Katy Lindemann - Battle Of Big Thinking 2009

Confronting the elephant in the room… Katy Lindemann Naked Communications APG Battle of Big Thinking – 26th Nov 09 Hi, my name’s Katy and I’m a senior strategist at Naked Communica8ons. I’ve only got 3 mins so without  further ado…

YOU MAY HAVE NOTICED THE ODD BIT OF BUZZ ABOUT SOCIAL MEDIA… Cartoon © Gapingvoid.com Right. Social Media. You’ve probably no8ced the odd bit of buzz about it.    You’re probably totally sick of hearing about it.    But what exactly is everyone actually talking about?

WHAT IS SOCIAL MEDIA? SOCIAL MEDIA IS MEDIA DESIGNED TO BE DISSEMINATED  THROUGH SOCIAL INTERACTION. SOCIAL MEDIA USES INTERNET AND WEB‐BASED  TECHNOLOGIES TO TRANSFORM BROADCAST MEDIA  MONOLOGUES (ONE TO MANY) INTO SOCIAL MEDIA  DIALOGUES (MANY TO MANY). WIKIPEDIA Photo © Scott Pargett Photography Let’s see how wise the crowds are, and consult the oracle of all that the hoards say is true – Wikpedia.   OK, so social media’s like regular media only it’s more social.    Brought to you by the school of sta8ng the bloody obvious.

SOCIAL MEDIAʼS A CATCH-ALL TERM FOR BLOGS, FACEBOOK, TWITTER AND SO ON * http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/stabilo-boss/ So, really when we talk about social media, we’re using it as a catch‐all term for social plaPorms like blogs,  Facebook, TwiSer, wikis and the like, aren’t we?

* THIS IS A LOAD OF BULLSHIT Sorry, but I think this is actually a load of  bullshit. 

ITʼS TIME TO CONFRONT THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM… I think it’s 8me to confront the elephant in the room that the so‐called social media experts don't want you  to talk about...

THEREʼS NO SUCH THING AS SOCIAL MEDIA There’s no such thing as social media. It’s a thoroughly meaningless and really unhelpful term.

IT SUGGESTS THE MEDIA ARE SOCIAL. IT MAKES IT ALL ABOUT THE ʻWHEREʼ. http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/rainofwonder/ http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/rainofwonder/ It suggests the media – the places – are social. It makes it all about the ‘where’. But it’s not the where that’s social.  It’s the ‘what’ and the ‘how’.

WHAT: SOCIAL IDEAS http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/cayusa/ The what is essen8al – it’s about social ideas.  Social ideas are ideas that spark conversa8on & get shared  and passed on.   Social ideas aren’t anything new. They’ve always been at the heart of brand communica8on.   It’s about being talked ABOUT.

HOW: SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR Most importantly however, is the ‘how’.   If social ideas are about geYng talked about, social behaviour is about joining in.   It’s about two‐way behaviour, engaging in a dialogue.  Sharing.  Connec8ng.  Collabora8ng. It’s this that’s the really important bit.

ITʼS ABOUT BEING SOCIAL So let’s stop thinking about social media.  It’s just about being social. Social technologies might facilitate  this behaviour, but just using these so‐called social media doesn’t automa8cally equate to being social.   You can use TwiSer completely an8socially – lots of brands use it as just another broadcast medium.   You  can have a Facebook page and millions of followers, but s8ll use it simply to push out brand messages.   The places aren't inherently social. But what you do there might be.

ʻSOCIAL MEDIAʼ SUGGESTS ITʼS ANOTHER FORM OF MEDIA & SHOULD BE MANAGED AS A MARKETING FUNCTION It’s also a completely unhelpful term because we tend to focus on the ‘media’ bit, and automa8cally start  thinking of it as a channel within which to push out brand messages.   But it’s not just another media channel and can ‐ and should ‐ be used for so much more than just  marke8ng.

BUT BEING SOCIAL ISNʼT JUST ABOUT MARKETING. ITʼS ABOUT SO MUCH MORE. LIKE CUSTOMER INSIGHT & RESEARCH. Being social is about more than just talking. Someone who only talks but never listens wouldn’t remain  your friend for very long.   Being social isn’t just about pushing out marke8ng messages – it’s about listening to what people are  thinking, feeling.   What do they think about your brands? What are you doing well and where could you be doing beSer?    Social media might be great for marke8ng, but being social can be great for so much more – like customer  insight and research.

OR CUSTOMER SERVICE Or customer  service.

OR PRODUCT & SERVICE DEVELOPMENT Or  R&D

BUILDING LONG-TERM RELATIONSHIPS And so on. All of which can help us to build valuable and longer‐las8ng rela8onships between people and  brands.     Social media lets you market TO people.    Being social is something you do WITH people. 

SO LETʼS FORGET ABOUT SOCIAL MEDIA AND JUST THINK ABOUT BEING SOCIAL So please, can we stop banging on about social media and think about being social instead?     Right, that’s deﬁnitely my 3 mins done so all that remains to be said is… 

Thank You. Katy Lindemann Naked Communications email: katy_lindemann@nakedcomms.com blog: www.katylindemann.com twitter: @katylindemann …thank you very much for having me, and have a great  day!

Katy Lindemann - Battle Of Big Thinking 2009

by Katy Lindemann on Nov 27, 2009

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Katy Lindemann - Battle Of Big Thinking 2009 — Document Transcript