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.

In one of my previous articles here I did mention that most of our brands efforts on the internet here are focused on social media abuse through web advertising in social media platforms.

In recent times, we are pleased to note that changes are taking place from unexpected sources. The non-profits are taking the bull by the horns. A particular example is the social medial virtual effort to promote and create awareness for a leadership conference organized by a non denominational outfit named Daystar Christian Centre in Lagos. The first step taken in this regard is to hire a web designer who is versed in e-marketing, e-commerce tools. The outfit went ahead to create a customized website for the conference outside the official website owned by the brand.

To ensure activities of the conference become viral, the church created a Facebook and Twitter accounts to aid brand awareness and promotion. These will all spread the buzz about the programme. Knowing that distribution of content is also important to make it viral, the outfit encourages its over ten thousand members, who are mostly youth and internet savvy, to join the Facebook homepage, download the profile picture and use it as their profile pictures for the period the programme will last. More importantly, the members are also encouraged to tag their friends and contacts with the programme banner used as profile picture.

With regard to the twitter account, each member is also encourage to follow, tweet the activities of the programme, use harsh tag (#) to create a buzz around their tweets. While we are still monitoring this effort with regards to ROI, measuring the effect of this viral initiative, we for see these efforts going viral if there is a hundred percent compliance from the congregation to instruction given. 

An honest assessment of this effort though is that creating accounts on any platform whatsoever is the beginning of the deal.  There is an absolute need for commitment to continually update status. Mere creation of accounts without a corresponding effort in building emotional attachment with the advocate will not help matter. To retweet, there must be enough information that followers can act on. Also in other to slightly differentiate its social media effort campaign (which has a little disadvantage from permission), efforts must be made to buy in followers at their own term. For those who want to know more about online campaign, they can check this article. A consistent effort can be made to speak glowingly about the benefits of the programme, the quality of the speakers and what attendees stand to gain instead of limiting tweets to registration details as it is currently obtain. The customized created website can also be turned into integrated one that serves as hub for all the viral activities instead of making them a stand alone.

But come to think of it and getting out of academic, professional analysis, this organization pioneering dffort is commendable. This shows the quality of the mind of the leadership of this organization in annexing new trends to spread its message. When many religious organizations are still contemplating the use of computer- that is termed as devil box by many of its kind, Daystar has gone ahead to show the way while many for profit organizations are still spending huge amount of money on web advertising. This is not bad anyway but we are just suggesting a new, effective cost saving way.

# Caveat: I am a big fan of this outfit.

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.

In my search for how best to wrap up our discussion on web 2.0, customer engagement, conversation marketing etc, I stumbled on an article that has been on my shelf for close to two years written by Elizabeth Mckee of Charlotte viewpoint, an opinion magazine of charlotte, North Carolinas US with the titled The risk of conversation and   I think that article will worth our observation. I do know that why many brands do not want to get involve in conversation is because they may lose control of their hold on the customer and information available to them. But if because of that, brands refuse to join the conversation, it will be detrimental.

In the said article, Mckee began by citing Theodore Zeldin’s work ‘The Art of Conversation’ which says ‘The kind of conversation I am interested in is one which you start with a willingness to emerge a slightly different person. It is always an experiment whose results are never guaranteed. It involves risk. It’s an adventure in which we agree to cook the world together and make it taste less bitter…the aspect of conversation that particularly excites me: how conversation changes the way we see the world and even changes the world’

This is the kind of conversation that captures my thought when I talk about conversation marketing. It is this kind that brands engage in without a note of persuasion to buy, or presenting an expert opinion. It does mean that this kind of conversation is really hard to engage in but the dividends are great. This kind makes a brand vulnerable as you may expose certain secret about yourself, it is centred on exchange of ideas, opinions that every participants share. Please mark every participant as it formed the key words.

If this is guaranteed, then we can be rest assured that our brands will thrive. Every good endeavor requires risk, so my advice is let us take this calculated risk. Even though conversation involves trust, exchanges and sharing which may make it a no go area for those who have something to hide. But I guess it worth it coins.