2009 TRIBALIZATION OF BUSINESS STUDY EARLY OBSERVATIONS 04/28/09

UPDATES FROM THE QUANTITATIVE SURVEY SOME EARLY OBSERVATIONS FROM QUALITATIVE INTERVIEWS WHAT’S GOING ON HERE? COMMUNITIES WILL CHANGE ALL ASPECTS OF YOUR BUSINESS ON THE MENU TODAY (MAYBE)

ON THE MENU TODAY (MAYBE)

430 COMPANIES TOOK THE SURVEY SPONSORED BY BEELINE LABS, DELOITTE AND THE SOCIETY FOR NEW COMMUNICATIONS RESEARCH AT HTTP://WWW.TRIBALIZATIONOFBUSINESS.COM (52% EXTERNAL COMMUNITIES, 32 HYBRID, AND 12 INTERNAL) UPDATES TO THE QUANTITATIVE SURVEY

UPDATES TO THE QUANTITATIVE SURVEY

Companies are getting more focused Top 5 purposes for online communities (number after purpose refers to 2008 rank) Market insights/Research (1) Idea generation (3) Customer/client loyalty (6) Amplifying word of mouth (2) Market Thought Leadership (4) Up and coming purposes Customer support (32% vs. 25%) Public relations (32% vs. 25%)

Top 5 purposes for online communities (number after purpose refers to 2008 rank)

Market insights/Research (1)

Idea generation (3)

Customer/client loyalty (6)

Amplifying word of mouth (2)

Market Thought Leadership (4)

Up and coming purposes

Customer support (32% vs. 25%)

Public relations (32% vs. 25%)

Business objectives for the community Top 5 business objectives Generate more word of mouth (1) Increase customer loyalty (2) Increase product/brand awareness (4) Bring outside ideas into the organization (3) Improve customer support quality (NA) Reduction of cost as an objective is on the rise

Top 5 business objectives

Generate more word of mouth (1)

Increase customer loyalty (2)

Increase product/brand awareness (4)

Bring outside ideas into the organization (3)

Improve customer support quality (NA)

Reduction of cost as an objective is on the rise

Objectives most successful in achieving Top 5 Generate word of mouth (1) Increase customer loyalty (3) Bring outside ideas into the organization (4) Increase product/brand awareness (2) Improve customer support quality (NA) Surprising how few companies focus on sales

Top 5

Generate word of mouth (1)

Increase customer loyalty (3)

Bring outside ideas into the organization (4)

Increase product/brand awareness (2)

Improve customer support quality (NA)

Surprising how few companies focus on sales

Objectives least successful in achieving Top 5 Unsure (1) Increase sales (NA) Bring ideas inside organization (4) Reduce customer acquisition cost (3) Reduce customer support cost (7) Surprise – most people do not know what they were not able to achieve

Top 5

Unsure (1)

Increase sales (NA)

Bring ideas inside organization (4)

Reduce customer acquisition cost (3)

Reduce customer support cost (7)

Surprise – most people do not know what they were not able to achieve

Top business measures to measure progress and success Top 5 business measures Greater awareness (1) Word of mouth (NA) Improved brand perception (6) Buzz in mainstream media and blogosphere (NA) Increased sales (3) Number of new ideas fell from 40% to 20%, number of adopted ideas stayed the same

Top 5 business measures

Greater awareness (1)

Word of mouth (NA)

Improved brand perception (6)

Buzz in mainstream media and blogosphere (NA)

Increased sales (3)

Number of new ideas fell from 40% to 20%, number of adopted ideas stayed the same

Web analytics to measure progress and success Top 5 Number of active users (2) Number of visitors (1) How often people post/comment (3) Number of registered users (4) Number of repeat visitors (5) Page views and time spent on the site, classic advertising metrics, no longer in the top

Top 5

Number of active users (2)

Number of visitors (1)

How often people post/comment (3)

Number of registered users (4)

Number of repeat visitors (5)

Page views and time spent on the site, classic advertising metrics, no longer in the top

Biggest obstacles to making communities work Top 5 obstacles Getting people to engage and participate (1) Attracting people to the community (3) Getting people to keep coming back (4) Finding enough time to manage the community (2) Getting people to populate their profile (NA) 18% of companies are starting to capture data on lurkers

Top 5 obstacles

Getting people to engage and participate (1)

Attracting people to the community (3)

Getting people to keep coming back (4)

Finding enough time to manage the community (2)

Getting people to populate their profile (NA)

18% of companies are starting to capture data on lurkers

Community features most contributing to success Top 5 Ability to connect with like-minded people (1) Ability to help others (2) Community focused around hot topic (3) Facilitation and moderation (6) Ability for members to develop reputation (5) Most communities (75%) now have offline activities (offline activities, webcasts, meetups, conference, time based activities, etc.)

Top 5

Ability to connect with like-minded people (1)

Ability to help others (2)

Community focused around hot topic (3)

Facilitation and moderation (6)

Ability for members to develop reputation (5)

Most communities (75%) now have offline activities (offline activities, webcasts, meetups, conference, time based activities, etc.)

Other findings from the quantitative survey Most communities are still managed by marketing Most communities are small and in pilot mode Most communities are less than 1 year old Most communities are managed by internal employees 32% of all communities still have no full time employees assigned to them, 33% have between 2-5 full time people, up from 13% in 2008 11% of external communities have an ambassador program, 13% of internal communities have an ambassador program

Most communities are still managed by marketing

Most communities are small and in pilot mode

Most communities are less than 1 year old

Most communities are managed by internal employees

32% of all communities still have no full time employees assigned to them, 33% have between 2-5 full time people, up from 13% in 2008

11% of external communities have an ambassador program, 13% of internal communities have an ambassador program

MOST COMMUNITIES ARE STILL DOA EARLY OBSERVATIONS FROM THE QUALITATIVE INTERVIEWS

EARLY OBSERVATIONS FROM THE QUALITATIVE INTERVIEWS

Early observations from qualitative interviews Many community projects are being held up by legal Liability issues Labor law issues Regulatory issues Many community initiatives are disconnected from the business process they support Many communities are not being measured the same way as the business process they are intended to support Most community initiatives still start with a technology assessment Successful companies are seeing a fragmentation of where conversations can take place – and a breakdown of the firewall

Many community projects are being held up by legal

Liability issues

Labor law issues

Regulatory issues

Many community initiatives are disconnected from the business process they support

Many communities are not being measured the same way as the business process they are intended to support

Most community initiatives still start with a technology assessment

Successful companies are seeing a fragmentation of where conversations can take place – and a breakdown of the firewall

SOCIAL MEDIA IS NOT ABOUT A NEW MEDIA CHANNEL, IT’S ABOUT THE SOCIAL TAKING ROOT IN ALL ASPECTS OF BUSINESS WHAT’S GOING ON HERE?

WHAT’S GOING ON HERE?

Communities – human 1.0 more so than web 2.0 Social computing tools are taking hold in business – whether you like it or not They are the platform that allows the social to scale To understand the changes afoot, you are better off understanding human 1.0 than web 2.0 Reciprocity reflex that causes people to want to help one another Social framework vs. market framework Personal incentives and their effect on the pleasure part of the brain Social goals and their effect on the altruistic part of the brain Our affinity for other people, not organizations and companies The role of fairness in assessing situations (early research show that social behavior does not change when it scales) So to the extent that we can basically be human with what we know, and share it as freely as we possibly can, I think we’ll go a long way towards gaining a higher or stronger level of trust with the consumers. Barry Judge, CMO Best Buy http://www.cmotwo.com

Social computing tools are taking hold in business – whether you like it or not

They are the platform that allows the social to scale

To understand the changes afoot, you are better off understanding human 1.0 than web 2.0

Reciprocity reflex that causes people to want to help one another

Social framework vs. market framework

Personal incentives and their effect on the pleasure part of the brain

Social goals and their effect on the altruistic part of the brain

Our affinity for other people, not organizations and companies

The role of fairness in assessing situations

(early research show that social behavior does not change when it scales)

Understanding the driving forces of communities The more CONTENT you have the more MEMBERS you will get. The more MEMBERS you have the more CONTENT you will get. The better you match CONTENT and MEMBERS to MEMBER PROFILES the more MEMBERS and CONTENT you will get. The easier it is to do TRANSACTIONS the more MEMBERS you will attract. THOSE PILLARS CREATE THE DYNAMICS OF INCREASING RETURNS WHICH HELP COMMUNITIES DELIVER GAME CHANGING RESULTS “ The number of people who are willing to start something is smaller, much smaller, than the number of people who are willing to contribute once someone else starts something.” Here Comes Everybody, Clay Shirky

The more CONTENT you have the more MEMBERS you will get.

The more MEMBERS you have the more CONTENT you will get.

The better you match CONTENT and MEMBERS to MEMBER PROFILES the more MEMBERS and CONTENT you will get.

The easier it is to do TRANSACTIONS the more MEMBERS you will attract.

Guiding principles for consumer communities Think tribe – not market segment We need to find groups of people who have something in common based on their behavior, not their market characteristics Think network – not channel The most important conversations in communities happen in networks of people, not between the company and the community. Think customer-centricity – not company-centricity The customer has to be at the center of everything you do, not the company Think emergent messiness – not hierarchical fixed processes People will want to see responses to their suggestions, even if it does not fit your community goals – FAST No matter how big your advertising spending, small groups of consumers on a tiny budget might hijack the conversation… Simon Clift, CMO Unilever

Think tribe – not market segment

We need to find groups of people who have something in common based on their behavior, not their market characteristics

Think network – not channel

The most important conversations in communities happen in networks of people, not between the company and the community.

Think customer-centricity – not company-centricity

The customer has to be at the center of everything you do, not the company

Think emergent messiness – not hierarchical fixed processes

People will want to see responses to their suggestions, even if it does not fit your community goals – FAST

Behavioral tribes vs. demographic segments Scrapbooking Mothers Scrapbookers Mothers

Think network – not channel

Customer-centricity VS. product-centricity Two communities for small businesses: Do you want to talk about finance, marketing, management or office products?

Oops

Embrace messiness

Most successful communities are movements you could not shut them down…

Unfortunately, many communities are DOA

Fortunately, the reasons for failure are well understood Build it and they will come You need professional content, moderation, events, activities Community becomes part of an organizational silo People who digress from your stated purpose feel unheard Community goals are not well defined Without clear goals it is hard to know which levers to push (i.e., you can get insights from 300 people, but not significant WOM) The not invented here syndrome The wrong company culture – channel vs. network, market segment vs. tribe, etc.

Build it and they will come

You need professional content, moderation, events, activities

Community becomes part of an organizational silo

People who digress from your stated purpose feel unheard

Community goals are not well defined

Without clear goals it is hard to know which levers to push (i.e., you can get insights from 300 people, but not significant WOM)

The not invented here syndrome

The wrong company culture – channel vs. network, market segment vs. tribe, etc.

YOUR CUSTOMERS ARE HYPER-SOCIAL – IS YOUR BUSINESS? COMMUNITIES IMPACT ALL AREAS OF YOUR BUSINESS

COMMUNITIES IMPACT ALL AREAS OF YOUR BUSINESS

Marketing & Sales People will increasingly buy products and service based on information that does not come from your company You need to think differently about content, content distribution, the way you get people’s attention and the way you sell to them Content needs to be “social-mediafied” – findable, sharable, re-tellable, compelling and valuable Stop interrupt marketing – it’s a waste of money! You need to earn people’s attention, you can no longer buy it. Sales will be consultative and happening where people are. Sales will finally become social networking, what it should have been all along Big budgets may be more of a hindrance than a help for many package-goods brands coming up with ideas that resonate with consumers… Simon Clift, CMO Unilever

People will increasingly buy products and service based on information that does not come from your company

You need to think differently about content, content distribution, the way you get people’s attention and the way you sell to them

Content needs to be “social-mediafied” – findable, sharable, re-tellable, compelling and valuable

Stop interrupt marketing – it’s a waste of money! You need to earn people’s attention, you can no longer buy it.

Sales will be consultative and happening where people are. Sales will finally become social networking, what it should have been all along

Customer support People want to help one another – what happens if they no longer call your call center? You need to become social and develop customer service as a strategic part of your business Leverage the power of reciprocity to increase customer service quality and decrease cost Develop customer service as a revenue source – complementing (or replacing) sales and marketing Community based customer service is not the same as crowd-sourcing You need to become social to succeed

People want to help one another – what happens if they no longer call your call center?

You need to become social and develop customer service as a strategic part of your business

Leverage the power of reciprocity to increase customer service quality and decrease cost

Develop customer service as a revenue source – complementing (or replacing) sales and marketing

Community based customer service is not the same as crowd-sourcing

You need to become social to succeed

Any questions? Francois Gossieaux Partner, Beeline Labs e. [email_address] w. http://www.beelinelabs.com b. http://www.emergencemarketing.com c. http://www.marketingtwo.net p. http://www.cmotwo.com Ed Moran Director of New Product Innovation, Deloitte e. [email_address] w. http://www.deloitte.com 2009 Tribalization Site http://www.tribalizationofbusiness.com