Brand Optimization: An interview with Speaker Katherine Dimopoulos Head of Marketing & Brand Experience SCENE LP, Scotiabank

CI Producer Kevin Strychalski chats with Katherine Dimopoulos, Head of Marketing & Brand Experience, SCENE LP Scotiabank, about her upcoming session at the Brand Optimization conference on February 25-26, 2013. Good morning Katherine. Can you give delegates some insight into your current role and responsibilities? I head up the marketing and brand experience for SCENE. This involves ensuring that our brand promise lives in every member touch point & experience. Accountability for brand promise delivery affects every aspect of our business from our acquisition strategy & experience; lifecycle strategy & delivery (welcome, onboard, activate, engage), functional & channel delivery and of course, continuous improvement in both operations and member experience. This model has resulted in the ability to meet our members’ expectations while delivering to business objectives with a strong ROI, in addition to ensuring that we stay relevant and continue to innovative. Can you briefly explain why delivering a consistent brand promise is so important these days? It is the only way that you can build trust and loyalty from your audience. Life is hyper-busy and consumers are trying to navigate in a very crowded and loud marketplace, so how do you make an impression that is retained and valued? The answer is a clear brand promise that is delivered consistently, every time, across all consumer touch points, both online and offline. Consumers seek out brand consistency as a way to measure a brand/companies credibility, experience and value/quality. In the ever evolving multi-platform world, having a cohesive message/experience has never been more critical as it is being judged in ‘real time’. The clarity of a brand promise is mandatory, where the promise needs to reflect relevancy, authenticity and real value to your audience. This level of clarity also arms each individual who supports your business with the empowerment to make the right decisions for the brand and customer each and every day. In summation, consistent brand promise is a consumer expectation and a competitive advantage and if done well results in both employee and customer advocates. We are so excited that you are scheduled to deliver a case study presentation at the Brand Optimization conference, February 25^th & 26^th. Without revealing too much, can you please describe what delegates can expect to take away from your session? I will share SCENE’s past journey and key learning in the delivery of our brand promise with examples, in addition to sharing some go-forward strategies & tactics. The SCENE brand is associated with innovative branding strategies. Are you working on any exciting initiatives that you can share with us? Always. 2014 will involve maintaining and improving the initiatives that have been successful and introduce a variety of ‘test & learn’ initiatives that have leveraged our members feedback/insights. There is one specific initiative that has provided great learning and as such, will be rolling out on a bigger scale. It involves gaming mechanics to both educate and provide acknowledgement/status. We believe that the area of intrinsic motivators offers the most growth in priceless value and engagement with our members … transaction activity are table stakes but unique experiences and opportunities to build a community of like-minded individuals as a platform for them to congregate and input into the future of the program is powerful and a distinct competitive advantage. Katherine, thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us today. We cannot wait to experience your case study during the conference on February 25^th in Toronto.