Mark N. Swaine, Senior Director of UX / UI Design & Experience Strategy

Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce (ICCC) organized an Expert Speaker session on Digital Media and Marketing on Thursday May 22, 2014, as part of ICCC-RBC Royal Bank series for small business Mark N. Swaine, Senior Director of UX / UI Design & Experience Strategy for Mobile & Tablet Apps & Responsive Web.  The session was part of ICCC-RBC Royal Bank series on small businesses.

Swaine made a detailed presentation on Mobile & Web Design – 2014 Industry Design Implementation Trends. Twelve Years’ Experience as User Experience and User Interface Design Thought Leader for Mobile Apps, Tablet Apps, Web (Software) Apps, CRM, Responsive Website Design and Product Strategy. Among his clients are Interac, RBC, Manulife, Deloitte, CIBC, NexJ Systems, Credit Suisse, Microsoft, Sony, Pernod Ricard, Diageo, Pepsi, Edward Dillon, Guinness, Telefonica, Jameson Whiskey, Bio Advance Medical, Cardinal Health and The Irishman Whiskey.

The term 'digital marketing' was first used in the 1990s. Since then, digital marketing became more sophisticated as an effective way to create a relationship with the consumer that has depth and relevance. Recent statistics show that digital marketing remained a growing field.

Digital marketing is marketing that makes use of electronic devices (computers) such as personal computers, smartphones, cellphones, tablets and game consoles to engage with stakeholders. Digital marketing applies technologies or platforms such as websites, e-mail, apps (classic and mobile) and social networks.

During his presentation, Swaine made significant revelations about educating the client before educating the client’s targeted market. He said, “We don’t know in any meaningful way whether a product feature is effective until it is in the marketplace. It is important to engage the customer during the design and development process, and to find out what the users are doing with your product and why? The most difficult answers about your product will be answered by customers in the marketplace.”

In his remarks, Brij K. Sharma, Director, Sponsorship, Trade, and SME, said, “In a world where everything was increasingly being digitalized, it is imperative that small businesses also learn the significance of digitalizing their businesses and benefitting from this process.”

He added that digital media and marketing have special significance for the small and medium businesses as it levels the playing field for them by enabling them to compete with large corporations for public attention. However, it requires a thorough understanding of the issues and the practices.

Hardesh Marwaha of Mitman Financial & Investments, and a member of ICCC's IT committee, played a pivotal role in conceptualizing the program, contacting the speaker and organizing the presentation.

Participants at the session	Sunil Heda of RBC Royal Bank
Brij K. Sharma, Director, ICCC	Post session Q&A