Marketers urge brand custodians to attend conference

"There should be no doubt among South Africa's marketing and branding fraternity that responsible brands are more attractive to consumers, and are able to build more comfortable relationships with regulators, local communities, investors and the media," said Executive Director of The Marketing Association of South Africa (www.marketingsa.co.za), Chris de Villiers.

"Brands & Branding for Good is the first branding conference to acknowledge that brands intending to stay relevant in the decades ahead need to embrace sustainability or risk losing market share. In addition, it is the only local conference to date to seek to provide brand owners and their agencies with the opportunity to understand and appreciate the prevailing consumer shift and how to align their brands with sustainable values," he said.

Executive director for the Chief Marketing Officer Council (www.cmocouncil.org), Donovan Neale-May, has also endorsed the conference. His organisation represents some 5,000 marketers controlling more than $125 billion in marketing spend across 100 countries.

"Increasingly, studies show, consumers want to do business with socially and environmentally committed brands. It is also clear that brands can gain significant cost and competitive advantages from taking a close look at sustainability practices across their value chains. This win-win situation requires brands to communicate effectively on environmental topics and show commitment to delivering on green claims in brand messages. 

"In an eco-sensitive world, brand custodians have to be mindful of retail trade recycling mandates, corporate procurement guidelines, as well as emerging regulatory requirements for carbon footprint reductions. This introduces more complexity to the go-to-market process while at the same time offering real opportunity for market differentiation and social responsibility," he added. 

"In fact, it could be argued that the most important question a brand manager will be called upon to answer within the next decade is ‘How good is your brand?' The line-up of international and local experts speaking at Brands & Branding for Good will demonstrate that, in today's world, sustainability and business success are not mutually exclusive goals, but that they go hand in hand," he said.

Brands & Branding for Good (www.brandsandbrandingconference.co.za) takes place on 20th/21st October at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand.