MARKETING CONFERENCE
17 September 2009, Vilnius, Lithuania
Crowne Plaza Vilnius
9.00-9.30 Registration and welcome coffee
9.30-11.00 Word-of-Mouth marketing. Would you recommend it to a marketing colleague?
Crispin Manners, CEO, Onva Consulting (UK)
Global crisis of consumer trust in brands makes Word-of-Mouth marketing increasingly important in the modern world.
What opportunities does Word-of-Mouth marketing offer? How can it successfully be integrated in the overall marketing and communications mix?
Crispin Manners, a recognised Word of Mouth authority in the UK, will present how Word of Mouth and Word of Mouse can help organisations sell and market more effectively in the global recession.
The presentation will look at the underlying reasons why Word of Mouth delivers value and draw on case studies in both the B2B and B2C arena to bring this to life.
Crispin has over 25 years experience in delivering communications solutions for businesses and brands. He views Word-of-Mouth marketing as part of an integrated sales, marketing and loyalty strategy.
Discovering Net Promoter® has allowed Crispin to systematise his approach and to use customer feedback to build more compelling propositions for clients and to develop engagement programmes that turn customers and employees into advocates.
Crispin is the creator of the award-winning communications planning and management regime - ValueFlow - that won his company, Kaizo, the accolade of the UK's Innovative Company of the Year in 2003.
He led his company, Kaizo, to be the fastest growing PR Company in the UK in 1991, the #2 performer over a decade in 1997 and the #5 best PR firm to work for in the UK.
11.00-11.30 Coffee break
11.30-12.00 Branding case studies (1). Pigu.lt
Dainius Liulys, Director, Pigu.lt (Lithuania)
Online store Pigu.lt has been operating for over a year. It took approximately 12 months to get ready for its launch. Over the two years, the project has successfully entered the Lithuanian online shopping market and become one of its leaders.
Over this period of two years, the branding strategy changed; a variety of communications tools were employed to engage the target audiences.
The presentation will give insights into the strategies and experience of Pigu.lt brand development and introduction into the market.
12.00-12.30 Branding case studies (2). Balsas.lt
Mindaugas Rutkauskas, Director, Balsas.lt (Lithuania)
Balsas.lt as a brand has been around for a while. Recently, it has outgrown the boundaries of the virtual world and become a more universal brand. Balsas.lt is now more than just an internet brand: a night club in Vilnius bears its name, a weekly magazine is printed under this name and a TV show is run with Balsas.lt in its title.
Balsas.lt is a good example of how a brand changes over time, how it expands and additional attributes or "markets" are added to support its primary brand identity of an internet portal.
12.30-13.00 Branding case studies (3). MAXIMA's "family line". Brand communication during recession -
return to traditional values
Lina Muižienė, Director of Brand and Communication Department, MAXIMA LT (Lithuania)
Family has always been a key target group for the leading retailer MAXIMA LT. However, in spring this year the "family line" as its brand trend was conceptualised and strengthened.
The recession has significantly changed buyers' behaviour and forced everyone to rethink their values. What do customers expect from their favourite brands during the recession? How can the company maintain its brand's relevance and customers' trust built in years?
During an economic crisis, for major brands it is key to keep their values and customer loyalty capital. A fall in advertising budgets, rise of importance of sales promotion communication and a shift in buyers' expectations - they all force marketers to look for new ways to ensure relevance of brand communication and safeguard the brand values.
13.00-14.00 Lunch
14.00-14.40 Public relations hottest trends and perspectives
Vaidotas Vyšniauskas, Director, Publicum FComm (Lithuania)
How does the public relations sphere change? What is the current situation - what PR tools are employed most often? Which of them work and which do not? What are the perspectives of PR profession?
Vaidotas Vyšniauskas leads the financial communications company Publicum FComm which is part of Publicum, the largest communications group in Lithuania. In his presentation he will look at the current trends and issues of public relations arena.
The speaker has been in PR since 2002. Previously, for almost 10 years, he worked as a business journalist and editor and was also deputy editor-in-chief of the national daily Lietuvos Rytas.
14.40-15.20 Online communications. A small budget also pays off
Darius Bagdžiūnas, Head of International Operations, Gaumina
What is happening in internet marketing and communications? What trends are the hottest and most effective? What do best practice case studies and international experience of online communications show?
Procter & Gamble, Dell, Starbucks, Kellogg's. Adverising publications mention that these brands have redistributed their advertising budgets and allocated more money for the internet. One may say that online communications are less expensive. Unfortunately, that is not always true. How to make sure that budgets for internet marketing are spent effectively and provide a good return?
Darius Bagdžiūnas, Head of International Operations of Interactive Agency Gaumina, in his presentation will cover these issues:
- What are the latest e-marketing trends?
- How can online campaigns be successful on a small budget?
- How can these lessons be implemented in practice?
The presenter has over 10 years' experience in internet projects. His portfolio includes more than 500 e-projects, including such brands as Omnitel, Sobieski, 7up, Microsoft, Nokia, Guinness.
He has published 100+ articles and is a popular speaker at conferences and seminars. Darius is a jury member at international festivals (Europrix Top Talent Awards, Golden Hammer and Young Cannes Lions).
Currently, he is in charge of Gaumina's expansion in the UK and Ireland.
15.20-16.00 Below-the-Line marketing opportunities. Why BTL is good for the slowdown period
when marketing budgets are cut
Remigijus Kalpokas, Director, Partizanas (Lithuania)
Why are we afraid of our customers? Why, instead of approaching them directly, do we waste time, energy and money to make them come to us?
Why do we not trust our products and services or our team?
Remigijus Kalpokas, Director of unconventional advertising agency, Partizanas, will look at the conventional essence, tactics and tools of BTL marketing and provide real case studies and practical lessons.
The presentation will remind us about the key marketing issues that are traditional in their essence but somehow became "untraditional".
Over his 15 years career, the speaker is engaged in one activity: he sells, helps to sell or teaches how to sell. He sells products and services, entertainment and ideas, he sells to young people and old age pensioners, parents and business people, he sells on the street and in stores and bars, in the morning and in the evening, in winter and in summer.
16.00-17.00 Farewell glass of wine and discussions