[In return for a spare ticket to the New Media Marketing conference 2 weeks ago, I was asked to write a post for the Biz-Community blog. I've republished it below..]

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The 2nd Annual New Media Marketing conference, which was held in Johannesburg 25 - 28 March 2008, was a showcase of a few of the top thinkers in the South African new media space presenting their thoughts and experiences on digital and marketing.

Here’s my list of the top five conference “take-outs” as seen through the eyes of the interactive manager at BMW South Africa.

In no particular order, here they are:

1. Social media - Manage expectations.

With the hype surrounding “web 2.0″ and all things social (e.g. social networking, social media, consumer generated content etc) it’s vital to make sure that both yours and your community’s expectations are managed.

Mike Stopforth mentioned quite correctly that social media will lure your brand advocates out of the shadows by the promise of giving them a platform to show just how big a fan they are. But, don’t expect everyone to want to interact; rather expect a quality interaction from the few that do. Most people signed up to a campaign or environment where social interaction is encouraged are going to be a rather inactive group.

To get the most out of the community, you need to ensure there’s something to come back to. Keep content fresh, ensure that you are playing an active role in the discussions taking place (keep your tone as human as possible i.e. no corporate speak!). Also, there’s nothing wrong with rewarding your top advocates with something to show your appreciation.

But as Vincent Maher, Mail & Guardian Online strategist points out, the community that you may have spent years building and nurturing has the “loyalty of a rented snake“. So be sure to treat each member as number 1; each member needs to be the one in control, not you.

Examples: BMW Facebook page; Mad About Twenty20 Bank (fan site built by fans, now closed)

2. The importance of through-the-line.

No online campaign effort should stand alone without any above-the-line or direct support. Through-the-line campaigns not only give your branding a more consistent edge, but the momentum moves in the same direction - forward. A print ad talking about X, a radio ad talking about Y, and an online campaign focusing on Z just means that each medium is fighting for consumer attention. On your print or radio advert, be sure to mention that you can learn more online at www.[INSERT BRAND HERE].co.za.

3. One team to drive through the line campaign.

Following on neatly from point 3, Allan Kent (Head of Saatchi’s AtPlay) spoke about the importance of one team to drive the entire campaign from conception to execution. This can be a challenge, especially when more traditional agencies are trying their arm at “new media”, or when the advertising and digital agencies are two different companies, both trying to impress the client.

At BMW we have been lucky to have two agencies that have been able to work very well together. It is much easier to approve work that has been presented from a team of collaborators than work with different teams each trying to maximise their own interests.

4. Time and attention - the new currency.

Forget cash, the hardest things to get from today’s connected individual is her time and attention. Tyler Reed, MD of Younique, pointed out that the connected youth are known to suffer from “partial attention disorder“. I think that this is certainly not limited to just the youth, but anyone with a mobile phone, TV, and access to the Internet. Treat every second that you engage with someone as your last.

The best way to make each second count is to ensure that your engagement is meaningful. The days of the one-way, top-down communication style are numbered. In order to be meaningful, brands need to do more listening and less jibber jabbering.. simple!

5. Take only what you need.

Paul Jacobson, new media lawyer, discussed various legal aspects that need to be considered when doing things online. I believe that this is an area that will gain more attention as the social web becomes more entrenched into everyone’s lives.

One of the topics discussed that was relevant to one of BMW’s more recent campaigns is that of content licensing. “There’s more than one way to license content”. Creative Commons is a collection of licences that work within the framework of copyright. The traditional copyright is often too restrictive and prohibits any kind of sharing, copying, or changing of the content. If you place your content under one of the Creative Commons licenses you are able to set the “Attribution, share alike, and non-commercial” aspects of the content. This encourages sharing, copying, and mashing (taking the content and mixing / changing) without fear of any kind of legal wrath.

An example would be to place your latest television advert under an attribution, share alike, and non-commercial license. This means that anyone can take your advert and do what they want with it, provided they attribute the work to the original author, and don’t make any commercial gains from the “edited” work. Imagine brand advocates wanting to immerse themselves with your brand to that level… the possibilities are quite exciting!

All in all, I believe that these sorts of conferences are extremely worthwhile. I would, however, suggest to conference organisers that they look at including fewer “preachers” and more “converted” to speak. The impact of an actual case study such as the one presented by Lize Esterhuizen from Stellenbosch University cannot be understated, as it gives conference goers something a bit more tangible and puts all the “preaching” into context.

Scott Gray is the interactive marketing manager at BMW South Africa.