Social Media « TheMarketingMojo

Social Media is the 4th Phase of Industrialization

April 8, 2010

Thomas Burns, the iconic economist, originally authored the classic classification scale many use to describe market maturity. On his scale, the most complete, or evolved market he identified as a phase three and described as being focused on ”stimulat(ing) consumption (with) advertising, product development, design, consumer research, market research, and marketing promotion.” (Hatch, 1997, p. 23) The question, though, is have we actually now passed into a 4^th phase, where the market self moderates and discovers needs or desires for product on its own?

If social media, indeed, does represent the 4^th phase, then the impact it will have on organizations is significant. “We often hear of social media being equated with tools & platforms. But it’s really much more than that. If you’re adopting these technologies and behaviors at your company, it’s not about the shiny new toys. It’s fundamentally about culture change. And that type of transformational change – which may include updating business practices – must come from the top. But more than a top-down dictum, it’s got to be part of leadership.” (Monty, 2010)

One such case where leadership and organizational change is adapting the social advancement of the web is Ford Motor Company. Ford has embraced the social web, and has made significant changes to the way in which the firm goes to market. Ford’s CEO, Alan Mulally, really gets social media. As stated on the firm’s Social Media Marketing Blog: “He promotes a culture of transparency and openness that is completely aligned with the way Ford is trying to engage with consumers online. Mulally thinks about how Ford does business. Consistency of purpose and of message is key.” (Monty, 2010)

Ford clearly understands the power of the social web, and is looking to leverage the new found paradigm as a means to reach consumers. Their open transparent approach is designed to develop an ongoing trust based relationship with consumers that establish dialogs, commitment, and engagement. They seek to extend and expand the emotional connection by providing greater access to information (hello Toyota) and facilitating the subsequent sharing or spreading of experiences amongst the Firm’s friends, family, customers and fans. Ford is demonstrating the adaptable leadership required by today’s organizations, and is demonstrating that organizations can drive change when they listen to their market, to their consumers and have committed leadership.

As organizations look to embrace the social web it is critical that leadership recognize that socialization of the web and thus their brand is a new paradigm. In this new fourth phase of industrialization organizations must look beyond their own advertising and promotion to accommodate the reality of social conversations generated by the market about their brand. The social web is vast, spanning well beyond advertising and promotion, and can spread points of view, both good and bad, like wildfire. The market can turn on a dime, or a brake pedal, and brands need to be ready to react. Brands must recognize the power of word of mouth and plan accordingly.

Look to Ford again. At the turn of the 18^th century they helped usher the world into the industrial era with the famed assembly line. What could you have learned from them then? Could you have applied the assembly line to your own business? Ford, under the direction of Mulally, is doing it again. They are leading the way into the 4^th phase with the socialization of their brand with consumers, their customers, their prospects, friends, family, and now fans and followers. Can you learn from them? Can you learn how to socialize your own business?

1 Comment | Customer Centric Marketing Organization (CCMO), Social Media | Tagged: Social Media, Industrial Revolution, Thomas Burns, Scott Monty, Mulally, Ford, Economics, Industrialization | Permalink
Posted by mdfisher00

The Social Consumer Drives Need for Organizational Change

April 8, 2010

As most marketers are aware, consumers have more control of how information is leveraged than ever before. The internet and the access it provides has empowered consumers with knowledge and has forever changed the way consumers perceive and understand goods, services and information. Consumers are enlightened, and “are acutely aware and educated as to the current state of our society. They make their buying decisions more astutely as a result of information they now access.” (Hickman, 1998, p. 505) Necessarily, organizations now find it much more difficult to ensure they are aligning with customers. Consumers are aware. The implications for marketing organizations are significant. The structures we’ve built and optimized were aimed at a target that has moved. To remain relevant, therefore, the marketing organization must find ways to change and adapt to the reality of the socially vocal, empowered consumer.

The key enabler to all of this is information. Greater information access allows consumers to align their beliefs and their values around an organization’s business practices more rapidly than ever before. The net result being customers are also forming emotional connections faster than ever. They are falling in love… getting married… and divorced… in time measured by clicks, not days or months. Although it may not seem so, this is not the first time marketers, or the world has been confronted with momentous change.

History is the story of change. We’ve seen all of this before. Turning back the clock to the industrial revolution, we see a world poised on the brink of change no less daunting than what we face today. Change does not happen overnight. As Thomas Burns, one of the leading economists of the time, describes by breaking the industrial revolution into three discreet phases.

Burns outlines the first phase as being “tied to the advent of specialized factories and machines dedicated to one type of task or function.” Where phase two saw this evolve to a “series of complimentary, co-dependent machines managed via a complex production processes.” (Hatch, 1997, p. 22-23) Think of the Henry Ford’s assembly line. The third phase, which many argue we are still in, is marked by the production of surplus goods and “enhanced sensitivity to the consumer, to new techniques to stimulate consumption like advertising, product development, design, consumer research, market research, and marketing promotion.” (Hatch, 1997, p. 23)

The rate of change is what is truly daunting. It took the world decades, if not centuries to evolve from isolated job shops, to the consumer orgy we know today. In contrast to Mr. Ford, the Internet is still in its infancy, or at most early teens, while social is just the glint in someone’s eye. From a marketing standpoint, though, this relatively short time period actually may be the most momentous.

As markets develop, technology advances and new distribution channels emerge. This is classic and well know. In the digital world, however, while the web brought new found ways to access information, and to conduct commerce, the social networks bring new ways of creating media and delivering information to many people, very quickly.

Social media (content created by the community) and the Social Networks (e.g., Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, etc.) enable unsolicited “word of mouth”, testimonial which now plays a significant role in how consumers now develop an understanding of a brand. Social networks also generate social media which shifts how people discover, read and share news, information and content.

The rapid advancement of the social network and the media these networks generate has put pressure on organizations to act responsibly like never before. While social networks can bring about new sales and distribution they also bring rapid fire word of mouth scrutiny that organizations haven’t needed to accommodate in the past. Social networks now create the opportunity for the consumer to communicate their POV to family, to friends, and to their potential thousands of followers on twitter, and friends and fans on Facebook.

This creates new challenges and opportunities that must be addressed. In the past, brands have never been required to engage with individuals in such a social, communicative way. The new access to information consumers have, the speed at which information and opinions can be shared through the social web, and the need companies have to grow, promote and stimulate the consumer to purchase have brought on needs for change – strategic organizational changes.

Are you making changes? How well structured is your organization to capitalize on the emerging conversation with your customers?

1 Comment | Social Media, Word of Mouth (WOM) | Tagged: Industrial Revolution, Michael Fisher, Organizational Change, Social Media, Thomas Burns, WOM, Word of Mouth | Permalink
Posted by mdfisher00

Setup for Alterian’s inaugural SM2 Buzz Bowl

February 6, 2010

http://bit.ly/Buzz-Bowl

You don’t have to work in marketing or advertising to know the Super Bowl has developed into the largest single day advertising event in the world. We have all grown familiar with the urban legends, like maybe some of the more outlandish like the risk of “simultaneous flush” or “estimates” of a case of beer consumed for every man, woman, and child. With a worldwide audience estimated from 200M to 1B it is no small wonder that brands pony up hundreds of millions for the advertising rights every year. It is the ultimate “reach” vehicle of the broadcast calendar year.

Over the last couple of years, as the interactive and social channels have gained traction, the big three of TV, radio, and print have been hurting – shedding some $10B in ad revenues, or 20% of their annual turnover. To date, this hasn’t impacted Super Bowl advertising which remains largely unscathed as the iconic symbol of mass media. And while undoubtedly the competition on the airwaves will be as fierce as that between Indianapolis and New Orleans, there are some changes afoot that promise to make this year different.

For the first time, some of the large brands, like Pepsi, have broken ranks and are embracing social media marketing. Exiting the Super Bowl is fairly symbolic as it signals that brands are taking social media seriously and view it as an alternative way for engaging with consumers. Just two years ago, it would have seemed preposterous to think a major brand would walk away from their Super Bowl spot.

Beyond the cost, one of the driving factors behind this shift is the notion of engagement. While as marketers we’ve long aimed for this, we’ve never really been able to act upon it. Our problem has been, that while we could speak, we couldn’t listen. Social media enables a whole new form of communication with individuals that simply wasn’t possible in the past. Via social channels, consumers not only have a voice – they can be downright deafening.

One of the complaints about social media to date has been the difficulty in measuring it. This perspective seems uniformed. Social media is actually more quantifiable and measurable than its traditional counterparts. As a matter of fact, social media can be used as a barometer for your multi-channel messaging and a real metric for measuring response, message traction and target audience reaction. Regardless of how an individual receives your message, they are going to share, express, and engage with your brand via social channels. You no longer have to guess how well your message worked because if you listen people will tell you.

Our goal with the SM2 Buzz Bowl is to bring clarity to the voice of the market and identify which brands were most successful at generating engagement. In the end, the most successful brands won’t necessarily be ones that focus just on social media, but rather the brand that can foster an emotional connection with consumers that bridges broadcast advertising to the social community. We measure this by using our proprietary Social Sentiment Engagement Index (SSEI) where we track not only the buzz generated, but then also weight it according to sentiment.

So… who will carry the day on Sunday? Will it be the socially attuned Pepsi? Big ad spending In-Bev? Or even another “Rock Star” from Intel? Either way, check with Alterian, because… we will be listening.

http://bit.ly/Buzz-Bowl

Leave a Comment » | Social Media | Tagged: Alterian, Buzz Bowl, Coke, Engagement, Pepsi, SEI, Social Engagement Index, Social Media, Social Sentiment Engagement Index, SSEI | Permalink
Posted by tewksbum

Super Bowl Show Down – Coke Vs. Pepsi Social Style

February 5, 2010

As the Super Bowl draws closer and closer Alterian continues to find rather interesting data on a number of organizations that are advertising in the big event this Sunday. To be sure there are a number of brands that are stimulating very interesting conversations, and Alterian’s SM2 social media monitoring solution is listening. The real interesting data generated through this listening exercise is the competition between Coke and Pepsi. Coke is certainly ramping up in terms of mentions and conversations, and in positive sentiment, however Pepsi is still ahead of Coke in most categories at this stage. The simple reason for Pepsi’s performance is that they opted to not run any Super Bowl ads this year and upon announcing their decision in December they received quite a bit of social feedback. Instead Pepsi is opting to launch their “refresh campaign” through social media channels.

Results can be deceiving as Pepsi’s position is fueled by their early announcement, but what we have yet to learn is what happens after the Super Bowl. Does Pepsi maintain that leadership position, or does Coke take the top spot. The real question is what can Coke do to extend and expand its Super Bowl ad spots? Advertising to date generates a social and emotional attachment to brands, and while the attachment was bigger in the past, it still holds true today. Consumers still understand what it means to “leave it to the good hands people”, or “like a good neighbor” If we go back a generation or two, many consumer will identify with “Is it live or is it……?” or “When you’re out of Schlitz…..” Branding can create attachment as Coke still knows how to generate a smile. The real win for Coke would be to determine how to take the brand advertising that they ran for the Super Bowl, and extend it and expand into social channels. If Coke was to really focus on expanding the effect of their advertising they might want to consider engaging in the social conversation. For, although understanding the voice of the consumer is important, being able to better engage the consumer to develop and extend attachment, to keep the program alive, can be huge. Next week will be a telling week, the excitement will soon lead to results. Stay tuned to hear what it is that we’re hearing.

1 Comment | Experience Management (CEM), Social Media | Tagged: Alterian, Coke, Pepsi, Sentiment Analysis, sm2, Social Media, Super Bowl | Permalink
Posted by mdfisher00

How to Implement a Social Media Marketing Strategy

December 22, 2009

Again, thank you to everyone for the support and enthusiasm for the presentation. Certainly this is something that has hit a nerve and I’ve heard you loud and clear. Over the coming weeks and months I will be devoting more time documenting the approach we are deploying at Alterian and sharing insights on what is and isn’t working.

To download a copy of the presentation, please visit the Alterian site:

http://www.alterian.com/smleadgen/

Leave a Comment » | CRM(arketing), Inbound Marketing, Social Media | Tagged: "4 bs of social media", "buying cycle", "call to action", "david scott meerman", "heat map", "inbound markeing", "marcus tewksbury", "return on assets", "social media marketing strategy", Alterian, Demand Generation, Inbound Marketing, linkedin, loopfuse, Marketing Accountability, roa, Sales Funnel, SEM, SlideShare, sm2, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, tewks, themarketingmojo, Twitter, webjourney, youtube | Permalink
Posted by tewksbum

What will all marketers fired in the next 18 months have in common?

October 11, 2009

They don’t understand inbound marketing…

As marketers, we’ve been beat over the head for the last two years with what is no longer working. How many times have we heard that the reality of reachability and addressability has shifted the balance of control to the consumer and that our traditional approaches have begun a painful death spiral? What’s been missing from this conversation, which is often the case in times of change, is a meaningful conversation about the path ahead. In recent months, however, and flying under the radar an emergent school of thought has arisen that points to our collective future – inbound marketing. With a tip of the hat to Hubspot whom, with support of the SEM, WOM, and social media agencies, has chiefly defined the space. The ambition of this piece is to define what inbound marketing is and then investigate the specifics of what is involved in launching an engaging inbound program.

Read the rest of this entry »

Leave a Comment » | Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), Inbound Marketing, Terms, Word of Mouth (WOM) | Tagged: death spiral, Engagement, HubSpot, Inbound Marketing, Interruption | Permalink
Posted by tewksbum

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