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Sam Ford Project Manager MIT Convergence Culture Consortium Program in Comparative Media Studies Advisor of Customer Insights Peppercom E-Mail: samford@mit.edu Phone: (617) 324-9118 Fax: (617) 258-5133 Blog URL: http://www.convergenceculture.org/weblog/. Harnessing Influence.
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Sam Ford Project Manager MIT Convergence Culture Consortium Program in Comparative Media Studies Advisor of Customer Insights Peppercom E-Mail: samford@mit.edu Phone: (617) 324-9118 Fax: (617) 258-5133 Blog URL: http://www.convergenceculture.org/weblog/
Harnessing Influence According to a February 2008 study from Peppercom client TNS media intelligence/Cymfony: -Nearly 50 percent of senior marketing executives believe social media “is a vital component of corporate communications.” -Companies leading in using social media primarily see these outlets primarily as a venue for listening to consumer viewpoints, while companies taking a more cautious approach to social media see it primarily as a tool for viral marketing and online video. The Future of Digital Media Lies In: 1.) Access to Unfiltered Customer Insight 2.) The Ability to Encourage and Facilitate “Word-of-Mouth” Proselytizing
When Asked the Main Goal(s) of Their Companies’ Digital Programs, Respondents to the Peppercom/PR News Survey Said:
Survey respondents indicated that the need for improving digital communications is currently a low priority in the overall marketing budget:
Among the 65 percent of respondents who felt confident in making predictions for the 2008 marketing strategy, the vast majority felt that digital will play a more strategic marketing role in 2008.
Among the 83%of respondents who felt they could forecast their company’s digital marketing budget, only 8% of respondents expected a significant increase in that budget, despite the overwhelming belief that digital will play a more strategic role in 2008.
Harnessing Influence The Biggest Barriers to Implementing a Social Media Plan: 1.) Lack of Commitment Among Senior Management 2.) A Lack of Best Practices 3.) A Lack of Leadership from Marketing and PR Firms in the Digital Space
Learning from Others’ Mistakes Astroturfing: The attempt to make a marketing campaign seem grassroots through a lack of transparency in admitting corporate ties. Wal-Marting Across America
Learning from Others’ Mistakes Gee Whiz Factor: The momentary attraction of participating in a new trend or technology because it’s currently considered as innovative, without giving thought as to the motivation behind the offering. Second Life Facebook Widgets
The Importance of Best Practices Transparency: Anyone marketing in the digital space must take great care to be completely open about their marketing initiatives and any other underlying circumstances which, if discovered by users without being made explicit by marketers, might appear dishonest. For instance, WOMMA members pledge to be wholly transparent in all attempts to promote content online. As a blogger myself, I always strive to make explicit the connection with partner companies at any point I write about any of their properties.
Steve Cody Managing Partner and Co-Founder Peppercom Strategic Communications 470 Park Avenue South New York, NY 10016 E-Mail: scody@peppercom.com Phone: (212) 931-6114 Fax: (212( 931-6159 Blog: http://www.RepManblog.com
Frustration and Pain in Managing a Digital Presence • The recent survey conducted by Peppercom and PRNews in relation to this • Webinar emphasized: • Frustration: Bosses, companies, and the C-Suite either aren’t investing in digital or do not see digital digital as an important enough competitive advantage, despite growing awareness of the importance of digital for customer relations. • Pain: With continued recession discussion alongside proliferation in competition for the digital space, companies are often forging ahead with a concern for digital without setting aside the necessary resources. More than 60% of those surveyed feel they are at best parallel or even behind their competitors on digital initiatives.
Lacking Confidence in a Digital Strategy Companies say they’ll continue to expand their Web efforts, but they are not yet confident in their digital strategy. • More than 1/3 of companies believe it is “too soon to tell” if their digital marketing programs are successful. • More than 1/3 of companies rate their programs as only “somewhat” or moderately successful.
How Do We Value the Web’s Part in Moving Digital Sales? • Almost 1/3 of those surveyed see the Web as a vehicle for building/enhancing reputations. • However, only 19% say the Web can drive sales. • Further, survey results found a lack of confidence industrywide in the C-Suite’s knowledge and strategy in the digital space. Responses to our question regarding the C-Suite’s view of digital tools demonstrated a lack of industry consensus about the state of digital. Of the 59% who answered the question, only approximately 17% indicated that the C-Suite was guiding with a proactive vision for their company’s digital presence, while 25% of those responding saw their chief officers as very skeptical, unknowledgeable, or uninterested in digital. How can we move forward in envisioning and valuing the ways a company’s digital presence Impacts the bottom line?
Reactionary Approach Vs. Strategic Approach • The survey results, taken as a whole, indicate that respondents feel prepared • for a digital crisis but less confident in their overall digital approach. • This means that the majority of those surveyed are reacting to digital tactically • but lack the necessary planning that is essential in creating a strong digital • presence. • Essential to this is learning from established best practices and the pitfalls of prior mistakes.
Reputation Crisis Management: Kentucky Fried Chicken
Reputation Crisis Management: Astroturfing
Reputation Crisis Management: Astroturfing “All I want for xmas is a PSP” was a Sony campaign meant to look like a fan site, which was quickly picked apart the site’s lack of transparency.
Online Video and “Viral” • Viral spread is not something you can engineer for success. Users decide what to pass around. • The spread of online video cannot be tightly controlled by the company if you want it to be successful. • Pay close attention to how your product is being used by others, but don’t let a prohibitionist stance kill a good branding opportunity that is user-generated.
Online Community/Blogger Relations • Blogger Relations • 101 • Read Blogger’s Material Before Contacting Them • Make Sure What You Send Is Relevant • Understand the Differences in Conversing with a Blogger and a Big Media Pitch • Don’t Send a Thinly Veiled Press Release in the Form of Personal Communication
Sentiment Monitoring ValSpar Pick up on what consumers were doing on their own, Creating blogs, highlighting own home innovations, rather than Saying they can’t put picture of can on site embraced it and Viral program to leverage that.
Five Guiding Principles Businesses Need to Live By In a Digital World 1.) Local Is Now Global. 2.) Understand the Population. 3.) Adjust for Users. 4.) Create an Open Forum for Conversation. 5.) If You Put Yourself Out There, You Have to Live with the Good and the Bad.
Understand the Population Moron Publicist of the Month: KFC’s Flack READ MORE: Publicists, food, press releases, public relations This is why people hate publicists. Now, as people who have at least a glancing familiarity with this website, you probably realize that giveaway offers by national fast-food chains do not, typically, fall within our coverage area. One would expect even the soulless flacks responsible for publicizing giveaway offers by national fast-food chains to be aware of this. (True, we once wrote about an earlier stupid KFC gimmick, but that was only to lambaste the chain for appropriating Office Space for its nefarious purposes.) But they’re not. While we understand that junior-level PR people have to send out releases to whole big lists of media, and so we try to simply ignore them — rather than get mad at them, or taunt them — when they send us silly, irrelevant things like news about giveaway offers by national fast-food chains, sometimes that becomes impossible. Especially with the imbeciles who do press for our old pals KFC. Who have recently taken to hounding us. Like with this email, which arrived yesterday: From: Smulyan, Brandon To: tips@gawker.com Sent: Monday, December 12, 2005 2:54 PM Subject: Tis the KFC-eason for giving Gawker, I realize the Ultimate KFC Fan Contest ended yesterday. However, I just wanted to drop a friendly reminder to let you know the other item, the On Top of the World of KFC eBayｨ Auction, ends on December 15. Have you had a chance to look over the details yet? Again, please feel free to contact me with any questions. Best, Brandon Smulyan for KFC 972.830.XXXX xxxx@webershandwick.com Brandon Smulyan for KFC then pastes below his previous emails to us about KFCﾕs marketing effort, as though he will somehow guilt us into writing about his campaign, which we thought we were being generous to not write about. Well, congratulations, Brandon Smulyan for KFC. We’re writing about you now.Because you’re our Moron Publicist of the Month.
Create an Open Forum for Conversation Wal-Mart’s Check Out Blog provides buyers the chance to critically review content sold by the retail chain with a significant degree of candor.
