This morning a panel of experts, with Chair – Jeremy Maggs interrogate winning brands in the Top Brands Mega Forum in order to  dig a little deeper into the DNA of these specific brands. On the panel this morning:  Enver Groenewald (General Manager – Avusa), Louise Boxall-Davies ( Head of planning, morrisjones&co), Doug de Villiers (CEO Interbrand Sampson), Sean McCoy (CEO HKLM) and Neil Higgs (Director, TNS Research).

Chris Faulker – General Manager, Retail Marketing ABSA

• Challenge to transform our brand but to remain relevant in the evolving South African economy
• We have a single brand that needs to span across a variety of markets
• A considerable amount of time is spend, dissecting our market segments due to the diversity
• Insuring consistency, making sure an Absa customer have consistant experience regardless of the channels they engage with

Claire Veitch – Marketing Manager, Carling Black Label

• Most importantly that our expression of masculinity needed to be relevant, needed to be modern, needed to be inspirational, Black Label is a brand for everybody and they need to feel that this is a brand for me.
• Key indicator for us – that our consumers were saying that the brand is no longer relevant for me
• With a possible ban on alcoholic advertising in South Africa we see that the focus on experiental marketing is going to become so much more important, it will be a new chapter for us

Jessecca Perumal – General Manager, Avis

• We don’t structure our communication around our competitors but rather around our business structure
• “We try harder” – cornerstone of our brand, business and operational structure
• Average life span of Avis staff is no less than 10 years – strength of the brand is that we invest in our people
• We deliberately recruit “choose to” people

Rinie Erasmus – Marketing Manager, Yardley

• Established in 1770 – the first brand Yardley started with is Old English Lavendar Soap -incredible brand heritage
• Proudly middle market brand
• Much easier to convert current Yardley shoppers to extend their spending on Yardley products

Heidi Brauer – Executive Group Manager, Group Marketing Strategic Partnerships, Comair responsible for British Airways and Kulula

• People who fly British Airways, want to fly on our airline and love it
• Personal attention is key for us along with a passion for giving great service which is followed through
• The only growth that the domestic market has seen in the last year has been out of Lanseria, which is growth for Kulula

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The next Journal of Marketing Debate: “Social Networking” -Thursday 07 October 2010.

For those of you who couldn’t join us at today’s Mega Brand Forum you really did miss out! It was a great event, with wonderful insights and engagement from the Brand custodians and the Brand Champions.

There are however two more events coming up this year presented by The Journal of Marketing, so make sure you book early to avoid disappointment.

• 29 October: Retail Brands: How they stay on top
• 26 November: The annual conference

If you are one of the lucky few that have managed to book a ticket for the Mega Brand Forum tomorrow you will have a front row seat to all the action, insights and tips on how brands like Sun International, Avis Rent A Car, FNB, BP Southern Africa, and BMW got those awards.

If however, you won’t be able to be there you can still catch a piece of the action, by following our live tweets and blog updates. So tune in tomorrow and find out the success stories from 5 of South Africa’s Top Brands.

With the Top Brand Survey still fresh in everybody’s memory it’s the perfect time for the Mega Brand Forum.

The Journal has selected five top brand winners and invited their custodians to present their success stories highlighting key points such as:

• History of the brand
• HOw the brand is managed in SA
• What the competitive climate looks like
• HOw the brand stays fresh and successful
• What the brand outlook is for next year

The Brands that will be in the hotseat include:
Sun International – David Coutts – Trotter, Chief Executive
Avis Rent A Car – Wayne Duvenage, Chief Executive
FNB – Gisele Wertheim -Aymes, Media Director
BP Southern Africa – Tristao Abro, Brand & Insight Manager: Marketing
BMW (South Africa) Xoliswa Ndungane, General Manager: BMW Brand

Don’t miss out the event will take place on the 17 September 2009 at the Michelangelo Hotel from 07h00 to 11h00. Visit The Journal’s Facebook page for more details.