Corporate brands in social media: What's a win win for everyone? Derrick Koh, April 5 th 2009 BarCamp KL

‘Brand’ is what people say about you when you aren’t in the room - Anon

The Mission of Lenovo’s Social Media Program Build the Lenovo brand by engaging customers in an open conversation Protect the Lenovo brand by detecting expressions of unhappiness Extend the Lenovo brand by identifying influencers of brand sentiment Measure the influence of SMM on Lenovo’s key strategic initiatives Accelerate a transition from “one-way” to “two-way” customer relations

Build the Lenovo brand by engaging customers in an open conversation

Protect the Lenovo brand by detecting expressions of unhappiness

Extend the Lenovo brand by identifying influencers of brand sentiment

Measure the influence of SMM on Lenovo’s key strategic initiatives

Accelerate a transition from “one-way” to “two-way” customer relations

Lenovo’s blog strategy is To focus on authentic discussions of interest to customers and the public To publish many blogs, not a single corporate blog To focus on the “long tail” of interest in specific niches, e.g. design, engineering, Linux, etc. To support as many key languages as possible To use the company blogs to quickly communicate priority messages

To focus on authentic discussions of interest to customers and the public

To publish many blogs, not a single corporate blog

To focus on the “long tail” of interest in specific niches, e.g. design, engineering, Linux, etc.

To support as many key languages as possible

To use the company blogs to quickly communicate priority messages

Ten Fundamentals of Lenovo social media strategy Blog, post, twitter, friend, and participate with passion Listen and respond Be authentic Respect the customer’s privacy Avoid SOS – Shiny Object Syndrome Turn marketing funnels into megaphones Free our content and use open tools Tell the business what we hear Teach the business on what to do and when to do it Perpetual beta

Blog, post, twitter, friend, and participate with passion

Listen and respond

Be authentic

Respect the customer’s privacy

Avoid SOS – Shiny Object Syndrome

Turn marketing funnels into megaphones

Free our content and use open tools

Tell the business what we hear

Teach the business on what to do and when to do it

Perpetual beta

Social Media Staffing: Bloggers Bloggers David Hill: Design Matters Matt Kohut: Inside the Box Bill Stevenson: Heart of Business Reid Walker: Worldsourcing Mark Hopkins: Lenovo Connections Brandon Hoe: The Roaring Mouse* Yamato Team, Yamato Thinking Blogger support Nano Broyles Esteban Panzeri Derrick Koh

Bloggers

David Hill: Design Matters

Matt Kohut: Inside the Box

Bill Stevenson: Heart of Business

Reid Walker: Worldsourcing

Mark Hopkins: Lenovo Connections

Brandon Hoe: The Roaring Mouse*

Yamato Team, Yamato Thinking

Blogger support

Nano Broyles

Esteban Panzeri

Derrick Koh

Lenovo Forums Launched December 2007

Launched December 2007

Lenovo Forums Sponsored by Service & Support 10 Volunteer moderators 14,000+ members 4 million page views per month Launching a forum affinity program to reward loyalty ‘Accepted Solutions’ feature deployed – 14% of discussions marked as ‘solved’

Sponsored by Service & Support

10 Volunteer moderators

14,000+ members

4 million page views per month

Launching a forum affinity program to reward loyalty

‘Accepted Solutions’ feature deployed – 14% of discussions marked as ‘solved’

Lenovo Blogs + more

This is my brand online

Case Study: Voices of the Olympics Featuring Your Very Own Malaysian Olympic Hero…

Voices of The Olympics Lenovo recruited 100 athletes prior to Beijing 2008 Games from around the world and gave laptops and Flip video cameras to start (or continue) blogging supported by Lenovo technology Athletes were taught how to and encouraged to blog to keep in touch with family, friends and fans – NOT MANDATED They did not have to mention Lenovo at all, if they didn’t want to

Lenovo recruited 100 athletes prior to Beijing 2008 Games from around the world and gave laptops and Flip video cameras to start (or continue) blogging supported by Lenovo technology

Athletes were taught how to and encouraged to blog to keep in touch with family, friends and fans – NOT MANDATED

They did not have to mention Lenovo at all, if they didn’t want to

Malaysian Hero During the Games, an onsite combined team from Lenovo and Ogilvy helped to bring the site and the Voices of our athletes to life through live blogging, uploading images, shooting video interviews and setting up real life gatherings for athletes. Most important, they had fun and the 3 Fs found it useful Josiah Ng, Malaysian Olympic cyclist was one of them http://josiahng.wordpress.com/2008/08/14/how-lenovo-changed-our-olympics-experience/#comment-371

During the Games, an onsite combined team from Lenovo and Ogilvy helped to bring the site and the Voices of our athletes to life through live blogging, uploading images, shooting video interviews and setting up real life gatherings for athletes.

Most important, they had fun and the 3 Fs found it useful

Josiah Ng, Malaysian Olympic cyclist was one of them

Project Visualization:

Campaign Results: Successfully reached the ambitious target of recruiting 100 athletes in less than 3 months from around the world to participate > 1.6 million people visited the Voices site and an untracked number interacted with the Lenovo experience through branding on our athlete blogs over the course of 1 month The athletes created more than 1500 blog posts and received over 8000 comments from Olympic fans around the world The Voices site was mentioned on more than 200 social media sites, including Cnet Asia, reaching a combined audience of over 10 million readers Page of 18 Placeholder - presentation title | 6 April, 2006

Successfully reached the ambitious target of recruiting 100 athletes in less than 3 months from around the world to participate

> 1.6 million people visited the Voices site and an untracked number interacted with the Lenovo experience through branding on our athlete blogs over the course of 1 month

The athletes created more than 1500 blog posts and received over 8000 comments from Olympic fans around the world

The Voices site was mentioned on more than 200 social media sites, including Cnet Asia, reaching a combined audience of over 10 million readers

Campaign Results (cont’d) The campaign was also mentioned prominently in mainstream global media including WSJ, USAToday, Times of India and others Our onsite team created over 800 images, 35 videos and dozens of blog posts sharing real voices from the Games with the world The site was used as the “homepage” in every Lenovo staffed i-Lounge in the athlete’s village and media center, reaching more than 25,000 athletes and journalists each time they used a machine

The campaign was also mentioned prominently in mainstream global media including WSJ, USAToday, Times of India and others

Our onsite team created over 800 images, 35 videos and dozens of blog posts sharing real voices from the Games with the world

The site was used as the “homepage” in every Lenovo staffed i-Lounge in the athlete’s village and media center, reaching more than 25,000 athletes and journalists each time they used a machine

The Big Picture Numbers Total Unique Monthly Visitors Reached – 10,404,344 Total Social Media Mentions- 202 sites Lenovo Unique Site Visitors – 1,600,200+ Total number of athlete posts – 1500+ Total number of comments on athlete blogs – 8092 Zumobi Mobile Downloads – 60,000+ Facebook Application Downloads – 250,000+ Page of 18 Placeholder - presentation title | 6 April, 2006 2 accounts 843 photos uploaded 6587 Views 2 accounts 32 videos uploaded 4447 Views* 4 accounts 226 Updates 218 Lenovo Followers 2785 Aggregated followers for dchurbuck, rohitbhargava, catchuplady, stevie_glas 245,913 App Installations 1.35 million pageviews 1.7+ million user generated actions 230 stories tagged 1,585 others have tagged our stories

Total Unique Monthly Visitors Reached – 10,404,344

Total Social Media Mentions- 202 sites

Lenovo Unique Site Visitors – 1,600,200+

Total number of athlete posts – 1500+

Total number of comments on athlete blogs – 8092

Zumobi Mobile Downloads – 60,000+

Facebook Application Downloads – 250,000+

2 accounts

843 photos uploaded

6587 Views

2 accounts

32 videos uploaded

4447 Views*

4 accounts

226 Updates

218 Lenovo Followers

2785 Aggregated followers for dchurbuck, rohitbhargava, catchuplady, stevie_glas

245,913 App Installations

1.35 million pageviews

1.7+ million user generated actions

230 stories tagged

1,585 others have tagged our stories

Abhinav Bindra: The day after!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! August 11, 2008 They have all been telling me what a huge achievement winning Gold is. I realise that but frankly the enormity of the goodwill generated has caught me by surprise. Honestly enough it really has not changed me, I am still the same Abhinav who just a day ago was hanging around alone in my room in the Olympic village... That in no way means that this is not the most intense experience of my life. Number of impressions/viewers Comments: 926 URL: http://abhinavbindra.blogspot.com/2008/08/day-after.html

They have all been telling me what a huge achievement winning Gold is. I realise that but frankly the enormity of the goodwill generated has caught me by surprise. Honestly enough it really has not changed me, I am still the same Abhinav who just a day ago was hanging around alone in my room in the Olympic village... That in no way means that this is not the most intense experience of my life.

David Oliver: 2008 Olympic Games Bronze Medalist!! August 21, 2008 I am so happy that I was able to come away from the Olympic Games with a medal! They only pass out three of them every four years, and for me to win one is amazing. I was so happy to be able to drape the American flag over myself and run a victory lap, I instantly saw Bren and Harold and got to share the moment with them. My mom was so happy. Number of impressions/viewers Comments: 152 http://davidoliverhurdles.blogspot.com/2008/08/2008-olympic-games-bronze-medalist.html

I am so happy that I was able to come away from the Olympic Games with a medal! They only pass out three of them every four years, and for me to win one is amazing. I was so happy to be able to drape the American flag over myself and run a victory lap, I instantly saw Bren and Harold and got to share the moment with them. My mom was so happy.

Nicole Forrester: I Love LENOVO August 24, 2008 I'm really loving Lenovo! They provided the tools (a laptop and camera) I simply type. And let me tell you, its nice to know there are people out there that want to hear about your rambling. But, this isn't the real reason I love Lenovo. Let me tell you why I think they are great!... These guys were great! Customer and Client Service -- Grade A. I have used a lot of various laptops over the years, and without a doubt I can say that none measure up to Lenovo. Number of impressions/viewers http://nicole-forrester.blogspot.com /

I'm really loving Lenovo! They provided the tools (a laptop and camera) I simply type. And let me tell you, its nice to know there are people out there that want to hear about your rambling.

But, this isn't the real reason I love Lenovo. Let me tell you why I think they are great!... These guys were great! Customer and Client Service -- Grade A. I have used a lot of various laptops over the years, and without a doubt I can say that none measure up to Lenovo.

Dave Durante: What a Day!!! August 13, 2008 As we finished the competition on pommel horse and secured the bronze medal, it became a very emotional moment for me. At the time I didn't realize that NBC had a camera on me, but I found out later on that I was crying on TV. I honestly couldn't hold back the tears at that moment. It was the culmination of what I had trained for my entire life, and I wanted to be on that floor sharing in that moment with those guys. I got down on the floor and I told each guy how impressed and proud I was of what they accomplished. Number of impressions/viewers Comments: 51 http://durante08.blogspot.com/2008/08/what-day.html

As we finished the competition on pommel horse and secured the bronze medal, it became a very emotional moment for me. At the time I didn't realize that NBC had a camera on me, but I found out later on that I was crying on TV. I honestly couldn't hold back the tears at that moment. It was the culmination of what I had trained for my entire life, and I wanted to be on that floor sharing in that moment with those guys. I got down on the floor and I told each guy how impressed and proud I was of what they accomplished.

Seth Kelsey: Lenovo and Vista June 28, 2008 The Lenovo laptop is great. I waited two months to write a second review to give me time to try out all of its features. I really like the built in mike and camera. The work really well with skype. The sound system is awesome. While it is fun to brag that my laptop has a subwoofer. It is even cooler that is sounds so great. I also really appreciate the dedicated sound button. The battery is good. It has 50 percent more life than my previous laptop. The screen is very clear and crisp. The memory card slot accommodates my Olympus memory which makes downloading pictures very easy. Page views URL: http://bracethyself.blogspot.com/2008_06_01_archive.html

The Lenovo laptop is great. I waited two months to write a second review to give me time to try out all of its features. I really like the built in mike and camera. The work really well with skype. The sound system is awesome. While it is fun to brag that my laptop has a subwoofer. It is even cooler that is sounds so great. I also really appreciate the dedicated sound button.

The battery is good. It has 50 percent more life than my previous laptop. The screen is very clear and crisp. The memory card slot accommodates my Olympus memory which makes downloading pictures very easy.

Our Athlete Blogger’s Praise & Verbatims Nicole Forrester- http://nicole-forrester.blogspot.com / - “These guys were great! Customer and Client Service -- Grade A. I have used a lot of various laptops over the years, and without a doubt I can say that none measure up to Lenovo.” Peter Lopez- http://peterlopez08.blogspot.com/ - “I just wanted to thank you for the opportunity to join the Lenovo team. You don’t understand the number of Peruvians we've reached. They all seem to have really loved it and keep telling me not to stop writing.” Farrah Hall- http://www.farrah-hall.com/index.php?option = com_mojo&Itemid =21&p=48 - “Expecting another day of light wind, I worked out in the morning, running on the beach and doing lots of pushups. I then took my Lenovo laptop down to the waterfront to do some work.” Mannie Heymans- http://www.mr-african.com/?p =88 - “Last night Patrick Erik and I were invited by Lenovo to the “Deutches Haus”…where all the German athletes can go to feel at home away from home. Just before we left I got hand delivered my very own Lenovo Laptop because I am part of the Lenovo Olympic Games Blogger program.” Lopez Family- firstfamilyoftaekwondo.blogspot.com - “I would like to thank Lenovo for giving us the opportunity to do this blog and for the cool gadgets they sent us to allow us to connect with the fans out there.”

Nicole Forrester- http://nicole-forrester.blogspot.com / - “These guys were great! Customer and Client Service -- Grade A. I have used a lot of various laptops over the years, and without a doubt I can say that none measure up to Lenovo.”

Peter Lopez- http://peterlopez08.blogspot.com/ - “I just wanted to thank you for the opportunity to join the Lenovo team. You don’t understand the number of Peruvians we've reached. They all seem to have really loved it and keep telling me not to stop writing.”

Farrah Hall- http://www.farrah-hall.com/index.php?option = com_mojo&Itemid =21&p=48 - “Expecting another day of light wind, I worked out in the morning, running on the beach and doing lots of pushups. I then took my Lenovo laptop down to the waterfront to do some work.”

Mannie Heymans- http://www.mr-african.com/?p =88 - “Last night Patrick Erik and I were invited by Lenovo to the “Deutches Haus”…where all the German athletes can go to feel at home away from home. Just before we left I got hand delivered my very own Lenovo Laptop because I am part of the Lenovo Olympic Games Blogger program.”

Lopez Family- firstfamilyoftaekwondo.blogspot.com - “I would like to thank Lenovo for giving us the opportunity to do this blog and for the cool gadgets they sent us to allow us to connect with the fans out there.”

CNet Asia: “IdeaPads and videocams supplied to athletes to blog during the Olympics” July 30, 2008 Worldwide Olympics partner Lenovo is certainly making its presence felt at the upcoming Beijing games…And for the first time, athletes from over 25 countries across 29 sports disciplines have been invited to blog about their experiences before and during the games. They will be supplied with Lenovo IdeaPads for blogging. According to the PC maker, the objective is "to bring a real insider's perspective on what is happening during the Games to fans at home around the world". Number of impressions/viewers- 1,000,000 URL: http://asia.cnet.com/crave/2008/07/30/ideapads-and-videocams-supplied-to-athletes-to-blog-during-olympics/?scid= rss_c_crv

Worldwide Olympics partner Lenovo is certainly making its presence felt at the upcoming Beijing games…And for the first time, athletes from over 25 countries across 29 sports disciplines have been invited to blog about their experiences before and during the games. They will be supplied with Lenovo IdeaPads for blogging. According to the PC maker, the objective is "to bring a real insider's perspective on what is happening during the Games to fans at home around the world".

AdRants: “Ogilvy-er,Lenovo-Blogs and Tweets from Summer Olympics” July 7, 2008 Lenovo is maximizing its Summer Olympics sponsorship with a social media rollout dubbed "Voices of the Olympic Games." Here's my painstaking rehash: Ogilvy recruited 100 athletes from 25 countries to blog their Olympic experiences. Each was given a Lenovo laptop and Flip camera as an incentive. Ogilvy and team will also be blogging over the course of the games under Lenovo Blogs. (For those whose attention spans have completely eroded, just follow @lenovo2008 on Twitter.) Number of impressions/viewers- 390,372 URL: http://www.adrants.com/2008/07/ogilvy-er-lenovo-blogs-and-tweets.php

Lenovo is maximizing its Summer Olympics sponsorship with a social media rollout dubbed "Voices of the Olympic Games." Here's my painstaking rehash: Ogilvy recruited 100 athletes from 25 countries to blog their Olympic experiences. Each was given a Lenovo laptop and Flip camera as an incentive. Ogilvy and team will also be blogging over the course of the games under Lenovo Blogs. (For those whose attention spans have completely eroded, just follow @lenovo2008 on Twitter.)

The Social Path: “Blogging Olympians offer a whole new view of the games” August 13, 2008 “ I found out about the "Voices of the Olympic Games" project by electronics manufacturer Lenovo. One hundred athletes were given a Lenovo computer and Flip camera in hopes they would blog about the games. It's so vastly different from the slick, overly produced newscasts, you quickly start to find yourself enamored with relatively obscure athletes who are training and competing relentlessly without much hope of landing in the limelight.” Number of impressions/viewers- 4,500 URL- http://www.thesocialpath.com/2008/08/blogging-olympi.html

“ I found out about the "Voices of the Olympic Games" project by electronics manufacturer Lenovo. One hundred athletes were given a Lenovo computer and Flip camera in hopes they would blog about the games. It's so vastly different from the slick, overly produced newscasts, you quickly start to find yourself enamored with relatively obscure athletes who are training and competing relentlessly without much hope of landing in the limelight.”

Number of impressions/viewers- 4,500

URL- http://www.thesocialpath.com/2008/08/blogging-olympi.html

weThink: “Let the (digital) games begin!” August 8, 2008 Lenovo has given laptops and Flip video cameras to 100 athletes… Their blog posts are revealing, touching and sometimes humorous. Mainstream media will blast us with Phelps, LeBron, Kobe and Torres, but Lenovo’s athlete bloggers allow us to partake in the “common” Olympian’s experience Number of impressions/viewers- 5600 URL: http://blog.resource.com/2008/08/let-the-digital-games-begin/

Lenovo has given laptops and Flip video cameras to 100 athletes… Their blog posts are revealing, touching and sometimes humorous. Mainstream media will blast us with Phelps, LeBron, Kobe and Torres, but Lenovo’s athlete bloggers allow us to partake in the “common” Olympian’s experience

Lenovo Share Of Voice Volume of posts with brand mentions versus other WW Sponsors

Lenovo Share Of Voice: Volume of posts versus the other 2 top performing WW Sponsor brands using social media

What Worked? Using social media to do something completely different from other sponsors Engaging real athletes in a way that related to the technology and products that Lenovo makes without using a “hard sell” marketing message Creating content from the Games to extend the athlete voices with our own and have a dialogue with people Listening to comments and conversation about the Lenovo brand during this high profile event, and responding authentically Having a highly engaged and proactive client team and close collaboration between the Ogilvy and Lenovo teams Leverage the physical spaces that Lenovo had set up (i-Lounges, etc.) during the Games to interact with athletes and fans Page of 18 Placeholder - presentation title | 6 April, 2006

Using social media to do something completely different from other sponsors

Engaging real athletes in a way that related to the technology and products that Lenovo makes without using a “hard sell” marketing message

Creating content from the Games to extend the athlete voices with our own and have a dialogue with people

Listening to comments and conversation about the Lenovo brand during this high profile event, and responding authentically

Having a highly engaged and proactive client team and close collaboration between the Ogilvy and Lenovo teams

Leverage the physical spaces that Lenovo had set up (i-Lounges, etc.) during the Games to interact with athletes and fans

What we could have done better The great Chinese firewall meant that access to all sites was difficult, and ended up limited some of the more conversational elements of our program (such as blog commenting) Our original aggregation page was not very search friendly and though we made some changes, we did never fully leveraged the power of organic search to drive traffic to our site The internal story of the campaign to get Lenovo employees excited never quite came together with any kind of concentrated effort We never had a chance to bring all of our athletes together and help them to feel that they were part of a bigger idea rather than just individual bloggers sharing their voices on a combined site

The great Chinese firewall meant that access to all sites was difficult, and ended up limited some of the more conversational elements of our program (such as blog commenting)

Our original aggregation page was not very search friendly and though we made some changes, we did never fully leveraged the power of organic search to drive traffic to our site

The internal story of the campaign to get Lenovo employees excited never quite came together with any kind of concentrated effort

We never had a chance to bring all of our athletes together and help them to feel that they were part of a bigger idea rather than just individual bloggers sharing their voices on a combined site

The Bottom Line … The Voices Of the Summer Games campaign brought the Olympics (and Lenovo’s sponsorship) to life in a real and authentic way for millions of Olympic Fans around the world. Page of 18 Placeholder - presentation title | 6 April, 2006

The Voices Of the Summer Games

campaign brought the Olympics

(and Lenovo’s sponsorship) to

life in a real and authentic way

for millions of Olympic Fans

around the world.

Case Study: Lenovo Singapore

SG Engagement Model Microblogging Facebook Exclusive blogger events Review PCs Leaving comments Monitoring Responding to queries Maintaining real relationships Evangelist outreach LISTEN PARTICIPATE CREATE … and Flickr, Wordpress, YouTube, Wiki, Forums…

Microblogging

Facebook

Exclusive blogger events

Review PCs

Leaving comments

Monitoring

Responding to queries

Maintaining real relationships

Evangelist outreach

This is also my brand online -- offline