Relevant Outcomes

Eight Competencies to Socializing Your Organization

Eight Competencies to Socializing Your Organization

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Thoughts On Altimeter's Digital Influence Report

Armano on Altimeter's Digital Influence Report

Altimeter's most recent report titled "The Rise of Digital Influence" revolves around the theory and practice of "digital influence". A trend that will not die despite the industry's counter movement against platforms such as Klout and the scores of imitators which have subsequently followed. (Full disclosure, I was interviewed in depth for the report). Altimeter rightfully begins the analysis of "digital influence" by calling out the distinction from how we view influence traditionally and offering a brief definition:

"Traditional influence is defined as the act, power, or capacity of causing an effect in indirect or intangible ways. For the purpose of this report, we will use the following as the definition for Digital Influence: The ability to cause effect, change behavior, and drive measurable outcomes online."

How do you generate relationships worthy of loyalty in a Web 2.0 world?

It starts with the corporation. Public or private, the focus MUST be on the customer. So how can you galvanize and focus corporate attention on the customer first? The mission of any great organization should be to enrich the lives it touches - to build relationships worthy of loyalty. Growth and shareholder return will evaporate or never be realized if you do not earn the loyalty of the customer.

Unchain Your Mind & Explore Your Own Way

This was too good not to post....

"While the opportunistic, dynamic and fluid space in which we operate might be overwhelming on your worst day, it can never be a bad day when you unchain your mind and explore your own way." Kendall Allen (Is The Media Career Path An Outdated Idea)

Winning Through Social Media Monitoring

Goals this year for my clients include:

1. Expanding and creating new sales channels
2. Improving brand visibility

A vital issue to the success of achieving these goals is to insure you have a high level of customer relevance. You need to know your customer and you need to be able to determine their intent (implicit or explicit) with your brand. This is not easy to do, your marketing team must have a clear framework established to capture this type of information and know how to interpret the insight and apply appropriately.

One of the top two strategies this year is the use and greater reliance on Website analytics, and SMM (Social Media Monitoring) with SMAT's (Social Media Analytics Tools e.g., Spiral 16, BuzzMetrics, Brandwatch, Scoutlabs, etc.).

Why use SMM in my corporations marketing mix?

1. Understand the conversations going on about your brand
2. Increase customer advocacy
3. Reputation management (notice I didn't use the word control)
4. Market research - deeper insights into consumer opinion
5. Interact and engage with customers for greater retention

Gathering information is one thing and it's relatively easy. Applying the insights is another thing all together. As we continue to move into this new world trend of real time consumer insight a solid grasp of your internal organizational structure, collaborative desire and operational excellence is critical.

The Aberdeen Group did a research study and found best in class marketers achieve greater business results because they utilize and apply social media monitoring. The best-in-class companies take a holistic approach to SMM by sharing the information throughout the all levels of the organization (marketing, sales, public relations, customer service, research and development, etc.) in an attempt to achieve operational excellence. Companies not labeled as best-in-class but still did some SMM only utilized the data primarily within their Marketing department.

Still a non believer?  That's O.K.  Those companies that do believe and have been utilizing SMM have seen demonstrable evidence and have experienced tangible results in the form of increases in:

1. Shareholder Value
2. Customer Support Effectiveness
3. Customer Acquisition
4. Customer Referrals
5. AND most importantly NPS (Net Promoter Score)

More and more data and success continues to show those marketers slow to move that there is a path to success - a solid framework and real desire to succeed is necessary to give yourself the chance to win.

Social Media Time Management

Time Management has always been one of those elusive activities that I still haven't found the perfect app for in my business or personal life.  There are days when nailing Jell-O to a tree seems easier.

You have to "make" time to get things accomplished.  Obviously creating additional time is still being worked on at CERN.  So, in the interest of time, consider the following.

When I started, email didn't exist.  Now, I can't live without it (metaphorically speaking).

Ask yourself an honest question, how much time do you spend with email.  I spend over two hours a day.  I had to make time to include in my work because it was necessary to my performance.

Social engagements are no different.  As I've said, you need to perform a gut check and eventually a real audit of your daily work because it is necessary to your performance.  Your work has to be efficient and linked to your marketing ROI.  I would guess that there are work activities that need to shift inside your organization to allow you time to focus on this new world trend in marketing of engagement of your consumers socially.

Zappo's is Doing "it" Right

Response protocols are critical to your success in the digital age. 

Clearly Zappos has a protocol that creates deep and lasting trust and relationships.  Read on......

Sarah says:
"I ordered a pair of Keen Kids Newport H2 sandals from Zappos on April 14th for my son.
Unfortunately, one of the straps broke last weekend so I emailed Zappos to organize an exchange. Lori kindly got back to me this morning letting me know that not only were they sending out a replacement but they were overnighting my order for free and I needn't bother to send back the defective pair. Zappos has just earned themselves another loyal customer. Yeah, speaking of that, Zappos sent me the wrong shoes and when I tried to send them back they wouldn't let me, and instead told me to donate them to charity and overnighted me the correct ones.  Any suggestions on which is the best charity to give a pair of totally-useless-to-me size 6 moccasins?"

Systematic Approach to Social Media

Relevant engagements are a full-time task within a clients marketing arsenal.  I've spoken and written about several frameworks that work in creating engaging communication and marketing initiatives.

Groundswell, written by Josh Bernoff, created an acronym that is simple, memorable and very applicable to what we do day in and day out.

P.O.S.T.

P is People. Don't start a social strategy until you know the capabilities of your audience. If you're targeting college students, use social networks. If you're reaching out business travelers, consider ratings and reviews. Forrester has great  data to help with this, but you can make some estimates on your own. Just don't start without thinking about it.

O is objectives. Pick one. Are you starting an application to listen to your customers, or to talk with them? To support them, or to energize your best customers to evangelize others? Or are you trying to collaborate with them? Decide on your objective before you decide on a technology. Then figure out how you will measure it.

S is Strategy. Strategy here means figuring out what will be different after you're done. Do you want a closer, two-way relationship with your best customers? Do you want to get people talking about your products? Do you want a permanent focus group for testing product ideas and generating new ones? Imagine you succeed. How will things be different afterwards? Imagine the endpoint and you'll know where to begin.

T is Technology. A community. A wiki. A blog or a hundred blogs. Once you know your people, objectives, and strategy, then you can decide with confidence.

Brand Advocates Matter Most

Brand Advocates are created through relevant engagements.  All phases of the consumer continuum matter; however, the end of the continuum has the most power in your marketing mix.

More research was released today to illustrate how valuable Brand Advocates are within the continuum. Dunkin' Donuts has 80% fewer Facebook and Twitter followers than Starbucks. Game over? Hardly. Dunkin' Donuts fans are 35% more likely to recommend the brand, according to a study released by Vivaldi-Lightspeed and published by Fast Company.

Starbucks spends its energy telegraphing its superiority (and by extension, its fans' good taste) -- "If it's still not perfect, you must not be in a Starbucks" -- Dunkin' takes a more advocacy-driven approach.

Hearing good things matters. 
One-hundred-forty submissions ultimately generated 3.9 million total product plugs through posts and status updates during a customer contest to submit pictures of themselves drinking iced coffee during the winter.  3.9MM!  That is powerful, cost efficient and measurable.

An easy to implement program, "create the next doughnut" contest drew app 300,000 entries and is now an annual event.

As I've stated for years, it is all about relevant engagements and that is backed up by David Tryder Director of Interactive and Relationship Marketing, "It's about all the interesting little things that let fans engage."

Consumer Involvement Accelerates Speed to Market

Recently the AAAA released findings that support a strategic approach to tapping into the Web that we have followed for over a year.

The following is our video explaining at a fun and high level how you as a Brand or Product manager can tap into the Web to help make goods and services more relevant to your consumers.

The remaining content are excerpts from the AAAA.

According to Joan Schneider’s 2004 book, “New Product Launch 10 Proven Strategies,” traditionally, the new product development process begins three or more years before shipment and includes initial concept generation, final product development, concept and product testing, and finally, launch.

However, the use of social media for obtaining consumer feedback on new products has changed the process and shortened the testing cycle for new products. According to the Wall Street Journal, Web sites, Twitter, blogs and online communities are being used by small businesses to involve consumers in decisions ranging from what to sell, how products look and work, how much the product should cost, and how the company operates. (Wall Street Journal 7/13/2009.)
 
Kettle Foods has been using consumer input for new chip flavors for more than five years. Spicy Thai was a fan-created flavor that the company considers the most successful product launch in its 25-year history. “Asking the fans for innovation advice has proven very successful,” said VP-Marketing Michelle Peterman Hunt. Kettle has nearly doubled market share in the premium potato chip category during this five year period. (Advertising Age, 11/16/09.)

The AFOL (Adult Fans of Lego) community is brought in on new product development, and Lego has sped up the development process so that it can now get a new product from idea to shelf within a year. As a result, Lego can be more responsive to cultural trends in the rapidly changing toy market. (Advertising Age, 11/9/09.)

Under Armour has been able to speed up the introduction of new products through the use of 3-D software. This software creates realistic images that serve as the basis for product decisions. A physical sample is not needed, which saves time and expense. The result is an 18-month cycle to bring new footwear to market. (CNNMoney.com, 3/5/2009; Advertising Age 11/2/09.)

Heinz tested a Steam n’ Mash frozen potato product for its Ore-Ida brand with online communities. According to CMO Brian Hansberry, the time from idea to national launch was nine months. In contrast, it takes nine to 12 months for a traditional test in the offline world and an additional nine to 12 months to roll out. (Advertising Age, 9/7/09.)

The Fiat Mio is being built in Brazil using consumer-generated input on design, materials, sustainability and infotainment. Ideas are being submitted via the car’s Web site and Twitter. Social media will influence the car’s marketing communications as well as its design. (Advertising Age, 8/24/09.)

Splenda used Facebook to provide samples and to solicit feedback for its Splenda Mist prototype. Ivy Brown, group product director for Splenda, considers Facebook “another tool in which to expose a product idea, concept or actual product to a particular target in a very efficient way.” (Advertising Age, 7/13/09.)

The Cheesecake Factory encouraged customers to name the next new cheesecake flavor via an interactive virtual cheesecake creator at their site. After 10,000 submissions and 20,000 votes, the winning flavor was "Stefanie's Ultimate Red Velvet Cheesecake," the first menu item named after a guest in the company’s thirty years in business. (Promo Magazine Online, 2/2/2009; Chain Leader, 4/1/2009.)

Key Takeaways

• Innovation is the key to economic recovery
• Advertising continues to play a critical role in building awareness and buzz for new products
• Shortened time frame from idea to launch
• Increasing involvement of consumers in product development and testing via social media
• Green products are here to stay regardless of the economy, but consumers have concerns about greenwashing
• Fewer truly new products as manufacturers focus on more dependably profitable line extensions.