The Progress Conference on Branding and the Digital Marketing Revolution

The Progress Conference on the 16th May arguably promises to be one of the most prestigious, inspiring and information rich events on the calendar for marketing, branding and retailing professionals in South Africa

Honoured by Time Magazine in 2009 as one of the 100 most influential people – the people who most affect our world
Martin Lindstrom was honoured by Time Magazine for his brave leap into neuroscience to study the biology of consumer desire. Google does it with clicks and links and Lindstrom does it with neurons, blood flow and the most advanced brain imaging technology.

Martin will be visiting South Africa to present his very latest findings on Branding and the Digital Marketing Revolution – 2013 and beyond.
Be the first to discover the latest secrets of online social media as Martin Lindstrom takes you behind the scenes to expose the secrets of brand ownership – what people are getting right and what people are getting wrong. Backed by millions of dollars of research Martin Lindstrom is acclaimed by world leading marketing authorities, Faith Popcorn, Philip Kotler and Don Peppers amongst others.

In this one day programme on 16th May 2013, he will present the latest findings on:
• rE-Tailing – From Brick and Mortar to Click and Mortar
• Brand Sense – How the science of neuro-marketing rationalises the irrational behaviour of human beings
• Brand ROI – The future of best returns on your brand
• Brand Ethics – Getting your house in order before we see a “wikileaks” of brands

Martin has predicted that if brands do not get their house in order we are sure to see a “wikileaks” of brands. Just as we see disclosed information about governments around the world – we could see a similar situation for brands.

In March 2013, Dion Chang revealed how 24% of Wall Street believe illegal or unethical behaviour is necessary to succeed. Companies that have their house in order have nothing to fear – but those that don’t should anticipate nothing less than a branding and PR disaster. Our increasingly open and social world is becoming disparate with the rush to make money. Consumers are demanding more honesty, integrity and respect and your brand needs to reflect this in all that you project and do. Lindstrom highlights how companies like Nestle and P & G have developed internal ethics standards and urges companies to consistently assess the perception of their brands.

Lindstrom presents these robust concepts in a spellbinding way and will share his latest research and techniques to develop your Brand ROI.

According to Lindstrom, “I am an obsessive fan of the consumer. Whilst technology enables us to recover all past history of consumer’s surfing patterns we need to contemplate if this is good or bad news for advertisers.How far, can, or should companies go to collect data and act upon it? The concept of privacy is rapidly changing and the tricks you may use to manipulate the minds of consumers can be both negative and positive. I believe in treating my customers like I would a close friend.” His latest work is defining brand ethics guidelines. For more information on Martin Lindstrom and the event programme visit www.theprogressconference.com