OMMA: Should Brands Be Part of the Real-Time Convo?

#sxsw #brandtrend

Since that famous “Oreo Moment” that turned a Super Bowl blackout into a dubious marketing trend, more brands seem to have failed than succeeded at riding the real time zeitgeist. From Kenneth Cole to AT&T to Urban Outfitters, the social media misfires just keep coming. Have marketers learned anything about the dark art of inserting their brands into the trending topic, the cultural moment? Are they just geeks struggling to fit in with the cool kids? Or are we really seeing brands become more human and finding voices through these new direct-to-consumer channels? Sponsored by Media Post.

Presenters

Bryan Jones

VP, North America & Global 500 Mktg

Dell

Natanya Anderson

Dir, Social Media & Integrated Mktg

Whole Foods Market

Natanya Anderson is the Director of Social Media and Digital Marketing at Whole Foods Market. She has been working with social and new media for over a decade with a focus on both strategy and execution, helping organizations change the way they engage with their constituents. At Whole Foods she his concentrating on how an extensive local digital footprint merges with a strong brand presence to create a unique customer experience that differentiates a brand, drives loyalty, and supports the retail experience. Additionally Ms. Anderson is leading a team that enables more than 1500 team members working on more than 800 social channels to be empowered local stewards of that shared customer experience.

Noha Abdalla

Sr Dir, Social Media

Capital One

Noha Abdalla is Snr Director, Brand Social Media at Capital One. She is responsible for Capital One’s social media content and campaign strategy, bringing the brand to life through social channels. In previous roles at Capital One, Noha was responsible for retail bank consumer marketing as well as digital innovation and mass media strategy for national direct Bank. She joined Capital One from Discovery Communications where she led marketing strategy for Animal Planet, including the Surprisingly Human re-brand campaign in 2010. Noha also spent time leading national blood donor campaigns for the American Red Cross, and doing management consulting at Corporate Executive Board and Mercer Management Consulting.

Abdalla holds an MBA from the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University and a BS in International Economics from Georgetown University. She lives in Northern Virginia with her husband and 3 daughters.

Rick Wion

Dir of Social Media

McDonald's Corporation

Beyond reminding folks how yummy the fries are, Rick’s job includes social strategy for engagement, campaigns, issues management, and business insights for one of the world’s most talked about brands.

Prior to McDonald’s, Rick was Vice President of digital and social media for GolinHarris in Chicago where he implemented digital-communications strategies for Fortune 500 companies including Unilever, Johnson & Johnson, and Dow among others.

Rick is also a former lifestyle/travel reporter, long time wannabe designer, proud graduate from the University of Illinois, beer snob, McRib lover, die hard Chi-town sports fan, and father to two young boys.