Prior to the first tsunami in Asia, tsunami is just a word in the dictionary. Most people did not know what the word stands for, how it operates. All of us could not imagine the huge impact an occurrence can have on humanity. This was followed by ‘Hurricane Katrina’ which was the USA version under George Bush.

Since the second outbreak, wise nations have trained experts and put structures in place to forestall further outbreak or minimize its effects. There are lots of ‘tsunamis’ happening right in front us today within marketing communications industry. The level of disruption has caught many brands unaware.

Even when there is clear sign of changes, many brands are still assuming that marketing tsunami does not concern them or will never change the dynamics of the trade. I can not but laugh out loud. Joe Puzilli has once said ‘we are seeing nothing less than a tsunami affecting business of every size, regardless of what they are selling’. Instead of readjusting their contact lenses in order to see well, Many brands will rather pretend it will not affect them. Many brands are still complaining that technology has brought a lot of damage to their business/sales- especially traditional media.

What they have failed to realize is that every disadvantage carries with it a correspondence opportunity. Technology has opened more doors of opportunities to every brand than the ones closed. It I just that they have not taken time to study the parameters of the tsunami. Over concentration on old patterns of news coverage, marketing will not allow traditional media brands to see untold numbers of opportunities to increase revenue despite the influence of social media on their trade.

Also some personal brands will rather continue with ‘resume posting’, looking for jobs on the job boards than building a strong personal, networking, global brand positioning through solid, creative online presence. We are in a stage where marketing tsunami is still changing the dynamics of operation. Wise brands have realized this and are adapting. The new brand marketing trend demands that each brand build strong connection with its consumer instead of talking at them.

The new marketing also demands that brands elevate their consumers from just an acquaintance to good bed fellow/passionate lovers. Brands needs to get over the initial shock of this marketing tsunami disruptions of old patterns and move on with the present demands. The advent of brand marketing tsunami began about a decade and half ago but its effects became pronounced in the last decade and it is not likely to end until its disrupt the old pattern.

Anyway that is my view. A wise brand should make available fund for social media whether it is hundred years old or a start up. Robert Kiyosaki was quoted last year as saying ‘I am a bit old to focus on social media now but I spend an average of two hundred thousand dollars monthly through hired employees or consultants on social media, online reputation etc’.

Today a five minute ad, a five page ad in the Dailies may not create a meaningful relationship with customers. Meanwhile they still need to be part of brands’ communication tools/plans.

Internet has become a driving force for brand globalization. It has granted an increasing speed to the wheel of business transaction. That accounted for more brands embracing the internet. No brand exists today without a Google resume. Having established that there are several opportunities for brand to promote and build engagement on the internet without much cost and this also goes for website  hosting  too. Our discussion today will centred on one of these opportunities offered by the internet. The internet comes with a possibility of holding a webinar-this is called seminar on the internet- with various categories of audience while they remain at the confinement of their chosen locations. They must have internet access on their PC. Holding a webinar requires that the brand has a software that can help in this regard. Basically such softwares are free. Only that it requires a proper briefing of brand teams that will handle the webinar. Anyone who is interested can get the rudiment in few minutes. To begin with, what a brand needs is to first identify the target audience. Because the target audience will determine what the content of the entire webinar will look like. The target audience may be brand’s sales team in different locations or they can be customers who need update on brand’s product and services. The webinar may also target potentials. In this case the essence is to create awareness and sell advantages of partnering with the brand. Other things to take note of are the title of the webinar-must be appealing to target audience, the date has to be chosen with careful consideration for the target audience location. There is no need for holding a webinar without the target audience attendance. The brand needs to send invitation on time through phone calls, fax, emails and other means that can reach the audience.

In preparing also, send reminder, get your entire presentation ready before the deal date and if possible the brand’s team should have a rehearsal to be sure that everything is properly set. This will show professionalism on your part as well as increase brand perception. Remember first impression still counts. If you mess up the first time, you may not get the participants attention when next you call. Be careful also to use easy to understand technology for both your team as well as the participants. You must build excitement throughout the webinar otherwise you may not be able to sustain their interests, Be absolutely prepare for question time. In this regard, get all the props you need to be present before you go life. Be sure the main speaker is interesting and keep a smiling face all through. Do not forget to record the session also for those who can not make it. The recorded version can be sent to them. This add credibility. It also shows that the webinar was held as promised. After the webinar. Make sure you follow up on the decisions that were jointly reached.

The following benefits are accruable to a brand that annexes this method.

Time and cost saving: a webinar allows the brand to safe cost and time on getting all the participants in a physical location. It also helps to reach greater audience and generates lead from unsolicited audience who may have seen the advert on the internet. It helps to build brand as a resource for participants understanding of what the brand stands for. In conclusion, it helps build strong rapport, generates feedback for the brand from potential clients.

Sometimes when we consider what has been said in the praise of word of mouth, we may  feel people are over flogging the issue. The truth is word of mouth marketing is the future and backbone of marketing. A brand that enjoys great and outstanding word of mouth will gain substantial market share as brand may not reach that status until it has built strong emotional attachment to itself. In my research on why WOM is important, I recently stumbled on an article that  captures it essence. In the said article, word of mouth article is associated with pre-existing phenomenon that people of past ages used which is today being re-invented, harnessed, amplified and improved. Word of mouth isn’t about creating word of mouth.  It is learning how to make it work within a marketing objective. Word of mouth energizes people to share their experiences. It is the agglomeration of the voices of the customer for the good of the brand. And it is the acceptance of the fact that unsatisfied customer is equally powerful.

Word-of-mouth ranges from a variety of subcategories, including buzz, blog, viral, grassroots, and niche influencers. The personal nature of the communications between individuals is believed to add a lot of credibility. Research points to individuals being more inclined to believe WOM than more formal forms of promotion. That does not in any way mean promotion does not work. The receiver of word-of-mouth referrals tends to believe that the communicator is speaking honestly and is not likely to have an ulterior motive. Let us examine few benefits of word of mouth.

1. Trust: Word of mouth builds trust among community

2. Credibility: This speaks of integrity, standing, sincerity, authority. Promotion, advertising may not be able

3. Increase viral relevance: Word of mouth helps build viral relevance and significance

4. It helps solidify brand position

Many brands are concerned why they could not stand out. But when we check out, they have being trying to become a popular jingo brand. Trying to satisfy everyone. In few cases some are not but they are missing out some core ingredients that make brands stand out. For a brand to stand out, focus must be in place as well as a constant re-evaluation of brand’s philosophy, vision will go a long way to put the brand in correct view of its power and relevance. The top management must also demonstrate their conviction of the brand’s relevance by being good representatives of the brand in all form and be highly committed to the promotion of brand’s niche. Being the brand themselves requires that they use the brand item wherever they may be. I have noticed that some executives are not so proud of the brands they represent or what excuse will they give to be using other brand items that are owned by competitors. Let take a quick tip on what makes a stand out.

Positive attitude: ever brand must radiate an attitude that is positive. Even if it is not personal brand, we must remember that brands have personality. The personality of every brand can be felt no matter how hard the brand owners want to conceal it. Be a brand that shows the brighter side of life. Let all the brand campaigns manifest positive attitude that are infectious.

Communication: Package well your brand communication technique so much that it enhances brand differentiation.

Shift thinking: never allow your brand to fall in love with old ideas that is no longer works. Be open to new ideas and be a yardstick for new value- added innovation.

Embrace technology: Make life better for your market through the aid of latest technology. Use technology to your brand’s advantage.

Idea and leadership: take a stand; be at the fore-front of that idea. Pursue great idea and those social responsibility opportunities that can enhance brand’s profile.

Today we are faced with billions of interruptive marketing. It is every where. When you log on to yahoo or any of the popular social networking media, you are daily bombarded with flashes of interruptive marketing or advertising to use the known language. It has become the major source of revenue of most free sites where people can open account. As much as I do not have any misgiving about that, I am of the opinion that brands should begin to see ways such channels can be used to add value instead of playing the “ME too” game. Many brands should see the handwriting on the wall by now but alas, their consultants, Ad agencies in collaborations with in-house experts are more interested in what they will gain than what is good for the brand.

There is nothing bad in creating this channel for a brand as long as there is a subtle connection of value-adding benefits to the audience whose privacy is being infiltrated. According to one internet article, Interruptive marketing is the process of interrupting prospective clients from whatever they are doing at the moment… to get their attention in order to begin/further sales relationship.

In the early part of world wide wed introduction, interruptive marketing works because of its persistence, hard work among other factors. More importantly it works because it resonated with the time where information passage reigned supreme. The other factor that aided the effectiveness of interruptive marketing then was its newness.

Today time has changed, interruptive marketing has become an irritation and it is wearing out prospective clients yet that has not informed many brand owners to device a new direction to follow. Even though this system can still be used, it must obey the present age rule. Today many hardly look at such marketing strategy especially in the social media platforms that are meant to be where we meet friends, socialize. The worst offense is to start a sales pitch. People are developing strategy to avoid many of the platforms that promote such marketing tactics.

These interruptive marketing messages can be redrafted to establish relationship that will lead potentials from being an acquaintance, to consideration, interest and a final decision process which make the potential to become a fan. Seth Godin captures the essence of this in a book “permission Marketing” when he maintained that marketers, brands have no right to sell in most of these social networking sites (italics mine) but to initiate first a permission to start a relationship that will probably lead to the road of connection. As we know we hardly give a total stranger a chance to start sales pitch at the first encounter. The wisdom in this is that even if brands have to “advertise” in social media platform, the wordings of all their interruptions should be drafted in a way that will lead the potential to a site where content marketing or the usefulness of the brand is already store. I think after this process should sales pitch be introduced otherwise, the first impression created may take several efforts to erase. The challenge with this is that Ad agency- because of the need to show ROI- will always counsel brand owners to the contrary. What a calamity! On the other hands, potentials they want to reach also hate unsolicited advert that is out to sell in a social gathering. Interruptive marketing has become an assault today on the potentials and this is against the rule of etiquette. Brand through their ads on social media should begin a process of asking for permission to be a friend, be ready to accept no or be gentle on their psyche through use of  “suggestive” words like a guy who needs a date.

On social media platform, I will want to agree with what Seth Godin says “You can either appear like a shameless flirt or as a gentleman”. Brands need to foreclose the road of aggressive approach they are now using and become gentlemen. I am of the opinion that permission strategy will work better than interruption, guerilla methods being used by brands today. Interruptive marketing is becoming noisy, wasteful, annoying and damaging and the difference in all is the approach and the wordings of the adverts. Most of them are devoid of any value-adding content or a direction to one.Most are laden with highly sentimental contents that are repeated everyday. What happens to creativity? They are already in saturation stage, brand owners please change!

Its recession time and most people do not want to be sold. Everyone is working hard to save money as they do not get to earn more money. The level of job cut down has increased. so, selling, getting people to part with their money may become so much a hard job.

But in the mix of these a strong professional personal brand will still holds sway. Marketing and sales professional executives must therefore develop a strong personal brand options that may add value than just collecting clients’ money. The rules of the game have changed and playing the old tactics will be harmful. Marketing and sales executives should look at the following that may add up to building a strong personal brand.

1. Brand education: to be successful, the professional must have adequate knowledge about the brand. The backbone of marketing and sales today is brand education. So professional must forget marketing and sales to concentrate on educating the clients. This should concentrate on features and ‘use-ability’. Projecting the benefits with regards to how the brand will reduce cost for the user.

2. Everything communicates: To enhance your personal brand, realize that everything about you and around you communicates. Invest in your look, dress, public speaking, relationship building. A successful professional today will not only become successful on the wing of a great product again.

3. Build trust: trust is a vital element that will aid your professional success in this economic crunch. Are you trustworthy? Trust =reliability and dependability.

4. Personal identification: as a sales, marketing executive, are you identified with the product you are selling. If you represent or sell a particular brand of phone but you use another brand, you are not identified with your product. Customers have a way of concluding that if your brand is so good, why you are not using it.

5. You have a personal brand: always remember that you have a personal brand. This demands that you do not promote or sell what is not You. If you proclaim that you have a strong moral standing but you are selling pornographic materials people will doubt your personal brand.

# The remaining points will be featured in my soon to be released free e- book “Personal Branding For First Class Professionals”

Conversation marketing is the new way of marketing. The old structure of pushing out information is dying. Marketing today takes place at the discussion level. Is your brand there yet? It is true that joining the conversation as a brand owner may be technical, but rightful application of conversation marketing tools and web 2.0 help brand to look outward and found the conversation that are relevant to build important business relationship.

The mistake I have noted many make is that many want to join the conversation in a reactive instead of proactive manner. Let us examine some of the advantages accruable to being a conversation marketer.

1. Conversation marketing helps brand’s Public relations and customer service: go find out, people feel at home with someone they have interacted with before than a total stranger.

2. Conversation Marketing helps build relationship: Brand’s relationship ties become stronger with the stakeholders when it engages in conversation with them.

3. It creates enthusiasm among peers: Conversation marketing creates eagerness, passion for more, zeal to help among the stakeholders.

4. It instills customer loyalty: Customers feel more at home with your brand and believe they own you.

5. It increases trust and corporate memory: Through interaction, corporate brands can recall customers’ comment and complaints and have good understanding of how to deal with such customers in the future.

6. Conversation marketing helps customers to make informed decision that is not spurious.