CMA Word of Mouth Marketing Conference Sessions

Morning Keynote:
Citizen Marketers: When People are the Message
Jackie Huba
Author

Why do some people spend dozens of hours every month creating online community fan sites for things like soda or notebooks? Citizen Marketers author Jackie Huba explains the motivations of amateur content creators and how they influence purchase decisions for products, brands and companies. Learn the different types of "citizen marketers" and how to engage these communities of passionate fans.

Get Off Your Asana!
Eric Petersen
Director, Community Relations, lululemon

World Rock Paper Scissors Society - Something from Nothing
Douglas Walker
World RPS Society

CONCURRENT SESSIONS

Dances with Communities
Marketing to, or through, brand and product communities has become a hot topic for word of mouth marketers. But the grassroots trail is fraught with challenges. Communities hijack brands, bite back, and resent interference almost as often as they welcome input and support. This isn't management—it’s dance. Join us as we tell tales and brainstorm strategies for building and managing the challenge of consumer collectives.

Moderator:
Rob Kozinets, Professor, Schulich School of Business and Word of Mouth Marketing Association Board Member

Panel:
Mike Arseneault, Brand Marketing Manger, Nike Canada
Alison Gordon, Director, Marketing and Communications, Rethink Breast Cancer
Jennifer Evans, President, Sequentia Communications and Partner, Swing

Consumer-Generated Content and the Media: Friend or foe?
Is consumer-driven content a threat or an opportunity for the media? How is media adapting its activities to embrace this new trend? How can marketers leverage the new opportunities arising in this arena? Listen as representatives from the media and a media agency provide and harness their expertise to enhance the success of your business.

Moderator:
Mirabel Palmer-Elliott, Group Director, Audience Development, Rogers Consumer Publishing

Panel:
Louise Clements, Vice-President, Digital & Interactive, Rogers Publishing
Pierre Delagrave, President, Cossette Media, Fjord Interactive Marketing + Technology
Hunter Madsen, Head of Marketing, Yahoo! Canada

CONCURRENT SESSIONS

Going Viral & User Generated Media
Viral marketing. For extreme marketers only. No safety net included. No way out. Only major successes or major failures are possible.

In viral marketing, marketers cannot buy the audience... the audience has to buy the marketers.

It is unfortunately not as simple as adding a "send-a-friend button". It is an art. It is a science. And when it is both, it is magical!

Find out how our experts have created word of mouth epidemics through user-generated, intelligent, and relevant content. You will see how sophisticated viral marketing has become both in terms of creative and back-end technology.

Moderator:
Louis Gagnon, Vice-President, Marketing, monster.ca

Panel:
Janet Kestin, Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy & Mather
Martin Ouellette, President & Creative Director, Provokat
Bill Sweetman, Vice-President, Internet Strategy, MacLaren MRM

Brand experience - Word of Mouth Building Via the Personal Touch!
How do you create a lasting memorable brand experience? You've got to go deeper than traditional marketing or online efforts - learn how to engage your audience in an emotionally relevant way and immerse your brand into your customer community. Find out from Canada's experts how to deliver a loyal, PROFITABLE customer through the personal touch of "live, highly sensory and buzzable" word of mouth.

Moderator:
Cindy Mielke, Director of Marketing, West 49

Panel:
Jeremy Logan, Vice-President, Marketing, Vespa Canada
Baron Manett, Vice-President, Segal Communications
Michael Thouin, Brand Manager, Evian Canada

Luncheon Keynote:
One Red Paperclip: Anything is Possible
Kyle MacDonald

Kyle MacDonald started with one red paper clip and after 14 trades, ended up with a house. Inspired by the kid’s game Bigger and Better, 26-year-old MacDonald set out to trade up with the goal of finding a house. He launched his quest on the Internet and used the web to solicit trades from all over the world. The story travelled like wildfire and caught the attention of news and entertainment agencies across the globe.

Audiences will learn about MacDonald's encounters in Yahk, BC with finding a celebrity interested in adding to his snow globe collection, and with meeting Alice Cooper, and understand how his story isn't even really about the trades he made, but about building relationships, being open to adventure and believing in a dream.

CONCURRENT SESSIONS

Does marketing work in Social Media and Virtual Worlds?

Moderator:
Michael Seaton, Director, Digital Marketing, Scotiabank

Panel:
Rob Cottingham, President, Social Signal
David Jones, Senior Vice-President, Fleishman-Hillard Toronto
Steve Osgoode, Digital Marketing & Business Development, HarperCollins Canada

Chasing the Influencers and Embracing Your Evangelists
How do you tap the power of your most passionate fans and valuable prospects? The spreading of word of mouth is often controlled by a powerful few - the opinion leaders, the trendsetters, the connectors, the mavens and the bloggers.

They know more, they connect with others and they want to get involved with your brand. Find out in this session: who they are and how do you approach them? How much influence do they wield? How do you get them to rally behind you? How do you measure their value?

Moderator:
Sean Moffitt, President and Founder, Agent Wildfire

Panel:
Ted Graham, Knowledge Management, Hill & Knowlton
Mila Mironova, Product Communications Manager, Nokia
Stephania Varalli, Director, Marketing, Sweetspot

The Great "Word of Mouth" Debate
Watch as these veterans from the five corners of the business and marketing worlds answer and stickhandle around the meaty questions about word of mouth including:

• What is word of mouth and can you actually plan for it?
• Have we completely lost control of our brand to the consumer?
• Is mass media and traditional advertising a dying breed?
• Who owns word of mouth for your company?
• What are the ethics of word of mouth?
• What do we need to do to improve as "mass to grass" marketers?

Moderator:
Tim Doyle, Vice-President, Content, CanWest Interactive, a Division of CanWest MediaWorks Publications, Inc.

Panel:
Geoff Craig, Vice-President, Marketing, Home & Personal Lines Division, Unilever Canada
Cam Heaps, President, Steam Whistle Brewing
Rob Kozinets, Professor, Schulich School of Business and WOMMA Board Member
Martin Ouellette, President & Creative Director, Provokat

Closing Remarks
Louis Gagnon
Vice-President, Marketing, monster.ca and Conference Co-Chair

Sean Moffitt
President and Founder, Agent Wildfire and Conference Co-Chair