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Role: Presenting Speaker
Client: HealtheVoices Conference
Impact: Highest rated feedback on attendee surveys
Project Notes: Session attendance reached full capacity before the conference opened.
“Megan is an excellent speaker and presenter. Her presentation on Branding was extremely well received and rated as one of the most inspirational and engaging sessions at the meeting. She is an inspirational communicator and storyteller.”
Business Unit Communication Leader, Janssen Pharmaceuticals
“After attending a workshop led by Megan, I began to think of branding in a different light. Megan emphasized the value of being authentic and bringing both professionalism and personality to a brand, which helped me conceptualize what I wanted for my own individual brand. She has since helped me by reviewing aspects of my budding brand as an extension of my personal identity. I cannot speak more highly of Megan as she is clearly an expert when it comes to not only developing a concept of a brand but really, diving deep and thinking through all the nuances that lead up to developing one that’s in true alignment with our personal vision.”
Public Health Advocate, Session Attendee
The Branding: More than a Logo presentation that I gave at HealtheVoices did more than explain. It really got a group of ‘accidental marketers’ to believe in the power and importance of brand, while providing some clear direction to bringing their own brand to life more effectively. After all, many health advocates often become, by nature, accidental marketers. Stepping into a space where you communicate, teach, and influence about a condition is essentially taking on a marketing role, whether advocates start out that way or not. I’ve found it especially rewarding to combine my experience in this space with my professional career to lift up other advocates who are doing incredible work and leveraging their stories.
HealtheVoices is an annual conference presented by Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson. To snapshot HealtheVoices attendees, these are high-profile, highly engaged health advocates who are inciting tangible change. It’s highly competitive to attend; less than half of interested advocates are accepted. Because of this demand and careful curation, the overall event is full to the brim of constructive learning, positivity, insipration, and a connected group who intrinsically lift each other up. Being accepted as a speaker, particularly on this topic, was close to my professional and personal heart.
Branding: More Than A Logo began with a simple activity to illustrate the concept of ‘brand’ as something much more layered and nuanced than slapping your logo on a coffee mug. Attendees were then pushed to explore their origins and goals, while thinking about their brand identity in specific language. Examples and guidance on how to carry brand identity through to tangible interactions (more than just logos) were illustrated through the introduction of branding guidelines, or a brand toolbox.
Find the Chronically Strong Brand Guidelines project, which was used as the example throughout my presentation.
Beyond this information and these tactics ran two themes that were imperative to convey: consistency builds trust; and grow purposefully by defending future decisions against your brand foundations.
With a topic like this, it’s tempting to go off in a number of different directions, or stretch into marketing strategy or theory as a whole. This presentation was highly effective in focusing on a specific and contained topic, and connecting education and workshopping through deployment. Attendees commented that the information and presentation flow was both highly informative and provided some clear follow up tactics. Overall, I received overwhelmingly positive feedback from attendees, virtual viewers, and Janssen leadership. When people approach you at the bar at 1 am to give you good feedback and ask follow up questions, you know you’ve done well.
Let’s connect if you’re interested in me presenting on this topic for your audience.
“I recently attended a branding workshop led by Ms. Starshak. From the beginning of her presentation, I knew the information she was providing would help elevate my brand. She provided concrete ideas on developing a brand identity and style guide, and was provided immediate, individualized feedback on the spot. She has continued working with me beyond the workshop to provide ideas and tips that have already paid off tenfold. It is without hesitation that I say Ms. Starshak is a clear expert in the field.”
Leading Men’s Cancer Advocate, Session Attendee