“How To Engage With Customers”

At a time when technology is changing the way we behave, with brands facing ever stiffer competition, Newsnight’s Gavin Esler introduced three highly accomplished speakers to share their insight into ‘How To Engage With Customers.’

With more than 20 awards to his name, Scott Seaborn is Head of Mobile Technologies at Ogilvy Group UK. Mobile already accounts for 20% of internet use, and Scott explores how each business sector can harness the potential. Complete with music sequencer, his presentation revealed a future of voice search, image recognition and ‘augmented reality.’

Rita Clifton is President of the Market Research Society and chair of the consultancy that assembles the Best Global Brands list. She defines a brand as an organising idea to set a company apart from the competition. ‘If you don’t have trust, you can’t have a brand.’ Rita spoke about reputation, internal brand management and digital branding – a world where mistakes are never laid to rest.

As Global Brand Director at Green & Black’s, Mark Palmer repositioned the organic chocolate bars as a more mainstream product and saw turnover rise ten fold – even before the sale to Cadbury. He advocates investing in brand rather than machinery, and being very clear about who you’re targeting.