social media for premium brands
DESCRIPTION
We know social media is increasingly important but .....Who’s using it, what exactly is it and what’s its use for brands?What are the most commonly used forms of social media?Best and worst social media practices.Premium brands and social media.TRANSCRIPT
Date 8/6/2010
Social Media for premium brands
Social media and premium brands
• We know social media is increasingly important but .....
• Who’s using it, what exactly is it and what’s its use for brands?
• What are the most commonly used forms of social media?
• Best and worst social media practices
• Premium brands and social media
• Some insight into premium spirit brands in social media
The Online Audience – UK Households
Millions
% o
f U
K H
ouse
hold
s
6.5 7.8 10.3 12.5 12.5 14.0 14.2
26%31%
41%
50% 50%56% 57% 60%
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
15.4
Source: Continental Research Autumn Internet Report 2007
65%70%
2008 2009
18.316
The Online Audience – UK Households
• 18.3 million households in the UK (70 per cent) had Internet access in 2009. (National Statistics Omnibus Survey)
• In 2009, 37.4 million adults (76 per cent of the UK adult population) accessed the Internet(National Statistics Omnibus Survey)
• 44% Internet users are going online more that once a day, up from 37% the previous year
• Internet users are spending more time online than they do listening to the radio and reading newspapers and magazines
The Online Audience – Social Media users• 25% of all British adults use Networking sites (Facebook, Bebo, etc)
• 21% of all British adults watch and share video clips online
(YouTube, etc)
• 20% of all British adults share photos online (Flickr, etc)
• 18% of all British adults use instant message services
• 8% of all British adults read blogs
• 4% of all British adults write blogs
Core profile:Aged 15 to 34yrs old
Even split male/female* Source: TGI
*some specific activities tend to skew towards male: e.g. uploading/watching video
Social Media, what is it?
• Social Media is the product of Web 2.0 (2nd generation websites)
• Social Media is content produced by users that utilise publishing techniques that initiate ongoing dialogue with the online community.
• Examples of social media:• Networking sites
(Facebook, Myspace, Bebo, Linkedin)• Blogs (Digg, Mashable)• Forums• Microblogs (Twitter)• File sharing sites (YouTube, Flickr)
• Social media allows users to initiate a conversation and, contribute information, share opinions, ideas, experiences, anecdotes and criticisms.
• Social media also allows businesses to accelerate the exposure of a brand, competition, campaign or event, by creating channels of communication that enable users to interact and contribute content and as a result increase exposure.
The Social Media landscape
Social Media
Blogs & publications
File Sharing
Personalised
Forums
Social Networks
Microblogs
Virtual Worlds
Social Games
Social Media hierarchy
Level of engagement
Spectator(passive reader
of content)
Contributor(participate to
online content: e.g. comment
on blogs)
Creator(creates content:
e.g. Blog)
Leve
l of c
reat
ivity
Social Media & your brand • Social Media is rapidly moving to the centre of
brand owner communications thinking and shaping community based approaches to new product development e.g. P&G’s tremor panel
• The CEO of Coca Cola , Muhtar Kent, recently told an investor meeting that ....“we were too internally focused and not focused enough on the changes taking place with our consumers”...the corollary being a greater commitment to Social Media
• Social Media finally facilitates the oft-talked about ideal of putting the
consumer at the heart of the brand; Social Media now facilitates this but clearly requires a move away from ‘push messaging’ into more inclusive content shared openly...
• ...and by integrating brand & social media thinking you can start to unlock one of the channels of advocacy....
Where to start with Social Media; the brand is the message...
This model is the exclusive property of Polestar Communications & isnot to be used without their permission
Examples of the most commonly used Social Media channels
Social Media examples – Networking sites• Networking sites: Networking sites focus on building online
communities of people who share interests/activities, or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others.
• Networking sites provide a variety of ways for users to interact, such as e-mail and instant messaging services.
• The main types of Networking sites are those which contain professional & personal category divisions (London, IBM Network), means to connect with friends and a recommendation system linked to trust.
Social Media examples – Networking sites• Facebook - www.facebook.com
• Facebook is the largest Social Networking site in the world
• Members have their own pages which can be tailored via applications from the site mechanic
• Users can connect with each other via the invite function or friend referral system
• Number of UK Facebook users – 19,000,000
• 28% of the UK population are on Facebook
• UK user base growth over 12 months – 65%
Social Media examples - Blogs• Blogs: A website maintained by an individual or group with regular
entries of commentary, descriptions of events, and content including imagery or video.
• Blogs can be used internally to enhance the communication and culture in a corporation or externally for marketing, branding or public relations purposes.
• The success of a blog depends on how often it is commented on and read. Users can choose to follow authors by subscribing to their blogs. This is done via an RSS subscription feed, where users are notified whenever a new article is published.
Social Media examples - Blogs
• Mashable – www.mashable.com
• Mashable is one of the world's largest and most trusted social media blog sites
• Content focused on social media networks, technology updates and digital news
• Users can comment on content and contribute their own articles
• 1 ,734,000 Twitter followers
• 321, 000 RSS subscribers
Social Media examples - Blogs• Digg (www.digg.com) has
excelled in creating an environment where the community contributes and as a result, drives the content. Users contribute constantly to the site by submitting news stories, articles and blog entries.
• The Digg community votes on the articles submitted, with the most popular stories rising to the top.
• Unique visitors per day - 13,383
• Hits per month – 2,527, 056
Social Media examples - Forums• Forums: Online discussion tool that allows users to create or
comment on subject matter that is posted on an online bulletin board.
• Forums are an effective way of generating ongoing conversation however content must be kept consistent and fresh for the forum to maintain its users dialogue.
• Forums are maintained and controlled by moderators, who have the ability to delete posts and remove users if content produced is deemed to be unsuitable. This can be a deterrent for some businesses, as a dedicated resource is needed to moderate the forum.
Social Media examples - Forums• inthemix -
www.inthemix.com.au/forums
• Content: Discussions based around dance music culture, music, events, technology and lifestyle
• One of the worlds most popular music forums
• Threads – 252,000
• Posts – 6,065,056
• Members – 100,000 +
• Moderators – 94
Social Media examples – Microblog
• Microblog: A form of multimedia blogging that allows users to send brief text updates or micromedia such as photos or audio clips to a website
• A microblog differs from a traditional blog in that it is typically smaller in actual size and aggregate file size. A single entry could consist of a single sentence or fragment or an image or a brief, ten second video.
• Users microblog about topics that can range from the simple, such as “just had a haircut" to the more relevant topical subjects and business updates
Social Media examples – Microblog• Twitter stats
• Registered Tweeters: 5,000,000
• Average Tweets per day: 20,000
• Popular Tweeters: Stephen Fry, Perez Hilton, Jamie Oliver
• Users have their own accounts and can choose to follow or be followed by other members, and kept aware of their updates.
• The more followers you have, the more information you are transferring, and as a result creating more exposure.
• Businesses use Twitter as channel for posting news updates and communicating with users.
Social Media examples – File sharing
• File sharing: A website that allows users to upload, view, share and comment on files.
• Files can include imagery, graphics, video and music.
• Users utilise these sites to share files with friends and other users, while companies use file sharing sites to provide collateral that is associated with a particular campaign or product.
• Some file sharing sites are seen to be unlawful as they allow users to download and share pirated content.
Social Media examples – File sharing
• YouTube – www.youtube.com/PolestarComms
• YouTube is a site that allows users to play, upload, share, vote and comment on AV material
• YouTube can provide businesses with applications that allow them to create their own channels with videos that are associated with their campaigns or products.
Social Media examples – File sharing• Total number of YouTube videos -
over 120,000,000
• Number of videos uploaded per day - about 200,000
• Time required to see all the videos - over 600 years
• Number of videos watched daily - over 100,000,000
• Amount of content uploaded every minute - 13 hours
• Number of accounts on YouTube - over 300,000,000
Mobile Social Media• Through the introduction of 3G
mobiles, the UK has seen consumers embrace the Social Media functionality of the new technology; especially that of the iPhone.
• 54.8% of all iPhone users access social networking sites. (comscore)
• The good news for your brand is that mobile users of social media sites are likely to consume two or three times as much digital content as their un-social 3G mobile counterparts.(ABI report forecast, 2008)
Mobile Social Media – iPhone apps• The iPhone has also given brands
the ability to deliver more value to consumers through the development of apps (applications)
• The aim of apps is to provide the consumer with a utility that is entertaining, simple, and buzz-worthy.
• Since July 2008, 500 million iPhone apps have been downloaded, with an average of 1 million downloads per day.(comscore)
• So, how does your brand ensure that the target audience is discovering and sharing these apps?
Social Media best & worst practices
Social Media best practices1. Evaluate the way your brand engages with the audience
• The introduction of Social Media has given consumers more opportunity to interact with brands - so it’s essential that you deliver content that engages your target audience.
• This can be achieved through the creation of brand stories.
• Brand stories provide an emotional proposition that allow brands to connect with their audience, encouraging contributions and positive feedback.
• The use advocates in brand stories can also enhance your reach and offer users a person they can relate to.
• Brand stories should invite your audience to contribute and share content – ask them how they ‘feel’ about the proposition.
Social Media best practices• Kleenex Let it out campaign
• Kleenex created a story called Let It Out, which focused on creating an emotional connection between consumers and the brand.
• Let It Out had a proposition focused on inviting users to break free from inhibitions and emotions , so Kleenex developed a social media mechanic that invited users to contribute content that was associated with the key messaging.
• Visitors could leave photos or videos for others to view while voting for their favourite entries.
• More than 50 percent of users thought the space gave a positive impression of the brand and 38 percent thought it contained interesting and relevant content.
• Users added that the space was easy to use and a good way of advertising Kleenex.
Social Media best practices• Kleenex Let it out campaign:
http://www.kleenex.co.uk/Let-It-Out/Default.aspx
Social Media best practices2. Use of social media to engage requires two things.
Trust. And trust.
• Understand and analyse your target audience before communicating.
• Assess your openness to a one-to-one dialogue with the target audience and be honest.
• Accept losing some control - some users may not agree with what you have to say and will certainly have an opinion on it.
• Assess your levels of acceptance to criticism – opinion and debate is good, but you shouldn’t produce content that alienates, or worse, insults your audience.
• Be open to creativity and provide content that is engaging, valuable and referable.
Social Media best practices
• Jan Moir’s Daily Mail opinion piece on the death of Stephen Gately is an example of a brand not properly understanding its audience.
• The article caused offence to the majority of readers, and the backlash resulted in the retraction of advertising space, an apology from the editor, and the loss of brand equity for The Daily Mail: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/oct/23/jan-moir-stephen-gately-apology
Social Media best practices3. Allow your consumers to actively take part and contribute.
• Having people contribute is more likely to improve your engagement and reputation.
• Ensure that published contributions create a dialogue, not a monologue – invite users to comment on topics and content.
• Don’t Initiate a dialogue/conversation and not follow up – always maintain communication.
• The use of advocates and expert contributions can vastly improve the reputation of the brand.
Social Media best practices• The Royal Opera House invited
users to contribute to the plot of an opera on its #youropera Twitter page through Royal Opera House blog.
• The Twitter Opera" will join 140-character Twitter messages into a libretto set to familiar opera tunes and new music.
• Through contributions, The Royal Opera House not only offered more value to it’s loyal followers, but also created a channel for those who are unfamiliar with the opera to engage with the brand.
Social Media best practices
4. Assign a resource to maintain and contribute to a regular stream of communication to your users – people won’t talk about it if there is nothing to talk about
• Define a topic (strategy) that will stimulate dialogue
• Ensure that your communication isn’t too ‘marketing and pushy’
5. Ensure that relevant success metrics are established prior to the implementation (e.g. volume of followers, volume of streaming, links, etc.)
6. Always integrate all of the Social Media platforms into your Social Media strategy e.g. Mobile is vital today, and will increasingly become, the major platform for Social Media
Social Media worst practices
• Coke Zero built a blog containing a fake author and fake blog entries dating back to June 2005. Users found out due to the unconvincing content, and that the domain was registered in August 2005. http://www.adrants.com/2006/01/coke-lies-misleads-with-fake-zero.php
1. Never blatantly lie or manipulate the target audience with fake content – you’ll be found out sooner or later, and at the detriment of your brand.
Social Media worst practices
• If you have intentions to promote a campaign or product, it’s wise to take time to understand the community you are trying to engage with.
• Social networking, news and file sharing sites all have Terms of Service guidelines, but the community of users will have guidelines for behaviour that can only be understood by observing and participating.
2. Failing to observe Social Media formal and unwritten community rules
• Ignoring these guidelines risks the threat of expulsion by moderators and alienation by the community.
Social Media worst practices3. It’s all about convergence. There is seldom a case for
Social Media as your only form of communication
• Social Media is an excellent method for promoting campaigns and products, however it must not be used as the sole communication channel for your brand.
• The majority of Social Media activity concerning a brand usually stems from a media execution displayed outside an online environment - so it’s important to understand that while consumers generate buzz through Social Media sites, most of the time this buzz has been influenced through another channel e.g. Cadbury’s Dairy Milk
• Therefore, in order to get the most engagement with your brand, integrate your Social Media plan with traditional media, and offer your consumers something to talk about.
Social Media and luxury brands
Firstly, affluent consumers are on-line in increasing numbers
But ....
- Luxury brands hesitant to harness new marketing technique
- Concerns over maintaining exclusivity in social media
Gucci believe accessibility in social media will build brand desire and have over 400k fans
Estee Lauder have used social media to promote their in-store makeovers
http://www.facebook.com/EsteeLauder
Estee Lauder used social media to makea connection to current, new and couldbe/would be customers by offering freemakeovers and photo shoots atits department-store cosmetics stalls.
The photos from the shoots could thenposted on the customers social mediaprofile.
The Estee Lauder event sought to changeyounger consumers’ perceptions of thebrand by creating an “experience” (theconcept that most luxury brands arebased on)
Jimmy Choo have used social media to create excitement
Jimmy Choo – catchachoo
http://www.jimmychoo.com/Choonews/THE-JIMMY-CHOO-TRAINERHUNT/stry/catchachoo
The Jimmy Choo Trainer Hunt in Londoninvites people to “follow” a pair ofdesigner trainers as they “make theirstylish journey around London through
theFourSquare mapping location targetapp.
Checking in at the coolest, hippestPlaces around town – from the SaatchiGallery to Shoreditch House – the trainerswill update you on their whereabouts inReal time. And if they check into a venuenear you, you can catch them to keepthem”.
Prada have used e-bay style auctions to create on-line excitement
In-touch with how people live:Held a chic ebay-style auction on their website to auction
off their sample piecesWay of artificially driving up price and collectability of
Prada ‘artefacts’
Conversely Mercedes have created a by invitation only club to re-enforce exclusivity
And Burberry have deliberately limited social activity to nurture existing customers
http://artofthetrench.com/
Burberrys own social networking site thatcreate an experience targeted at itstrenchcoat customers
Customers can create a profile andupload images of themselves wearingthe Burberry trench, and comment andconnect with other users.
Burberry didn’t neglect its Facebookcommunity, but its is simply givingcustomers another outlet
The brand still uses its Facebook channel(1.1 million fans), however launching this community refines the audience from thelarger social networks and targets themore niche customers who arepassionate about the brand
Social media for luxury brands
• Affluent consumers are heavy users of social media
• Brands can use the area to drive awareness, participation and desire amongst a broad consumer base
• Or it can be more limited to nurturing core consumers and creating loyal advocates
Insights into a luxury sector’s use of social media
Premium Spirits
Insight into premium spirits in social media
• Far from being unaccountable, a huge amount of real time insight can be accessed
• The following charts show examples of insights into what’s happening in social media for The Macallan & Grey Goose - The volume of on-line brand conversations and where they
are happening- The nature of comments made and key subjects of
conversation- Key social sites and influential individuals
• This tracking can be applied both to plan and track the effect of social media programmes
The Macallan online word of mouth: UK / 2010
Sentiment towards the brand is largely favourable , with only 8% of comments being negative
Positive: 127 comments = 8%Neutral: 1,328 comments = 79%Negative: 307 comments = 13%
Forums have most mentions for The Macallan with some of the most popular threads shown below...
The Macallan was mentioned 722 times during 2010 on global sites
Jan-10 Feb-10 Mar-10 Apr-10 May-100
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800News Blogs Forums Twitter
News
Blogs
Forums
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 4000% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Neg-ativeNeutral
• RE: Good whiskey?• RE: Whiskey lovers I need help.• Re: Rum vs. Whiskey• Re: Any whiskey drinkers here?
Recommendations?• Re: Whiskey Drinkers.• RE: Official Scotch Thread• RE: SMOOTH Whiskey.. • RE: The Whiskey Diaries: Scotland in
Taiwan• RE: Whiskey tips please!!• RE: Scotch Jam: The Macallan 12 year• Re: Taiwanese whiskey beats the Scots
own• Re: Weekend OT: scotch and whisky• RE: Favourite brands of rum vodka
whiskey and tequila• RE: Favourite alcohol?• RE: What are you drinking?
The Macallan blog posts and news stories: WW/2010Most of the news stories to mentions The Macallan are about record-breaking auction sales, with competitive mixology events also showing up in the news
Compared to Grey Goose, and vodka in general, a higher proportion of blog posts to mention the Macallan are written by and for connoisseurs of Whiskey.
This is highlighted by the names of the blogs to mention the brand in 2010, some of which are shown in the chart below
Top Blog Sources and Word Cloud from Blog Post Titles
Word Cloud from global News Headlines
whiskyparty.netwhiskyintelligence.com/
luxurylaunches.comrecenteats.blogspot.com
elitechoice.orgcarolineoncrack.com
pursuitist.comthebottlereport.com
drinkhacker.comeiling.blogspot.com
whiskymerchants.blogspot.comintoxicologist.wordpress.com
outofaces.comspiritsnotebook.blogspot.com
thedizzyfizz.wordpress.comcoconutgrovegrapevine.blogspot.com
0 5 10 15 20 25
• First Ever Ultimate Cocktail Challenge Announces Winners and Shakes Up the Spirits World!
• Scotch brand eyes bigger pie of Indian liquor market• Father's Day Gifts At WalkersUS.com Are Distinctive
Delicious And Only A Mouse Click Away• Foreign liquor bullish about prospects in Punjab• Luxury Institute Announces Toast of the Town in
Prestigious Wine and Spirits Category• Macallan 50th anniversary whiskey sells for record
£11,750• Carbon dating catching whisky cheats
Sample of news headlines
Grey Goose vodka online word of mouth: UK / 2010
Sentiment towards the brand is largely favourable , with only 10% of comments being negative
Positive: 128 comments = 24%Neutral: 356 comments = 66%Negative: 57 comments = 10%
Twitter has more mentions than any other platform and some typical tweets are shown below...
Grey Goose vodka has been mentioned 541 times during 2010
Jan-10 Feb-10 Mar-10 Apr-10 May-100
100
200
300
400
500
600News Blogs Forums Twitter
Forums
Blogs
News
0 50 100 150 200 250 3000% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Neg-ativeNeutral
DJKey
Fuda_Guy
kerrylouisexxx
BeautyAndDirt
jo_elvin
rukcooray
Suraj_Sharma
bennicky
MTVMusicUK
londoneating
0 5,000 10,000 15,000 20,000 25,000 30,000 35,000
Grey Goose top Twitterers: UK / 2010
http://twitter.com/djkeyFollowers: 15,057Authority: 8 /10Location: Blackpool, United KingdomWebsite: www.DJKey.com
Bio: DJ Key - DJ at the Legendary Tower Lounge and Brannigans Blackpool! Music Submissions? Please @ me.
http://twitter.com/kerrylouisexxx Followers: 16,192Authority: 9 /10Location: LA & UKWebsite:http://www.pleasekerrylouise.com
Bio: The only OFFICIAL Twitter of Pornstar Kerry Louise. Best New Starlet 2010 SHAFTA AWARD!
http://twitter.com/fuda_guyFollowers: 2,052Authority: 7 /10Location: East LondonWebsite: http://www.fudaguy.com
Bio: Rapper/ Songwriter. Grime Artist and member of the infamous Ruff Sqwad!
The chart to the right shows the top 10 UK Twitter users to mention Grey Goose, ranked by the number of followers they have. The top 3 include a ‘legendary’ DJ, an ‘infamous’ rapper and an award winning adult film star. The word cloud within the chart shows the words most often associated with Grey Goose within tweets (with vodka removed)DJ Key
Grey Goose blog posts and news stories: UK / 2010Most of the news stories and blog posts to mention Grey Goose vodka are related to celebrities and their drinking habits:
• The Grey Goose RAAD pre-Oscars party accounted for the largest number of blog posts
• The Grey Goose cocktails served at the Asprey pre-BAFTA party accounted for largest number of news stories
• The Grey Goose dressing-room-vodka requested by rappers as part of their riders was the most-discussed forum discussions to make mention of the brand
Word Cloud from Blog Post Titles
Word Cloud from UK News Headlines
• Bacardi digital marketer leaves for TBWA Paris Orange British Academy Film Awards 2010
• Rihanna Treats Tipsy Entourage• Asprey / Orange British Academy Film Awards 2010• Grace Bay Resorts Sets New Fully-Inclusive Standard in Turks and
Caicos • DeVito/Verdi Captures 10 Nominations in National Retail Federation's
Annual Advertising Competition• Hot J.Lo warms up for Oscars
Sample of news headlines and blog posts
Growing brands through social media
• We can precisely plan social media strategies for each brand- Key social spaces- Most vociferous and influential sources- Understanding key subjects of chatter
• We can track and develop activity- Impact of activity, relationship of W.o.M with sales- Fuelling conversation amongst key influencers- Crowdsourcing: using to identify and use an advocates panel- Refining propositions and activities
