The Global Marketing Conference opened at the International Conference Center of Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran on November 21.
Day two of the event, which brought together more than 300 participants, featured lectures by prominent marketing managers from such companies as GoodBrand and M&C Saatch, MarketWatch reported.
Gerhard Barcus, GoodBrand's partner for the Middle East, was among speakers on the second and last day of the confab. He touched upon the advantages of competition brought about by changing the methods used to create values in business.
"Economic developments in Iran and the country's new role in the world have created unique opportunities for business in Iran. However, one should bear in mind that in addition to these opportunities, there also exist challenges that economic activists should be prepared to deal with," he said.
On how public relations and marketing are linked, Barcus said: "There shouldn't be any gap between marketing and public relations, and these two need to work in tandem if a business is to be successful."
He said innovation in social media is an overarching and important issue. "Companies should consider their responsibilities and social media as an opportunity to further promote a successful business, and they should make the most of social media."
Another speaker was Tomas Jensen, senior director for corporate communications at M&C Saatchi World Services. Jensen, who is also Microsoft's director for corporate communications in the Middle East and Africa, said small and large companies across the world have the same general objectives. He emphasized that corporations should further consolidate their social media for transparent communication with their audiences.
"This helps an organization build a brand for its audience in a better way," he said.
Highlighting that content takes center stage today in the world of business, Jensen said, "Businesses can no longer be successful in isolation. Business leaders should watch out for the feedback from their products and brand across the world. The reason is that the most credible people talking about the brand of an organization are not its insiders and staff, but are customers who can be trusted more easily."
Alper Eroglu, marketing director at Unilever Turkey, Baris Zavaroglu, an international marketing expert and former head of Consumer Products at the Walt Disney Company, and Irina Pashina, director for marketing and communications at SAP SE, also took the podium on day two of the confab.
The concluding day also featured an interactive workshop dubbed "How to Create the Right Marketing Strategy in a Like Economy" by Hubert Grealish, a former marketing director at Philips.
Speaking at the workshop, Grealish touched upon developing new ideas in the field of marketing, and said, "The key difference between old and new methods of marketing is that in the past, the product was only introduced, but today, social media play a significant role in marketing, given the changes and developments which have taken place in marketing together with the science of telecommunications.
"Nevertheless, one should bear in mind that introducing products in today's world using social media is a different job, and customers' needs are more difficult to meet.
"Unlike its traditional form, marketing today is a trend that depends on how active an individual is in social media. To like a product in social media does not mean the business is profitable."
The Global Marketing Conference was co-organized by the P World and Mana Payam Public Relations in Tehran on Nov. 21-22.
