Audio track offline until 1/30/10.
EVENT: 2010 Consumer Electronics Show
AUDIENCE: Marketers
SYNOPSIS: The Social Media Hype Bubble is OVER. Consumers are getting burnt out on the hype around the media. So should marketers get out of social marketing? HELL NO. This presentation provides ten suggestions that leverage current trends in social media adoption by both consumers and business.
6. 6 April 2009: Oprah joins Twitter, Ashton & Larry duke it out; CNN adds its Twitter handle May 2009: 4,487 self-proclaimed social media gurus, ninjas, jedi on Twitter By Dec 2009: Nearly 11,000 more “gurus” joined Twitter, post-Oprah BL OCHMAN, 12/29/09
9. Five reasons to be social Precious time is spent connecting socially 17%* of Internet time spent on social networks (tripled from 2008) Consumers want to connect where they live Social content = conversation, and Google <3 conversation When content is social, it can be discussed—and trusted You can’t join a conversation without an entry point SOURCE: NIELSEN ONLINE, SEP 2009 9
10. 51% of consumers trust peers for company & product info; 13% trust marketers. 2009 EDELMAN TRUST BAROMETER
11. And… 11 DATA FROM DEI WORLDWIDE/OTX “IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON PURCH BEHAVIOR”
12. Another reason: competitors.86% said they intend a spending bump in social programs in ‘10. E-CONSULTANCY, SOCIAL MEDIA AND PR REPORT, NOVEMBER 2009
30. 30 10. 2010 is the year to demonstrate your societal intentions.
31. 83% of consumers are willing to change their consumption habits to make the world a better place. 2008 EDELMAN GOOD PURPOSE STUDY
32. Globally, 80% of consumers feel that during a recession, it is still important for brands and companies to set aside money for social purpose 2008 EDELMAN GOOD PURPOSE STUDY
33. 33 Of all the tools at our disposal, social tools provide the greatest ability to connect, engage, build trust and demonstrate intent.
35. About Tribal DDB Tribal DDB Worldwide is a global interactive marketing agency that consistently ranks as one of the Top 10 agencies as measured by revenue, media and creativity. Headquartered in New York, Tribal DDB Worldwide has 56 full services offices spanning 38 countries throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific. We are the first digital agency to ever win Global Agency Network of the Year from Advertising Age. Our worldwide staff of over 1,200 provides clients the scale and breadth of services to build strong digital businesses in all major markets around the world. In short, we are kickin’. 35
36. Part of a worldwide network of tribes 56 full-service offices 38 countries 1,200+ people
37. Expertise Services Digital brand strategy Customer experience design Usability Interactive advertising Media planning & buying Engagement & social marketing strategies Social network/community design Community cultivation (via @RadarDDB) Search engine marketing Engagement analytics Platforms Web Mobile/iPhone Interactive interfaces Kiosks GPS
VOICEOVER:HELLO, thank you all for attending and thank you to Jeff Pulver and Dave Taylor for having me back again here at the Social Media Jungle at CES. My name is Eric Weaver and I am an account director and brand strategist with Tribal DDB. I’ve been a marketer for 18 years and have helped large corporations like UPS, Starbucks, Perry Ellis and Microsoft understand consumer trends and social technologies. I wanted to share ten things with you that I think you really need to know about the best ways to go to market in 2010.(survey audience experience in social marketing)
First, there has been a tremendous hype bubble around social media as a medium now for the last 5 years or so. But we’ve been seeing signs of its inevitable bursting for about a year or so.
People have started to disconnect and unfriend. A year ago, Burger King asked you to unfriend ten people on Facebook in exchange for a free whopper. They pulled the plug after 225,000 people were unfriended, primarily because of Facebook’s concerns about privacy expectations.TheAughts, the decade from 2000-2009, were really about trying out social sites, adding applications, adding Web 2.0 sites, and adding connections. They were about experimentation and trying everything. But maintaining that level of online activity is unsustainable, and as real-life social challenges such as the economy, the environment, and war continue to grow in concern, fascination with the internet and social networks must wane, and in my opinion, the hype around the medium already has waned.Now, I want to clarify: I’m not talking about interest in socialized content waning, just the interest in social media as a Shiny New Object.
Another example is the Web 2.0 Suicide Machine, a new site that will let you disconnect from social networks en masse. The Suicide Machine has gotten a lot of buzz lately, most recently when Facebook decided to stop it from disconnecting users as well.
I think that in addition to overload, part of the reason for the backlash is that noise about social media as a medium has been off the charts and that noise is frankly boring and overwhelming to consumers. Remember back in April of 2009, when Oprah joined Twitter? Around the same time, Ashton Kutcher challenged Larry King to a twitter follower throwdown. That was also the month that CNN began publishing their Twitter handle CNNBRK on the Headline News Ticker. These events really generated buzz with the masses, and Twitter became a true fascination for the press and public. *CLICK* In May of 2009, consultant BL Ochman found around 4400 people on Twitter calling themselves things like SocMed guru, social media ninja, social media jedi, expert, superstar, and I love this one: soc med superhero. BL did another study at the end of 2009 and found that there had been an increase of over 11,000 self-proclaimed “gurus” who joined Twitter post-Oprah. It’s incredibly dishonest in my opinion, to call oneself a social media guru when you joined Twitter after Oprah. With this many people proclaiming themselves to be experts, the noise and dishonesty will turn people off and actually has already begun to do so.
The most telling data point: there are two great mechanisms that hook up traditional media reporters with subject matter experts: ProfNet, and Help a Reporter Out. On these sites, reporters can pose questions and get feedback from social media proponents. Over the past two years, requests for social media quotes and content kept increasing in number, until I saw it hit a peak in the spring of 2009 when there would be maybe 10-15 requests daily. But after a couple of months, summer set in and consumers and the media, began losing their fascination with social media. And looking at this list from January 5th, when you see requests for quotes about parasitic twins and retired racing dogs, you know the press has MOVED ON.
Now, despite this,even though the hype is dying, the need for your brand to have social content is even MORE important. There are five key reasons:
#1, consumers spend a tremendous amount of time connecting socially, #2, consumers WANT to connect with your brand where they live online rather than where YOU live, #3, social content means there is conversation and Google loves conversation, resulting in higher search rankings, #4, socialized content means that it can be discussed and referred amongst peers, who as of last year are THE most trusted source of information about companies and brands. And #5, your competitors will be there and if you’re not, you won’t be a participant in the conversation.
This is borne out in the latest trust survey by Edelman PR. Peers are the most trusted source of company info, and we marketers are amazingly the least, which means that right now, customers are a better sales channel than we are!
Here we see a datapoint from a market research company showing that people are visiting social media sites more than company websites. Again, they’d rather engage with the brand where they live rather than leaving friends behind to go visit your company site.
And again the last reason your marketing must be social: your competitors will be there. 86% of those surveyed indicate they will increase their spend in 2010. And remember, for those of you who haven’t yet started to fully engage with social marketing, you can’t have a conversation about your brand if you don’t already have an entry point. And that entry point shouldn’t merely be a fanpage touting outbound marketing messages: it should be full-on conversation.
Consumers really want to co-create with you. They want to do this because - it gives them the end product or service that they want- the technologies now LET them co-create, and - because brand enthusiasts enjoy gathering with like-minded people around products that they support or have affinity with. Another reason your marketing needs to be social in 2010.
For example, this is a website called LookBook.nu. Here, thousands of Millennials are creating their own photos spreads using various fashion brands. In this case, a young would-be model from Iowa has put together an ensemble that includes a shirt from the Penguin Brand, which is owned by Perry Ellis. This brand is being marketed by consumers completely independently of the company itself.
Which is why you need to find your voice, and whythis is the year to do it. A lot of companies have been punching bags prior to their entrée into social media. Dell, Starbucks and Comcast are all examples of companies who took it on the chin until they jumped into the fray a couple of years ago. They were early leaders who are now well invested in social marketing.Despite these major leaders, I continue to talk to marketing VPs who still haven’t gotten onto the dance floor. Many of them are concerned about litigation and privacy issues. This has resulted in them being publicly trashed online and responding with silence. I believe strongly that this is the year companies will find their online voice.
For example,In October, a blogger wrote a poignant and outraged post about the TSA allegedly taking away her baby at an airport security checkpoint. (http://j.mp/thetsatookmybabyaway) In her post, she claimed the baby was taken alone into another room, that she screamed, she cried, she passed out, and no one would do anything to help her. Your first thought might be, maybe this is a citizen journalist, holding The Man accountable. For years, bloggers have created PR issues for companies who were either ill-prepared or unwilling to respond.
In this case, the blogger was probably stunned to learn that the TSA has its own blog. It also posted timecoded camera footage of the incident in question from 9 different angles. After the TSA called her out on her post, and provided this proof, the blogger had no real response that made any sense to me. In this situation, who would you trust? The dreaded TSA or a blogger? In this case, the often beaten up TSA had found its voice, and responded. http://www.tsa.gov/blog/2009/10/response-to-tsa-agents-took-my-son.html
So find your voice. Take back your share of the conversation this year, and engage in the social space. We’re well past experimentation now. I love this quote. To put out social media fires, you need social content. Dedicate the spend to creating it!
Recession leads to pressure. Pressure leads to fear. Fear leads to risk aversion. And risk aversion completely takes the wind out of our ability to connect with our customers, because safe marketing efforts are focused more on internal approval than customer connection. I’m projecting that this is the year many firms will move past their risk aversion. You might be thinking, “easy for you to say, Agency Boy!” But I’ve led internal marketing teams and I very well know the stunning demands and often unrealistic expectations placed on marketers. For example, I know that some of the most dreaded words from management are:
Are you asking for a budget increase? The Aughts (2000-2009) were a rough decade for marketers. We had our budgets cut time and again, and with our CMOs averaging 18 months in tenure, had our CMOs cut too. And whenever new programs like social marketing have been suggested, there’s been tremendous concern about risk at all levels of the organization, but especially amongst angsty, insecure marketing teams. I’m hoping that THIS YEAR, marketers will have the data, tools and arguments to successfully push past their fears.
Many organizations start that journey with social monitoring. As of November, 54% of companies in a recent survey indicated they are monitoring the social space. That means another 46% don’t even do that! My counsel to them and to you: Legal will wake up this year and come forward with precedents and positions on social marketing. Don’t wait for them to do that: get them involved this year and proactively push them to help you set up the rules of engagement. Decide how you’re going to interact with customers and prospects and create the conversational guardrails to let you to fearlessly interact with customers.
#6: control of your brand is gone. For many of you this will seem like stating the obvious, but for many clients I’ve spoken to, brand and message control will continue to be an issue with marketers in 2010. The main reason for this is because our performance as marketers is often based on how well we craft a brand. And marketers are craftsmen and women by nature. So the last thing we’d want to do is turn over our creation to someone else. Because If we are measured on craftsmanship of a brand, yet we have to let go, then we need to find a way to be measured by our management that doesn’t involve “final” brand states as much as it does a continuous brand efficacy.How effectively are we communicating and coaching the values of our offering? Statements are controlled, but dialogues are steered.
And because of this loss of control, and because customers can take our brands and run with them online, we need a strong DNA now more than ever.
A recent McKinsey study shows that 66% of all touchpoints are now consumer generated. Which really means that YOUR brand is now OUR BRAND, owned by the collective We. Despite this trend, if that brand is to continue to carry the critical DNA of its unique value proposition, its competitive differentiation, and its benefits, those aspects must be encoded in the brand to weather any social media winds that might buffet it. Sort of like tall buildings like the Burj Dubai or Sears Tower. They’re built to flex in the wind without breaking. Your brand DNA needs to flex but not lose its core attributes. That DNA is what attracts the market in the first place.
As marketers, we’ve asked for attention, we’ve asked for time. John Scherer pleads “try my product” in his direct response TV ads. Market research companies call you to ask for just a couple of minutes of your precious time. But what’s the first thing you think about when people come to your front door asking for time, attention or money? Exactly. There’s a better lever to pull.
Besides being a tough year financially, 2009 was a tough year for all of us when it came to Trust. In the States, in this recent trust survey from Edelman, we saw consumer trust in business fall off a cliff. And it’s not just in business. People have become distrustful of other pillars of society. For example, my tiny and sweet Okinawan hairdresser mother now says things to me like, “well, those doctors, what do they know?” Hopefully more than a hairdresser, Mom! And think about times when you’re being approached by a cop and subconsciosly wonder, is his bad day going to make mine bad too? These are classic examples of destroyed trust, even in bedrock foundational things like doctors and cops. If consumers are losing faith in those things, they’re going to lose trust in what they perceive to be self-interested business.Even more startling is a statistic from Yankelovich, stating that 93% of consumers do not have confidence in the advertising messages of major corporations. 93%!
Part of the problem is that this has been going on for quite some time. Most marketing approaches were formed during a time when consumers had time and attention and trust to give. In each category there were perhaps 3-5 leaders: Tide and Cheer, Winston and Marlboro. Maxwell House and Folgers. But look what started happening. Product choice went off the charts. Now we’re in an era where we can have a mocha frappacino half-caff soy latte, no foam, no whip, no sleeve.As the recession has dragged on, marketers have been increasingly asking—and in some cases demanding—your time and your attention. I don’t know anyone who finds those annoying rollover ads on sites like MSNBC.com that expand to full page when you mouse over them. And video preroll ads: ever find any interesting or useful content there? The likelihood of those asks for attention actually being fulfilled becomes lower as choice and noise skyrocket. The bottom line is: We can’t give people back time or attention, we can’t decrease product choice or noise. But we can take steps to build TRUST.
Number nine. This is the year to demonstrate your intent. Your moral fiber. Your interests as a firm. Your vision. Your realities.
Youknow what? Consumers WANT to trust you. They ARE interested in your intentions. In 2009, 93% of consumers globally said they’d trust a company more if they only offered more transparent and honest business practices. Social channels provide the perfect venue for producing transparency. 91% said they’d trust a company more if they communicated honestly and frequently. Which media is perfect for that? Social media. Use social tools to demonstrate YOUR COMPANY’S INTENT.My recommendation: don’t spend money on asking for time and attention. Spend money on the trust builders. Because trust is what drives sales, not more effective intrusion.
And finally, this is the year to demonstrate not only your company’s market intentions but its societal intentions as well. Our focus is turning increasingly to societal issues. How does your company fit into solving larger problems? If you’re willing to give back for a greater good, then this is the year to use social tools to demonstrate that intention.
Consumers are starting to demand this. We saw it in the previous chart. 83% of consumers are willing to spend differently if it gives back.
And 80% feel you need to dedicate FUNDS to social causes. In the past, corporate social responsibility was often window dressing. But now it’s becoming a primary requirement for consumer trust. And with a distrustful audience, traditional CSR tactics won’t be enough. Social tools are fantastic for demonstrating true social action.Probably the most important point is that social media provides proof points that lend credibility and trust to your intentions.
Which leaves me with my final thought: this is the year to transform your marketing from 1950s approaches to what your markets want now. WE are the biggest forces holding ourselves back from this change, and 2010 is the year and the decade when most companies will move forward. I hope yours will too. Get good counsel, have good data at your fingertips, and be a fearless champion within your company. In many ways, this is the most exciting time in the history of marketing. Consumers are feeling empowered. Marketers can too.