Web Business by Ken Burbary

The Leaders that are Helping Social Media Grow Up

The cat was let out of the bag today regarding Jeremiah Owyang’s next career move. He’s reuniting with former Forrester colleague Charlene Li and joining her new venture, The Altimeter Group. I wouldn’t argue against what a formidable collection of talent, expertise and passion now exists at this young company. Several prominent folks like Todd Defren, Brian Solis, and Jeremy Pepper have already shared their opinions on what a powerhouse combination of talent this is. The blogosphere doesn’t need another breaking news post, so I’ll refrain from a redundant recap. That said, I wish Jeremiah the best and send him a sincere congratulations on this move.

What interests me much more about this news is that we’re FINALLY starting to see folks involved in the social media space put the focus where it ought to be, on harnessing new strategies and tools to provide more business value, PERIOD. Strip all the social media hype down to the bare minimum and that is all that really matters for business leaders. Social technologies have been a great thing for individuals, ushering in changes that we still haven’t seen the end of. However, what they haven’t done en mass yet is brought the financial and/or business value benefits that they need to, in order for companies to run like mad and adopt them.

Why not? Because new media and technology developments are moving at light speed, and most (not all, there are positive and credible examples out there) companies don’t have the capability to assess these changes, analyze their pros/cons, and then put together a roadmap for how to adopt and execute with them in a way that is 100% aligned with business objectives and goals. To date, most of the social media for business is about enagement and activity. Is this a good thing? Yes. No. Maybe, but that answer will be different for each company you ask. I think the real “magic” moment for social media is yet to come. People like Jeremiah, Charlene and others realize this, and see the true opportunities for new media & technologies. They want to legitimize the space to businesses. The way to do that is by speaking a language and vocabulary that the business world understands. Not by talking “tweets”, “plurks” and “likes”. Those are internal nuances of the social media black box. Business leaders don’t need, nor want, to get sucked into that conversation. They NEED to know how to integrate social into their business plans, strategies and cultures, in a way that will better their products or services to drive revenue and increase customer satisfaction (think Social Business Design like David Armano from Dachis Corp., not tactical social media).

If it feels like social media needs to grow up and mature, it’s because it does. The folks at Altimeter certainly are not the only ones doing it, but part of the vanguard attempting to change social media from a pimply, awkward teenager into a responsible, polished young adult.

The New Brand Web Site Standard – Social Media Integration

A new trend is beginning to emerge among brand websites. Some brands, more established in social media uses, have taken the next step beyond maintaining a social presence on the platforms and begun integrating relevant online conversation into their brand websites, providing consumers with a real-time view into what others are saying about a brand’s products and/or services. This isn’t insignificant, nor the first time it has been done. Earlier this year, Skittles took the first step and threw out the typical brand web site only to replace it with a home base of Skittles content pulled directly from the social web (Wikipedia, YouTube, Twitter and Flickr pages).

However, social media integration within brand sites has evolved since Skittles took the leap. Recent examples by Nissan and Ford offer consumers a hybrid of traditional brand site content mashed up with social media content. Let’s look at a few examples in detail.

Nissan – http://www.nissanusa.com/leaf-electric-car/

Initial observations: Nissan is displaying questions and answers submitted via Twitter. Is it really a raw, unfiltered, feed though? My submission wasn’t displayed instantly, and appeared to get submitted for review. Which means this is more of a moderated approach to social media integration. This is understandble given the risks associated with blindly displaying content from the social web, yet one that has also caused problems for other brands in the past due to censorship concerns, and calls for more transparency. Regardless, I admire Nissan’s spirit in attempting to provide a real world view of what questions other consumers are asking, and the answers given. Is this a step towards car buyers research 2.0?

Ford – http://www.fordvehicles.com/the2010mustang/

Initial observations: Ford is taking a different approach but sticking with the same spirit of social integration. The 2010 Ford Mustang site provides the traditional brand site data but enhances that by pulling in relevant blog posts across the social web. Again, I applaud the brands efforts to be transparent and provide related social content for prospective buyers. The process for determining where to pull from and which social web content gets displayed is unknown, but one can assume some moderation, much like the Nissan example.

Verdict: I like it. Adding more consumer value beyond basic product info. In-market buyers can not only get product specs on the brand site but also other consumers perspectives and answers. We’re seeing the evolution of the corporate and product brand site. The impact social media is having on consumer perception and expectation is staggering. These examples show progressive brands that are rapidly experimenting with the most effective ways to integrate traditional and social content together. This is only the beginning and I look forward to watching the continued evolution because in the end both parties win. Brands and consumers. And that is an ending we don’t typically see enough.

More?

Have you seen other examples like these? Please share in the comments below.

Dominos Learning Painful lessons about the Social Era

Dominos, the pizza maker, became the latest victim of a viral video drive-by brand massacre. Yesterday, 2 employees from an individually owned franchise posted several disgusting videos on YouTube. To say the videos are inappropriate would be an understatement. One of the videos shows a staff member putting cheese up his nose before using it on the pizza he appears to be preparing for a customer. It gets worse from there. You can watch for yourself:

What did Dominos do?

Some good. Some missed opportunities.

Once they became aware (more on how long this took later), the company worked to get the videos removed from the original hosting provider (doesn’t matter, as they have since been uploaded to other sites). Dominos then responded with email communications from Tim McIntyre, Vice President of Communications. He indicated how repulsed he was, and described that their security team was going to look into the matter to identify which store and responsible individuals.

Email from Tim:
We just got off the phone with the franchise owner, who was absolutely dumbfounded by this. He has told us that he will be terminating their employment effective immediately. We suggested that he call them and get a written statement from them, asking them to “explain” (to the extent anyone can, really) their actions. We are also seeking legal counsel to see what kind of action we can take against them for damage to the brand.

You are welcome to use anything I’ve sent to you in the past 24 hours. I do want to thank you for bringing this to our attention…I just wish it hadn’t been posted so prominently on your web site…while it was certainly fair game, it does hurt the company and the thousands of people we employ in this country whether it’s intended or not.

Regards,

Tim McIntyre
Vice President, Communications
Domino’s Pizza, LLC

The company is in damage control mode, operating reactionary during a crisis. While they are taking some of the steps you would expect a brand to do under the circumstances (like terminating the employees and filing criminal complaints with local authorities), they are still missing the opportunity to repair some of the damage done with their customers.

Consumers expect a human response, not messaging

I’ve described before how the social era has changed consumers expectations about how brands interact with them. Consumers want to see and hear the company’s responses from trustworthy employees. Crises like this are no different. In fact, it matters even more. Of course the corporate communications group will be involved in responding (and they should be), but what about the affected store manager? the individual franchise owner? the other employees that work there? Dominos is missing the opportunity to make consumers BELIEVE their side of the story because it isn’t human enough. The work that Scott Monty did last last year during the Ford Ranger Station controversy is a prime example. If consumers were to hear the message from some of the others Dominos employees I mentioned above, it could can help make a real connection, reasonate, and build trust. So make it personal. Make it believable. Make it REAL.

Consumers expect brands to be paying attention

Digital Marketers and Social Media professionals often talk about the importance of listening aka online brand monitoring. Think of it as your brand radar or reputation protection. Had Dominos been engaged in doing so, they mostly likely would have learned about this event sooner, and been in a better position to deal with it. How do we know they weren’t monitoring? We cannot be certain, but ancedotal evidence suggests they have no online brand radar in place (they failed to respond to several attempts by consumers who notified them via email and their website). So it appears the company learned about the event from individuals online reporting it, not because they were listening.

Hopefully they learn how important it is to have an ongoing social monitoring program in place. Consumers expect them to do so. And the benefits of doing so, could have prevented some of the damage, and allowed them to respond individually to consumers who were talking. Pay attention to online conversation. It matters more than you think. Don’t believe me? Go read what people are saying about Dominos now.

http://search.twitter.com/search?q=dominos

This isn’t insignificant. Don’t allow your hard work building a brand get decimated overnight. Put the right steps in place to proactively listen and respond in a human voice that matters. If not, the negative perception and experience from consumers can translate to lost revenue. Dollars and cents.