From Telegrams to Twitter - Introducing Social Media in a Historic Company

Western Union Confidential

©2010 Western Union Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

From Telegrams to Twitter:

Introducing Social Media in a Historic Company

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©2010 Western Union Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 2

Western Union: From cutting edge communications…

1851 Western Union was founded in 1851 as

the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company

1856 The company changed its name to

Western Union in 1856 to mark the consolidation of several telegraph lines in what was then the Western-most reaches of the American telegraph system







1866 In 1866, Western Union introduced the

first stock ticker

1933 In 1933, Western Union delivered the

first singing telegram

1935 Western Union introduced the first inter-

city facsimile service







1974 The first commercial satellite in the U.S.

was introduced by Western Union in 1974







Corporate

Missteps

This 'telephone' has too many

shortcomings to be seriously

considered as a means of

communication. The device is

inherently of no value to us.






… to global financial services

1871 Western Union introduced money transfer

in 1871

1980 In 1980, revenue from the money transfer

service exceeded telegram service revenue for the first time in Western Union history






… to global financial services

2009 In 2009, The Western Union Company

handled 196 million consumer-to-consumer money transfers and nearly 415 million consumer-to-business transactions

Today The company’s Agent network includes

approximately 430,000 locations in 200 countries and territories






Our review processes are thorough

8


In 2006, Western Union became an independent company again

9


Broad Internet access can be perceived as risky in highly regulated companies…

Malware

Viruses

Spam

Backdoors

Hackers


While social media is often perceived as just a waste of time

Networking

Virtual Communities

Instant Messaging


The importance of communication

12

Western Union passionately commits to doing business

the right way and we are always looking for new ways

to grow beyond our core business.

Consumers value the services we offer. What we do,

helping people stay connected, brings vitality to

relationships. And thinking responsibly for the company

and the community is the anchor of how we do

business.

Investor Relations

Financials

Stock Information

Corporate Governance

Fundamentals

Events & Presentations

Career Center

Email us


Corporate questions and employee guidelines

13

Who owns social media?

Which functions in the company would benefit most from social media?

Does the benefit of immediate access to customers outweigh the risk of potential missteps or inadvertent disclosures?

How do we implement a system of “real-time” checks and balances?

How do we retain a “corporate voice” if we open up the medium to multiple groups or employees?

Be transparent

Be accurate

Be judicious

Write what you know

Add value

Your Responsibility: What you write is ultimately your responsibility

Were you wrong? If you make a mistake, correct it

If it gives you pause, then don’t post it


Internal social media at Western Union

14


Social media and customer engagement

15


The scale of socialization

Talk to (or at) your stakeholders

Listen to your stakeholders

Respond to your stakeholders

Learn from your stakeholders

Engage with your stakeholders

16






Leveraging established audiences

Social media marketing at Western Union

Social Home on the Web (in place of corporate blog) Traffic Driver, aggregator

Blogger

Outreach

Visually compelling showcase

YouTube & flickr


Photos from the “Random Acts of Giving Tour” were shared through Facebook and Flickr

18

The “Random Acts of Giving” Tour Bus


Western Union on You Tube

Brand Campaign TVC

How it Works

Foundation Video

19






Sometimes what you hear is very positive Sometimes… not so much

20






While Western Union was concerned with pricing, consumers were concerned with…

“A 2009 social media review

found that more than 35% of

Western Union mentions were

related to fraud”

21






Western Union and Facebook teamed to warn consumers

22


For Western Union, LinkedIn has become a customer service tool

23


Learning from our customers

24

We have found that a spike in this

type of communication often

coincides with changes in our

systems or procedures






Customer engagement

25






Foundation Facebook campaign: key learnings

26

Cross-promotion via the charities involved contributed greatly to our success

The campaign saw drop-off during the holidays: any similar efforts will take place earlier in the year

Flow for voting and the instructions throughout the application could be simpler

Everyone wants to give back and they want to share their good deeds with their friends

The majority of online discussions around the effort took place in blogs


Western Union is introducing social media elements designed for its Agents

27


The next phase of social media

28

Consumers are demanding that

companies connect with them

where they are. And where they

are is on Facebook, on Twitter

and Foursquare and countless

other sites.





Western Union Confidential


Thank you Questions?





Date post:	05-Dec-2014
Category:	Business
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From Telegrams to Twitter - Introducing Social Media in a Historic Company

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