social media and the rise of the brandividual

Social Media & the Rise of the Brandividual*CNW Media Breakfast: March 26, 2009

#KateRocks

#CNW

Today, let’s discuss …

What is social media? Brand Brandividual Implications for business Practical things you can do

LintBucket Media (LintBucket.com) is a boutique marketing agency headquartered in Vancouver that focuses on social media marketing and community building.

Our Services:

Social Media Marketing & Communications

Blogger Outreach Programs

Community Development

Internal Social Media Implementation

SEO-driven Copywriting

OneDegree.ca is one of Canada's leading online publications about digital marketing, online communications and social media -- penned by some of Canada's bright lights and rising stars in these areas.

MyNameIsKate.ca – blogging about the intersection of marketing, technology and design, plus other juicy bits.

http://mynameiskate.ca/brandividual.html

What is social media?

Social media is information content created by

people using highly accessible and scalable

publishing technologies that is intended to facilitate

communications, influence and interaction with

peers and with public audiences, typically via the

Internet and mobile communications networks.

~ Wikipedia

http://fasticon.com/freeware/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/astromysicism/2928862568/

http://sxoop.com/twitter/

American Medial Association

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pig-pen_peanuts.PNG

http://sxoop.com/twitter/

The Age of the Brand is Waning

The Age of the Brandividual*

People Figures: David Armano - Logic + Emotion Blog

*Hattip to David Armano

http://darmano.typepad.com/

What is a brandividual?

Not just any employee.

A passionate employee.

Passionate about:

Your Company

Your Products

Your Customers!

Resource: http://mashable.com/2009/01/21/best-twitter-brands/

Why is the

brandividual good

for business?

In the short-term:

Trust!

““It’s harder to It’s harder to distrust a distrust a person than it is person than it is to distrust a to distrust a corporation.”corporation.”

DeloitteDeloitte

Istockphoto.com

YourCo

“At the same time we get information (from a person), we get information about the character of the person giving the info.”

~ Nora Young, CBC Radio … on using social media

Istockphoto.com

Why else is the

brandividual good

for business?

Longevity(everything lives forever on the internet)

Here’s where social media works for

business

What’s the

downside of

brandividuals?

Istockphoto.com

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lovethedaisy/2661204242/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/swanksalot/105848786/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22280677@N07/3346026450/

It’s still early days.

Experimentation is OK*

* If you’re not a jerk about it

Lessons Learned by P&G

Cause matters

Personal networks trump paid placements

Social media is a full time commitment

Suspicion runs rampant

You can't please all the people all the time

http://blogs.forrester.com/ebusiness_strategy/2009/03/lessons-from-pg.html

Let’s Get Practical …

Where do you start?

Own Your Name

You can’t have every variation of every brand you own.

But try to register your preferred name on the major services.

Be Human

Identify the brandividuals behind your accounts.

All public-facing employees should have LinkedIn Profiles

Don’t Accept the Default

Each social media has it’s own best practices.

And it’s not the default settings.

Know Where Your

Customer Lives

You don’t have to be everywhere.

Use the tools to find and engage your community.

Resource Recommendations …

http://www.forrester.com/Groundswell

http://www.friendswithbenefitsbook.com/

Disclosure: I am the technical reviewer of the upcoming printed edition.

Resource Recommendations …

Chris Brogan - social media and community strategy - http://www.chrisbrogan.com

Mashable - Web 2.0 and Social Media News & Analysis (tool oriented) -http://mashable.com

ReadWriteWeb - Web Apps, Technology Trends, Social Networking - http://readwriteweb.com

Jeremiah Owyang - Social Media & Web Strategist for Forrester Research - http://www.web-strategist.com/blog

Universal McCann's Report - When Did We Start Trusting Strangers - http://www.universalmccann.com/

Pew Internet & American Life - http://www.pewinternet.org/

Questions?http://www.flickr.com/photos/calavera/65098350/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vernhart/1574355646/

http://mynameiskate.ca/brandividual.html

kate@mynameiskate.ca