DELIVERING ON THE BRAND PROMISE:BRAND PROMISE:USING SOCIAL MEDIA AS A COMMUNICATION TACTIC WITHIN A GLOBAL PROFESSIONAL SERVICES FIRMSERVICES FIRMDiscussion Paper, Susan Stewart, July 2010

This discussion paper was developed to explain the medium and persuade senior l d hi t b i l di leadership to embrace social media as a communication tactic. Sections of the presentation have been removed for confidentiality reasons.

Susan Stewart

http://www.slideshare.net/SelbyStreet p yhttp://selbystreet.wordpress.com/https://twitter.com/SelbyStreet

01 Branding

“Brand context

Brand is, in its ,essence...a promiseDr. Philip Kotler

”

Building the brand01

WHO WHAT HOW WHY

Who are the What we do as i ti ?

How we do it diff t t

Why we do h t d ?people we

target?

STAKEHOLDER FOCUS

an organisation?

BUSINESS FOCUS

different to our competitors?

BRAND EXPERIENCE

what we do?

BRAND ESSENCEFOCUS FOCUS EXPERIENCE ESSENCE

Communicating the brand01

COMMUNICATIONS

WHO

WHAT COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGY

WHAT

HOWSTAKEHOLDERS

MODE / MEDIUM WHY

MODE / MEDIUM / TACTIC

SOCIAL MEDIA

Communicating through social media01VISION

BRAND

OUR CLIENTS OUR INDUSTRY OUR PEOPLE

v Comms(intranet, OIP)

OUR CLIENTS & TARGETS

Networking Business development

Client Engagement Marketing

OUR INDUSTRY & PEERS

Networking Public Relations Recruitment Marketing

OUR COMMUNITY

Philanthropy

Social Media

f2f Comms(Meetings, Events)

Seminars(WB)

Externalleadership

forums

Proposals / Bid Management

Account Management

Client Service Management

Client service Review

Thought Leadership

Website

ExternalLeadership

Forums

Boards

Media

Awards

Advertising

Website

Thought Leadership

Website

Corporate Social Responsibility

Social Media

Reward & Recognition

Behaviours

Social Media CRM tool Collateral

Images

Social Media Social Media Social Media Collateral

Images

Training

g

Social Media

g

Social Media

Message to e-medium01brand vision purpose / core message e-medium

SECONDARY

CLIENT express understanding and appreciation of website > case studies profilesCLIENT FOCUSED

– express understanding and appreciation of client needs

– tell the story of the client and our unique solution

– demonstrate “trusted advisor” and “partnership” relationships

– website > case studies, profiles– twitter > follow our clients and tweet their

achievements– digg/delicious > tag client outcomes (related to our

work)– website > visuals and designp p p

– reflect brand promiseg

RESEARCH DRIVEN

– reflect “underpinned by research”– convey the business as an influential global

thought leader

– website > thought leadership publications – slide share > presentations (publications, seminars,

presentations, projects)– blog > commentary, profile our thought leadersblog > commentary, profile our thought leaders– delicious > global impact, refer to others– targeted blog/website > tailored context (eg. zero)

GLOBAL STUDIO – maximise global presence– illustrate the global reach, local impact

– delicious > global impact– website > breadth and depth of global projects

– convey the business as an influential global thought leader

– demonstrate a link beyond the employee ie. stakeholders, alumni (the business cult)

– website > global studios, local leaders (profile leaders by region – link to blog commentary)

– blog > commentary on local events, in a global context– twitter > tweet global stories– Facebook / LinkedIn > updates

02 Open branding

“Brand context“If you have a brand, you’re under

threat. Your customers have always had an idea about what your brand ysignifies, an idea that may vary from the image you are projecting. Now, they are talking to each other about that idea ”that idea.”Excerpt from Groundswell

”

Open branding02

INNOVATION IN ACTIONTo be recognised as an innovator, we must be an innovator and align ourselves with other innovators

03 Social media

“Brand context

The end game isn’t being in social gmedia, it’s what you do with social media.Anon

”

Facebook03ABOUT– nearly half a billion users– 350 million accounts late 2009*

BENEFITS– content posted on the page is indexed by search engines– blog content loaded on the page wall ensures deeper content is

front and center for people who land on the page and aren’t familiar front and center for people who land on the page and aren t familiar with the blog(s)

– can be accessed and updated via phone

USES/RECOMMEDATIONS– attract Boomerangs back to the business

share social b siness e ents and project a f n ork en ironment– share social business events and project a fun work environment– create a business site and stream updates (projects, people, media)

http://www.facebook.com

*http://hbr.org/2010/03/one-cafe-chains-facebook-experiment/ar/1

Facebook03

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/5-new-studies-show-facebook-a-marketing-powerhouse/

Twitter03ABOUT– 40 million Twitter updates every day*

BENEFITS– content posted on twitter is indexed by search engines– can use plug-ins (Twitter Tools on Wordpress, TwitPics) or automation

services like Hooutsuite and SocialOomph to make sure blog posts and announcements are being fed to the Twitter stream a ou ce e s a e be g ed o e e s ea

– can follow keywords (the business, competitors, topics etc) in a dedicated search column

– can link feeds on the website and share tweets from those following on the intranet/website

– tweets that are retweeted are shared on non-follower pages– handles (#) can be used to maximise searching– handles (#) can be used to maximise searching– can be accessed and updated via phone

USES/RECOMMEDATIONS– announce new project work, innovations, research, new staff and

promote our clients and partnerst lti l h dl th t ld bl diff t f d – create multiple handles that would enable a different focus and

stakeholder group eg. services, industry focus

http://www.twitter.com

* http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/3-simple-steps-for-creating-social-media-visibility/

LinkedIn03ABOUT– is a business-oriented social networking site– As of 21 June 2010 LinkedIn had more than 70 million registered users,

spanning more than 200 countries and territories worldwideBENEFITS– content posted on LinkedIn is indexed by search engines– companies can list jobs and search for potential candidates– job seekers can review the profile of hiring managers and discover – job seekers can review the profile of hiring managers and discover

which of their existing contacts can introduce them. – users can follow different companies and can get notification about the

new joining and offers available– can be accessed and updated via phone

USES/RECOMMEDATIONSUSES/RECOMMEDATIONS– promote new positions– announce new project work, professionals joining and new research– create, contribute and generate dialogue with a specialist group

http://www.linkedin.com/companies

SlideShare03ABOUT– SlideShare is a business media site for sharing presentations,

d t d dfdocuments and pdfs

BENEFITS– slides can be loaded onto the site and shared with access 24/7– companies can create a channel, load al their content and attract

followers (refer left)– embed slideshows into your own blog or website. – share slideshows publicly or privately. There are several ways to share

privately. . – download the original file – can link slides to LindedIn and Facebook

USES/RECOMMEDATIONS– create and load (non confidential) slide decks with different themes (eg.

sector, discipline, region, studio etc)– business development ad hoc presentations– Recommendation: review privacy settings and the need for access to

lid d k d d t C id ti b i h lslide decks and documents. Consider creating a business channel

www.slideshare.com

Hootsuite03ABOUT– Hooutsuite is a social media dashboard to manage FaceBook, LinkedIn,

W P T itt d th i l di t i t l lWorPress, Twitter and other social media accounts in one central place

BENEFITS– social media analytics– uploads to multiple sites from one point– capability to plan and schedule posts capab y o p a a d sc edu e pos s– monitor brand and key terms in social media sites– ability to shrink url using ow.ly

USES/RECOMMEDATIONS– manage the business LinkedIn, Twitter, FaceBook sites from a central

location location – Recommendation: create an account to manage and evaluate social

media sites and activities effectively and efficiently

http://hootsuite.com

You Tube03ABOUT– Video sharing site

a).

– As of 21 June 2010 LinkedIn had more than 70 million registered users, spanning more than 200 countries and territories worldwide

BENEFITS– content posted on YouTube is indexed by search engines

USES/RECOMMEDATIONS– feature project and case study thought leadership– Recommendation: create a channel and load project videos and

podcasts

www.youtube.comb).

Blog03ABOUT– 1.8 billion people are on the web

BENEFITS– blogs enable deep and intimate dialogue – can demonstrate expertise and knowledge of design beyond the

business projects– ability to expose personality of our designers ab y o e pose pe so a y o ou des g e s– can project a more dynamic brand – can link to other social media sites– content posted on a blog is indexed by search engines (therefore a

benefit to separate a blog and a website)– “a blog is a search engine magnet. When you post consistently and

constantly the search engines tend to index your content more constantly, the search engines tend to index your content more frequently”.

USES/RECOMMEDATIONS– feature projects and thought leadership– Recommendation: align with website strategy (blog either part of or

separate to the website)separate to the website)

www.wordpress.orgwww.posterous.comwww.blogger.com

digg03ABOUT– Virtual bookmark that is shared globally – “How do we do this? Everything on Digg — from news to videos to

images — is submitted by our community (that would be you). Once something is submitted, other people see it and Digg what they like best. If your submission rocks and receives enough Diggs, it is promoted to the front page for the millions of our visitors to see.”

BENEFITSBENEFITS– content posted on the site is indexed by search engines– alternate medium to share the business stories (link back to the website)

USES/RECOMMEDATIONS– announce new project work and research announce new project work and research – load and share media stories about the business– Recommend: create an account to load media releases and new

website stories

www.digg.comwww.digg.com

delicious03ABOUT– “Delicious uses a non-hierarchical classification system in

hi h t h f th i b k k ith f l which users can tag each of their bookmarks with freely chosen index terms”

BENEFITS– content posted on the site is indexed by search engines– alternate medium to share the business stories (link back to a e a e ed u o s a e e bus ess s o es ( bac o

the website)

USES/RECOMMEDATIONS– announce new project work and research – load and share media stories about the business– Recommend: create an account to load media releases and – Recommend: create an account to load media releases and

new website stories

www.delicious.com

04 Going forward

“Brand context

The No. 1 reason to join the social jmedia evolution is to take control of your brand, both as a firm and as an a firm and as an individual professionalE l LEvelyn LeeIf You’re Not Online, You’re BehindDesign Intelligence 2010

”

Going forward04Social media is a genuine opportunity for the business to promote, build and cement our business to promote, build and cement our brand.We can not ignore that the business is already in the social media environment – created by our people, media organisations and other professionals professionals. We can’t stop the wave, we need to ride it. And with a strategic and integrated approach we can manage how are brand is projected and help build a reputation with our clients, professionals and industry aligns with our vision and brand and industry aligns with our vision and brand strategy

Going forward– discuss and review social media optionsdiscuss and review social media options– consider resources required to maintain a

social media sites– address how best to align our approach with

branding, website, resourcing and i ti l l t organisational elements

– develop a plan and present to the leadership

“Brand contextYour brand is

formed primarily, not by what your

company says about itself, but what the company company does.Jeff Bezos, Amazon

”