Social media:
Making it work for brands
Ann Longley, Digital Strategy Director, 22 June 2009

Dynamics Topics for today
Case studies
MEC’s approach

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Case studies
Digital age dynamics
MEC’s approach

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Social media is making a big impact
“Twitter will change the way we Live”, Time Magazine, 2009

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but what do we mean by social media?
Social media is a very broad term.
It refers to all those online activities,
tools, platforms and practices that allow
users to collaborate, create and share
thoughts, knowledge, opinions and
content.
It is both what people do online, and the
environments in which they do it.
As in the „real‟ world, the social web has
its own culture and norms although
these may vary from place to place.It is
an evolving landscape in a continuous
state of flux.
MEC Guide to Social Media

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and what does it mean for our customers?
Better
Informed
Better
connected
Change image More in
control
More
fragmented
More
expressive

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Social media is dominated by UGC
Share
Create Remix
which brands can‟t control…

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Creating new challenges for brands
Threats Opportunities

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Problems…? Everyone knows about it

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No such thing as local news

Others can undermine your messages

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Organising protests has never been easier

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News not all bad

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Many brands have fans online

Smart brands cultivate their fanbase

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Smart fans influence brands

Brands can avert problems by listening

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And invite their customers to help them

What makes a good social media strategy?
MEC’s approach
Dynamics
Case studies

Case
studies
Obama Everywhere: election-winning
MySpace page with application Facebook page with application
1.267M friends 5.5M fans
32k active app users
YouTube
Twitter 100m+ video views
291k followers 164k subscribers

Case
studies
T-mobile: creating a groundswell

Case
studies
Skins: energising its fanbase

Case
studies
Sony Ericsson: portable and shareable

Case
studies
DELL: listening and rewarding

Keys to success
Empowered consumers want to interact with brands
Empowered consumers want to interact with brands
1. Better informed
2. Better networked
1. Content }
markets as conversations
3. Better connected
2. Communities }
= conversion
3. Conversations
Clients uncertain about the best way to spend their digital budgets as well as
how to operate in this new marketing environment.

Case
Social entertainment: A vision studies

Dynamics Topics for today
Case studies
MEC’s approach

MEC
Approach
The numbers can’t be ignored
79, 294M 12, 055M
31, 175M 132, 607M
Source: Comscore Europe, Jan 2009

MEC
Approach
YouTube is scaling to the size of a TV
Channel
Monthly
Unique 44.3
Users Adults (16+) monthly unique users 41.9
35.6
Online
TV
26.5
20.5 20.9
12.9
11.2
7.7 Rest of
6.4 6.8 Adults
4.1
2.9 3.9
1.7 16 -34
0.3 0.4 0. Men
2.9
8 0.5
Source: Nielsen October 2008, BARB
29

MEC
Approach
Advertising facing a backlash

MEC
Approach
Advertising is fighting back
New social ad formats are Social media integration on
emerging and off domain

MEC
Approach
Marketing has changed
Complexity lies at the centre of the marketing funnel
Peer Competitive
reviews alternatives
The traditional marketing funnel
Buyers
Eyeballs
Eyeballs Buyers
Contributors
User-generated
Recommendations
content
from friends
Old New

MEC
Approach
Earned media is now the most influential
Paid Owned Earned
Source: COMPOSE 2008

MEC
Approach
What matters now is Whuffie
In a post scarcity economy, social capital rules.

MEC
Approach
Reputation 2.0
Strength of
network/
fanbase
Responsive-
Leadership REPUTATION
ness
Product and
service
innovation

MEC
Approach
Social media is here to stay
Brands hiring in-house community managers:
Source: http://www.web-strategist.com/blog/2008/06/20/list-of-social-computing-strategists-and-community-managers-for-large-corporations-2008/

MEC
Approach
New world calls for a new approach
Plan
Listen Strategy Act
Evaluate

MEC
Approach
helping brands become more
customer centric
Promote and
Respond
Engage with
content and
experiences
Gain audience
insight

MEC
Approach
The benefits of paying attention
Here are just a few:
Manage risks Improve service
Evaluate campaigns Identify new ambassadors

MEC
Approach
New metrics for the
conversational marketplace
Influence Engagement
Share of influence Views/downloads
Share of buzz Fans or friends
SEO ranking Participation
Referral Intimacy
Send to friends
Loyalty
Posts/ embedding
Repeat visits
on own pages
Length of time spent
Social bookmarking
Comments
Problems solved

Summing it all up
Benefits Don’t let it pass Become talked Think beyond
outweigh risks you by about advertising

Thank you!
Contact me:
ann.longley@mecglobal.com
www.twitter.com/AnnMargaret