This discussion paper was developed to explain the medium and persuade senior leadership to embrace social media as a communication tactic. It includes briefs on a number of social media sites. Sections of the presentation have been removed for confidentiality reasons.

1. DELIVERING ON THE
BRAND PROMISE:
USING SOCIAL MEDIA AS A
COMMUNICATION TACTIC
WITHIN A GLOBAL PROFESSIONAL
SERVICES FIRM
Discussion Paper, Susan Stewart, July 2010

2. This discussion paper was developed to
explain the medium and persuade senior
lleadership to embrace sociall media as a
d hi t b i di
communication tactic. Sections of the
presentation have been removed for
confidentiality reasons.
Susan Stewart
http://www.slideshare.net/SelbyStreet
p y
http://selbystreet.wordpress.com/
https://twitter.com/SelbyStreet

3. 01 Branding
“ Brand context
Brand is, in its
,
essence...a promise
Dr. Philip Kotler
”

4. 01 Building the brand
WHO WHAT HOW WHY
Who are the What we do as How we do it Why we do
people we an organisation?
i ti ? different to our
diff tt what we d ?
h t do?
target? competitors?
STAKEHOLDER BUSINESS BRAND BRAND
FOCUS FOCUS EXPERIENCE ESSENCE

5. 01 Communicating the brand
WHO
WHAT COMMUNICATIONS
STRATEGY
HOW
STAKEHOLDERS
WHY
MODE / MEDIUM
/ TACTIC
SOCIAL MEDIA

6. 01 Communicating through social media
VISION
BRAND
OUR PEOPLE OUR CLIENTS OUR INDUSTRY OUR COMMUNITY
& TARGETS & PEERS
v Comms Business Client
Networking Marketing Networking Public Relations Recruitment Marketing Philanthropy
(intranet, OIP) development Engagement
External
Social Media Seminars Proposals / Bid Client Service Thought Thought Corporate Social
Leadership Media Advertising
(WB) Management Management Leadership Leadership Responsibility
Forums
f2f Comms External
(Meetings, Events) Account Client service Social Media
leadership Website Boards Awards Website Website
Management Review
forums
Reward & Social
Recognition Social Media CRM tool Collateral Social Media Social Media Collateral
Media
Behaviours
Images
g Images
g
Training Social Media Social Media

7. 01 Message to e-medium
brand vision purpose / core message e-medium
SECONDARY
CLIENT – express understanding and appreciation of – website > case studies, profiles
studies
FOCUSED client needs – twitter > follow our clients and tweet their
– tell the story of the client and our unique achievements
solution – digg/delicious > tag client outcomes (related to our
– demonstrate “trusted advisor” and work)
“partnership” relationships
p p p – website > visuals and design g
– reflect brand promise
RESEARCH – reflect “underpinned by research” – website > thought leadership publications
DRIVEN – convey the business as an influential global – slide share > presentations (publications, seminars,
thought leader presentations, projects)
– blog > commentary, profile our thought leaders
– delicious > global impact, refer to others
– targeted blog/website > tailored context (eg. zero)
GLOBAL STUDIO – maximise global presence – delicious > global impact
– illustrate the global reach, local impact – website > breadth and depth of global projects
– convey the business as an influential global – website > global studios, local leaders (profile leaders
thought leader by region – link to blog commentary)
– demonstrate a link beyond the employee ie. – blog > commentary on local events, in a global context
stakeholders, alumni (the business cult) – twitter > tweet global stories
– Facebook / LinkedIn > updates

8. 02 Open branding
“
“IfBrandhave a brand, you’re under
you context
threat. Your customers have always
had an idea about what your brand
y
signifies, an idea that may vary from
the image you are projecting. Now,
they are talking to each other about
that idea ”
idea.”
Excerpt from Groundswell
”

9. 02 Open branding
INNOVATION IN ACTION
To be recognised as an innovator, we must
be an innovator and align ourselves with
other innovators

10. 03 Social media
“ Brand context
The end game isn’t
being in social
g
media, it’s what
you do with social
media.
Anon
”

11. 03 Facebook
ABOUT
– nearly half a billion users
– 350 million accounts late 2009*
BENEFITS
– content posted on the page is indexed by search engines
– blog content loaded on the page wall ensures deeper content is
front and center for people who land on the page and aren’t familiar
aren t
with the blog(s)
– can be accessed and updated via phone
USES/RECOMMEDATIONS
– attract Boomerangs back to the business
– share social b siness e ents and project a f n work en ironment
business events fun ork environment
– create a business site and stream updates (projects, people, media)
http://www.facebook.com
*http://hbr.org/2010/03/one-cafe-chains-facebook-experiment/ar/1

12. 03 Facebook
http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/5-new-studies-show-facebook-a-marketing-
powerhouse/

13. 03 Twitter
ABOUT
– 40 million Twitter updates every day*
BENEFITS
– content posted on twitter is indexed by search engines
– can use plug-ins (Twitter Tools on Wordpress, TwitPics) or automation
services like Hooutsuite and SocialOomph to make sure blog posts and
a ou ce e s are being ed o e
announcements a e be g fed to the Twitter s ea
e stream
– can follow keywords (the business, competitors, topics etc) in a
dedicated search column
– can link feeds on the website and share tweets from those following on
the intranet/website
– tweets that are retweeted are shared on non-follower pages
– handles (#) can be used to maximise searching
– can be accessed and updated via phone
USES/RECOMMEDATIONS
– announce new project work, innovations, research, new staff and
promote our clients and partners
– create multiple h dl th t would enable a diff
t lti l handles that ld bl different focus and
tf d
stakeholder group eg. services, industry focus
http://www.twitter.com
* http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/3-simple-steps-for-creating-social-media-visibility/

14. 03 LinkedIn
ABOUT
– is a business-oriented social networking site
– As of 21 June 2010 LinkedIn had more than 70 million registered users,
spanning more than 200 countries and territories worldwide
BENEFITS
– content posted on LinkedIn is indexed by search engines
– companies can list jobs and search for potential candidates
– job seekers can review the profile of hiring managers and discover
which of their existing contacts can introduce them.
– users can follow different companies and can get notification about the
new joining and offers available
– can be accessed and updated via phone
USES/RECOMMEDATIONS
– promote new positions
– announce new project work, professionals joining and new research
– create, contribute and generate dialogue with a specialist group
http://www.linkedin.com/companies

15. 03 SlideShare
ABOUT
– SlideShare is a business media site for sharing presentations,
documents and pdfs
d t d df
BENEFITS
– slides can be loaded onto the site and shared with access 24/7
– companies can create a channel, load al their content and attract
followers (refer left)
– embed slideshows into your own blog or website.
– share slideshows publicly or privately. There are several ways to share
privately. .
– download the original file
– can link slides to LindedIn and Facebook
USES/RECOMMEDATIONS
– create and load (non confidential) slide decks with different themes (eg.
sector, discipline, region, studio etc)
– business development ad hoc presentations
– Recommendation: review privacy settings and the need for access to
slide decks and d
lid d k d documents. C
t Consider creating a b i
id ti business channell
h
www.slideshare.com

16. 03 Hootsuite
ABOUT
– Hooutsuite is a social media dashboard to manage FaceBook, LinkedIn,
WorPress, T itt and other sociall media accounts in one centrall place
W P Twitter d th i di t i t l
BENEFITS
– social media analytics
– uploads to multiple sites from one point
– capability to p a a d sc edu e pos s
capab y o plan and schedule posts
– monitor brand and key terms in social media sites
– ability to shrink url using ow.ly
USES/RECOMMEDATIONS
– manage the business LinkedIn, Twitter, FaceBook sites from a central
location
– Recommendation: create an account to manage and evaluate social
media sites and activities effectively and efficiently
http://hootsuite.com

17. 03 You Tube
a).
ABOUT
– Video sharing site
– As of 21 June 2010 LinkedIn had more than 70 million registered users,
spanning more than 200 countries and territories worldwide
BENEFITS
– content posted on YouTube is indexed by search engines
USES/RECOMMEDATIONS
– feature project and case study thought leadership
– Recommendation: create a channel and load project videos and
podcasts
b). www.youtube.com

18. 03 Blog
ABOUT
– 1.8 billion people are on the web
BENEFITS
– blogs enable deep and intimate dialogue
– can demonstrate expertise and knowledge of design beyond the
business projects
– ability to e pose personality of our designers
ab y o expose pe so a y o ou des g e s
– can project a more dynamic brand
– can link to other social media sites
– content posted on a blog is indexed by search engines (therefore a
benefit to separate a blog and a website)
– “a blog is a search engine magnet. When you post consistently and
constantly,
constantly the search engines tend to index your content more
frequently”.
USES/RECOMMEDATIONS
– feature projects and thought leadership
– Recommendation: align with website strategy (blog either part of or
separate to the website)
www.wordpress.org
www.posterous.com
www.blogger.com

19. 03 digg
ABOUT
– Virtual bookmark that is shared globally
– “How do we do this? Everything on Digg — from news to videos to
images — is submitted by our community (that would be you). Once
something is submitted, other people see it and Digg what they like
best. If your submission rocks and receives enough Diggs, it is
promoted to the front page for the millions of our visitors to see.”
BENEFITS
– content posted on the site is indexed by search engines
– alternate medium to share the business stories (link back to the website)
USES/RECOMMEDATIONS
– announce new project work and research
– load and share media stories about the business
– Recommend: create an account to load media releases and new
website stories
www.digg.com

20. 03 delicious
ABOUT
– “Delicious uses a non-hierarchical classification system in
which users can t each of th i bookmarks with freely
hi h tag h f their b k k ith f l
chosen index terms”
BENEFITS
– content posted on the site is indexed by search engines
– alternate medium to s a e the bus ess stories (
a e a e ed u o share e business s o es (link bac toback o
the website)
USES/RECOMMEDATIONS
– announce new project work and research
– load and share media stories about the business
– Recommend: create an account to load media releases and
new website stories
www.delicious.com

21. 04 Going forward
“ Brand context
The No. 1 reason to
j
join the social
media evolution is
to take control of
your brand, both as
a firm and as an
individual
professional
Evelyn Lee
E l L
If You’re Not Online, You’re Behind
Design Intelligence 2010
”

22. 04 Going forward
Social media is a genuine opportunity for the
business to promote, build and cement our
brand.
We can not ignore that the business is already
in the social media environment – created by
our people, media organisations and other
professionals.
professionals
We can’t stop the wave, we need to ride it. And
with a strategic and integrated approach we can
manage how are brand is projected and help
build a reputation with our clients, professionals
and industry aligns with our vision and brand
strategy
Going forward
– discuss and review social media options
– consider resources required to maintain a
social media sites
– address how best to align our approach with
branding, website, resourcing and
organisationall elements
i ti l t
– develop a plan and present to the leadership

23. “
Your brand is
Brand context
formed primarily,
not by what your
company says
about itself,
but what the
company
does.
Jeff Bezos, Amazon
”