Advertising and marketing guru Andy Rice is one of the keynote speakers lined up for the annual SAMRA (Southern African Marketing Research Association) Conference, to be held at the Rosebank Crowne Plaza in Johannesburg on 16 and 17 August.
Topics that will feature at the 2012 conference include “Brand health measurement across Africa and the Middle East’ which is of importance to many expanding FMCG companies, and from a future perspective, digital research developments and trends examining the impact of social media and networking on researchers’ engagement with respondents.
Like in previous years, keynote presentations will be held at plenary sessions, while the breakaway sessions will run concurrently, offering a wide selection of topical paper presentations. Some of the breakaway sessions, as well as the gala dinner and awards event, will be held in a stylish marquee tent close to the main plenary room.
Says conference chair Kim Larsen: “SAMRA members and delegates can look forward to two jam-packed days of learning, knowledge sharing and networking, culminating in a glittering conference dinner and awards evening on Friday, 17 August.’
Besides the award for the best first time speaker, best overall paper and the Telkom best user award, the Research International award for the best contribution to research standards for Africa, will continue in the form of the TNS Africa Award.
Larsen continues: “The Rosebank Crowne Plaza’s central location makes it accessible to a far broader audience across research suppliers, users and clients. This year the conference is also priced reasonably so that users and suppliers can send more delegates, either for the duration of the conference or for a day, thus allowing for stronger day attendance.
“On top of that, the wonderful array of conference synopses accepted by the judging panel aptly reflects the 2012 conference theme, namely “Reflection and progress – from the present into the future’. The willingness to share new approaches and thinking is most exciting. Also aligning his topic to the 2012 SAMRA conference theme, Andy Rice’s opening presentation will set the scene for a captivating and stimulating event.
“Besides a number of excellent qualitative submissions, from an internal perspective we’ve also had some very interesting submissions around employee brand engagement and satisfaction, so all in all, submissions were diverse and well-rounded, with a selection of interesting topics for everyone across both conference days.’
Over 30 paper submissions were received, including six “issue’ papers, three keynotes, two Q&A’s, a number of submissions from African countries and 24 research papers. On top of that, all three submissions by young and upcoming researchers have been accepted.
To facilitate the booking and registration process, an online facility at the following link is available this year: http://www.greenexhibitions.co.za/exweb3/exweb.dll/Event?e=DA93AE18F32D4F0FB6B49BB8919195DF
Early bird discounts are also applicable to bookings before the end of April.
