Speaker Biograghy: Barbara’s expertise is government communication, international relations, communication research and the implementation of stakeholder mobilisation and transformation campaigns. She is part of Gautrain’s Management Agency’s senior management team and had been part of the project since its inception in 2000; she is specifically responsible for its communication and marketing. Under her leadership, Gautrain’s communication has received numerous national and international awards, the latest being the International Association of Business Communication’s (IABC) 2012 Gold Quill for publication design, presented in Chicago in June 2012. Her team is also the proud winner of the 2011 Global AirRail Award for Communication and Marketing. In 2011 Gautrain’s communication also received several Gold, Silver and Bronze Awards from the Public Relations Institute of Southern Africa. In 2011 the IABC awarded Gold Quills for Gautrain’s media management and for social media, presented in June 2011 in San Diego.


Day 1 - 25 March
Session: Commercial Development, Retail & Media

12:40 - 13:10 - Brand equity and social media – a match made in heaven
Synopsis: Social media is a misnomer. It is people connecting, creating relationships in ways that were never possible before. Public transport is integrated at the very core of society, providing places and experiences at the very epicentre of people's lives. We are part of their conversations. Social media can improve the image of public transport companies because it is: immediate or ‘real time’; interactive/capable of intensive dialogue; individual/one-to-one communication; effective at reaching a younger audience than usual; good for sharing information and creating awareness among many users; useful in communicating brand personality.

Audience will learn:

• Value of social media in growing brand equity
• Value of social media in customer experience
• Value of social media in media management
• Value of online reputation management (ORM)
• Practical guidelines for managing social media in customer dialogue