Conversation and Your Brand

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Developing, growing and strengthening your brand has

always been about the conversation that surrounds it

What your customers are saying

What your employees are saying

What influencers are saying

What the competition is saying

What the investment community is saying

Conversation and Your Brand

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And until recently we’ve controlled that conversation by

carefully assigning how we communicate

Marketing and Advertising - broadcast the message

Public Relations - steer the message

HR - explain the message internally

Internal Communications - sell the message

Sales/Business Development - carry the message to each customer

Social Media Is All About Conversation!

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…powered by:

A conversation between…

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friendscolleagues

customersinvestors

What’s Changed?

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Conversation is no longer between just two people

In December 1998, 23 known blogs and in April 1999 the term―blog‖ was born

In 2003, the Oxford English Dictionary listed ―blog‖ as both anoun and a verb and the worldwide blog count was at 1 million

Last season American Idol has 29 million viewers…but MySpace had110 million users…Facebook had 65 million (more than half over 25). Twenty-six times more people view YouTube than read

the New York Times online each day.

What’s Changed? Fluid Brand

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Brand

Audience A

Audience B

Audience CAudience D

Audience E

What’s Changed: Fluidity

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Fluid Messaging:

It matters less how often or consistently you say the message and more

on whether or not customers get the same experience each time

What’s Changed?

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And communicating with the customer is no longer

easily assigned

Kryptonite Bike Locks

PR Dept. Response

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Kryptonite’s response:

“We understand there are concerns regarding tubular cylinders used in some Kryptonite locks.

The tubular cylinder, a standard industry-wide design, has been successfully used for more than 30

years in our products and other security applications without significant issues.

The current Kryptonite locks based on a tubular cylinder design continue to present an effective

deterrent to theft. As part of our continuing commitment to produce performance and improved

security, Kryptonite has been developing a disc-style cylinder for some years. In 2000, Kryptonite

introduced the disc-style cylinder in its premier line of products, the New York series. In 2002,

Kryptonite began development of a new disc cylinder system for both its Evolution and KryptoLok

product lines, which currently use the tubular cylinder design. These products are scheduled to be

introduced in the next few weeks.

We are accelerating the delivery of the new disc cylinder locks and we will communicate directly

with our distributors, dealers and consumers within the coming days. The world just got tougher

and so did our locks.”

What’s Changed?

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Customers will not limit their conversations about your

business, your product or your service to your sales or

customer service people

Buyers prefer to be educated, not sold and want to pursue this

education anonymously until they’ve reached a purchasing

decision

Peer opinions/reviews on product, service, company and brand

are becoming more and more relevant to the buyer’s decision

Can I ignore it?

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It isn’t hard to talk ourselves out of adding conversationto the mix

Business has been operating the same way for a long time and it’sproven effective

Only the young kids are into the whole conversation thing

My customers are all over 40 and aren’t into all that new stuff

Our 5-year strategic plan doesn’t take into account social networking

Conversations of this type are really just relevant to B2C and isn’treally affecting the B2B marketplace

My budget’s already stretched so thin

No - Employees will demand it

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Web conversation isn’t going away

Personal communication needs and wants will quickly become professional communication needs and wants

Blair Christie, Cisco – ―Web 2.0 brings work and personal lifestyles closer togetherwith potential benefits to the business world. It‟s a mash-up of your world at homeand our world in business.”

Nancy DeLapp, VP, IBM – “The corporate workforce is going to change dramaticallywith the socially networked employee population coming into our companies very soon.”

Clara Shih, The AppExchange Blog – “The Facebook generation will grow up andcomprise an increasing portion of the workforce and company leadership.”

Boomers are getting there or getting out

X-generationers are there and demanding change in the workplace

Y-generationers (millenianers) will accept nothing else and will only work with

those keeping pace with them

And customers will demand it

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Your customers expect to have conversations with

you on their terms

Target loses its ―cool.‖

And customers will demand it

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The Viral Garden post:―It all started when Amy Jussel from ShapingYouth.org spotted the Target billboard to

the right, and saw something other than a woman making a snow Angel. Amy felt that

the billboard 'targeted' the wrong message for young girls, and emailed her complaint

to Target. The company would later email her the following response:

„Good Morning Amy,

Thank you for contacting Target; unfortunately we are unable to respond to your

inquiry because Target does not participate with non-traditional media outlets. This

practice is in place to allow us to focus on publications that reach our core guest.

Once again thank you for your interest, and have a nice day.‟”

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The New York Times Contacts Target(as reported in the Viral Garden post)

―The New York Times also contacted Target, who replied that „We do not work with bloggers

currently,‟ said a company spokeswoman, Amy von Walter. As the NYTimes points out, Target won't

talk to bloggers, but WILL talk to a MSM source that's writing a story about how they won't talk to

bloggers.

But none of this excuses the fact that it is absolutely unforgivable for a major corporation, in 2008,

to have a policy in place that states that it ignores bloggers. To go a step further and basically imply

that bloggers don't represent Target's 'core guests', is the height of ignorance. Amy might be a

blogger, but she was also a Target customer that contacted the company with a complaint. And she

was all but ignored.

BTW when the NYTimes contacted Target and they claimed that they don't work with bloggers

currently, the company clarified that statement by adding “But we have made exceptions. And we

are reviewing the policy and may adjust it.” IOW, the company may change their policy if the story

you are writing causes a big enough stink.”

The most important reason to rethink

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Faster, smarter business is all about embracing

conversations in a Web 2.0 world

It’s increasing your sales force by thousands

It’s increasing your PR department by thousands - IBM

You get feedback on your product/service directly from your customers instantly allowing you to adjust to changing market conditions faster

Messaging can be adjusted quickly and with better insight

Quicker connections with audiences before, during and after events

like trade shows, symposiums, seminars, meetings, etc.

Ok, I’m rethinking

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Where do I begin???

Understand Fallacies

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Social media is inexpensive

It’s fast

It’s ―Viral Marketing‖

Results can’t be measured

Social media is optional

It’s hard

The 6 Dangerous Fallacies of Social Media (Jason Baer)

Understand who’s in charge?

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No one and everyone

Traditional departments - advertising, PR, marketing, communications,

customer service, IT (yes, IT), but free of silos and internal politics

Leadership Team and business units - proving business value to the CEO

CEO - champion the principles, values and behaviors

Employees - the best companies will let go of their message and control

of the gate and trust it with their employees to carry forward.

Your customer

Bea Fields (author of Millennial Leaders): ―Customers have alwaysbeen a force in the evolution of brands. What is happening is simplythat the part customers play in brand evolution is becoming morevisible and is therefore taking on a more important role.”

Understand the rules of the road

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Understand push vs. pull and when to use one or the other

Think dialogue vs. monologue

Make each conversation relevant to each audience

McDonald’s Brand Journalism

St. Norbert IM addresses

Achieve and maintain brand alignment

Creating an environment that is conducive and accepting of conversation

Think less about technology and more about sociology

Participating in the message instead of controlling it

Dell Hell

Rules of the road

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Dell Hell

Learning from Dell

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Customers are in control. Work with them and learn from them.

Real conversations are two-way.

Think before you talk—but always be yourself.

Address any form of dissatisfaction head on.

Be aware that any conversation can become global at any time.

Size doesn't matter—relevance does. Just as one journalist can trigger a newscycle, one blogger can do the same.

Don't be afraid to apologize.

Develop direct links to customer community listen for how to improve.

One customer is part of many communities.

Teamwork, transparency and frequent consistent communication are key in this new world.

No shortcuts are possible. Implementing business change requires much effort across departments.

Rules of the road

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The Manifesto for Monday Morning(By Peter Hirshberg, Technorati and Steven Hyden, Ogilvy)

―Live brands participate in conversations in a manner that is:‖

Real

Constant

Genuinely interested

Intent on learning

Humble

Attentive

Personal

Be brave

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B2C is already there. B2B is blazing a trail.

Audiences recognize innovation in communications.

Get started

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Get comfortable

Make sure your brand and your business are ready for each step

Break down conversation/department silos

Align your brand

Hire a community manager to listen to conversations about your brand

Get key influencers comfortable with the tools of conversation

Begin by listening

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Listening Toolset

Google Alerts

Google Reader

Bloglines.com

Technorati.com

Keotag.com

RSS Feeds

Message boards (Boardreader.com)

Begin by listening

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The complaint

The compliment

The problem

The question or inquiry

The campaign impact

The crisis

The competitor

The crowd

The influencer

The point of need

Get started

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7 Ways to Use Social Media to Build Stunning Brands

1. Reputation management

2. Customer Service

3. Public Relations

4. Customer Acquisition

5. Create Brand Communities

6. Thought Leadership

7. Networking

Get started

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Find Your Social Influence Voice

Brand Voice Social Media Voice

• Singular (one voice) • Multiple voices

• Anonymous (reflects brand) • Authentic & transparent

• Consistent, professional • Conversational

Get started

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Test the waters

Add an online response mechanism to a product description,

white paper or case study

Add broadcast conversation to your careers/employment page

Figure out a way to connect customers with the people they

really want to talk to inside your company

Figure out a way to connect your customers with each other

Start an Intranet blog or sales force blog

Get an online personality

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Personality Toolset

LinkedIn Profile

Facebook page

Personal or corporate blog

De.licio.us page for bookmarks

YouTube page (youtube.com/yourname)

Share photos online (Flickr, Photobucket)

Choose your own social media adventure!

Participate in the conversation

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Participation Toolset

Blogging (Create your own & comment on others)

Social bookmarks & viral sharing

Forums & groups

Social Networks

Podcasts

Video & Photo Sharing

Widgets

Twitter

Get started

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SelectMinds, which works mainly with B2B companies to

create internal social networks, cites the following results

for their clients:

Productivity increased on average 10.33%

New business increased on average 11.65%

Retention increased on average 5%

Get started

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When you’re ready to charge ahead - STOP!

Ask yourself

1. How will we benefit from initiating or participating

in a conversation?

2. With whom do we want to have the conversation?

3. Where are the conversations currently taking place?

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“A brand is an emotional relationship between the user and the product, Web 2.0

allows us to build that relationship one to one, to measure things and get an immediate

reaction. But people talk about your brand in ways you can‟t control, whether positive

or negative, be a part of that discussion so you understand it.”

Lou Aversano

Managing Partner, Ogilivy Worldwide

Today’s conversation was brought you by:

•Thomas Petziner, Jr. The Wall Street Journal – Forward, The Cluetrain Manifesto

•Susan Solomon, the ClickZ Network – Brand Journalism

•Peter Hirshberg, Technorati and Steven Hyden, Ogilvy – The Manifesto for Monday Morning.

•Brian Solis, principal at FutureWorks – PR 2.0 blog entry

•Nilofer Merchant, CEO of Rubison Consulting – Segmentation in a Web 2.0 World, MarketingProfs

April 10, 2007.

•Bea Fields, author of Millennial Leaders

•Ellis Booker, BtoB On-line, Leads: Finding, tracking, nurturing, converting, May 27, 2008

•Karen Breen Vogel, CEO of ClearGuage, BtoB Online Post 5.27.08

•Doc Searlys – The Cluetrain Manifesto

•Tim Riesterer – Customer Message Management, Marketing Profs Virtual Seminar, June 7, 2007

•Web 2.0 and the Corporation, Roundtable at Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth

•Toby Hoden, CMO, ING

•Lou Aversano, Managing Partner Ogilvy Worldwide

•Blair Christie, VP, Cisco

•Jon Iwata, Senior VP, IBM

•Frank Boncimino, Senior VP, Time Warner Cable

•Nancy DeLapp, Global VP, IBM

•Clara Shih, The AppExchange Blog, Salesforce.com, posted January 30, 2008

•Mack Collier, The Viral Garden Blog, posted January 29, 2008

•Phillip Torrone, engadget, posted Sep 16th 2004 at 12:20PM

Conversation

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You can find me online at:

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/pathop (PatHop)

LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/ Search for Patrick Hopkins

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See you online!

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