Craig is now Managing Director for Digital Outlook.

Daniel Letts - Consultant, Wolf Olins
Daniel Letts is a consultant at leading branding agency Wolff Olins with more than 10 years’ experience in interactive media. He has worked on a number of high profile projects for clients such as Abbey, AOL, BBC, BBVA, BT, Go, Hutchison 3G, Indesit, Reuters, and Unilever. Daniel began his career as a documentary and film producer, is a trained architect, and studied computing at postgraduate level with Middlesex University. He has also lectured in ‘Online Branding’ at New Media Knowledge, and the Surrey Institute of Art and Design. Currently, he's looking at ways in which government and commercial service delivery can learn from the online experience.

Dan Bambach - Producer, Lateral
Dan joined Lateral in 2003 to manage and produce their Levi's Europe account, handling the development of the award-winning www.eu.levi.com and a range of other campaigns. Upon leaving university in 1994, Dan joined the Cyberia/Easy Net group working across training courses and press relations and then left to in 1995 to co-found the press agency Virtual Publishing House. In late '96 he went freelance developing web marketing products for UIP, Virgin Books and V2 music who he eventually joined. In March 2002 Dan joined Eidos/Eidoscope as Product Manager responsible for the development of a multiplayer chat environment for customers including ITV-F1 and ITV-Football.

Chris Clarke - Creative Director, Wheel
Chris Clarke has worked in the online advertising industry since 1999. Chris is a writer and the Executive Creative Director of full service digital agency Wheel where he continues to do creative work for among others, ABSOLUT, BT, Opodo, Starbucks and Inbev. Prior to joining Wheel Chris was one of the founding members in the UK of pioneering online advertising agency Abel & Baker.

Report on the event.