WITI Summit – Summary of Keynotes

The WITI Summit was held this past week in San Jose. Founded to help women advance in technology, the first day of the summit had some powerful keynotes. I was able to catch presentations by Sally Jenkins, Vice President, Worldwide Marketing, Symantec; Sandy Carter, VP, Software Business Software, IBM; and (my favorite!), Dr. Ruth Westheimer.

I have summarized the presentations by Sally and Sandy below. And while I would like to summarize Dr. Ruth’s presentation, much of her content was very specific and not appropriate for the blog, if you know what I mean =) It was a great honor to hear her speak, as well as to meet her personally.  I will post summaries of some key sessions tomorrow. 
 

Brand Transformation – Sally Jenkins

Sally described the process that Symantec have been undergoing over the past 3 years to rebrand and reposition Norton. She highlighted key questions to consider:

1. What does the data say?

2. What is the buzz in the market about your brand and competitors?

3. Are you listening to your customers?

4. Can you wait any longer to change?

5. Are you listening to your gut?

For Norton, they looked at what story they had to tell to create buzz within the category. They decided to have a purpose which highlighted what they stood for and would lend itself to a dialogue. The story was about fighting cybercrime. The methodology included:
– research
– edutainment for engagement and to communicate the stats
– the media strategy was focused online
– and developed a physical exhibit that discussed the “black market” of identify theft to educate the masses

They implemented this through their channels and with one voice internationally. Internally, they wanted their employees to live and breathe the brand of fighting cybercrime:

– held seminars
– created brand story book for every employee
– gave employees new mission – fight cybercrime, not sell software.
– rethink role for each job- main competitor is cybercriminal

The results?
– Customers now stay with Norton for an average of 4 yrs
– 47 percent share of voice
– Winning on all channels
– Turned Norton haters into advocates
– Multiple product awards

Social Media Ecosystem – Sandy Carter

Sandy discussed how the ecosystem around your company is very powerful. Previously, it was about one-way marketing and now it’s more open. In fact, she quoted one study which stated that 80 percent of CEOs will go outside of the company for recommendations about services and the brand.

With this in mind, Sandy highlighted the ANGELS framework:
– Analyze
– Nail the story and strategy
– Go to market
– Energize communications
– Leads and revenue
– Scream – breakthrough the noise

For example, IBM leveraged a game to energize partners and students before placing it online. This online game is now the number 1 lead generation tactic, moving the game from edutainment to lead generation.