In 2018, way before the COVID-19 virus was even a consideration in our daily lives, international brand development guru, Patrick Hanlon, arrived on our sunny South African shores and shared the ground-breaking methodology for brand success from his book Primal Branding. Although his book has been in circulation since 2006, his ideas have remained on the button and continue to be roundly applauded by the marketing, media and advertising communities globally.

While many so-called experts and afficionado’s often earn their fame and adoration from philosophies that resonate strongly with audiences during a specific period, many become obsolete and irrelevant over time. Legitimate visionaries and futurists are in fact quite hard to come by.

Patrick Hanlon, however, looks like the real deal. As an example, Facebook launched in 2004 – only two years before Primal Branding first hit shelves. Yet it seems even at that early stage, Hanlon was able to foresee the platform (and similarly others that followed in subsequent years) as a place where people would start organising themselves into more formal ‘tribes’ where they could bond over common interests and amplify their belief systems and values with other like-minded people. Afterall, it’s natural to be drawn to people who like what we like whether it’s surfing or sewing, or whether they’re banters or meat-free-Monday’ers.

Today, at a time where mobile technology is pervasive and allows  social media to suffuse into just about every area of our lives, Hanlon’s psychological insights into the social factors that determine how we esteem certain brands over others has never felt more prescient.

Right now, when many individuals, businesses and brands are needing to reboot themselves in a COVID-19 determined economy, being armed with the tools and knowledge to build a brand that has appeal is crucial. In the aftermath of coronavirus, creating a brand will become more important than ever.

Join the Future of Media as Patrick Hanlon presents PRIMAL.LIVE x AFRICA – a free digitised event where he strips away “the fog” of how to create meaningful brands that attract fans, community and customers by revealing a simple, easy to use system that is as easy as learning how to count to 10, or learning your ABCs.

Hanlon will be participating in the Future of Media Conference in partnership with EziAds and Vodacom that will take place in Johannesburg on 1 October 2020.

The organisers continue to monitor the COVD-19 situation closely, and updates about the Future of Media Conference will be posted on the event website,  communicated via email, as well as Arena Events’ social media channels (Facebook: Arena Events South Africa Twitter: @ArenaEventsZA)

For more information, please visit www.quicklink.co.za/fom