Text 100 Panel: Building Brands Online

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Building brands and earning customer loyalty in the age of social media – this will be the subject of a discussion panel hosted by Text 100 Germany, at the international media conference Medienwoche@IFA.
Focusing on the opportunities and challenges presented by online branding, the debate will cover such questions as: Is it possible to manage brand development and loyalty in Web 2.0? Do brands still hold any significance for people? Who do brands belong to? And how can they be protected?

Research has shown a positive correlation between the time a business invests in its online presence and its success. A study of the world’s 100 most valuable brands, carried out by Text 100 and Context Analytics, showed that a business’s media presence can be responsible for approximately a quarter of its value. The 2008 Interbrand Best Global Brands Report found that 27 percent of the differences between brand values could be attributed to media presence. Considering the explosive growth of social media in recent years, this percentage is likely to increase in the future.

But this growth has opened up new questions: Is it even possible to manage a business’s media presence and image? With consumers’ influence on brand image expanding thanks to their new role as prosumers, how much power do they now wield?
Democratization of the Web is changing the way people form opinions. In the past conversations and topics were restricted to a consumer’s social circle. These days conversations are available for everyone to see and opinions are exchanged at a global level. We trust recommendations from digital friends, experts and celebrities more than businesses.

Transparency, openness, honesty and a focus on dialogue have become the fundamental building blocks of successful marketing communications. The new requirements of the digital age are forcing brand managers to rethink conventional wisdom. Despite this, a recent survey published by PR Week found that 70 percent of brand managers have never used feedback from social media to improve products or services. All too often businesses hesitate to introduce online branding activities for fear of losing control of their brands. Many do not even trust their employees’ social media habits; how can they expect consumers to trust their brand?

Join us as we discuss the opportunities and challenges presented by online branding with a panel of industry experts.
• Dr. Tim E. Fischer, Ravensburger AG, Innovation and Digital Business Development
• Hermin Charlotte Hainlein, Coca Cola, Manager Consumer Communications
• Yousef Hammoudah, MTV Networks, Head of Interactive Product Development & Management
• Alexander Lengen, Paypal, Senior Manager Corporate Communications
• Michael Umlauf, brandamazing, Brand Consultant
• Hosted by Ines Bieger, Text 100, Managing Consultant and Lars Basche, Text 100, EMEA Social Media Consultant
The event is aimed at visitors to the Medienwoche@IFA, communications and marketing professionals, business executives, media representatives, bloggers and other opinion leaders.