BRAND VULNERABILITY TO SOCIAL MEDIA AND HOW WE

MANAGE IT.

THE FLINT GROUP

• HatlingFlint (St. Cloud)• WestmorelandFlint (Duluth)• Flint Interactive (Duluth)• Flint Communications (Fargo)• SimmonsFlint (Grand Forks)• AadlandFlint (Anchorage)

• AdFarm (Agribusiness Marketing: Calgary, Alberta; Guelph, Ontario; Kansas City; Fargo)• Media Productions (A/V + Events: Fargo)• Praxis Strategy Group (Economic Development: Grand Forks)

New Consumption ModelsWORKVirtual OfficeWiFiConnected Anywhere

OOH / RETAILDigital Billboards

RFID

HDTVBlu-RayDVRGamingIPTV

Virtual WorldsSocial SoftwareOnline VideoPodcastingUser-Generated Content

RFIDBloggingOffice WikisRSS

WiFi/connectivityPersonalization

Interactive Kiosks

MOBILE / AUTO3G/4G Mobile DevicesGPSMobile VideoWiFiText Messaging

HOME

THE DIGITAL EXPERIENCE IS EVOLVING

YOUR COMPANYWEBSITE

Tagging

Twitter

Wikis

Ratings & Reviews

Social Search Engines

Social News/Bookmarking

BLOGS/Vlogs

StandardBanners

Rich Media

Integrated Placement Targeted

Streaming Video

Streaming Audio

Podcasts

Pre-Roll

Online Video

SMS Campaign

Mobile Content

Downloadable Apps

Ringtones/Wallpaper WAP Ads

Search Engine Optimization

Kiosks

Branded Utilities/Widgets

RSS

WEBSITES

ONLINE MEDIA

SOCIAL

MOBILE

AV

Microsites

Online Training Systems

Search Engine Marketing

DATABASE DEVLOPMENT

Flash-Rich Applications

YOUR COMPANYWEBSITE

YOUR CUSTOMERS ARE USING THIS STUFF!

Community Search

• Citysearch.com

• Nextstop.com

• Yelp.com

• Merchantcircle.com

• Urbanspoon.com

• MORE!!

Why should you care?

• These are your consumers and this is where they are spending their time.

• You need to talk to them (and listen) where they are, not where you want them to be.

• It’s cool• It’s the “new” thing• It’s the “future”• We “need to be in it”

Digital is not important because:

It is important because…

It’s how we are consuming media.

Source: Ball State University Center for Media Design

Source: Arbitron/Edison Media Research and comScore

These emerging behaviors pose a new challenge to today’s marketer.• Marketers don’t understand channels where

they have to talk and listen at the same time.• Marketers idea of 2-way communication is

an 800 number or a web address, then wait to take orders!

What do you do in the new social media world?

What is social media?

• The technologies and practices that people use to share content, opinions, insights, experiences, perspectives, and media itself.

What social media is not.• A fad, a passing phase, trendy.

Humans are social creatures.• Don’t be surprised by adoption.

• Technology has allowed us to act on our social instincts.

• It is NOT going away anytime soon!

Social News/ Bookmarking

Social Media

Chat Rooms

Message Boards

Blogs/Video Blogs

Widgets

Social Networks

Content Sharing

Social Search Engines

Podcast/Vcast

Ratings &Reviews

Social media is for the young….

Club Penguin (4 million 8-14 year old visitors/month) kept a child, who was in the hospital for five months, connected with his then-distant friends.

And the old….YouTube broadcaster, 79-year-old Peter Oakley known as Geriatric1927, made his debut in August 2006 with a video series called ‘Telling It All’.

His videos have been seen over five million times

Now What?

How to get involved.

The Four Step Process

• Research and Learn

• Develop a Strategy

• Let Go (and embrace the change)

• Participate

Research and Learn.

Free Listening Tools.

Free Listening Tools.

Free Listening Tools.

• Blogsearch.google.com

• Tweetbeep.com

• Google.com/alerts

• Boardreader.com

• Backtype.com

Advanced Listening.

Comments on YOUR site

• Do you have a public comments or feedback section on your site?

• You do now!

• Google.com/sidewiki

• Brand vulnerability on a new scale

Continually Monitor Social Media

• Know what is being said all the time

• DAILY (or more often), not monthly

• Identify potential issues quickly

• Address these issues with the consumer

• Identify the top online influencers and reach out to them

Develop a strategy.

What is a social media strategy?

• Reflective of your corporate purpose

• Integrates with all customer touch points

• Establishes protocols to follow

• Identifies points of measurement

• Allocates appropriate resources

• Defines appropriate timelines

As practical and important as your business or marketing strategy planning!

• Similar processes to planning.

• So why separate?– The significant cross-over among functions

require a different perspective.

What is a social media strategy?

Social media strategy planning• What’s the point?

• What is your relationship with the audience?

• How does the audience use social media?

Social media strategy planning• What is your differentiation?

• How will you be human?

• Metrics to measure success?

Embrace change and PARTICIPATE.

IN SUMMARY

The New Media Strategy

• Monitoring is not a monthly thing, it has to be done daily (if not more often)

• Strategy first, tactics second• Know how you are going to address different types of

conversations before they happen, and who is going to address them

• Social media is not free, it takes time to monitor and engage. Before you jump in, make sure you are ready for the commitment.

Interesting case study:• convinceandconvert.com (search for us speedskating) • http://www.youtube.com/usspeedskating• http://www.facebook.com/USSpeedskating• http://twitter.com/USSpeedskating• www.Colbertnation.com

• www.techrigy.com (social media monitoring tool)