Cheil Worldwide and Samsung Nationwide took part in a social media educational program that kicked off on April 30, 2008, at our New Jersey headquarters. As the Interactive Creative Director for Cheil, I felt it was important to educate the clients on the core principles that make up social media, the ‘tools of the trade’ and some best and worst-case scenarios for brands that have embarked into this new territory, or worse, been thrust into it by their own consumers.
I enlisted the help of C.C. Chapman and Steve Coulson of the Advance Guard who helped me kick off the tour. C.C., a long time podcaster and blogger, and Steve, a creative visionary with a wealth of traditional agency experience, helped lay the groundwork for the presentation. The discussion quickly took shape, revolving around these key issues:
What is social media? How does it work?
How does a brand engage the consumer within the social media space?
Where do we start? How can we adapt as marketers and as a brand in this new space?
The two-hour long session covered everything from blogger outreach and micro-blogging to virtual worlds. The dialogue within each session varied depending on the business challenges faced by our client’s particular line of business. I expected the clients to be very focused on metrics. I even went so far as to craft a full-blown metrics chart in preparation for the onslaught of raised eyebrows in answer to the question, “What’s the ROI?” Maybe I fell prey to headlines I read about the hesitation of brands to engage the space. Even though there aren’t traditional benchmarks, it’s clear to me that clients understand the value, and more importantly, the need to get started. Instead I learned that their concerns lay not with how to engage in a dialogue with the consumer, but with whom to engage in that dialogue.
Corporations and brands are now faced with the following questions:
Some Tools of the Trade
■ Blogs: A web site that has regularly updated content. Most have a set theme or topic and/or serve as an online diary, where the topic is based on personal experiences.
■ Social Networks: Sites where individuals gather to connect and share information. All have the ability to connect/befriend other people and most allow for the sharing, and commenting on of content.
■ Podcasting: Internet radio that anyone with a computer and a microphone can create. Rich media content that consumers can subscribe to and enjoy on their own schedule, and on their device of choice from anywhere.
■ Wikis: Web sites in which everyone has the ability to add and edit the content. Self-policing using the theory of the wisdom of crowds, which believes the more people that contribute, the more accurate the information is.
■ Microblogging: Allows people to send short updates to their community via multiple channels including SMS and instant messaging. Real-time public timeline of messages from people around the world interacting with each other.
■ Internet Video: We live in an on-demand world now. Consumers want to consume entertainment on their schedule and not anyone else’s. Online video allows social interaction and viewing on the consumers’ schedule rather than someone else’s.
■ Virtual Worlds: Online communities of like-minded people. Many are not “a game” in that there is not
a goal or mission. Most share the traits of a social network including friend lists, customization and the sharing of content.
■ Photo Sharing: People can upload their photos for the world to see and comment on. Flickr, the largest and most popular, provides tools for people to upload from their computers and phones.
■ Gaming: Quickly evolving category with the rise in popularity of casual gaming, branded games and dynamic in-game advertising and Alternative Reality Games (ARGs).
■ Social Bookmarking: Just like your browser favorites, but these are bookmarks you share with the world. Updatable, taggable and subscribable. Many have voting mechanisms to make popular links gain even more exposure.
Who runs this? PR? Customer Service? The Advertising Agency?
Do I need a new department within my organization?
In an organization with multiple product divisions, is it run at a corporate level? Do I evangelize my product managers? Different companies handle it in different ways. I’m hardly an expert on the topic of successful business models (I’m a creative director, not a CEO), especially in the social media space, where my senior writer, Brian Gield, has often pointed out to me that “there are no experts, only enthusiasts.” Look at how other companies are embracing the space.
I enlisted the help of C.C. Chapman and Steve Coulson of the Advance Guard who helped me kick off the tour. C.C., a long time podcaster and blogger, and Steve, a creative visionary with a wealth of traditional agency experience, helped lay the groundwork for the presentation. The discussion quickly took shape, revolving around these key issues:
What is social media? How does it work?
How does a brand engage the consumer within the social media space?
Where do we start? How can we adapt as marketers and as a brand in this new space?
The two-hour long session covered everything from blogger outreach and micro-blogging to virtual worlds. The dialogue within each session varied depending on the business challenges faced by our client’s particular line of business. I expected the clients to be very focused on metrics. I even went so far as to craft a full-blown metrics chart in preparation for the onslaught of raised eyebrows in answer to the question, “What’s the ROI?” Maybe I fell prey to headlines I read about the hesitation of brands to engage the space. Even though there aren’t traditional benchmarks, it’s clear to me that clients understand the value, and more importantly, the need to get started. Instead I learned that their concerns lay not with how to engage in a dialogue with the consumer, but with whom to engage in that dialogue.
Corporations and brands are now faced with the following questions:
Some Tools of the Trade
■ Blogs: A web site that has regularly updated content. Most have a set theme or topic and/or serve as an online diary, where the topic is based on personal experiences.
■ Social Networks: Sites where individuals gather to connect and share information. All have the ability to connect/befriend other people and most allow for the sharing, and commenting on of content.
■ Podcasting: Internet radio that anyone with a computer and a microphone can create. Rich media content that consumers can subscribe to and enjoy on their own schedule, and on their device of choice from anywhere.
■ Wikis: Web sites in which everyone has the ability to add and edit the content. Self-policing using the theory of the wisdom of crowds, which believes the more people that contribute, the more accurate the information is.
■ Microblogging: Allows people to send short updates to their community via multiple channels including SMS and instant messaging. Real-time public timeline of messages from people around the world interacting with each other.
■ Internet Video: We live in an on-demand world now. Consumers want to consume entertainment on their schedule and not anyone else’s. Online video allows social interaction and viewing on the consumers’ schedule rather than someone else’s.
■ Virtual Worlds: Online communities of like-minded people. Many are not “a game” in that there is not
a goal or mission. Most share the traits of a social network including friend lists, customization and the sharing of content.
■ Photo Sharing: People can upload their photos for the world to see and comment on. Flickr, the largest and most popular, provides tools for people to upload from their computers and phones.
■ Gaming: Quickly evolving category with the rise in popularity of casual gaming, branded games and dynamic in-game advertising and Alternative Reality Games (ARGs).
■ Social Bookmarking: Just like your browser favorites, but these are bookmarks you share with the world. Updatable, taggable and subscribable. Many have voting mechanisms to make popular links gain even more exposure.
Who runs this? PR? Customer Service? The Advertising Agency?
Do I need a new department within my organization?
In an organization with multiple product divisions, is it run at a corporate level? Do I evangelize my product managers? Different companies handle it in different ways. I’m hardly an expert on the topic of successful business models (I’m a creative director, not a CEO), especially in the social media space, where my senior writer, Brian Gield, has often pointed out to me that “there are no experts, only enthusiasts.” Look at how other companies are embracing the space.
Dell’s IdeaStorm website encourages users to talk about Dell – for better or worse – andtakes an active role in responding. www.dellideastorm.com
The trend, however, seems to be more reactive than proactive. Take Comcast for example, which has now assigned Frank Eliason to be their ‘twitterer’. This is most likely due to another very public lashing their brand took from a blogger (notice the trend here?). I wonder if Frank’s role will expand off twitter and into forums, blogs and social networks. His role on twitter is listed as ‘Comcast Customer Outreach,’ but I question how effective twittering will be. How many of twitter’s approximate one million users are actually Comcast subscribers?
So the answers to the earlier questions? Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes and Yes. Anywhere you begin is a good start. Try starting by having customer service or product managers do a tweet scan once a week and respond to some product questions or complaints, or hire someone at a corporate level who’s empowered to talk to individuals within the organization to get answers to questions users post on the web. Or, have your agency do it (gratuitous plug intended). Unless your new ‘VP of Community’ runs around the web berating customers, slapping bloggers with cease and desists, and boasting about how great and perfect their new employer is, you’re already on your way.
Ann Marie Mathis
Interactive Creative Director
Cheil USA
2 comments:
Hi Ann Marie (wave back)
Curious how we often get stuck on organizational issues rather than just do it, right?
I like Brian's point....go with the evangelists.
Social media really crosses "turfs" just like media relations does. The PR person still needs to work with the business experts on stories or news release etc. As it evolves it becomes parts of lots of people's jobs :-)
Of course I'm curious =) I was at Podcamp Boston last weekend, and a woman who said she used to be a blogger for Dell mentioned that she had to run all her posts through legal. I think a lot of big organizations are faced with similar problems. How can you be timely and authentic in a case like that?
Thanks for your comment Richard, I really think you and Lionel are helping pave the road for lots of companies who really aren't sure where to start. The bad part is that it's MUCH easier to do it the wrong way than it is to do it right.
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