(A story of huge risks and huge opportunities)

The disruption briefing.

Steve Sponder, Chief Digital Officer,Lawton Communications Group@stevesponder  //  blog.stevesponder.com   //  sawthis.posterous.com

1. Disruption is not always obvious.

(Even if you are the market leader!)

This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered

as a means of communications. The device is inherently of no value to us.

Western Union internal memo (1876)

“”

The problem with television is that the people must sit and keep their eyes glued

on a screen; the average American family hasn’t time for it.

The New York Times (1939)

“”

The Internet?We are not interested in it.

Bill Gates (1993)

“ ”

2. Social media arethe disruption drivers.

(The tools and platforms have turned the Internet into a global, hyper-word-of-mouth engine)

3. People are sharing their views and experiences.

(Everyone now has their own personal soap-box to talk about brands - good or bad, true or not, in real-time)

4. People can easily discover others’ views and experiences.

(Google and Microsoft are in an arms-raceto deliver the best real-time search engine)

Google Real-time Search

Google has signed a deal with Twitter to enable Retweets to be incorporated directly into

Google’s search results.

Google SideWiki

Google’s SideWiki enables anyone to leave comments on

any web page. Effectively turning the web into a huge

social network.

Source: Charlene Li at KMWorld 2009 

5. People are now ‘in the know’ and in control.

(The balance of power has firmly tipped from brands to people)

A REVOLUTION DOESN’T HAPPEN WHEN SOCIETY ADOPTS NEW TOOLS,

IT HAPPENS WHEN SOCIETY ADOPTS NEW BEHAVIORS.

CLAY SHIRKY, US NOW

6. In this transparent world, brands are forced to change their

approach and behaviour.(Do you see this as a risk, some as an opportunity?)

The conversation is going on whether you care to be

involved or not.

If you choose not to be involved, you lose control of the conversation about your product, your service, your brand, your organisation –

you become irrelevant.

“

”cluetrain.com

The traditional marketing model we all grew up with is obsolete.

Jim Stengel, Global Marketing Officer,Procter & Gamble, 2004

“”

Mass marketing todayis a mass mistake.

Larry Light, Chief Marketing Officer,McDonalds, 2004

“”

What we’re going for more and more will be developing compelling content.

Some will be consumer-generated, some of it we’ll buy, some of it we’ll create ourselves.

Joseph V. Tripodi, Chief Marketing & Commercial Officer,The Coca-Cola Company

“”

Strategy: to humanize the company by connecting consumers with

Ford employees and with each other when possible, providing value

in the process.

Ford US

“”

Today we’re inviting customers to join a Customer Panel, to

come into our business, meet our

people, ask anything they like - and report back publicly on what

they’ve found

Phil Bentley, Managing Director, British Gas

“

”

[Our] research shows that the banking sector does not score well when it comes to

openness and transparency, but this is

something we've started to change at first direct. We want to show that we have listened to our customers' comments by addressing

their feedback and queries.  

Lisa Wood, Head of Marketing, First Direct

“

”

7. The payback?

(Huge opportunities for the bold organisations)

While no one yet has the data to determine direct cause and effect, what we do find is a financial correlation between those (brands) who are deeply engaged (with social media)

and those who outperform their peers.

Altimeter – Engagement_db (July 2009)

“”

consumer insights Best in class organisations are 2.6 times more likely than industry average companies, and 93 times more likely than laggards, to improve their ability to generate consumer insights that drive new product / service development.

brand reputation Best in class organisations are 3.3 times more likely than industry average companies, and 82 times more likely than laggards, to improve their ability to identify and reduce risk to the brand.

customer advocacy Best in class organisations are 2.3 times more likely than industry average companies, and 19 times more likely than laggards, to improve customer advocacy.

customer service Best in class organisations are 2.8 times more likely than industry average companies, and 15 times more likely than laggards, to decrease customer service costs.                                                                  

Source: Aberdeen Group – The ROI on Social Media Monitoring (October 2009)

Continue the conversation

Steve SponderGroup Strategy Directorblog.stevesponder.com / @stevesponder /sawthis.posterous.com