9 SEPTEMBER 2011 - KAMPALA

Ghana will this year host the Africa Brand Conference that is aimed at exposing African businesses to social media branding tactics to help them expand markets for their products and services.

According to Akin Naphtal, the conference director, this year's conference will focus on digital marketing in the face of the fast growing use of social media such as Facebook, and Twitter. The conference will be held in Accra, 3-4 November 2011, following the successful inaugural summit in London, United Kingdom.

"New media has a key role in transforming product and services to greater heights because brands are getting interactive across the world. We have seen the increase in corporate leverage on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and other social media channels in product launching by global corporations", added Naphtal.

"Transforming Your Brand in the New Media"

The ABC 2011 is expected to attract up to 500 business executives from across Africa to discuss branding issues under the theme, "Transforming Your Brand in the New Media", Naphtal, who doubles as the chief executive officer of Instinct Wave, marketing firm in the UK, said in an interview.

This year's theme underscores the evolution of global brands in the face of the fast paced social communication channels and new technologies utilized by tech-savvy consumers in the world.

As of June, there were about 2 billion internet users worldwide, 750 million of these are Facebook users. Africa has at least 119 million internet users of its 1 billion people, and approximately 31 million are Facebook users, according to the Internet World Statistics.

Topics and speakers

Issues to be discussed at the conference include; working with iconic brands and how to keep them relevant today, the role of digital and social media in raising awareness and creating action around social issues, digital marketing, the relevance of social media, and building a collaborative brand among others.

Some of the prominent speakers at the conference will include; Steve Cranford, CEO at Whisper (USA); Afdhel Aziz, the brand director at Heineken USA; Bola Akingbade, chief marketing officer at MTN Nigeria, and George Thorpe, CEO at Market Space.

Tracy's work demonstrates how powerful identity smartly expressed through appropriate channels brings humanity to products and enterprises, establishing belief in their essential promise.

A member of our leadership team from the beginning, Tracy's artistry and visual storytelling appears in industries ranging from snack food and beverages on behalf of companies such as PepsiCo, to agricultural, financial and industrial products and services such as Cargill, and to retail such as Target.

Within the philanthropic and professional association sector, his keen eye propels organizations such as March of Dimes International, American Dental Association and George Washington's Mount Vernon.

An over-thinker and over-carer, Tracy unifies style, meaning, visual content, messaging, positioning into one visual, uniquely concepted.  

For example, Tracy descibes logo design in this way: 

To create a lasting, memorable symbol for any brand requires all of my talent, absorbed wisdom, intuition and accumulated experience to distill what are often many contrasting hopes and aspirations into one single, memorable, and engaging image.

One that defies the limitations of normal contextual conventions, and invites a personal reality standing toe-to-toe, face-to-face, with the consumer.

His work has long been guided by a clear understanding that the highest form of design magnifies and deepens a marketing strategy, of which we are often reminded.

Tracy's work is honored internationally and appears in a variety of peer-reviewed publications, such as Graphis, Print, and Communication Arts.

Tracy earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the College of Fine Arts at Wichita State University, and studied at the Art Institute of Colorado.

When not engaged with a client, he stays busy with his three children, each budding creatives themselves.

Long obsessed with words, Steve views them as messengers of commerce.

Skilled in multiple disciplines, his work demonstrates a track record of creating exceptional narratives to communicate extraordinary product offerings. 

Guided by uncovering the relevant, compelling benefit customers get ONLY from you.

Throughout his career, he has assisted leadership teams in rethinking marketing as the most efficient means of revenue generation and market valuation, through development of content and media strategies resulting in material impact for client companies.

As co-founder, Creative Chairman & CEO of WHISPER globally, Steve has counseled clients worldwide in a variety of industries from tech to fashion & beauty, and from pre-seed to global brands, including Mercedes-Benz, Real Madrid Club de Fútbol, AccuWeather and NBCUniversal. 

Previously, he served as officer and a/general counsel to Fortune 1000 Rent-A-Center, now Upbound [NASDAQ: UPBD].  

He is also an investor, advisor, and board member to multiple entrepreneurial ventures, assisting in raising $182 million in public and private funding, directing mergers & acquisitions valued at $132 million, and in developing growth and exit strategies creating over $1.670 billion in added market capitalization.

Steve's skills have been recognized by, among others, the University of California, San Diego, where he was selected as a 2022 Entrepreneur in Residence.  Previously he was labeled a global marketing leader by The Wharton School, after nomination by IBM.  In addition, his client platform creation strategy and execution led to Most Excellent Order of the British Empire / MBE Honours bestowed by Queen Elizabeth II upon the client. 

Steve's insights and experience have been featured in the book Start-Ups, Pivots and Pop-Ups: How to Succeed by Creating Your Own Business, Kogan Page, London, 2020, lauded as an entrepreneurial "pivot master" who embraces change in dealing with complexity.

Speaking at conferences, companies and university classrooms around the world, he remains interested in speaking at events worldwide.

Steve maintains a love for the game of baseball at all levels, and has become a fervent fan of fútbol, as the sport is known everywhere but in his native America.