October 27th, 2009 by Sten Franke
“Birth announcement of Social Media Brand Building” of Sten Franke and Roman Schael is now available as a presentation, which visualise the Social Media elementary principles.
Enjoy!
October 22nd, 2009 by Sten Franke
Consumers today are everywhere not easy to grasp, whether from the perspective of the classic channels such as TV, Print, Radio and particular not from Social Media perspective. Media usage behaviour has become fragmented that the close bond between many brands and consumers is disbanding. The medium Internet enables users to move exceedingly selective. In doing so, they mainly come into contact with what owns specifically relevance to them only.
The challenge of strategy development for Social Media lies in coping with the phenomenon Real-time. As Brand Affinity Specialist, ethority develops sustainable strategies that standardise “bonding” brands and products to consumer potentials. Such strategies are built consistently that they match up with today’s decentralised and individualising tendencies of the altered media usage behaviour.
1. Social Media implies “Online-isation” of everyday life!
Inside internet time does not exist per se. Each user has to ascertain and set his proper time and determined georeference when ether he goes online. Each and every entry produces “sense of time” that entails the phenomenon Real-time. Therefore reality claims “to be online”!
2. The mass consumer turns into an individual consumer!
The process of shaping purchase decisions is fundamentally altered by Social Media. It is extended and infused by mutual recommendation, advice and finding closing decisions. Purchasing processes become “social-medialised”.
3. Real-time triggers brand swap behaviour
Real-time reference cause a serious critical maturity among users. Hence the social-medialised purchase decision process is from now on deliberated, balanced, and will be always negotiated as it is newly-made.
Each time when consumers go online they wade through markets, bazaars (forums) and sales stores (Branded Channels), and just if it happens that he shortly turns around just before the cash point, in order to consider just another object of purchase, it reveals brisance power of the Social Media elementary principals.
4. Expiration of brands and products as “Impulse Buy Items”!
Brands and products are not be advertised and sold as “Impulse Buy Items” any longer. Due to the Social Medialisation of purchase process, Social Media conversations can no longer be labelled as trivialities. Quiet the contrary, conversations in forums, blogs and on twitter we depicted as ,openly thinking`. Here users ,voicing ones thoughts` and feelings aloud.
5. Social-Medialisation puts brands and products under permanent test!
The effect of the phenomenon Real-time is that brands and products are at all times put on the test. Each time again and again as if they were brand-new! Everyday life of today’s consumers is infused by Online-isation. This requires to move monitoring continuously under the condition of comprehensive survey of Real-time. And this in order to be in the know wherever users move, mainly concerning where, when, and with what one to address them.
6. Comprehensive survey in Real-time only!
Solely in Real-time, it can be found out when it is appropriate to go into a dialogue with users individually.
7. Social Media requires permanent presence!
Social Media always require to be online. Each and every moment when consumers as users are archetypically be “on the prowl” online. The opening of a social-medialised purchase process will only succeed when empathy and knowledge about the precise and appropriate moment are applied. Whoever does not agitate in presence at the precise point of time with the user, misses to sell his advice and trading to the users interest.
8. Brands and products need to be permanently tied to consumer potential!
Sustainable strategies in Social Media and comprehensive monitoring secure that ,unmet needs´ can be detected and identified before time in order to be fulfilling when leveraging them by brands and products.
9. Not isolation, but integration!
Social Media Brand Building enables to get the Real-time phenomenon under control. One sided monitoring is not sufficient when it comes to fulfill consumer needs adequately. Usage of isolated Social Media tools (onesided non-comprehensively monitoring and manual research) can not capture many things and thereby exclude much in their search. Social Media Monitoring should not be a “tunnel vision” observation.
10. Sapere aude*!
Social-Medialisation produces “non-indebted” business maturity. Because inside the online medium consumers as users handle their intellects more courageously and responsibly. In particular when they turn into their purchasing modus operandi.
*ethority, as an advocator to respect users maturity, pull up the philosopher Kant without decidedly intending to apprehend him or grasping him entirely.
The elementary principles of Social Media Brand Building create facts!
Social Media is not just another channel of the Marketing Mix. The reason lays in well-founded social-medialisied two-way communication that multiplies the advertising impact and justifies a shift of Media Spendings. In the States and in Great Britain Online Media Spendings already exceed TV Media Spendings. When a consumer is online he does not sit passive in front of TV at all. On the contrary, when it comes to dialogue he looks for affirmation and debates on his way towards a brand or product inside forums and branded channels. Thereby he only purchases what is debated online; meaning what is social-medialisied.
The consumer does no longer look on things without comment as it is when he watches TV. He is demanding when he emits his comment and he prefers that brand with which he can collectively live the medialised going along with the brand’s product.
Social Media Brand Building is the sales trigger for two-way communication towards a 24/7 online infused everyday world. Social Media Brand Building accomplish essential “Brand Bonding” and realises that “branding together with users will be mutually shaped “.
May 8th, 2009 by Arie
Original Article by David Nelles
All beginning is hard. The dialog with customers in user generated communication channels will be more than just a free will thing to do in the future, but utmost it will become the obligation of companies. After companies have been quite detached in the last decades from their customers in regard to the communications, and now they bring consumers and suppliers back together on the same level. The imbalance of power between brands and consumers has shifted in favor of the consumer. Through social media consumers are able to talk eye to eye with companies and brands. Thus, communication with consumers in digital area requires the long forgotten abilities such as dialog capability, authenticity, and transparency. The shift of media usage will put tremendous pressures upon companies to re-adopt these abilities. The classical work of the communication collides often with the new media. Thereby, five fundamental mistakes stand out the most in regard to the social media handling:
Not being true to self. Authentic dialog also means that brands i.e. companies are communicating themselves and hence, the communication must be transparent. Transparency begins there, where users i.e. consumers can recognize with whom they actually talk to. The temptation for brands to be actively engaged in a hidden way through social media is quite alluring, but over time this could actually endanger the brand image and dialog with users. Sony, Walmart and Vichy were example from the past for such failed and fake maneuver way into social media. Only a transparent dialog with target groups will help in countering this kind of risk.
Not listening to users. Even, when it somehow hurts, it won’t be often enough said: All beginning of the company’s efforts in the area of social media must be to listen first. Social media strategies are dialog solutions and not monolog strategies. Hence, the start of each dialogs lies in listening. If one foregoes a social media monitoring, then one can hardly find the right target group. Furthermore, one cannot determine which topics the potential customers in social media are actually interested on. Who is deaf and actively engaged as brands in the area of user generated media will harvest only on disappointment – that for certain.
Not finding the right words. Marketers are often having trouble speaking the language of social media. Real dialog is more than just a press release, advertising statements or tight- lipped PR statement. A good social media strategy is definitely not just another one-way channel for press releases and brand messages. Social media marketing means: Humanize your brand. Particularly, this applies in addressing the target group. The dialog must have a real added value for users, and for them this begins with a real authentic dialog.
Focusing solely on sales. This is in my honest opinion one of the cardinal mistakes. Social media marketing is not online marketing. Measuring the success of social media marketing strategies with metrics of classical online marketing is surely not the right objective. Social media can’t be reduced simply into relation between clicks and sales. Social media marketing is the building of consumer engagement and brand image. Such metrics might not lead to a direct or clear classified buying decision, but they do show quite significant influence for buying decisions in the future. Another reason, why sales and social media only contingently fit each other: What happen with party guests, who try to involve other guests in sales conversation? Yes – They won’t be invited to the next party. The same thing applies for brands, which in their social media efforts only try to get users to buy the products. Such brands won’t have the long lasting success in social media, since no one would want to listen anymore.
Micro instead of macro approach. Big companies have obviously problems in handling social media as one whole communication process and hence, online sales department might be in charged for a group page in facebook, or company communication in charged for a corporate blog and a brand with its own twitter stream. Multiple closed communication ways within the company is the result out of such strategies. This kind of approach would only lead to confusion and the target group would not perceive the company as one unit. It’s quite decisive for user to have a voice or at least to be able to communicate with other voices. Social media must exist outward as one uniformly communication string. Hence, the various activities should be coordinated and structured on top of one another.
The listed cases, which often occur by inappropriate application of social media, are certainly not the only rocky obstacles for professional’s communicators. Nevertheless, the cases do show how companies and brands still need to get use to the direct contact with their target group. This kind of contact needs not only a different way of thinking but also a mid-term structural change in the communication processes within the company. Hence, structures of the classical communication work require a change management as to keep in touch with target group in the future.
April 21st, 2009 by Arie
Original Article by David Nelles
There it goes; Twitter has become a substantially relevant PR tool. Hence, within only few months a number of brands have experienced, how fast a crisis can spread – thanks to this channel of the 140 characters. The American painkillers Motrin had encountered the anger and resentment of few well networked moms. The E-Commerce Gigant Amazon had to experience a hacker attack over Easter, which erased literature offers regarding gay and lesbian themes. And last but not least, the Domino’s pizza delivery service has its share of experience in regard to the short distasteful video of two employees on YouTube. The three cases show that even in the U.S Twitter has definitely become more and more relevant for company’s communication. Yet, how could these three companies avoid the big disaster to their reputation before it even started? Maybe these three tips below can help a little:
Only listening does not suffice
Important is also knowing, who talks about the brand in Twitter, and how badly he/she speaks about the brand and the corresponding company. Therefore, the following few priorities should stand out in foreground:
Priority No. 1 has to be the people who make up the majority of your brand’s customers. And that will be the question for Domino’s as it plots the best plan of response: The pizza chain needs to know not only how many people saw the video but who those people are and how likely they are to be current customers.
A monitoring is not only a quantitative analysis of the relevant brands mentions, but it’s also about the qualitative analysis like the segmentation and the creation of user’s typologies. Only a qualitative analysis ensures an effective potential crisis analysis. Thereby, it’s not only decisive, how often a tweet or retweet comes out but it’s also important, whether the tweet fits into my target group or not.
Don’t hide uncertainty – Transparency is a must
Companies should engage themselves in the discussions with quick and fast manner towards the emerging crisis in Twitter&Co. even if the companies do not actually know, what is happening, just like in the case with Amazon deleting the whole product groups. A short PR statement would only ignite more fire to the unfavorable situation. A transparent answer in Amazon’s case would be to inform users that the mistakes are not known yet and people in charged are doing everything in their power to resolve the problems. Through this kind of behavior, one shows that critical voices in Twitter are being taken seriously and that one does react to the voiced sentiments. This kind of strategy can smooth the situation and best example for it: the action taken by Scott Monty after a notice of one of the Ford fan’s communities:
Monty logged onto Twitter and asked people to hold off: there was “more to the story.” That slowed down commentary. A little later he added, there was counterfeiting of Ford trademark properties involved. That froze the conversation and bought him some time.
“Some time,” in a PR crisis a few years ago used to translate into about four days. Times change. Monty figured he had bought Ford a few hours.
The above example show that through the announcement of the brand alone of something is being done in respect to the circumstances can definitely slow the spread of crisis significantly down.
Exercise precautions and build your own Twitter community
This basic doesn’t only apply for Twitter but it applies as well for the whole area of social media. In case of a crisis, a strong brand community can be a life insurance for the brand.
Strong, emotional brands that have built up years of consumer goodwill seem to be more insulated from long-term hurt. Few consumers judged much-loved Whole Foods when its CEO was caught posting comments on financial sites under a fake name. Another consumer darling, JetBlue, has recovered valiantly from its Valentine’s Day massacre, which left passengers stranded on board on a runway for eight hours.
It appears quite advantageous for brands alone, out of the perspectives of crisis prevention to build a strong community around its brand. An authentic and long lasting dialog with users, and tying customers emotionally to the brand will make sustainable damage of brand reputation very unlikely. Furthermore, a big brand community i.e. a big Twitter followers guarantees a real sense of hearing in the target group of user generated channels. At least, Domino’s Pizza now understood how essential own Twitter community can be.
March 31st, 2009 by Arie
Original Article by David Nelles
The benefit of social media is undisputable in regard to the dialog between customers and companies. Particularly, the dialog within 140 characters stood out the most in the core of public discussion concerning the usage of collaborative media in business area. Yet, the Customer Relation Management proves to be the perfect environment for Twitter&Co.
…I think that Twitter has a unique opportunity to tap into the lucrative CRM space.
As stated by Jeremiah and he had his point there. More and more companies are using this very direct and authentic way of communications with their customers. U.S provider for web analytics – Omniture uses also Twitter amongst others social media tools, to connect and nourish the relationships with customers.
Regarding Twitter and customer relationship management, I know it’s been hugely important for us—ClientCare, and really for Omniture as a whole. I love the idea that we can listen to our customers so easily. When there are support issues, we can deal with them quicker than ever before.
Ben Gaines mentions in his statements two important USPs, which obviously speak for the application of Microblogging in the area of CRM. On one hand, it was never before so easy to listen to customers and on the other hand, it was never before possible to assist customers having problems with products or services in a fast & quick manner: two reasons, which strongly support the use of this relative new communication channel. Meanwhile, these advantages of Microblogging are already being often utilized by many companies for their customers – starting from Airlines and Automobiles, to Online Shoes and Tea. The increasingly rapid conversations via Twitter are challenging companies to actually collect and organize the flowing customers’ conversations.
It’s important to first realize that managing a large brand on Twitter isn’t scalable, with hundreds –maybe thousands of tweets about a marketplace a day, individuals will have a very difficult time managing…determining who these people are, and if they are a potential customer is important, who are these people, are they important, where do they live?
With this insights, there are recently promising technical solutions for the application of Twitter in the area of CRM, which guarantee a professional utilization and implementation of costumers contacts. One of the interesting solutions is CoTweet:
CoTweet, currently in private beta and specifically designed to help businesses maximize their Twitter ROI, tweaks the Twitter experience to match that of a more sophisticated CRM solution allowing companies to manage multiple accounts from a single dashboard, support multiple editors for each account, track conversations, assign roles, and create follow-up tasks.
Another promising service for Twitter application in CRM is also being offered by Salesforce. Users of salesforce Saas application can integrate Twitter in their CRM:
The new integration allows businesses to search twitter for mentions about their products/services, find and track conversations, track growth and easily create a database of each in their Service Cloud. Once these conversations are part of the SalesForce Service Cloud, businesses can combine these with other mentions across other networks and communities, establish connections, share knowledge across teams and most importantly, completely integrate customer service departments into the cloud.
Applications like Twitter integration in Salesforce or CoTweet will play pivotal roles in the future for the long lasting use of Twitter in the area of CRM. Especially in Germany, where Twitter starts to gain more public recognition and thus, the relevant amount of data collected via Twitter will rapidly rise quite soon. With this kind of growth, it will be impossible to do the research manually. Hence, those kind of technical solutions are inevitable for companies engaging in social media.
With all the excitement and buzz surrounding Twitter i.e. Microblogging, one should always keep in mind that Twitter is only one part of the CRM strategy in social media. It is very essential for companies to use all the relevant areas of consumer generated channels. Hence, the dialog with customers in forums, weblogs, video platforms and social networks as well as Twitter belongs undeniably to a well polished social media set of companies.
March 30th, 2009 by Arie
Original Article David Nelles
Users as brand evangelists – as multipliers of brand messaging in social media? Yet, marketers and communications execs perceive this reality as threat. Although, at the same time marketers don’t actually have any control over their brands in social media.
The success of brands in social media starts out solely through users and their engagement. Coca Cola does seem to understand this concept. The Coca Cola’s page in facebook.com has by now more than 3.3 million fans and it becomes the second largest fansite in this network. However, the success story was not initiated by any Coca Cola execs, but instead the idea originated from three normal users, just plain simple coke fans.
the Coke page, which totals 3.3 million “fans,” wasn’t even created by Coca-Cola, but by a pair of Los Angelenos who just love Coke. In late August 2008, aspiring actor Dusty Sorg was hunting for a Coca-Cola fan page he could join on Facebook. He didn’t find one that seemed legitimate so he hunted down a high-resolution digital image of a Coke can, uploaded it to Facebook and made a page.
However, a change in facebook Terms of Use last November made the creators of this fanpage quite worried. The Zuckenberg network specified that a fanpage, which devotes itself to a concrete brand, may do so only if it’s operated by someone authorized by the respected brand. Therefore, facebook offered Coke the choice whether to take over the fanpage or it will be closed. If one considers the analogy of losing control and social media, then one would likely assumed that Coke would have decided to shut the group down. Even one of the fan page creators commented quite negatively.
“Everyone has this vision that if something like this happens, the big company will send you off to Guantanamo,…”
Yet, Coke surprised the audience in this case. Coke resolved the task not by closing the group or by attempting hostile takeover, but instead Coke sought the dialog with group’s creators and even agreed to help and support the maintenance of this huge fanpage. Hence, the fanpage is given the aid of Coke’s interactive team Dusty Sorg and Michael Jedrzejewski. With this approach, Coke as a brand has shown how important it is to support fans in social media. Had Coke decided for hostile takeover or closing off the fan site with more than 3.3 million fans, it would have resulted in massive reputation risk coming from the huge brand supporters.
After the first bumpy ride in the area of user generated media, Coca Cola seems to learn its lesson. Coke has understood to utilize on users as brand evangelists, rather than to intimidate loyal fan communities in user generated media. The American beverage producer pursues with its decision the long lasting of dialog with the target group. Therefore, marketers of other brands should take this great example to heart and support their fan communities in social media. Such approach would deepen the relationships between users and brands, boost trust and loyalty as well as the sustainability of brand image.
March 16th, 2009 by Arie
Original Article by David Nelles
In an interview with AdAge magazine Jimmy Wales gives his estimation about marketers’ strategy of mass collaboration in digital platforms like wikia.com. But Walles also thinks that the real success of this media is often overshadowed by marketers’ fear of losing control. Thereby, brands are still not able to enter into a real direct dialog with users in user generated media.
The fear of losing control doesn’t only apply exclusively to Wiki platform, but rather to the entire area of user generated media. This kind of fear resulted from marketers’ way of thinking that they could control their brands message, just like they did back then before social media surfaces. Well could they do it? The answer is a plain simple No. After all, social media is only a consequent shift of social interaction into a digital environment. Marketers are mistaken if they actually believed that they could control their brands communication back then. Even before social media, brands were already subjected to various discussions by consumers and print media. The difference in social media is that the critical voice of consumers for the affected company is instantly visible. Feedbacks about offered services or products should not ignite fear and loathing for marketers in charge in the company. Social media offers the chance of digital consumer conversations for brand’s benefits. Hence, it was never before so easy for companies to achieve consumer insights.
.
February 24th, 2009 by Arie
Original Article by David Nelles
There are lot of ways for companies to represent themselves in social media, or rather how this media could be used to the advantage of the companies. Here are some examples in Germany: the Customer Community 60 years of VW, the employee’s Daimlerblog or the Customer Weblog Two For Fashion from Otto. Ford Germany tweets, Tchibo applies Crowdsourcing and BMW uses amongst others its own YouTube Channel. Hence, in Germany companies do exercise a quite broad application of social media platforms.
A company in the U.S has discovered another use of platform to its advantage. BestBuy sets out for unsparingly transparency in its new social media strategy. It’s called BestBuy Connect, which is a public social media aggregator for social media activities of the employees. BestBuy Connect summarizes all social media activities of employee’s participation through livestream.
Dawn Bryant explains this particular strategy of BestBuy as followed:
If people outside of this company could really feel the culture and drive that makes this place what it is, we can strengthen our reputation, goodwill, and ultimately grow our talent and grow the company. The beauty of that is that we didn’t need to create anything new, people are doing it and we don’t want to control it, we simply want to make it easier for the rest of the world to find the energy and human-ness”.
From a German perspective, this kind of proposition or rather the notion behind the project is somehow astonishing. In case BestBuy could hold its head high with this particular project, it would definitely be by far the most daring project in the area of social media I’ve ever encountered. What Lee Oden said about this social media initiative:
The objective of Best Buy Connect is to showcase the people, behavior and unedited perspectives/ideas of those who power Best Buy. It humanizes the brand, increases accessibility and fuels transparency. This can affect current and future customer perceptions as well as future employees.
Basically I agree with Lee’s opinion. From a consumer’s point of view there is nothing better than an unedited transparency. Yet, I do have my doubt, whether this kind of directness could be maintained overtime. Although German companies have become increasingly open to social media, this kind of project is still unthinkable. It would probably provide sleepless nights for the majority of company’s executives. Thus, BestBuy tries to minimize the danger in the use of Connect by employees through clearly defined Guidelines:
What You Should Never Disclose:
The Numbers: Non-public financial or operational information. This includes strategies, forecasts and most anything with a dollar-figure attached to it. If it’s not already public information, it’s not your job to make it so.
Promotions: Internal communication regarding drive times, promotional activities or inventory allocations. Including: advance ads, drive time playbooks, holiday strategies and Retail Insider editions.
Personal Information: Never share personal information regarding other employees or customers. See the Customer Information Policies for more information.
Legal Information: Anything to do with a legal issue, legal case, or attorneys.
Anything that belongs to someone else: Let them post their own stuff; you stick to posting your own creations. This includes illegal music sharing, copyrighted publications, and all logos or other images that are trademarked by Best Buy.
Confidential Information: Do not publish, post, or release information that is considered confidential or top secret.
What would happen to the employees, if they do not abide the guidelines:
Get fired (and it’s embarrassing to lose your job for something that’s so easily avoided)
Get Best Buy in legal trouble with customers or investors
Cost us the ability to get and keep customers
It’s a daring project from BestBuy, which I can’t imagine happening for the German market, well at least not at the moment. In Germany, it is already problematic for many companies to run a corporate weblog. Furthermore, this initiative of BestBuy is somehow light years away from the actual German social media reality.
Connect is only an element in the social media strategy of BestBuy. For CEO Brad Anderson, social media is the central factor in the whole company’s communication. BestBuy sets out international benchmark, particularly by its use of social media for the optimization in internal communication of 150.00 employees in over 1150 office branches. Beside employee’s forum and internal wiki, BestBuy has also its own social network.
Brad Anderson and his employees have recognized the company’s added value through social media. Not only that, BestBuy understands the use of social media for external communication or rather for marketing and thus, BestBuy also realizes how social media changes the life of a company. As commented by Peter Hirshberg:
I think Best Buy is a leading indicator what businesses will start to look like in the near future…
Hirschberg’s interview with Anderson in Zeitgeist 08
January 26th, 2009 by Nils Maier
Article by David Nelles:
The discussion is maybe not new but for certain not uninteresting. The question arises over and over – for the companies in the area of social media marketing – concerning the monetizing benefits of social media efforts these companies could actually gain. At the same time the old classical marketers are still leaning on the classical ROI concept for social media. Hence, a prominent question surfaces, whether the adoption of social media in marketing can really withstand the classical application of ROI.
The problem with trying to determine ROI for social media is like you are trying to put numeric quantities around human interactions and conversations, which are not quantifiable.
Jason Falls is right with his appraisals. The dogmatic application of ROI does not really fit into the field of social media. How conversations and user opinions should be numerated in monetize units. Even Katie Delahaye Paine doubts the classical ROI concept for user generated media – for her social media monitoring and its results are the core points in measuring the success of social media efforts in marketing.
Maybe the Holy Grail of measuring success for the application in the area of professional communication does not lie in the area of ROI, but instead in data collection and analysis of user opinions.
Lewis Green shows with the concept of Value Reference Model quite clear, which alternatives companies have to measure success of social media efforts beyond the concept of ROI. The value reference model assesses the dialog with target groups and consumers by means of monetary savings in all areas of lifetime product cycle and therefore goes far beyond a simple marketing approach. This approach considers consumers in social media as the central gravity in innovation, production and marketing. Especially social media platforms like customer blogs or communities offer the optimal medium for this approach.
Value is not measured quarterly nor necessarily annually. It is instead measured over the lifetime of a product, service, process, and individual customer sales. It cannot be measured on a single tool but instead measured on ongoing benefits and results as determined by the lifetime of the product, service, process and customer.
This approach shows once again that each campaign of companies in the area of social media is only a starting point. To accomplish a successful Value Reference Model, a long term engagement in social media must be planned. If a company wants to build a long lasting and good relation to its target groups, then it has to nurse this over time. The debates in the U.S shows pretty clear, how dogmatic the definition ROI is and how new methods are badly needed to measure success of company’s efforts with respect to the collaborative medias. The old fashioned expectation patterns of marketers – which expect certain turnover by investing certain amount in one particular media- don’t apply anymore in social media. In user generated media, marketers must talk to their target groups and at the same time igniting the interest of their target groups over the product to achieve the ROI. Meaning, marketers have to offer added value for their target groups in social media and thus, the investment of pro-consumer will pay off in the end. Only with this kind of added value for consumers in social media, users will bind to brands and then even be in the end user generated marketers and product developers. If companies did achieve this, they would definitely be successful in the long run. From this point of view, Value Reference Model does hold strong significance.
December 18th, 2008 by Christoph Maeurer
Original article by David Nelles (translated by Nils Maier)
Twitter appears to be the “It” place for the application of company’s communication, both for external and internal purpose. A few weeks back, moms and women twittered avidly their outrage against Motrin campaign and recently there is another case making its appearance on Twitter, which proves once again how truly relevant this channel for company’s communication is. In this recent case, Ford – with the help of Twitter – has succeeded in preventing wide spread damages, which could have cost the company’s reputation. The starting point was a letter of notice sent by Ford’s legal department to a privately owned Ford fansite, demanding for $5000 or the site gets shut down. The copyright violations were the reason behind this demand.
The prominent warned platform was therangerstation.com. This fansite is dedicated to lovers of Ford’s small pick- up trucks. Based in Detroit, this fansite exists for more than 10 years. Well, the reactions regarding Ford’s legal demand were quick to come; the story appeared on the same day in two major car blogs like Jalopnik and Autoblog as well as on Twitter.
It was like a dark cloud of social media brewing over the online reputation of Ford. However, unlike Motrin, Ford has Scott Monty, who is the head of Ford’s social media and he actively reacted in a quick manner over criticisms voiced in Twitter – by continuously tweeting and promising to clear the issue as soon as possible.
Few hours later, Scot tweeted Ford’s official response and provided the link for the official statement of Ford over therangerstation.com controversy. This action was good enough to calm brands evangelists.
Hence, through quick and active reactions from Ford communicator, the virally spread of this issue and online reputation damages for the company were successfully prevented. Certainly, Motrin would have preferred this kind of success. Well, Scott Monty surely took all rules of social media communicator to heart: listen intensively, velocity, deal directly and personally.
In the U.S, Twitter has established itself as a channel for professional communicators. Unfortunately, the case is quite different here in Germany, the discussion revolving around Twitter and its adoption for the company’s communication has just yet to begin. Whether a company should be twittering or not, the examples of past times have definitely shown that Twitter should at least belong to a portfolio of a social media monitoring. However, company’s communicators should not wait too long to get actively engaged in the discussion of microblogging services, where so many multipliers are located like nowhere else.
