1. On Community Management:
Current practice, possible
futures
Youmna Ovazza
September 2011
Key points and illustrations from the eponymous article
available on www.butter-cake.com

2. Summary
For most businesses today, community management is only a cosmetic
innovation, in both reputation and practice. Appearing to be a new function
because the medium is new, it has reproduced the traditional organizational
model of the business, which offers each category of consumer a single
centralized point of contact with the business.
The potential development of the role is nevertheless rich in possibility,
from the integration of different departments of the business to an ongoing
role as an intermediary between individual consumers and individual
employees.
A business that recognizes the potential for the individuation of its
employees in the process of internal community management opens the
royal road to true integration of “Web 2.0,” though inevitably this will
require fundamental reorganization to obtain real benefits in customer
loyalty and innovation.

3. The « relational bottleneck »:
the traditional model of business organisation
in its relation with its audiences

4. At the most basic level of business, the
director/freelance is in direct contact with his client and
other target audiences (suppliers, partners, customers,
opinion formers etc.)
Clients
Opinion
Partners
leaders
Director / Freelance
Independent
Suppliers Etc.

5. The relational bottleneck:
the traditional model of business organisation in its
relation to its customers
THE CUSTOMERS THE BUSINESS
In the background: Behind:
Upfront: The rest of the
The crowd of Upfront:
Certain key anonymous
anonymous Representative
functions/Publi workforce
consumers organisations X
cly identifiable X
personnel
X X X X
X
X
Associa- PR X
X tions X X
X X
X
Com
X X X
Lobbies
Customer X X
Relations
X X X
Support X X
X
Sales
Unions … X X X
… X X
X
X
Personalised X
X
X Patterns of and
X collective X
individualised
exchange and X
patterns of
influence exchange

6. The internet and Web 2.0 have disrupted this
control of this relational bottleneck

7. Web 2.0 has disrupted this control of the
organisational bottleneck
THE CUSTOMERS THE BUSINESS
The crowd is no longer anonymous and Employees are
has become visible. New kinds of no longer
groupings emerge anonymous
U Y
Formal representation is
Social overwhelmed
B R T V
networks A
C
Associa- PR X
G tions Q S
A W
B
Com
C P Z
Discussion Customer
Lobbies D O
Blogs Relations
groups
D G A
Support J N
E
Sales
Etc. … H
Unions… M B
F K
E
I
C
L
E
F Individual and D
collective exchanges E
become possible at any
level

8. What is the role of the community manager
in this newly reorganised world?

9. Community management today:
new pathways in business relations
THE CUSTOMERS THE BUSINESS
U Y
B Social
R T V
networks A
C
Associa- PR X
G Communit Q S
A tions y W
B
Manager Com
C P Z
Discussio Customer
D O
Blogs Lobbies Relations
n groups
D G A
Support J N
E
Unions Sales
Etc. … H
… M B
F K
E
I
C
L
E
F D
E

10. Community management, as it has evolved,
encompasses the traditional business functions of:
Tasks PR Communi- Marketing Sales After-Sales Customer
cations (Research/I Service Relations
nnovation)
Coordination of the brand’s presence on social X X
networks and community spaces (Facebook pages,
Twitter accounts, YouTube/Dailymotion, Flickr,
forums/discussion groups…)
Editorial planning, content production, or X
collection of internal content for repurposing
Responding to incoming questions and/or referral X X
to the right people/correct internal service
Brand monitoring and intervention on behalf of X X
the brand at discussion sites not owned by the
brand: forums, comparison sites etc.
Identification and coordination of a « community » X
of influencers and opinion leaders (journalists,
bloggers, etc.)
Pre-sales or coordination of sales (putting X
promotions and direct sales online etc.)
Coordination of projects of co-creation or X
innovation with consumers
www.butter-cake.com

11. How to « fix » this function, what are the
potential options?

12. 4 possible paths of development for
community management within the
organisation of the business

13. Possible organisational developments
Option 1:
The community manager as an outpost of the business, as coordinator of relations
with consumers and clients, liaising with different functional teams within the
business and different audience groupings
THE CUSTOMERS THE BUSINESS
A
C R
PR
Q
W
Com A
The public: P
Consumers, customers Community Customer Z
Manager Relations
and opinion leaders G M
Support A
D Sales
… H K
N

14. Possible organisational developments
Option 2:
The community manager integrated into a functional team which
corresponds to the dominant function of the job
THE CUSTOMERS THE BUSINESS
A
C R
C
M
Q
W
The public: A
P
Consumers, customers Z
and opinion leaders G M
A
D
H K
N

15. Possible organisational developments
Option 3:
The community manager integrated into each functional team:
As a relational extension of each function of the business
THE CUSTOMERS THE BUSINESS
A
C R
C
M PR
Q
W
C
Com A
The public: M
P
Consumers, customers Z
C Customer
and opinion leaders M Relations G M
A
C
D M
Support
H K
N
C Sales
M …

16. Possible organisational developments
Option 4:
The community manager as an intermediary between individual consumers and
individual employees, i.e. as much an internal coordinator of experts as of the
external « community » of consumers and opinion-formers.
LES CONSOMMATEURS L’ENTREPRISE
A
C R
RP
Q
W
Com A
The public: P
Consumers, customers Z
Community
Manager
and opinion leaders SAV
G M
A
D CRC
H K
N
Ventes
…

17. Conclusion
For a majority of businesses, the title of community management is currently only a
cosmetic function, newly devised in response to the use of interactive digital media. Its
use within the organization, or worse, its outsourcing, reflects a reproduction of the
traditional organizational model of a "relational bottleneck:" but now faced by the new
groupings of consumers made possible by the social networks and forums of the web.
The rich possibilities created by web 2.0 will only be truly exploited by businesses when
they are fully integrated into the structure of the business, as a factor which requires
existing functioning and attribution to be reconsidered, rather than as a foreign body
implanted by modern tools. The function will then be fully realized as community
management per se, with respect to consumers—and also to employees—with major
benefits for the business, in terms of quality of service and its resulting impact on
customer loyalty, in terms of the quality of insights and the impact on the development
of new business, and in terms of internal management and the satisfaction, motivation
and loyalty of collaborators.
17

18. Thank You.
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