Relevance is the New Reputation… - Home - W2O Group · Relevance is the New Reputation WCG | COMMON SENSE FOR THE C-SUITE It begins with a comprehensive understanding of your audience’s

VOL. 5 | ISSUE 2 | NOVEMBER 2016COMMON SENSE FOR THE C-SUITE

Relevance is the New Reputation…

A New Way for Communicators and Marketers to Drive Growth and Sustain Efficacy in a Social/Digital Age

WCG | COMMON SENSE FOR THE C-SUITE VOL. 5 | ISSUE 2 | NOVEMBER 2016 2


In today’s social/digital reality, Relevance has become the new reputation. This means that an organization must connect consistently and authentically on multiple levels with its key audiences — in areas that are both meaningful to the business— its core purpose and strategic direction — as well as areas that are meaningful to its audiences. What makes this different is the speed at which relevance forms and dissipates and the agility necessary to harness it for sustained growth and success.

In an age where information is ubiquitous and people move from one subject to another in the blink of an eye, if your brand, product, service or company isn’t on their radar, you don’t exist.

It’s all about connection.


In a word, Relevance is about being meaningful to the matter at hand. From an organizational perspective, it’s more about consistency of behavior vs. consistency of message or communications. Reputation is more vulnerable than at any time in history. Yet, Relevance is more valuable than at any time in history.

Given the speed, veracity, and lack of controls, conversation in a digital world impacts relevance at will. Consumers and influencers now place relevance in a different position interspersing individual ideals and beliefs with that of the organization to determine value. We are living in a time where the entire balance of power has shifted and organizations no longer control the dialogue or even their own brands. Rather, consumers, customers, employees and influencers all have the capability to characterize and shape opinion and perspective on products, policies, and initiatives virtually every minute.

The biggest challenge, then, for organizations who want to increase their Relevance is to move from a coverage/broadcast communications model to one that reflects the rise of influence as a means of opinion formation. The term

“citizen journalism” now pervades our lives as anyone with an opinion and a web address has the ability to reach the world. In this environment, media is not only fragmented but so are their audiences. To fill the void, individuals and organizations alike are creating new content and distributing it on diverse platforms and in multiple formats to increase interactions and generate new learnings about behavior and interest. Instead of the five or six traditional media outlets who cover your industry and company, you may be looking at 50-100 (or more) influencers driving conversation about topics or areas linked to your business creating multiple ecosystems where your brand either thrives or dies.

Relevance is the New Reputation…A new way for communicators and marketers to drive growth and sustain efficacy in a social/digital age

■■ A NEW MODEL FOR AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT IS NEEDED

The age of transparencyCustomers, employees, shareholders, investor community are privy to higher levels of product information and company knowledge

A new corporate ecosystemThe lines between stake-holders are blurred; all are integral parts of one ecosystem

Growing sense of distrustRecent events have elevated concern about corporate governance

A new balance of powerPower is shifting away from management to employees, suppliers, distributors, customers, business partners and other stakeholders

VOL. 5 | ISSUE 2 | NOVEMBER 2016 4


WCG | COMMON SENSE FOR THE C-SUITE

It’s about understanding precisely:

• How your organization’s priority initiatives and strategy are resonating in real time

• How your communities of influencers and stakeholders are talking about relevant issues positive, negative, neutral: how their conversations are resonating and what risks and opportunities that may pose to your organization and brand

• How to predict the trend of an issue: is it a “slow burn,” blowing up, or burning out and not having a plan to act and engage appropriately (vs. reacting)

• The most appropriate content and channels to use with specific stakeholders at specific times

• Determining new conversations and interest streams that allow you to convey your story and enhance learning

■■ A NEW MODEL FOR AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT IS NEEDED

EMPLOYEES

CUSTOMER/ PROSPECTS

INFLUENCERS

GOVERNMENT/ POLICY MAKERS

FINANCIAL COMMUNITY

ADVOCATES

CONSUMERS/GENERAL PUBLIC

RELEVANT ISSUES & STAKEHOLDER AFFINITIESDemocratized

Transparent 1-9-90 Hyper-fragmented Media

INFLUENCE & INFORMATIONAL MODEL

MEDIUMMESSAGECOMPANY

INFLUENCERS

CUSTOMER/ PROSPECTS

EMPLOYEES

ADVOCATES

GOVERNMENT/ POLICY MAKERS

UnidirectionalOpaqueOne-to-FewConcentrated Media

BROADCAST/COVERAGE COMMUNICATIONS MODEL




It begins with a comprehensive understanding of your audience’s reality, or what we call Audience Architecture. Dissecting interests, networks, communities, topics — the entire ecosystem of belief — into a relatable data set that can be assimilated and acted upon in real time. From there, it’s about grasping your company’s core beliefs, capabilities, and business strategy and distilling them into a Narrative, or how your story melds with the marketplace.

The Narrative is the foundational platform from which to dimensionalize the myriad stories that comprise your organization and provide the connection to Relevance. Segmenting your content into different story lines (aka Narrative Cubes) so you can target those who lead the conversation (influencers) in your category, those who share content (advocates), and those who prefer to “lurk and learn” (the market). The result provides audiences with the fuel to discover the organization for themselves, where and when they want it, the full picture of a company, brand, product, service, policy, subject or issue.

■■ WHAT’S NEEDED TO WIN & STAY AHEAD? A NEW INTEGRATED MODEL...

Why Relevance? Reality: Social/Digital Age Ushered in Awareness, Voice...

1. Consumers, customers, employees actively participate in commerce and societal discourse

2. Reputation is now defined as “what did you do for me today?”

3. If an organization is not important or meaningful to core audiences it doesn’t really exist

4. Branding that doesn’t track with relevance is on a path to nowhere

5. Relevance can lead to white space — places where organizations can make greater impact and achieve greater levels of success

6. Communicators and marketers have the tools and technology to keep ahead of the curve; comprehend influence; assimilate how communities and ecosystems learn; discern needs and benefits sought; and capture relevance

CORPORATE REPUTATIONWHAT’S IMPORTANT

(Point in Time Dashboard KPIs)

Benchmarking/ KPI driven methodology based on important, but often not

actionable, stakeholder perceptions

CORPORATE RELEVANCEWHAT’S URGENT & ACTIONABLE(Context, Targeting, Ongoing KPIs)

An approach based on understanding the full spectrum of what matters to a modern

company – moving from a focus on just what stakeholder recall, to the specific, observable

behaviors that are foundational to driving key business objectives

AUDIENCE ARCHITECTURE

Cutting-edge insights, based on actual stakeholder behavior, developed at the pace and scale of digital technology

TRADITIONAL MARKET RESEARCH

Traditional primary research, usually in the form of stakeholder surveys and interviews.




Finding Relevance

At W2O Group, we employ proprietary analytics to identify and comprehend Relevance in multiple sectors and industries. This is a crucial first step to calibrating an organization’s

or brand’s efficacy and positioning against where a market is tracking. In each of the examples below you can discern where the conversation and influence is moving and begin to reconcile where you might be in terms of communications and direction.

FOOD | CPG

FROM: Calories and Ingredients

TO: Lifestyle and Health & Well-Being

IMPLICATION & OPPORTUNITY: SUPPLY CHAIN

HOTELS/HOSPITALITY

FROM: Location & Amenities

TO: Cultural Immersion & Experiences

IMPLICATION & OPPORTUNITY: LOCALIZATION & GEO-FENCING

FROM: In-Person, Location-Based Support

TO: Hyper-Personalized, Self-Service — Anytime, Anywhere

IMPLICATION & OPPORTUNITY:EMPLOYEES & LOCAL ECONOMIES

HEALTHCAREBANKING

FROM: Volume & Efficacy of a Pill or Procedure

TO: Outcomes and Overall Health & Wellness

IMPLICATION & OPPORTUNITY:SYSTEMIC INCENTIVES & INDIVIDUAL IMPACT

AUTO

ENERGY

FROM: Manufacturing & Selling Vehicles

TO: Mobility

IMPLICATION & OPPORTUNITY: TECH CULTURE & FLEET NETWORKS

FROM: Global & Green

TO: National / Local & Secure

IMPLICATION & OPPORTUNITY: HYPER-LOCAL VALUES & POLITICS

TELECOMMUNICATIONS

FROM: Network Performance

TO: Delivery of Solutions & Experiences

IMPLICATION & OPPORTUNITY: USER EXPERIENCE & TECH ECOSYSTEM



WHITESPACE ADJACENCIES CONNECTING BUSINESS OBJECTIVES & SOCIETAL PRESSURES

AUDIENCE BEHAVIOR

BUSINESS OBJECTIVES

Capabilities Community

Lines of Business Policy

Future Growth Demographic

SOCIETAL PRESSURES

■■ WHAT IS CORPORATE RELEVANCE?

Relevance as your Northstar

Fortunately, communicators and marketers now have an unprecedented ability to provide audiences with content they find interesting and valuable utilizing analytics to track impact – what they search, click-on, spend time on, talk about, and share. New analytics approaches now make it possible to much more precisely understand how to create the right stories and experiences, in the right places, to spark deeper audience engagement and action.

Relevance is the measure that any organization, regardless of size, scope, or category, can employ to truly understand and address the reality facing its audiences in a manner that provides mutual benefit.

When you wake up tomorrow it might be a good idea to ask yourself one question: Are we relevant?



For more information, please contact:

Rob Jekielek [email protected]

646-503-2733

Gary Grates [email protected]

212-257-6994

WCG is a leading communications and marketing firm specializing in healthcare, technology, and global brands. The firm is a unit of W2O Group, a leading network of independent, global strategic marketing, digital, and corporate communications firms.

The Corporate and Strategy practice advises and supports organizations in effectively addressing reputational risk, change management, leadership positioning, market/product supremacy, and brand relevance.

The group offers distinctive expertise in culture transformation, strategy implementation, CEO transitions, leadership positioning, internal branding, M&A post-merger integration, labor-management relations, advocacy and issues management, internal communications, employee engagement, investor relations, executive training and development, and research/measurement through a proprietary combination of analytics/insights that fuel distinctive models, methodologies, and approaches designed to achieve sustainable business results.

wcgworld.com w2ogroup.com

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Relevance is the New Reputation… - Home - W2O Group · Relevance is the New Reputation WCG | COMMON SENSE FOR THE C-SUITE It begins with a comprehensive understanding of your audience’s