I will  be presenting this new interactive workshop at Federated Press's 6th Annual Power of Branding conference, which will take place October 10, 11 & 12, 2007 in Toronto. If you are scheduling an executive planning meeting in the coming months you might want to put this workshop on your schedule. I'd also be happy to share my research and planning tools with you in an webinar. 

Leveraging New Interactive Web Technologies (Web 2.0) in Your Branding Strategy
Howard Oliver, Principal, What If What Next™

In the past, when marketing campaigns took place on TV, radio, billboards and print media, companies would establish their brand through reach and frequency alone. As long as your brand promise was consistent and frequently communicated, it was thought, your customer was bound to succumb and provide brand loyalty in return. In today’s web-savvy age, branding is forced to take on a new role to stay viable. Indeed, behind Web 2.0 is the idea that the web is an organic mash-up of peoples and technologies that are and can be highly disruptive to long-held traditional methods of communicating brand value. This interactive workshop will examine how Web 2.0.’s capabilities may be applied in your branding strategy to keep it current:

· A pragmatic look at Web 2.0: moving beyond the hype
· Maximizing your web presence
o Sending a strong message to consumers about your company's personality
o Improving your user’s experience
o Web site behaviour to impact customer perceptions and your bottom line
o Web analytics to monitor site usage, translating clicks into business
o Making it personal: designing "my" web
o Modifying content to improve search engine optimization
o Designing content for usability
o Landing pages and blogs
o Optimization and automation to maximize lead generation and conversion
· Technologies: AJAX, WebServices, Blogs/Vlogs/Boards, Wikis
· Building online branding campaigns: banner ads, RSS feeds, paid search ads (e.g. Google AdWords), contextual ads, natural (organic) search listings, text link ads, microsites, and podcasts, contextual, behavioural and local advertising
· Using emerging PR tools: RSS, blogs, wikis, podcasts, social networks, social tags, search engines
· Low-cost, high-impact NSO (Natural Search Optimization) testing strategies
· Social networking and community building tools and technologies
· Software as a service: understanding hosted web content management solutions
· Budgeting and budget allocation

The Federated Press event is intended to brief and provide planning tools to Presidents, Vice-Presidents & Directors of Marketing, Communications, Corporate Brand & Identity, Advertising & Brand Management, Research & New Product Development Executives, Corporate Planners from various sectors and industries.

About the Presenter: Howard Oliver is the founder of What If What Next™ a firm that specializes in Web2.0 PR. With Howard’s thought leadership, great writing, media relations, project management skills and vast knowledge of Web2.0 PR processes using rich internet applications, What If What Next™ prides itself on delivering strong results in brand recognition, media coverage and growing web foot-print. For more than 25 years, he has been an entrepreneur, writer, thought leader, PR Guru, business development strategist, technology evangelist, manager and consultant for numerous service, industrial and high technology companies. Clients in technology and other industries recognize him as a driven, highly creative and disciplined thinker. He is a passionate advocate of Web 2.0 PR, social networking and citizen journalism in the "Business Blogsphere". In his current client project work, writings (http://prmeasure@blogware.com) and speaking, he is charting new ground in these rapidly evolving fields that are making news daily. He has created groundbreaking Weblogs that influence the media, open new client dialogue, uncover revenue opportunities, allow for knowledge sharing and build communities of interest. He is also an expert in PR measurement and effectiveness with a focus on micro-persuasion. Howard is an "in demand" speaker at a variety of PR, marketing and technology conferences every year. He holds an MBA from Wilfrid Laurier University, and a Bachelor of Commerce degree from McGill University.