Everyone knows the trouble caused by telephone or cable companies. Either you wait half a lifetime on hold on diverse telephone hotlines, be hopping mad about voice-operated service menus (Advice: Just start to sing and you will immediately be able to speak with a human conversational partner) or you wait far too long. Sometimes you also wait in vain for the technicians to arrive in order for them to clear your way into multi media communication at the long awaited date of your account activation. All too often, the telecommunication companies give their customers reason for not making too friendly statements about their offers and customer service. Not only German but also American customers could write a book about these problems. However, in case of the USA, there appears to be light at the end of the tunnel. What it is, exactly, that a telecommunication company understands by innovative complaint management, a posting by Michael Arrington illustrated earlier this year. The CEO of Techcrunch was astonished at the fast reply he received from the Comcast customer service after he had made some rather harsh statements about the communication giant on twitter. Indeed, Arrington does not seem to be the only one profiting from this social media complaint management. Social media monitoring has become an integral part of the CRM of Comcast. At this, Comcast does not only observe discussions about their products on the internet but also participates actively in these discussions. According to the responsible departments at Comcast, they actively contacted 1000 users during the last 5 months and tried to eliminate the cause of the complaints as fast as possible. An adequate example is depicted in a current NYT article. In his weblog, a student from Washington complains about the commercials shown in the program guide of Comcast cable’s program. 4 hours later he received an e-mail from Comcast which confirmed that his feedback would be considered when designing future services. This type of CRM solely has advantages for the company. The cable giant is thus able to react directly to criticism and, consequently, potential crises or reputation damages can be nipped in the bud. It is obvious that this social media strategy does not solely have advantages for the CRM. Certainly, such strategies have special relevance for the company communication and marketing departments. The market penetration of the internet of about 80% in the USA impressively emphasizes the relevance of this kind of strategy. Therefore, the steps taken by Comcast to observe and interact in user generated communication channels appear to be extremely logical. Comcast surely is far from being the only company which uses monitoring in the field of CRM. Comcast is one step ahead, though. For the cable giant, listening to customer dialogues on the internet is just one side of the coin. The other is the direct approach of critical aspects by CRM managers. Concerning the advantages of this dialogue, the responsible CRM manager of Comcast states:
“When you’re having a two-way conversation, you really get to clear the air,”
This step taken by Comcast will prove successful in future. After all, the use of online communication channels is no longer a temporary phenomenon. On the contrary, these channels increasingly become an integral part of the communication between consumers, clients and companies. With regard to this CRM strategy, Brian Solis says:
Conversations are taking place with or without you online each and every day. Now for the first time, companies have a direct connection to those public voices that are challenging your messages and mission to shape perception and/or learn from the experience to fix the very things that fueled the conversation in the first place. If you don’t respond, someone else will, most likely in the form of competition seizing the opportunity to convert your dispirited customers into new prospects.
Whether you want to believe it or not: In Germany there is also an increasing number of discussions about products, brands and services within user generated media. Observing the current growth rate one can state that it will not take long until the internet use in Germany will rise from 60% to 80%. The increasing success of online communities, weblogs and social networks in Germany is yet another indicator for the fact that the social media have become an integral and company relevant institution of communication in Germany, too. Gone are the days for providers in B2C when such social media strategies could be financed from fossil budgets. Thus, it is time for every company to get prepared for a direct dialogue with its customers within the social media.
Quite interesting and revealing statistics concerning the scopes of the U.S. election strategies 2.0 have been published. According to Pew/internet, approx. 46% of the over 18-year-olds actively use the internet for their political decision-making. As per survey conducted by the government of the United States of America, this adds up to over 50 million U.S. citizens. Here, two activities are especially prominent: 35% of the Americans have watched election speeches via YouTube and 10% are actively participating in social networks in order to form their political commitment.
However, it is a misapprehension to believe that the emphasis placed on online election campaigns was initiated by Barack Obama and his team. Election campaigns in 2004 already showed a clear tendency in political decision-making towards a manifestation of online channels. In autumn 2004, approx. 34% of all Americans were already gathering political information via online communication channels. After all, Facebook was still in the fledgling stages at that time and YouTube was not yet online. These types of media eventually seem to have supported this development.
The major American parties appear to have understood the social development concerning the media usage of their target group and voters. According to Pew/internet over 80% of the Americans are already online. Therefore, a possible conclusion would be that Americans include more and more offers, such as YouTube, MySpace and Flickr, into their personal media mix as a new means of communication and source of information. For this the U.S. election planners must be prepared. So far, they have put it into practice quite successfully. Furthermore, the social media activities of individual candidates obtain an immense international scope. This, surely, is also a reason for the current “Obama Hype” in Germany.
On Monday morning I came across a highly interesting article in the Financial Times. The title of this article was Peace for Pixels. The article introduced a start-up from the Silicon Wadi. The company provides its clients an operating system which is not tied to a specific Mac or PC but can be used worldwide via browser and with any internet access. For the user, this service is free of charge and it enables him to access his self-made browser desktop from every web-enabled computer. The domain name g.ho.st also is the motto, at which g.ho.st is short for Global Hosting System. By means of the Palestinian browser desktop, it is possible for the user to administer his emails or have access to his previously filed Word documents, for example. The number of offers, which can be integrated into the g.ho.st desktop, increases from day to day. In order to guarantee a secure and comfortable access for the user, g.ho.st resorts to Amazon as web hoster. Below, the CEO of g.ho.st, Zvi Schreiber, provides a bit more insight into the idea behind the web-based operating system:
In addition to the highly promising technical idea behind g.ho.st, the way the Palestinian start-up works is also worth mentioning. Beside commercial success, Schreiber’s concept when founding this company was to encourage peaceful dialogue in the Middle East. The start-up is supposed to serve as a role model for international understanding in Palestine. G.ho.st has two pillars in this region. One office is located in the Israeli city Modi’in, the other in Palestinian Ramallah. Although the two towns are geographically only a one hour’s drive apart, the distance which is the origin of conflicts between Palestine and Israel is not conquerable without further ado. Nevertheless, in order to facilitate an effective cooperation a continuous video hook-up connecting the two offices has been arranged, for example.
Zvi Schreiber demonstrates the fact that the conflict between the Palestinians and the Israeli can also be peacefully solved by cooperating. In its own special way, the project g.ho.st illustrates the positive and highly innovative synergies which can result from such ideas.
The whole world of media, communications and advertising are going to be turned upside down, said Microsoft’s CEO Steve Ballmer in an interview with The Washington Post on how he expects the media to change in the next 10 years. In this respect, he addresses interesting ideas and problems everyone might have already thought about themselves.
Ballmer starts off stating, that at some point in the future, there will be no media consumption that is not delivered over an IP network. Interestingly enough, he even expects magazines and newspapers to be only available in electronic form leaving their original paper form behind. A change that sounds quite sci-fi - at least to me – and is hardly going to happen in the near future, but rather in the next 20 years or so.
Another very important aspect Ballmer addresses is the one of ‘Social Interaction.’ He argues that, in order to make TV more interactive, it would have to be delivered over an IP network:
I mean, it’s sort of funny today. My son will stay up all night basically playing Xbox Live with friends that are in various parts of the world, and yet I can’t sit there in front of the TV and have the same kind of a social interaction around my favorite basketball game or golf match. It’s just because one of these things is delivered over an IP network and the other is not. . . .
Furthermore, Ballmer predicts the existence of far more producers of content than there are today – a phenomenon that can already be observed in the online world. He underlines this thought by bringing up his favorite case: Why can’t I sit in front of my television and watch the Country Day [his old High School] basketball game when I know darn well it’s being video-recorded at all times?
To the question whether internet content will be available for free, with ad support, in contrast to fees and subscriptions, Ballmer reveals that he already watches his favorite TV program “LOST” on the internet instead of buying it on iTunes even though he has to put up ads. He therefore thinks that subscriptions will be the exception in the future.
Why? Because it’s free. . . . I have to admit that I’m annoyed by the four 20 seconds [of ads], but not annoyed enough to pay a buck . . . I think at the end of the day most people say, “Heck, if I can get something that’s pretty good that’s ad-funded and the ads don’t kill me, I’ll take that over the thing I gotta pay for.”
Social networks enjoy increasing popularity with internet users. There is hardly a better way to take care of one’s personal circle of friends or business network. But which communities enjoy a good reputation with their German and English users and which do not? Which networks within the eight surveyed linguistic areas is talked about most frequently on the web? Which opportunities do network operators provide for marketers to use these platforms for advertising purposes?
The international social network study illustrates: within the channels of communication in German user generated media, SchülerVZ receives the worst image values according to the evaluations. In English-speaking areas, xanga.com achieves only bad image values whereas the international buzz is focussed on Facebook, Myspace and LinkedIn. In German-speaking areas, StudiVZ achieves the first place in the buzz index ranking. Concerning marketing strategies, traditional banners are still the prevailing choice for marketing within the social networks. Widgets are up and coming. The appeal of these small web applications lies in their immensely far range of coverage and they are increasingly provided by networks.
„The results of this study illustrate the prominent role of social networks within the environment of user generated media. No matter if within the EU, North or South America – In the future, social networking will more and more become one of the established social channels of communication. This is the specific reason why the appeal of networks will become particularly stronger for marketing departments. Although the first large-scale behaviour-targeting attempts of various network operators had to be classified as failures, the general marketing qualification of social networks should not be questioned. Take widgets, for example. These small programs are just one of the possible methods which lead to successful marketing.
But although they have many tempting possibilities in social networks, advertisers should not lose contact with the users. The key for successful marketing of social media offers lies in the direct and outspoken communication with the users…” says David Nelles, Company Spokesman of ethority GmbH & Co. KG.
For more than 10 years, ethority GmbH & Co. KG is successful at the market being experts in semantic web analyses and online marketing. ethority’s expertise includes market research and online marketing as well as the analysis, initiation and realisation of word of mouth campaigns in Germany. Here, ethority is not confined to the German-speaking market but is able to serve all international markets by means of their multi-lingual approach.
Within the channels of user generated media, family holidays are the most frequently mentioned issue. Users in weblogs like to discuss the topic of winter holidays, whereas a vacation in the snow does not enjoy great popularity in online communities. Here, users prefer to talk about cruises, while this topic cannot be found under the bloggers’ top 5 ways of travelling. Moreover, and in contrast to active online community members, bloggers rather choose to have conversations about package tours. Concerning the ways to travel, bloggers and online community members seem to agree on adventure and city travels. In both channels of communication, they are the most frequently discussed.
Top Ways to Travel - Online Communities:
Cruises
Last Minute
Adventure Vacations
City Trips
Family Holidays
Top Ways to Travel - Weblogs:
Package Tours
Adventure Vacations
City Trips
Winter Holidays
Family Holidays
Users in weblogs and online communities also agree on the way of booking travels. At this, statements for booking offline have the lion’s share of the topics. About 2/3 of the statements on both channels are allotted to the traditional booking method. This confirms the results of the recent AGOF study. Consumers like to obtain detailed advice in the user generated channels but prefer to book offline in a travel agency.
Booking Methods – Online Communities:
Internet
Travel Agency
Booking Methods - Weblogs:
Internet
Travel Agency
The here described booking behaviour indicates the path that marketers have to take in the future. The increasing consumer focus on information concerning products or travels in online domains sets new benchmarks for a successful marketing mix. No matter if it is a large-scale print campaign or an elaborate TV spot – traditional forms of advertisement impress consumers to a lesser and lesser extend. Therefore, it is essential to meet the consumer where he increasingly searches for information. More and more often, customers use portals such as Holidaycheck, TripAdvisor or Opodien in order to obtain information about their potential travel destinations and holiday accommodations before booking. In any case, marketers of the tourism industry should be prepared for this tendency, especially in consideration of the current number of internet users. By now, according to the latest survey of Bitkom, already 63% of the Germans roam the internet.
Regarding travels outside Europe, the US and Asia are clearly the main topics in weblogs and online communities. This resulted from the quantitative analysis of consumer comments in the current study. For the intense buzz in the United States, surely the decisive factor is the favourable dollar exchange rate because of which the US has become something like a shopper’s paradise.
In online communities, the African continent ranks third as a potential travel destination, whereas it ranks fifth concerning the overall buzz in weblogs. Bloggers show a greater interest in American Oceania and South America.
This quantitative netnographic study was based on 6500 user opinions in weblogs and online communities concerning the topic of Social Networks. The categorized and evaluated comments originate from ca. 1000 blogs and 400 online communities which have been located with the assistance of the gridmaster technology. Within the scope of this process, the respective channels of communication, topics and the tonality of the comments have been recorded.
The ethority study illustrates the importance of the channels of communication within web 2.0 for the tourism industry. Online communities and weblogs are increasingly used by consumers as relevant sources of information. Furthermore, recommendations, which are exchanged in these channels of communication, exert direct influence on booking decisions. The studies conducted by the American market research institute eMarketer, in collaboration with Deloitte (2007), are able to document this influence by means of their data.
Surely, several families are already busy with planning their next summer holiday. By now, as the recent AGOF Study was able to show, about 50% of the internet users arrange their holidays online. On holiday portals such as Opodien, users exchange their opinions about their favourite travel destinations and types of leave. The study Travel Trends 2008 conducted by ethority GmbH & Co. KG intended to record the holiday-buzz, at which the base data were provided by 6500 authentic user opinions. Here, the first part of the study was concerned with the evaluation of the most popular destinations within weblogs and online communities.
According to the ethority results, Germany is the top destination for german bloggers and community users. In the course of the analysis it became clear that the German’s favourite type of leave is a short trip betweentimes. At present, short trips to Berlin or to the Baltic Sea at weekends are extremely popular. The top 5 ranks regarding travel destinations are represented by the German tourism industry’s usual classics such as Austria, Italy and Spain. However, it is astonishing that the classics Greece and Turkey cannot be found among the most popular destinations of German internet users - both travel destinations are not represented within the 5 top countries. In the second part of the study Travel Trends 2008 the international top destinations of German users, the top types of leave and the favoured booking methods are presented.
The last part of the ethority Social Network Survey analyzes the communication channels which picks social networks out as a central theme. Especially noticeable regarding the results was the total distribution of the Buzz concerning the issue of web communities. The communities’ percentage of the Buzz was merely 10,9%, whereas the blogosphere was able to obtain almost 90% of the total conversation quantity within user generated media in regard to the issue of social networks.
(- Grafik -)
Consequently, social networks are a popular subject for bloggers. This is not surprising, given that social networks have been the major topic on the web during the last month. Especially the bloggers’ topical affinity to the virtual networks allows them to become experts in this field. A discussion about data security, marketing attempts or “Kifferzitate” (see recent discussion about an interview with StudiVZ boss Riecke) – the networks provide the opinion leaders in web 2.0 with more than enough issues to write about.
Which bloggers and weblogs, however, stand out against the masses with regard to their reports about social networks?
(- Grafik -)
By means of his blog basicthinking.de, Robert Basic, the German blogger number one, causes the highest Buzz (33.1%) concerning the issue of social networks. The ethority survey was able to verify Mike Schnorr, blogger and publicist at Sevenload, to be the second largest Buzz-generator (24.6%) with his blog sichelputzer.de. With 14.8%, the weblog Werkkanon.de from Düsseldorf achieves the third place in this ranking. The following ranks are taken by Fischmarkt, Don Alphonso, Bernd Röthlinghöfer and Spreeblick.
The survey demonstrated that topics such as marketing and data security are favoured issues for bloggers. Again, this is not surprising, because most of the bloggers are experts on these internet topics after all. This is the reason why network operators should be aware of bloggers as web experts and opinion leaders. Some companies, such as Holtzbrinck, could utilize this know-how in order to save them and their users further PR ordeals. The major issue in online communities are recommendations. Thus, for the network operators, word of mouth marketing is the most important tool for generating new users. Xing, StudiVZ, Facebook, etc. should therefore place more emphasis on improving their reputation among bloggers as well as among their non-blogging clientele.
