USM PENANG, 14 August 2021 -- In today's era of the 4th Industrial Revolution and with the COVID-19 pandemic still spreading, we can see there are big changes on the Marketing Communications platform, and the most important is how businesses will be conducted with their own new and better strategies.

This was mentioned by the Dean of School of Communication, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Dr. Nurzali Ismail during the virtual opening speech of the IMC 360⁰ International Webinar today.

According to Nurzali, this webinar is held to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) Programme which is a flagship programme of the School of Communication and which has already attracted many practitioners to further continue their studies (USM Sains@KL) since 2012.

“This webinar held in collaboration with the SME Corp Malaysia has gathered experts in Marketing Communications worldwide and is aiming to contribute to the development of competitive, innovative and resilient businesses in the country,” he said.

Meanwhile, the USM Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Student Development Affairs and Alumni), Professor Dr. Aldrin Abdullah said, since 1971, the School of Communication has dedicated itself in offering quality communication studies for the development of both future Malaysian industry and academic leaders.

“The university is also proactively exposing all students to the diverse intellectual, traditions and practical skills in their studies to prepare them to be ready and industry-driven,” he said in representing the USM Vice-Chancellor for the opening speech.

Moreover, Aldrin said, USM realises the world of cohesive-collaborative relationship with industry leaders and on top of that, USM also wants to bridge the gap between academia-industry-public. With this in mind, USM is delighted to have SME Corp Malaysia to be part of the organiser for this international webinar.

Meanwhile, the one-day webinar gathered 3 experts through their sharing sessions, namely the Chief Product Officer, REV Media Group, Media Prima & President of Malaysian Digital Association, Nicholas Sagau, with the topic of Maximizing the Opti-Channel in A Chaotic World of Digital Media; Chief Digital Officer, Uzz DGTL, Singapore, Uzz Taufek with the topic of Conversational Marketing: Maximizing Potential of AI and Chatbot; and Lecturer, Author and Tik Tok Expert from University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland, Dr. Markus Rach with the Strategy workshop of Tik Tok Sovereignty on Brand.

Also cheering up the day was a sharing session by SME industry players with the title of “Creating Successful SME Brand in the Digital Age” featuring the top three SME brands namely Siti Khadijah Apparel Sdn. Bhd., Christy Ng Sdn. Bhd. and Synerchem Group.

The communication programme from the USM School of Communication has come a long way by making its entry in 1971 with a mere aim of meeting job demands, and the first milestone into the following decade witnessed the development of the Bachelor’s Degree in Communication programme, setting sail for the 1984/85 academic session.

The USM School of Communication has ensured that the progress of its academic programmes run alongside the present transformation and digitalisation of the media industry. To sum up, their conviction in metamorphorsis has been spot-on.

Teks: Hafiz Meah Ghouse Meah