Why failure rate is high for brands wishing to make it big on social networks.

1. Social
Networks
A new model for social branding.
by Brunó Bitter, Next Wave Europe
Presented at the “Circuits of Profit” Business Network Research
Conference on 6 June 2011 (Budapest)

2. Brand and business presence on social networks
is all HYPE these days.

3. Creating a successful presence on social networks
is what businesses want
is what brands want
is what everybody wants...
Facebook Friendships VisualizationMap

4. Over 1 million business owned Facebook Pages...

5. Yet,

6. Yet, failure is high.

7. Failure =
a spectacular lack of
conversation
capital.

8. Failure =
a spectacular lack of
conversation
capital.
Blogs without trackbacks and comments.
Facebook Pages without engagament.
Less “likes” than the number of employees
working at the firm...

9. Failure reason:
technology and gimmicks
will not make any brand or
organization “social”.

10. Failure reason:
focus on “social networks”
alone will not be enough.

11. Two different networks are
more defining in ‘social’
success.

12. these networks are:
cultural organizational
networks networks

13. cultural Rule #1: without cultural relevancy and
networks clout your brand will not be “social”.
Rule #2: without an inherently social
organizational
organizational culture your company will
networks
not be “social”.

14. Ru
le
#1
Brands need to have a narrative, a compelling story.
com·pel·ling ə ˈ Adjective
1. Evoking interest, attention, or admiration in a powerfully irresistible way.
How do these narratives or ideas spread from
brand to person to person in a culture?
memetics, the study of memes

15. Some of the most successful brand narratives in recent history,
the most virulent “memes”:
Coca-Cola and their cultural notion of “happiness”.

16. The cultural notion of being invincible.
(“If you have a body, you’re an athlete.”)

17. Apple and the powerful cultural notions of
creativity and individual empowerment.

18. It is no coincidence that these happen to be among
the most powerful “social” brands of our times.

19. Powerful cultural signaling and social media success
strongly correlate.
To achieve desired status as “social brand”, companies must offer more than strong past
performance and product quality - they must also send out and manage cultural signals.
(Recommended reading - Joel M. Podolny: Status Signals)

20. To successfully transmit ideas and values brands turn into media.
Brands like P&G, Red Bull, Johnson’s, Jägermeister are
producing original content to transmit their cultural ideas, symbols and
practices.

21. Rule #2: without an inherently social
organizational organizational culture you will not be
networks “social”.
- A brand cannot be more “social” than the organization that created it.
- There needs to be a strong connection between the company, the
employees and the brand.
- Employees are often the most important consumer touchpoints.

22. Ca
stu se
dy
Largest online shoe and apparel retailer brand.
In 2009 sold to Amazon for 1.2 billion USD.
Built their brand from scratch through an organizational culture centered
around service excellence
Source of rapid growth was repeat customers and word of mouth
recommendations. 75% of custumers are repeat buyers.

23. Ca
stu se
dy
Zappos Core Values
1. Deliver WOW Through Service
2. Embrace and Drive Change
3. Create Fun and A Little Weirdness
4. Be Adventurous, Creative, and Open-Minded
5. Pursue Growth and Learning
6. Build Open and Honest Relationships With Communication
7. Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit
8. Do More With Less
9. Be Passionate and Determined
10.Be Humble

24. Ca
stu se
dy
Zappos definition of “social”
It was not “APIs”, “FBML” or “Twitter”.
It was “open”, “creative”, “honest” and “humble”.
All brand values relate directly to organizational values - the two does
not separate!

25. Organizations need to be social in a grass-roots sense:
open.
transparent.
agile.
cooperative.
friendly.

26. Ca
stu se
dy
Insight:
the single most important brand touchpoint for consumers are the barristas, the
people making espresso at Starbucks stores.
They need to be a source of identity and pride, social embassadors of Starbucks
and coffee-culture.
The culture of the company comes from deep inside. HR excellence is the key
brand driver.

27. Summary
cultural org.
networks networks
social
networks
To be successfull on social networks, brand owners’ focus first needs to
shift to two other kinds of networks: cultural and organizational networks.

28. What this means for “social X agencies”
It is not enough to know media and technology.
It is mandatory to understand the wider cultural context.
It is also essential to understand the organizational context.
Yesterday’s skills/roles: Emerging new skills/roles:
- strategic communications planning - change management
- creative development - organizational development
- copywriting/editing - cultural anthropology
- art direction - applied memetics
- media planning - strategic HR
- online community management
- application development

29. Implications for organizational structures
Before: silo-model
customer service
marketing
retail
PR
HR
silo silo silo silo silo

30. Organizational eco-system modell (vs. organizational silos)
marketing
Planned for Q3-Q4 2011: the
Social Network Analysis of firms
retail
that have adopted this new
framework of “social
business” (benchmarked with
customer companies still running the old
service “silo” modell).
HR

31. Failure =
strategic brand agency
& Failure =
social business consultancy

32. thank you.
bruno.bitter@nextwave.hu