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 BillboardsRFID

HDTVBlu-RayDVRGamingIPTV

Virtual WorldsSocial SoftwareOnline VideoPodcastingUser-Generated Content

RFIDBloggingOffice WikisRSS

WiFi/connectivityPersonalizationInteractive 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)