World’s leading communications technology thinker Faris Yakob among speakers revealed for CommsCon
One of the world’s foremost experts on the the meeting point between communications strategy and technology is to open Mumbrella’s CommsCon conference in Sydney next month.
Faris Yakob, author of the book ‘Paid Attention: Innovative Advertising For A Digital World’ and author of ‘Genius/Steals‘, has previously held major global roles, including chief technology strategist at McCann Erickson and digital strategy and creative director at Naked Communications.
Faris Yakob will open CommsCon 2017
Yakob will share with the CommsCon audience his strategies for how PR and communications practitioners can gain consumers’ attention in a cluttered social media landscape and why digital is the perfect space for brands to understand their consumers.
Yakob will talk through hacks for brands and communications agencies to defeat audience’s attention deficit disorders.
CommsCon will welcome back One Green Bean founder, Kat Thomas, who will close the day with a presentation on the 10-year journey of the market-defining agency she founded in Sydney and has since launched in London also.
Kat Thomas will talk audiences through One Green Bean’s 10-year journey
Having spent her early career in London, Thomas’s innovative, headline-grabbing PR shook up the Australian market when she launched One Green Bean in 2007.
Having since returned to London to launch the agency – now part of Havas – in the UK, Thomas will share the latest trends she has observed since returning to the world’s capital of public relations thinking.
CommsCon will also once again tackle influencer marketing with previously announced sessions including ‘Hashtag, Smashtag – The Power of Social Media is All in the Snaps!’, which will see HiSmile founders Nic Mirkovic and Alex Tomic discuss how Snapchat has propelled their business.
Another session will see The Remarkables Group’s Lorraine Murphy and Bupa’s Renee Bugg present on how brands can mobilise their influencer networks in time of crisis.
Lorraine Murphy to speak at CommsCon on using influencers during a crisis
The day will also see a panel, featuring Ad Standards Bureau CEO Fiona Jolly and media solicitor Stephen Von Muenster, discuss the new AANA guidelines on influencer marketing and how to avoid breaching them, while a separate panel will look to the future of influencer marketing.
Tribe’s Jules Lund, Olympus Australia’s Kristie Galea and Poem’s Matt Holmes will discuss the future of the space, including new challenges and risks.
CommsCon will hone in on the measurement question with Magnum & Co’s Aaron Crowther and Rachel Wotherspoon presenting on how measurement in PR is evolving, while The Herd Agency’s Vanessa Liell and Lewis Shields will unpack what their agency is doing to tackle measurement.
Magnum & Co and The Herd Agency will present on measurement
In the career development area, the outgoing boss of the ABC’s TV operations, Richard Finlayson, and Audible’s Matthew Gain will talk audiences through how communications experience and skills earlier in their careers have helped them get to their current roles and provided invaluable tools to deal with the challenges of management.
The day will also see headline sponsor Isentia present new research on the power of investigative journalism and exclusive news, with Khali Sakkas, chief executive of insights and research at Isentia, exploring how stories evolve across different media types.
As announced previously, Red Agency’s James Wright and Finch’s Emad Tahtouh will present on how the PR industry can better harness technology, talking the audience through the ways tech-led PR work is powering brands, locally and globally.
James Wright to discuss tech-led PR
Hailey Cavill will present tips and tricks on how organisations can better communicate their corporate social responsibility efforts,
while MultiConnexions’ Sheba Nandkeolyar will be talking attendees through how agencies can help brands understand and personalise messages to multicultural audiences.
A panel featuring Weber Shandwick’s Ava Lawler, Von Muenster Solicitors & Attorneys’ Stephen Von Muenster, Telstra’s Nicole McKechnie and Sefiani Communications Group’s Robyn Sefiani will discuss and debate the pros and cons of crisis management and why a crisis plan needs to be prepared in advance.
Meanwhile, Quiip’s Julie Delaforce will be joined by Movember’s Jeremy Macvean to present to the CommsCon audience a case study on how the community management agency worked with the charity following a campaign that urged the public to reach out for help when struggling with depression.
In a separate session, Commonwealth Bank’s Kate Abraham will unpack how the bank’s newly-launched internal intranet platform One.CBA has rebooted the company’s internal communications team’s connection with the bank’s employees.
Kate Abrahams will explain Commonwealth Bank’s One.CBA platform
Discounted CommsCon earlybird tickets are available until next Thursday February 16. For further information on the program and to purchase tickets visit the CommsCon website.
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Miranda Ward worked for Mumbrella from 2013 to 2017, eventually becoming deputy editor. Miranda joined Mumbrella in September 2013 from Sky News.
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Faris is amazing – I never knew he was creative director of Naked?
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Excellent thinker and great person to have on board.
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