MARCOM Professional Development Annual Forum

Jim Mintz | Managing Partner, Centre of Excellence for Public Sector Marketing

They know about us, who cares if they don’t buy from us? Can you imagine any company ever saying this? Hey, we spent $5M, and made $1M–but at least more people know about us–look at all the awareness we got. No, they would not. In other words, they would not be satisfied with that answer.

So if the private sector won’t settle for awareness-building only, why do we in the public and the not-for-profit sectors continue to run campaigns that create awareness but don’t deliver the ultimate results of changing attitudes and behaviours?

It’s time to go beyond awareness and start using persuasive strategies like social marketing.

In this tough economy it’s important to ensure maximum impact for our marketing dollars; especially when you are moving from planning into implementation where the majority of your budget will be allocated. This workshop has been designed not only for marketing and communications professionals who specialize in social marketing, but for anyone involved in the planning of marketing, outreach and public education strategies aimed at changing attitudes and behaviours. You will learn:

1. How to use a step-by-step structured approach to prepare a social marketing plan: that is actionable; has maximum impact and leads to successful implementation;
2. How to present and “sell” your social marketing strategy to management;
3. How to implement a social marketing program on a very tight budget and still have maximum impact on changing attitudes and behaviours;
4. How to monitor and evaluate your outputs, outcomes and impacts;
5. How social marketing gives you a single approach: for mobilizing communities; influencing the media; advocating key stakeholders and building strategic alliances with business.

The Workbook (included) guides you through the process for creating your own Customized Social Marketing Action Plan.

Mike Kujawski | Vice-President, Strategic Marketing and Digital Engagement, Centre of Excellence for Public Sector Marketing

The new era of social media/web 2.0 is having a major impact on what and how organizations communicate with key audiences. The world of one-way communication, of one source to many readers, viewers or listeners - is rapidly changing into a multi-faceted communications universe, where mass customization and increased relevancy are made possible. To take advantage of the opportunities and deal with the challenges presented by this new universe, organizations need to employ a strategic approach to enhancing and opening up communication channels with target audiences through the use of contextually relevant social media tools and applications. This popular workshop is has been designed to provide a practical, strategic approach to engaging on social media channels. No prior experience is necessary.

What will you learn?

1. An understanding of the foundational elements of web 2.0, social media, and related terms
2. The latest internet usage statistics and social media user segmentation
3. The latest definitions, statistics and potential uses of blogs, microblogs, podcasts, wikis, etc.
4. The crucial organizational culture changes that are required for widespread adoption
5. How to set realistic digital engagement objectives that are aligned with your organizational strategy
6. How to monitor social media channels to provide you with crucial business intelligence
7. How to drastically build up your web presence/digital footprint (i.e. dominate search results)
8. How to establish relations with influential online content creators in your industry
9. How to measure performance of your digital engagement activities
10. How to mitigate potential risks and threats such as privacy and security of information
11. How leverage the wisdom of the crowd by “crowdsourcing” certain elements of your job
12. How to save a considerable amount of money by using free, web-based applications
13. How to improve the efficiency of your internal processes by using collaborative tools
14. How to stay well ahead of the curve at all times through participation in online communities
15. How others are working around and/or within various government policies and acts
16. The latest examples of effective social media adoption
17. How to develop a strategic framework for your next social media engagement initiative

Bernie Colterman | Managing Partner | Centre of Excellence for Public Sector Marketing

Partnerships have emerged as a core business strategy for any government organization that wants to leverage resources and deliver targeted and sustained messages to audiences. This workshop is ideal for government organizations that want to explore corporate engagement as a means of reducing program / service delivery costs and building reach and capacity for their campaigns or initiatives. This advanced-level educational program will present case studies and best practices that will help you establish a strategic direction for your corporate partnership initiatives and lead you through a step-by-step process for identifying and prioritizing partnering opportunities, negotiating, managing and demonstrating the value of your partnering arrangements. The course Work Book will guide you through the development of your own plan.

What you will learn:

• Use partnerships to leverage resources and increase reach and impact
• Make the shift from tactical to strategic partnerships
• Plan your partnering program using a proven Partnership Model
• Set realistic and measurable partnership objectives
• Identify and prioritize potential partners
• Develop compelling partner proposals
• Prospect and build rapport with potential partners
• Negotiate and develop win / win partnership agreements
• Activate and manage partnerships
• Measure the value and impact of your partnering arrangements
• Develop Departmental Partnership Guidelines
• Sell partnering initiatives in a risk-adverse environment

Marc Valois | Senior Consultant, Intersol Group
Eric Collard | Consultant, Intersol Group

Communications and engagement are becoming ever more complex in terms of their purpose, stakeholder diversity, required messaging, and myriad communications mediums. There exists an ever-broadening array of communications and engagement approaches, methodologies and tools to deliver on these ever-increasing complex requirements.

Many times, the chosen approach is reflex, done before, what management suggests or what complies with the current technology infrastructure and is not based on a strategic, methodical analysis of what truly responds to the objectives for the engagement.

A structured process is required to help align the approach, methodology and tools with the documented objectives and target audience. The Communications Engagement Continuum provides a clear path to make informed choices for meaningful interactions.

The workshop will focus on:

• Current trends and realities of communicating, consulting and engaging with your clients and stakeholders in Canada
• Providing an overview of online consultation/engagement and business media tools available today
• Consultation and engagement principles (why you want to engage, the objectives, the audience, the outcomes)
• Choosing appropriate mechanisms with a focus on online tools
• The multitude of considerations for the online world (content, people, recruitment, complexity, synchronous vs. asynchronous, etc.)

At the conclusion of the workshop, participants will:

• Change the way they approach online and offline engagement
• Understand the full engagement continuum, from sharing information to joint decision-making
• Learn a structured process to develop an engagement program for diverse audiences
• Have been exposed to useful simulations to apply tools and concepts in a hands-on way
• Understand how social media and business media can be used in complimentary ways to achieve online collaboration
• Learn how to achieve objectives while managing risk
• Become confident agents of change in driving better stakeholder engagement

Julien Smith | New York Times bestselling author and entrepreneur

Julien Smith is the bestselling author of Trust Agents (with Chris Brogan) a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller.  They later co-authored another best-seller The Impact Equation: Are You Making Things Happen or Just Making Noise? His most recent bestseller, The Flinch, has over 100,000 copies distributed and Seth Godin called it “a surprise, a confrontation, a book that will push you, scare you and possibly stick with you for years to come.”  Julien has been an author, a professional voice actor and radio broadcaster, a consultant and speaker at some of the largest corporations in the world.  Smith’s work focuses onadaptation and change, but not the “think out of the box” clichés that most organizations embrace. Instead, his work draws from a deep study of the adaptive ability of the human body, as well as evolution, biomimicry, and an observation of nature.  In the web’s increasingly dense and competitive marketplace, Julien’s work on how to stand out, change yourself, and do what is necessary has been embraced by many. His blog regularly receives half a million unique visitors each month and has been praised by the likes of Daniel Pink and Tony Robbins.

Tammy Scott | Director, Communications and Arts Promotion, Canada Council for the Arts

Branding is a topic that transcends all sectors and organizations. I will feature examples to help illustrate the “top 10 lessons” from all sectors, and from all over the world. I bring both private and public sector perspectives, and have been involved with numerous non-profit organizations, such as Rethink Breast Cancer Foundation, and Big Brothers and Sisters Canada. I think that because the private sector has been investing in brand-building for longer, there are some important lessons we can all learn from. I would like to share my own “lessons learned” in the presentation, and use examples from all sectors.

• Better define your brand in an environment of constant change
• Build integrated marketing communications that start with “the big idea”, and challenge the old models
• Demonstrate results in the short and long terms

Jason Shim | Digital Media Manager, Pathways to Education Canada
Shubhagata Sengupta | Digital Media Specialist, Mosaic Counselling and Family Services

It is common knowledge that youth use social media, but do you know HOW they are engaging on a day-to-day basis? And how can you use this knowledge to build better relationships with young people to further your organizational objectives? In this session, we will provide an overview and understanding of the youth perspective on social media, trends, and mobile usage. We will highlight how Pathways to Education and other organizations have effectively engaged youth and provide useful strategies and tips for how you and your organization can build and implement “tech culture” to support effective youth engagement.

• How to harness current youth trends in social media and mobile usage.
• How to use various technologies, services, and practices that can be implemented in order to better engage youth.
• How to cultivate organizational “tech culture” in order to support effective youth engagement.

Bernie Colterman | Managing Partner, CEPSM

In many organizations, marketing plays a secondary role behind finance, hr, pr, operations, sales and other perceived more "necessary" functions. And often, people responsible for marketing fall into a subordinate role by unintentionally reinforcing their position as the "branding and brochure people".   This session will focus on six (6) key steps any marketer must take to shift perceptions of marketing (and their job) from a "cost centre" to a strategic, vital function within the organization. What you will learn:

• How to shift the perception of marketing from a "soft" function to a highly valued strategic organizational function;
• How to play a leadership (Change Agent) role in creating a marketing-centric organization;
• How to build your reputation and career as a strategic asset that deserves a seat at the senior management table.

Doug Norris | Senior Vice President and Chief Demographer, Environics Analytics

Forget about the Beaver Cleaver family of the 1950s. Canada’s population today is older, more culturally diverse and increasingly concentrated in large markets, according to the 2011 Census. And over the next two decades, seniors and visible minorities will account for the most growth. With the first release of the National Household Survey occurring just before MARCOM, this presentation offers attendees expert analysis of the latest demographic trends and their potential impact on programs and services, fundraising and other marketing activities. The session will include practical examples of how marketers can adapt their strategies to align with Canada’s changing demographics.

• View Canada’s changing demographics as a marketing opportunity
• Analyze the impact of demographics on your own programs and services
• Use demographic data to better craft your marketing and media messages to connect with constituents

Rob Wilkinson | Coordinator, Safe Roads Ottawa Program, City of Ottawa

Safer Roads Ottawa (SRO) is a partnership between Ottawa Fire Services, Ottawa Paramedic Service, Ottawa Police Service, Ottawa Public Health and the Public Works Department. SRO works with, engages and invests in community road safety partners including; CAA North and East Ontario, Citizens for Safe Cycling, Club Optimiste Vanier, Green Communities Canada, M.A.D.D. Ottawa, Ottawa Safety Council, Society of Ottawa Area Riders, PARTY Program, Transport Canada, Walk Ottawa and Young Drivers Canada. The presentation will focus on the new delivery model for the Safer Roads Ottawa program which has moved away from the traditional large scale and expensive awareness campaigns to social media and community focused ones.  Although the examples will be focused on road safety, the concept of our stakeholder relations and community engagement strategies are transferable to all audiences and sectors of the community.

• New and dynamic community / stakeholder engagement strategies
• How to maximize your advertising budgets using social media

Corrie Adolph | Owner, Consultant, Trainer, Global Village Intercultural

Many good programs and organizations rely on government funding or approval. Success at advocating your organization, department, or agenda to decision makers is increasingly difficult in the current budgetary environment. This session will teach learners how to apply basic intercultural concepts to the political/policy/advocacy process and to adapt their proposals and key messages to that of the decision makers’ organizational and ideological “culture.”

• Understand basic intercultural concepts and apply to political advocacy
• Recognize organizational cultural differences and find shared values
• Adapt proposals and key messages to ensure funding/policy proposals and key messages are “culturally” sensitive   (example: learn to speak the “right” language for a “left” agenda)

Lyndon Carlson | Senior VP, Marketing, Farm Credit Canada

An engaging and passionate marketing exec, Lyndon will share with you the difference makers to fulfilling your brand promise while achieving tangible results. The secret lies with you, your creativity and your connection to customers. Come and learn the key elements of branding and strategies for doing business in a time when reputation and realizing positive business results are all-important.

• Marketing ideas to give your organization a competitive advantage
• Fulfilling your brand promise through a commitment to the employee and customer experience
• Brand and reputation are one

Jacqueline Loch | VP Content Solutions, Rogers Media
Jeff Barlow | Senior Director, Innovation, Rogers Media

Mobile and Consumers are using and interacting with media in ways that go well beyond the traditional push media platforms of tv, radio, print and outdoor advertising. The consumer expectation is for media interaction when, where and how they want it and consumers are media platform agnostic. Tablet is a communication platform that is becoming an essential offering required by media companies to engage with Canadian audiences. Legacy media planning based around reach and frequency has been replaced by engagement, loyalty and sharing. Advertising and communications are now about the total media experience across paid, owned and earned media channels. In this presentation we explore new media trends: Social Media; User Generated Content; Mobile Optimization, Digital Video, Branded Content and Gamification and how they can be leveraged to maximize traditional media campaigns.

Join fellow delegates as you wind down your day at MARCOM’s annual reception. You’ll have the opportunity to meet new contacts in a relaxed environment where the best conversations happen. After the reception, plan to take in the sights and fabulous cuisine of downtown Ottawa and famous Byward Market. Find more here »

HOST: Dawna MacLean | Change Agent, Dawna MacLean Consulting

PANELISTS

George Weber, President & CEO, Royal Ottawa Health Care Group

François Morissette, Director, Corporate Web, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada

Ondina Love, Executive Director, Canadian Dental Hygienists Association

There are universal truths about change that you can draw from whether you are setting a new direction, driving innovation or transforming tradition.   Join us for a provocative discussion that will illustrate how to remove threats and make change more inclusive, we will discuss how to get started and the relevance of a clear destination.  We will examine the need to embrace failure and make it part of your success journey. Learn why meaningful change must foster intimacy, promote interactivity, ensure inclusion and be transparent about intent.

Host: Dawna MacLean will help us move from the plenary to a working format.Facilitators from Intersol Group and our Advisory Committee will lead each tableJoin us for an open, creative conversation about Change. What needs to change to enrich marketing communications? What barriers inhibit the change you want to see? What do I need to lead change? Our collective knowledge, ideas and insights will help us gain a deeper understanding about how to lead and embrace meaningful change.

Helping Northern Youth make Healthy Choices through Social Marketing

Leanne Tait, MBA, ABC | President and Director of Consulting, Tait Communications and Consulting Inc.

Rates of suicide, smoking, and substance abuse among northern aboriginal youth far outpace Canadian rates. Working for Department of Health and Social Services, and in partnership with communities, we have taken innovative social marketing approaches, social media, and electronic platforms to successfully reach youth in the NWT. Campaigns have created high interest, high engagement, and resulted in measurable changes in behaviour. Two award-winning case studies will be presented: “Don’t be a Butthead” (anti-smoking campaign) and “My Voice/My Choice” (substance abuse campaign). Attendees will learn:

• How to engage a youth audience to “own the message”
• How an effective campaign can be redeveloped and refreshed for a social media platform
• How to gain credibility with youth

The Value of Dialogue in Changing Immunization Beliefs – A First Nations and Inuit Case Study

Sandra Donatucci | Senior Marketing Advisor, Health Canada
Celine Dion | Marketing Officer, Health Canada

The decision to immunize a child is influenced by many factors, including culture and community.  As a result, it is important the immunization awareness campaigns be adaptive and responsive to the unique circumstances and concerns of the intended audience. Changing beliefs about immunization requires not only educating and engaging parents and community but also empowering those who influence this target audience so that meaningful conversations can take place. Using Health Canada’s childhood immunization marketing campaign to First Nations and Inuit, this session will demonstrate a collaborative approach to the development and delivery of the marketing strategy and the importance of leveraging both traditional and social media.  Attendees will learn:

• How encouraging dialogue between influencers and the decision makers is an important element in the marketing mix when targeting First Nations and Inuit populations
• How collaboration with regional stakeholders can help develop a consistent national campaign and leads to greater uptake of campaign resources
• How to leverage social media and how to measure social media effectively with First Nations populations
• How to consider best practices and lessons learned when trying to conceive marketing tactics that go beyond advertising

Jim Mintz | Managing Partner, Centre of Excellence for Public Sector Marketing

Many public sector marketers and communicators want to change the way their organizations work. These changes can take many forms. Some want to fix a process or change/eliminate counterproductive rules. Others may wish to shoot for more ambitious goals that require a change of culture. Jim Mintz spent many years in the public service and he and his team were known as an innovators in the areas of marketing and communications. Jim will share his experiences, working in the public sector and will describe how he and his team became agents of change in marketing (including social marketing), private sector partnerships and the early years of the internet. He will also present his 10 Rules that need to be followed to be a change agent in government.

Mike Kujawski | VP Strategic Marketing and Digital Engagement, Centre of Excellence for Public Sector Marketing

Gamification refers to the integration of game dynamics into a service, community, content or campaign, in order to drive engagement and participation. The technique can be useful to encourage people to perform tasks that they generally considered boring, such as completing reviews, filling out tax forms , driving efficiently or tracking caloric intake.  In 2010, organizations spent barely $100 million on gamification, the early days of the trend. However with the emergence of social media, mobility and cloud technologies the gamification industry is expected to touch $2.8 billion by 2016. A major driver of this is the use of gamification to influence behaviour surrounding health and environmental issues. The private sector is catching on, however where are the public and not-for profit sectors in all of this?  In his presentation Mike will cover the basics behind gamification along with the latest trends, statistics and examples from around the globe.  Critical viewpoints will be presented as well so that participants can decide on their own if this is indeed a trend or just a silly fad.

Josef Jurkovic | Director and Co-Founder, The Centre for Excellence in Communications

Change has become a constant in most working environments. Organizations, whether in the public, private or voluntary sector, increasingly find themselves in continuing states of complex change. And, the need to effectively and quickly communicate about change has for many managers and supervisors become a regular part of their organizational responsibilities. Most managers and supervisors rely on communicators to help them identify and use a range of tools, techniques and approaches to articulate, build and sustain support for organizational change. This session will enable participants to help their organizations to strategically integrate employee engagement and internal communications to communicate successfully about change while building sustainable support.

J Anderson | Vice-Chair, Strategic, Scouts Canada Board of Governors

Scouts Canada is one of the nation's leading youth-serving agencies, with over 100,000 members across Canada. In 2011 and 2012, its child and youth safety standards came under scrutiny in the national news with coverage of a series of historical cases of abuse that occurred under the organization’s watch. In this session, you’ll learn how Scouts Canada got ahead of the communications crisis with an integrated strategy that included facing the issues of the past and addressing them publicly with honesty and transparency, drawing upon expert knowledge to enhance its Child and Youth Safety policies, and leading fellow youth serving agencies to advocate for improvements to Canada’s child and youth safety net.

Heather Watt-Kapitain | Managing Principal, KAP Design

With so much information competing for the attention of your audience, you need your message to stand out and communicate efficiently. Participants will learn why we should tell our stories with visual explanations.  Go beyond bar graphs and pie charts and learn how visuals can be used to explain a service, ideas, process, organizational structure, chronology, relationships and more. Armed with your new-found knowledge of what infographics are and why they have become so popular you’ll take an idea you’ve had trouble explaining and learn how to create an infographic.  Selections will be shared and discussed so you walk away with a concrete new tool you can use as part of your content marketing strategy.

• Better explain your organization, service and knowledge with infographics
• Understand the components of an effective visual explanation
• Learn how to include infographics in your content marketing

Dr. Greg Mariotti | Manager of Operations, Orgaworld Canada Ltd.
Dale Harley | President, Harley House

There are six key relationships that every organization, (whether a private sector firm, public institution, or not-for-profit organization) should focus on.  No one knows this more than Orgaworld Canada.  This case study will review the lessons learned in building and rehabilitating relationships in Ottawa and London with municipal governments, regulators, media and the community. The session will also highlight best practices that should be adopted in managing community, government, media, client, investor and employee relations. With today's social media, it is easier and more likely that a disgruntled stakeholder will make their concerns known to others. Fortunately the reverse is also true. This session will examine:

• Best practices to employ when managing key relationships;
• What an organization must do to manage the variables it  controls that impact the organization every day;
• How to manage relationships to differentiate organizations from competitors;
• How to manage relationships to ensure the long-term success of an organization.

Adrian Cloete | Communications Manager, HRSDC

Participants will learn how to follow a strategic road map to determine if Crowd-sourcing can best meet their organizational goals. Lessons learned will be explored through a large department’s pioneering forays into Open Dialogue projects in support of the Government of Canada’s new Open Government strategy, specifically, the first-ever crowd-sourcing project for Social Finance ideasthat is breaking all records for pick-up on Twitter, and a national Federal-Provincial-Territorial video contest on YouTube aimed at engaging high-school and college students to create videos about workplace safety.

• Think critically to ensure a crowd-sourced approach is the best way to proceed
• Plan and implement a crowd-sourcing project with limited resources
• Leverage social media channels to increase success
• Measure the impact of the project through a paradigm-shifting framework

Stuart Hickox | President and Founder, One Change

Inspiring anecdotes and observations from the hard-knock road of establishing an NGO that mobilized thousands to reach millions with empowering messages of action.