Take internal branding from complexity to clarity through these interactive workshops guaranteed to jumpstart your conference experience. These workshops are a great opportunity to advance your learning and network with fellow attendees while taking a hands-on, common sense approach to mastering internal branding that will enhance your understanding of the informative case study presentations throughout the entire conference.

9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
MORNING PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOP A
Registration and continental breakfast will begin at 8:30 a.m. for the morning workshop attendees.

How To Use A Strategic Process To Develop A Compelling Internal Brand That Engages The Hearts And Minds Of Your Stakeholders

How can your internal brand be different and engaging in the hearts and minds of your stakeholders?

By leveraging the collective wisdom of your organization, you can increase your chances of achieving buy-in with relevant and on-target messages. Bonfire’s collaborative mapping techniques facilitate an audience-centric approach to building internal brands. This process has enabled cross-functional teams to design and develop some of the most compelling internal brands in the world.

• Facilitate an interactive internal brand development process
• Build the business case for your internal branding objectives
• Determine messaging, brand story and design criteria when developing communication vehicles
• Develop a sustainable framework for future brands
• Benefit from sample before-and-after internal brand case studies

WORKSHOP LEADER: Gordon Rudow is Co-Founder and CEO of Bonfire Communications, an organizational communication agency specializing in employee engagement and strategy implementation. A strategic facilitator, Rudow helps leaders connect with employees and create environments where they can thrive.

12:00 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Afternoon Break / Lunch On Your Own

1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
AFTERNOON PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOP B

How To Maximize The Effectiveness Of Your Internal Branding Campaign: Putting Five Brand Realities Into Practice

How do you successfully answer the ever-increasing challenge to grow your business, even in the face of slashed budgets? It's time to re-launch a service provided by your company in order to stay innovative (and stay ahead of the competition), but how do you make it happen successfully and without destroying your customers' trust? In other words, how do make near-miracles happen for your business and yourself? It all boils down to understanding the true essence of the brand and putting its truths into practice.

• Brands are about feelings, not about facts and figures. Understanding how employees and customers FEEL can reveal insights that conventional marketing research cannot and can be more valuable to creating long-term relationships and building brand value.
• The brand is the world's most powerful business tool, but is often the least understood. When it's time to aggressively grow the business, breathe new life into a product or service or even protect the company image during a crisis, your brand is your biggest asset.
• The brand is not part of the business; it IS the business (brand = promise = action = image). And executing on the brand strategy must be the responsibility of all parties, from the corporate CEO to the admin and from the agency general manager to the account executive.
• The little things you do are far more important than the big things you say. By following through on your brand promise, you foster trust among both employees and customers, thereby building brand value and encouraging business growth.
• Brand building is common sense, but could be more common in business. It's important for organizations to realize that every brand is a story -- that's how humans learn best. How will your story be told?

• Comprehend the five essential truths of branding and how to implement them within your own organization
• Create and/or strengthen your brand position statement
• Analyze your brand promise
• Evaluate your brand touch points
• Identify whether or not your brand touch points and brand promise are in
  alignment -- and make sure they're in sync

WORKSHOP LEADER: Daryl Travis is CEO of Brandtrust and for more than 20 years, he has advised some of the world's largest and best-known brands and counseled senior marketers on emotional branding. His clients have included American Express, Craftsman, Discover, Easter Seals, FedEx, GE, Harley-Davidson, HP, Kraft, Kimberly-Clark, Motorola and Tropicana, among others. Travis is a renowned speaker and author of a powerful book, "Emotional Branding: How Successful Brands Gain the Irrational Edge." He is also in the midst of writing a second book that will reveal how new understandings of brain science and psychology are making many old-line marketing and research methods obsolete.