8.45

Welcome
Tea, coffee & danish

9.15

Introduction
Adrian Dale [Forum Moderator], TFPL Ltd

9.30

The power & fragility of brands
Marcel Knobil, Chairperson Creative & Commercial, Superbrands

The brand is one of, if not the, most sacred assets that a company can have. Yet, it can so easily disintegrate. Its destiny is in a number of hands, including yours.

Marcel Knobil explores:

• The importance of the brand.
• The dangers of undermining the brand.
• The critical role the web plays in brand-building.
• How easily the web can contribute to brand demolition.

10.00

Roundtable discussion

10.15

Managing global web standards: How current approaches may be putting your brand at risk
Nicola Thompson, Director of Interface, Magus

Maintaining brand standards across a global web presence is notoriously difficult. It's a fast-moving, multi-site, multi-editor, multi-lingual environment. And, increasingly, the people responsible for updating your sites will be double hatters - short on time, and lacking in-depth web expertise. As soon as you've spotted and fixed one error, you can be sure that another will pop up. It can feel like you're fire-fighting errors on a daily basis.

Nicola Thompson looks at the challenges faced by web managers in managing global standards, and the limits to current best-practice approaches:

• Why are guidelines so difficult to enforce?
• Why is an enterprise CMS not a magic bullet solution?
• What is the scope of the problem - how well are the big brands currently protecting themselves online?

10.45

Roundtable discussion

11.00

Break
Tea, coffee & biscuits

11.30

Multiple websites – one brand: Unilever's quest for consistency across its global web presence
Tim Godbehere, Communications Director, Unilever

Unilever is one of the world's largest consumer goods companies, and a market leader in food, home care and personal care with bands such as Dove, Hellmann's and Lipton.

In July 2004 Unilever underwent a corporate re-branding, and began the process of rolling out its new identity across its global corporate web presence.

As the first sites went live, in January 2005, it soon became apparent that online brand standards were not being effectively maintained despite a traditional best-practice approach.

Tim Godbehere, Communications Director at Unilever, discusses:

• Why comprehensive web editor training, round-the-clock web help desk, detailed standards manual, and a state-of-the-art CMS weren't enough to deliver compliance with global standards.
• How he and his team addressed this problem using Magus ActiveStandards.
• How this new methodology has changed the way Unilever manages standards across their global web presence - improving support for site owners and facilitating the rollout of new sites.

12.00

Roundtable discussion & outcomes

12.45

Close
Buffet lunch