» Branding/Marketing

Lessons from AiMA: Big Brands Discuss Social Media

Dan Greenfield — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 12:00:31 +0000

Put Comcast, the American Red Cross and AT&T in a room to talk social media, and you are going to get a crowd. And that’s what happened at last Wednesday’s sold out Atlanta Interactive Marketing Association (AiMA) monthly meeting – Big Brands Discuss Social Media Initiatives.

The verdict: PR (no ROI!) and logos did not fair well but passion, Twitter and customer support did. And Facebook got mixed a review.

Those are at least some of the highlights from the Twitter stream of members of the crowd who came to hear the observations of:

- Frank Eliason, Senior Director in National Customer Operations, Comcast @comcastcares

- Mimi Chan, Director of Wireless Youth Marketing, AT&T

- Wendy Harman, Social Media Manager, Red Cross @wharman

- Dave Williams, CEO and Co-Founder, BLiNQ Media’s @blinqmedia

For an excellent summary of the evening check out Josh Martin’s post.

As event organizer Toby Bloomberg pointed out, the three panelist delivered three distinct perspectives: social media as customer service, social media as youth marketing and social media as community/non-profit outreach.

The crowd size reveals how hungry people are for information about social media. Frank, Wendy (with a burning fever no less) and Mimi sounded almost nostalgic (Harman was originally ”hired to stop bloggers”) as they recounted their early experiences with social media.

My biggest takeaways

- It was clear to me that Comcast has been so successful with Twitter in large part because of Frank’s passion.

- I was surprised to learn that Red Cross is not using its social media channels for direct fundraising appeals, unlike other charities.

- I am still thinking about the question some one asked about whether each social medium should have the same voice. The answer is worth a blog post of its own. It’s very certainly very complicated especially as Facebook tries to Twitterize itself, large brands try appeal to a diverse customer base in a direct personal way, and marketing, PR and customer service begin to merge.

- I am also thinking about legal implications of Frank’s prediction that the next big thing for companies will be to aggregate other forums & blog communities to provide helpful service to customers. What kind of disclaimer do companies need when tapping the advice of customers to help other customers?

But being so focused on social media these days, I sometimes have a hard time separating the warmed over from the fresh and insightful. So while it was interesting to hear what the panelists had to say, it was even more interesting to hear what resonated with the audience.

Twitter Soundbites

Facebook vs Facebook vs Twitter

Emily30075 RT @KellyeCrane Key for AT&T on Facebook is to provide exclusive content. Give users a reason to come back and talk about the brand. #aima

thechrisjordan RT @raykillebrew: RT @tessa “It’s very hard to learn from your customers on Facebook. They don’t go to fan pages often.” #aima

abrill It’s difficult to learn about and from your customers on Facebook…Twitter utilizes conversation better #aima

amygriz Twitter allows you to find out things faster, easier & cheaper than any other medium, which allows you to respond to customers faster #aima

Logos

amygriz People don’t want to have conversations with a logo. Be personable with your customers in your interactions. #aima

Customer Service

DevonSuter RT @thomasls: It’s funny how many don’t consider helping customers as one of the primary reasons to get involved in Soc Med. Or sad. #aima

Tessa “Instead of having a focus group, I twittered – would you call our IBR(?)” Tons of response. – @comcastcares

Twilosophy Marketing, PR & service are coming together = most retweeted quote of the entire event so far #aima http://ow.ly/15SazU about 21 hours ago from HootSuite

leenjones RT @spunstephanie: AMEN. RT @Cerealguru: Customer service and marketing cannot be separated–it’s about connecting and relationships!

I will be interested to hear from other attendees to see what they took away from the event.

Let me get back to you.

Social Media Is Pushing PR and Interactive Marketing to Align

Dan Greenfield — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 14:00:53 +0000

This post looks at the gap that still exists between PR and interactive or digital marketing agencies — even as social media continues to blur the boundaries that traditionally divide them.

The disconnect is one of the reasons I wanted to partner with the Atlanta Interactive Marketing Association (AiMA) and asked Definition 6, an independent interactive marketing and eCommerce agency, to become a sponsor of PR Camp Atlanta. It’s time to bridge the worlds of PR and interactive marketing and foster new ways of thinking.

As Michael Kogon, CEO at Definition 6 said: ”There couldn’t be a more exciting time to be working in interactive marketing. While Definition 6 has been doing search and social media since long before it was cool like it is today, clients are much more receptive today to trying new things.”

And I was encouraged that half of the attendees to PR Camp Atlanta were marketing professionals. Friends had recommended I change the name. They thought it would be to narrow and discourage marketing professionals from attending.

A Difference in Positioning

At one level, PR and interactive marketing speak the same language and share common goals. We both promote social media. We use many of the same tools. Yet most PR and interactive marketing agencies still continue to position themselves differently.

Consider Altanta’s largest public relations firms. “Social media” and “digital communications” are gaining more prominence, but the most common capabilities listed in the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s Book of Lists (a paid yearly industry summary) were:

Media relations, reputation and brand management, crisis communications, event planning, corporate communications, executive visibility, grassroots advocacy, media and speech training.

Now look at some of the core competencies of the largest web design and development companies:

Website development, interactive marketing, SEO/SEM, application development

It shouldn’t be that way. SEO is now critical to doing PR. Reputation and brand management is integral to many applications that interactive marketing firms are tasked to create.

Old habits die hard, but to be fair, our clients need to shoulder some of the responsibility. In most organizations, each functional area uses a different lens to analyze the same social data. Little effort is made to coordinate efforts and align results.

Take comments. My good friend and digital marketer and lead catalyst at mass+logic Peter Fasano summed it up perfectly:

The Social PR Leader will measure comment count to capture share of voice, earned media and sentiment.

The Social Marketer will measure Short URL Click through rates and conversion.

The Social Researcher will measure the number of comments by segments to capture the consumer preference of the red or black car.

The Social Customer Service Representative will measure comments with complaints or questions.

The Case for Greater Alignment

I would argue we need greater alignment given the web’s primary role as a communications and marketing channel. In the olden days, alignment was less critical. There was a wall of separation between editorial and marketing as well as earned and paid media. Marketing spoke directly to customers. PR spoke indirectly to customers via reporters and key influencers. Marketing used ads and direct mail. PR used press releases and media tours.

The social web has erased these distinctions. I respect clearly defined roles and responsibilities, but PR and marketing should be working more closely and using web applications, social networks, message development and SEO to build truly integrated web strategies.

I am going to take a closer look at the dynamics that separate PR and interactive marketing in a subsequent post as well as how that alignment might look. But for now in the era of social media, open is the operative word. We need to be open to new approaches, open to sharing data, and open to looking at data holistically.

To be sure agencies will position themselves to deliver integrated solutions when clients begin demanding them. Similarly, it’s up to PR and marketing firms to show clients the way and make the case for better alignment.

Let me get back to you.

Extending the CNN Brand: Insights from CNN’s Digital Marketing VP

Dan Greenfield — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 11:50:52 +0000

I went to the Atlanta Interactive Media Association’s monthly event last night. AiMA is helping to promote PR Camp Atlanta. We gave away five free tickets to the August 21st event.

The featured speaker was Andy Mitchell, vice president of digital & development marketing at CNN. He is directly responsible for trade and consumer marketing of CNN’s digital assets. Mitchell was instrumental in developing CNN.com’s partnership with Facebook for the site’s coverage of the inauguration of Barack Obama.

Mitchell discussed how the 2008 Presidential election extended CNN’s brand. It was a a trial and error approach. An unsuccessful early foray into Facebook during the election later led to an initiative that broke the all-time Internet record for simultaneous live video streams served online for the inauguration.

The use of social media was initially met with skepticism from management who believed it would diminish the brand. But the numbers have proven the effectiveness of YouTube, Facebook and now Twitter to drive audience engagement.

CNN’s successful use of Facebook is well documented and has positioned CNN as a technology leader, even if, as Mitchell concedes, other networks can take advantage of the same tools. So it appears the very technologies that are undermining the news industry are the same ones that may drive its revival. This may require news organizations to cede some control and enter into new markets like selling customized T-shirts emblazoned with cnn.com headlines.

The idea of turning news into something you wear has been met with praise and skepticism, but keeping news on a lofty pedestal my only serve to undermine its value and viability.

Let me get back to you.