The Department of Marketing and International Business at Baruch College is hosting a breakthrough conference on December 1 titled "The New Marketing Revolution: The impact of social media and viral marketing on branding and political advertising."

Conference speakers will discuss what Gatorade and Sarah Palin have in common. They will debate how social media and viral marketing have... [read more]

The Department of Marketing and International Business at Baruch College is hosting a breakthrough conference on December 1 titled "The New Marketing Revolution: The impact of social media and viral marketing on branding and political advertising."

Conference speakers will discuss what Gatorade and Sarah Palin have in common. They will debate how social media and viral marketing have made it easier for products to become people, and candidates products. Panelists will discuss the dynamics of viral marketing - how it complements and differs from traditional marketing and examine the relationship between brands and social media. They will discuss how social media helps to build communities around a brand or candidate and how consumers/voters co-create the identity of the brand and even build different communities around the same brand.

The high profile list of speakers for the conference includes Tom Basile, Managing Director, Middleberg Communications Sustainability Group; Liz Gumbinner, Senior Vice President, Group Creative Director, Deutsch; Azi Paybarah, The New York Observer; Alan Rosenblatt, Associate, Center for American Progress; and Alan Snitow, Group Strategy Director, Gotham, Inc. The moderator is Todd Wasserman, senior editor, Brandweek and creator of the BrandFreak blog.

Hours for the conference, which is free and will be held on the seventh floor of the Baruch College Newman Library, 151 East 25th Street, Room 750, are 9:30 a.m. to noon, followed by lunch and networking opportunities for conference guests.

The conference has been designed for a diverse audience including Baruch and CUNY students, faculty and alumni, marketing, advertising and branding professionals, political junkies and the media.

Registration is required. To register, go to http://aux.zicklin.baruch.cuny.edu/advertising. Attendance is limited and for Baruch students registration is open to the first 50 who register.