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Rules of Engagement: How Brands Join Conversations
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Written By Kate Zimmermann | September 26, 2006 | Share This
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I wasn’t terribly impressed with this session, and would have re-titled it, “Social Media 101″. No less, I sat through it, so here’s a recap of what was said:
(Moderated by Pete Blackshaw of Nielson Buzzmetrics, with speakers: Jeff Montgomery – Tribal Fusion, Shervin Pishevar –Freewebs, Rohit Bhargava – Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, Bruce Ertmann – Toyota)
- Rohit: Engagement is about creating and continuing conversations, to help spread the word about your service and develop new products. “Engagement is your audience engaging their audience” through user-generated content.
- Bruce: Engagement is a a part of PR, and involves making the company more transparent. Toyota is leveraging engagement by entering into discussions on automotive forums and other enthusiast sites, with the goal of being “authentic” and helpful. They want to “talk, listen, and respond like a consumer.”
- Jeff: Marketers have to find ways in which they can drive a higher level of participation with the audience by provoking an emotional reaction. For example, USA Networks’ “show us your character” campaign.
- Pete: It’s difficult for brands to engage in conversations without destroying the “context of community”. How do you nurture trust? How do you add value to the conversation instead of just getting in the way? (the difference between pop up ads and participatory websites)
- Mr. Toyota suggests engaging with sites that already have a large registered member base. For example, they used one such site (toyotanation.com) to announce, with as much honesty and humility as possible, a defect in their newly released line of Camrys. Bruce says that toyota recieved a suprisingly positive response to the announcement, thanks to “transparency”.
- Rohit presents the Rules of Engagement as a 3-Phase approach: 1. Listen to existing community, 2. Participate, 3. Lead the conversation. Not a step process, he notes, but more of a circular process, to be determined on a case by case basis.
- Shervin emphasizes value of being honest when engaging conversations – can’t participate with branding intentions. This is why the most successful conversations are started by people, not by brands. The fans have to remain in control of the conversation in order to preserve authenticity, but the benefits of relinquishing control are much greater than the costs.
- Jeff reemphasizes the need to listen to existing conversations.
- Pete returns conversation to authenticity. “Are we really sincere about this term?” Cites media frenzy over LonelyGirl, saying that the mystery associated with her alter-ego would have crashed and burned if linked back to a brand. But, is this type of stealth going to be the future of online advertising, or will it be transparency? Shervin says that LonleyGirls’ non-authenticity was the primary vehicle for her popularity because users themselves uncovered the scandal. This proves that authenticity is most important, for brands. (I disagree with both pete and shervin, because fans were enamored by the scandal, not repulsed by it, and the general reception is one of admiration for a company clever enough to pull of such a stunt.)
- Pete asks, “Does offering user-generated opportunity increase authenticity?” Rohit responds – Mixed results depending on the brand. Firefox, for example, succeeded when it asked users to help build the site. GM on the other hand, asked users to create viral content about why they love their SUVs, but couldn’t generate any response. GM failed because there were more people who wanted to talk about the negative impact of SUVs rather than the positive.
- Pete asks, “Is it more important to listen to the blogs and inform judgement, or to create a blog to lead the conversation?” Panelists agree that blogs are successful because there is a recognizable individual behind them. So, a brand has to be a “listener” unless there is a single person in the company who can lead the conversation. Bruce adds in, “You have to respect the blog.”
- Pete asks, What industry should be leading the user-generated advertising revolution? Panelists disregard this as a silly question, pointing out that all types of marketers and agencies are involved in social media, and that the real “leaders” are the consumers.
Q & A
- Question from the audience: How do you jumpstart a conversation when it doesn’t exist?
Answer from panelists: Send bloggers samples to get them talking about your brands, create widgets that people can interact with on the site, know your influencers. - Quesiton: How do you create a conversation for a brand that doesn’t already have a passionate fan base behind it? (incidentally, this question was asked by a guy representing Booz Allen)
Answer: Initial emphasis should be on the brands that do have lots of fans, with promotion of the rest to follow. - Question: How do you make sure that your don’t just get lost in the mix?
Answer: Social Media Optimization. - Question: How does want for repeat visitors influence content development decisions? (panelists generally befuddled by this question, but do their best to give a generic answer)
Answer: Portability of content and ability to share it is most important. RSS feeds are a good way to bring content into your site on an updated basis. - Question: If twenty-somethings “own the conversation online”, how do large corporations engage in conversations with this youthful demographic, and how do they stay authentic?
Answer: “Create something” to share that’s generated around a popularity contest in a widget. Create something that’s interesting enough for people to spread. Get your content into content aggregators to get more attention across the web.
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