We've curated and added our own thoughts to recommend 14 core steps to creating a Connected Brand. Simple, yes, but as always execution is the key.

1. 14 Steps to a
Connected
Brand
by Steve Massi

2. A spider web?
• The spider web
– Its silk has a tensile strength comparable to high
grade steel
– Is highly ductile, able to stretch up to 1.4x relaxed
length without breaking
– Its unique mechanical properties allow it to be
strong yet flexible, adapt to its environment, and
retain it’s strength even when threads are broken

3. A spider web and brand?
• How can today’s brands imitate the spider
web
– Be flexible
– Be agile
– Share responsibility
– Adapt to change and the environment
– Enable individual strength
– Yet stay connected

4. Do Connected Brands make
economic sense?

5. Does this model work?
• According to McKinsey*, fully networked
brands see measurable business benefits:
– Market share gains
– Improved operating margins compared to
competitors
– Market leadership
*McKinsey: The rise of the networked enterprise, Dec/2010

6. Does this model work?
• And benefit multiple stakeholders*:
– Employee benefits saw a 31% mean improvement
– Customer benefits saw a 24% mean improvement
– Partner benefits saw a 27% mean improvement
*McKinsey: The rise of the networked enterprise, Dec/2010

7. Does this model work?
• Increasing social capital facilitates value creation*:
– The three dimensions of social capital assessed
• Social interaction
• Trustworthiness
• Shared vision
– “Had significant effects, directly or indirectly, on
resource exchange and combination.”
– “Also, the extent of resource exchange and
combination was associated with product
innovation.”
*Social Capital and Value Creation: The Role of Intrafirm Networks, Wenpin Tsai; Sumantra Ghoshal, The Academy of Management Journal

8. What must brands do to become
connected?

9. Four broad action steps*
1. Integrate the use of Web 2.0 tools and
technologies into employees’ day-to-day work
activities
2. Continue to drive adoption and usage
3. Break down the barriers to organizational
change
4. Apply Web 2.0 technologies to interactions
with customers, business partners and
employees
*McKinsey: The rise of the networked enterprise, Dec/2010

10. Specific steps to ensure success
5. Make sure the organization is aligned around
its Vision, purpose, values and metrics
– Otherwise, how will you know where you’re
going, how you’ll get there, and that you’re on
the right path?
6. Establish guidelines for engagement
– Particularly relevant for social technologies

11. Specific steps to ensure success
7. Understand goals and challenges
– Increase access to and sharing of knowledge
– Create more tacit interactions
– Stretch to explore co-creation opportunities
8. Identify tools and deploy training
– These include sharing, collaboration and social
networks

12. Additional steps to ensure success
9. Identify key (or rollout) contributors, leaders
and engagers
10. Deploy people skills training
– Collaboration skills, language and behaviors
11. Collaborate to develop content and
engagement strategies

13. Additional steps to ensure success
12. Collaborate for content creation, curation
and aggregation
13. Identify challenges for specific innovation
engagements
14. Measure against defined benchmarks and
metrics

14. Implications for brands
• The Connected Brand must be guided by
Vision and agreement on goals
• A framework can be set with guidelines for
engagement
• Optimizing tools and usage requires training
• People drive connectivity and collaboration
through your stakeholder relationships, make
sure they are equipped

15. Thanks
Please feel free to share or contact me
•Steve Massi
•steve@stevemassi.com
•linkedin.com/in/stevemassi
•twitter.com/stevemassi
•stevemassi.com