Design Your Brand, Define Your Values, Align Your Vision: SocialEast Day 2 Marketing Takeaways

Arlene Dickinson on the SocialEast Stage — All photography by Mat Higgins-Savidant

After kicking off with a record-setting number of connections on the Prompty app (Calgary, you’ve got competition), Day Two of SocialEast built on the energy of opening day with another round of standout sessions. With speakers from TikTok, Differo, Dashboard Marketing, and a keynote from one of Canada’s most respected entrepreneurs, attendees left with fresh ideas, renewed focus, and a deeper sense of community.

“Brands Are People, Too” – Design Your Brand With Feeling

As Differo’s Will Yang shared, “Branding is how you make other people feel about you.” That emotional impact, on social, in ads, and even in-person, happens instantly. “The human brain makes a trust decision in 50 milliseconds,” addedAlexia Krizia La Palerma, Creative Director of REBL HOUSE by NP Digital.

So how do you make a meaningful first impression? Define your brand’s human element. Reflect your community. Use great design to make people feel something.

V. Gaik, Executive Director, Brand and Partnerships, TikTok Canada

V. Gaik, Executive Director, Brand and Partnerships at TikTok Canada, echoed this message in her data-rich session. “73% of people feel a deeper connection with brands that show up on TikTok,” she said. Why? Because on people-first platforms, creators lead the way. They create connection through entertainment and conversation, key elements in today’s engagement strategy.

Define Your Values and Live Them

“Brand values aren’t just words posted on your site,” said Sean Williams, co-founder of Dashboard Marketing. “You have to define and live your brand values. Do your current staff believe in them? Are they living them? Do you believe in them?”

In his session, “All Up In Your Feels,” Brody Hanson, founder of Work Water, challenged attendees to start from a shared foundation: “Start with your shared values, not personal values.” Values shouldn’t be performative. They should show up in your marketing, messaging, operations, and internal culture.

When brand values align with audience values, connection deepens. And that connection is where momentum starts.

Arlene Dickinson speaking to the SocialEast crowd

Align Your Vision

Arlene Dickinson is one of Canada’s most respected business leaders. She’s an investor, an author, the General Partner of District Ventures Capital, CEO of Venturepark, a veteran Dragon on CBC’s Dragon’s Den, and now the 2025 closing keynote speaker at SocialEast.

Her message to the 500+ marketers in the room? Don’t underestimate your influence. “It matters that you represent your conscience, for the businesses you work for, and the businesses you own,” she said. “You can make a real difference to other people’s lives when they see hope and encouragement.”

In a time when marketing decisions carry more cultural and societal weight than ever, Arlene reminded us of the responsibility we hold as communicators. “What you broadcast makes a difference and can change the narrative of a nation.”

Her final note: “Believe in yourself.” At SocialEast, you’re surrounded by a community that does, too.

This piece is part of our ongoing coverage of SocialEast 2025, one of five national conferences produced by SocialNext, with live coverage of this event sponsored by Cyberimpact.

About Cyberimpact:
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