• by Gavin O'Malley , Staff Writer @mp_gavin, March 13, 2015

In the age of social -- when every consumer can broadcast their opinion to the world -- there’s no separating real-world from digital brand management. “What happens in the store [no longer] stays in the store, Laura Gordon, VP Brand Innovation, 7-Eleven, told attendees of OMMA at SXSW, on Friday. For car dealerships, for instance, “The conversation is happening whether they want it to or not,” said Russell Wager, VP of Marketing for Mazda USA. As such, “You just got to focus on how you treat every customer,” Wagner said. Another option is trying to drive the consumer conversation by producing positive experiences that overshadow the bad. TD Bank, for example, made the wishes of some loyal customers comes true (including a high-school prom in one case), according to Vinoo Vijay, Executive VP and Chief Marketing Officer at TD Bank.