Addressing employers fear that allowing social media at work will decrease productivity
“If you worry about the internet effecting productivity, you’re worrying about people stealing pens from the stationery cupboard”. Bill Gates, Chairman, Microsoft
Is lack of productivity due to social media really the issue employers are concerned with? Or is the fear born out of the lack of control about what is being said, rather than how often sites are being accessed?
There is a general ground swell of uncertainty attached to the monitoring of how employees use social media. The melding of their personal face with that of the organisations presents both complications and opportunities. Social media, be it good, bad or ugly, is not going away. It is, however, changing the face of how we do business and organisations need to work to embrace it in order to harness how it can work for them and their employees.
When internet based email was first introduced to businesses in 1971, employers panicked about the misuse or decline in productivity from employees this may have. Email policies were common in the early adoption days but I’d challenge you to find an employee that has read, knows where to find or was made aware of their organisation’s email policy on joining the organisation they are now in, assuming, of course, that they haven’t been there for more than twenty years. I’d also challenge you to find anyone that considers email a hindrance to their business.
Blocking employee access to social media sites is not the answer. Employees will simply pick up their iphone or other mobile device and access sites that way. You can’t prevent access in the same way you can’t prevent conversations happening in the social media space about your brand, service or product. Nor should you want to.
Is it not better to be part of those conversations and encourage and nurture a positive experience for customers and employees in order to champion your brand? Creating a social media policy is a good idea, particularly if your organisation is large. Setting out expectations on what can and can’t be shared when it comes to intellectual property and what sort of tone is appropriate when blogging, micro-blogging, pod-casting etc on behalf of your organisation, helps establish a benchmark that you can then tailor as needed.
Harnessed properly, social media can not only grow your business but create thought leaders of your employees, develop networks and collaboration across your industry and provide a platform to develop your employees thinking, making them better at what they do. Remember, social doesn’t necessarily mean fun (although it can be), and while social media can be used for business purposes, the key is to finding a balance to allow your employees time for their own experiences outside of the confines of their work roles.
And trust shouldn’t be underestimated as a way of motivating staff. Knowing they have yours is essential for any employee to grow and develop.
And if you already know all of this but are finding it challenging to convince your colleagues or CEO that social media should be embraced and not shunned, perhaps it’s worth pointing out that whether you’re part of the conversation or not, people will be talking about your brand, service, products and industry in any number of forums. What you learn from, and contribute to, those conversations will make your business smarter.
Your CEO might not think social media is relevant to your business but your customers, stakeholders and employees might have other ideas. Perhaps the best place to start is by creating some listening posts to track conversations about your brand, product, service and industry and then make a decision on whether those are conversations you’re happy to ignore. At least then you’re making an informed decision.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Netiquette
We all have varying degrees of what is acceptable etiquette at the dinner table, in business meetings and when visiting foreign countries, so how do those rules translate to an online environment? Does removing the geographical and cultural surrounds that are so much more ephereal online mean that we all live and breathe the same manners on the Internet?
How do we navigate a vastly more comprehensive network of cultures, standards, and customs without offending? Showing the soles of your feet to people is offensive in some cultures - does using acronyms on the web have the same effect in parts of the internet ether?
There have been various studies conducted (usually with teenagers) to show that we interact via the web in a far more open manner – even with people we know. What we wouldn’t say to them in person, we’re much more inclined to reveal behind the veil of our computers. That makes sense. It’s the same with a telephone conversation and a little bit of bravado never hurt anyone. But where does bravado end and arrogance start? Nowhere is more rife with good and bad behaviour than social media.
Netiquette for social media
Watching organisations and individuals traverse the internet’s social media terrain, there are some that seem to bring their values and manners into the way they apply themselves to the space and others that grew up with elbows on the table and were never taught their pleases and thank-yous.
Treat others how you would like to be treated. It sounds cheesy and a bit school marmish but in the world of social media, having respect for those you are in the same game park as is going to get you further than bullying your way around. Here are a few tips for netiquette in social media:
– Don’t hog the limelight – it’s a moving, breathing space. Make your point and move on.
– Don’t use hash tags that have nothing to do with what you’re writing about. It doesn’t help anyone and annoys most.
– Don’t write the same way you would on your corporate website or on a job application. Be yourself, after all, you’re the only one who can do it well.
– Give your opinion. Good or bad is fine but remember that others can do the same.
– Find out where you stand and the rules before jumping in. Only a fool jumps head first into a pool they’ve never swum in before.
– Give credit where credit is due. People will respect you for it and will do the same for you.
– Be brave and give it a go. If you make a mistake, apologise and move on. Practice makes perfect…or at least moves us in the right direction.
There is no entrance exam on how to behave in social media but common sense and being yourself are a good start.
Post. CD
How do we navigate a vastly more comprehensive network of cultures, standards, and customs without offending? Showing the soles of your feet to people is offensive in some cultures - does using acronyms on the web have the same effect in parts of the internet ether?
There have been various studies conducted (usually with teenagers) to show that we interact via the web in a far more open manner – even with people we know. What we wouldn’t say to them in person, we’re much more inclined to reveal behind the veil of our computers. That makes sense. It’s the same with a telephone conversation and a little bit of bravado never hurt anyone. But where does bravado end and arrogance start? Nowhere is more rife with good and bad behaviour than social media.
Netiquette for social media
Watching organisations and individuals traverse the internet’s social media terrain, there are some that seem to bring their values and manners into the way they apply themselves to the space and others that grew up with elbows on the table and were never taught their pleases and thank-yous.
Treat others how you would like to be treated. It sounds cheesy and a bit school marmish but in the world of social media, having respect for those you are in the same game park as is going to get you further than bullying your way around. Here are a few tips for netiquette in social media:
– Don’t hog the limelight – it’s a moving, breathing space. Make your point and move on.
– Don’t use hash tags that have nothing to do with what you’re writing about. It doesn’t help anyone and annoys most.
– Don’t write the same way you would on your corporate website or on a job application. Be yourself, after all, you’re the only one who can do it well.
– Give your opinion. Good or bad is fine but remember that others can do the same.
– Find out where you stand and the rules before jumping in. Only a fool jumps head first into a pool they’ve never swum in before.
– Give credit where credit is due. People will respect you for it and will do the same for you.
– Be brave and give it a go. If you make a mistake, apologise and move on. Practice makes perfect…or at least moves us in the right direction.
There is no entrance exam on how to behave in social media but common sense and being yourself are a good start.
Post. CD
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Annual gratification
I just received an update from slideshare.com on the 2009 activity through the Daemon Digital account and it is easy to see the appeal of sharing presentations when they provide the instant gratification of being able to track how many people view and like your work.
The annual update adds icing and is a great touch by the Slideshare team. For the record, Daemon Digital uploaded 11 presentations during the year, which were viewed 16,066 times at an average of 1,461 each. Social Media Strategies for Business was the most popular with 4,886 views.
Not many by some standards I imagine, but satisfying none the less.
The annual update adds icing and is a great touch by the Slideshare team. For the record, Daemon Digital uploaded 11 presentations during the year, which were viewed 16,066 times at an average of 1,461 each. Social Media Strategies for Business was the most popular with 4,886 views.
Not many by some standards I imagine, but satisfying none the less.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Build it and someone might come……..one day…….perhaps
All Kevin Costner had to do to get the Chicago Black Sox to come and play in a field on his farm in the middle of nowhere (well, Iowa actually, but let’s not split hairs) in the movie ‘Field of Dreams’ was to build the stadium. In this instance, a sound albeit out of this world, piece of advice.
Recently I’ve noticed this train of thought coming up regularly enough to be concerning when discussing content and content creation for social media with organisations. The general enthusiasm and in some cases, actual content creation is happening but there is a notable lack of strategy in what to do with said content - the common belief being that if you put it on a social media channel, people will flock to it. But if it’s not the right content and no one knows it’s there, that’s a pretty big ask.
Social media, when used purposefully, with a long-term strategy and measurable objectives behind it, can be (and more often than not is) a very valuable asset. What is missing in many of the conversations’ organisations are having is the understanding that you need to think beyond just building a Facebook page. In short, you need to make people want to come to you and you need to want them to come back.
Listen: What does your audience what to know about, view, talk about, learn?;
Track: Where are they? Because that’s where you need to be; and
Understand: How are they consuming information? Video? Written? Podcasts?
Once you have done all of these things you can create effective content that you can use to seed out to your audience where they are and drive them to where you want them to be or your own 'field of dreams'.
You can view the case study version of the content creation here http://ow.ly/NgDy
Recently I’ve noticed this train of thought coming up regularly enough to be concerning when discussing content and content creation for social media with organisations. The general enthusiasm and in some cases, actual content creation is happening but there is a notable lack of strategy in what to do with said content - the common belief being that if you put it on a social media channel, people will flock to it. But if it’s not the right content and no one knows it’s there, that’s a pretty big ask.
Social media, when used purposefully, with a long-term strategy and measurable objectives behind it, can be (and more often than not is) a very valuable asset. What is missing in many of the conversations’ organisations are having is the understanding that you need to think beyond just building a Facebook page. In short, you need to make people want to come to you and you need to want them to come back.
Listen: What does your audience what to know about, view, talk about, learn?;
Track: Where are they? Because that’s where you need to be; and
Understand: How are they consuming information? Video? Written? Podcasts?
Once you have done all of these things you can create effective content that you can use to seed out to your audience where they are and drive them to where you want them to be or your own 'field of dreams'.
You can view the case study version of the content creation here http://ow.ly/NgDy
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Measuring and monitoring a social media campaign
Social Media is no different from any other marketing activity for business in that it needs to be tracked and measured to ensure value against objectives. What is different, is both the style of the communications and the plethora of tools available to complete this tracking - many of which are still to be proven due to the relative infancy of the channel by comparison to more traditional media options.
That said, there is little forgiveness for its youthfulness and social media has to work harder to prove its value to most marketing professionals and certainly in order to demonstrate worth to CEOs and Boards. After all, social media is just a fad…isn’t it? Seriously though, we do face a number of challenges in proving the value of social media in terms of tracking organisations whose ultimate value measure lies offline.
Social Media allows us to have conversations - this as a means of communication is a much more complex channel to track as messages are two, or multi directional. Because of this, there is a need for these to be tracked both more frequently and using multiple approaches due to idiosyncrasies across social media platforms set ups and language.
Working with Tourism New South Wales on their ‘7 days in Sydney’ social media campaign, Daemon Digital worked much in the way that social media does when tracking outputs. We responded to what was happening, where shifts were made and what tools were best for the change in activity.
Whilst that might sound reactive, in fact we had set up a very structured outputs framework that married back against TNSW’s overall brand objectives and key messages. The strategy didn’t change, we just altered our game plan to glean the most detailed information.
In order to establish an overall brand perception, Daemon Digital first created a query framework and key word search against TNSW’s key messages run through a crawler system tracking over 6 million conversations of web chatter across blogs, wikis, forums and networks. From this, an eco-system of activity was created across each key message area to establish levels of activity and sentiment around these.
Using a combination of free tools, Daemon Digital established more specific trackers against the content creation from ‘7 Days in Sydney’ and the identity ‘Sydney Sider’. Blogs, microblogs, videos and engagement were tracked on a weekly basis, aggregated and expanded at specific points in the campaign to give greater insight.
The campaign itself is a success, with significant shift in the share of voice in social media from 22% to 39%. Ongoing measures are in place to track against the objective of increasing the number of travellers to Sydney by air ticket tracking and the number of nights in hotels.
For more on Daemon Digital and to view the case study http://ow.ly/LI1U
Post. CD
That said, there is little forgiveness for its youthfulness and social media has to work harder to prove its value to most marketing professionals and certainly in order to demonstrate worth to CEOs and Boards. After all, social media is just a fad…isn’t it? Seriously though, we do face a number of challenges in proving the value of social media in terms of tracking organisations whose ultimate value measure lies offline.
Social Media allows us to have conversations - this as a means of communication is a much more complex channel to track as messages are two, or multi directional. Because of this, there is a need for these to be tracked both more frequently and using multiple approaches due to idiosyncrasies across social media platforms set ups and language.
Working with Tourism New South Wales on their ‘7 days in Sydney’ social media campaign, Daemon Digital worked much in the way that social media does when tracking outputs. We responded to what was happening, where shifts were made and what tools were best for the change in activity.
Whilst that might sound reactive, in fact we had set up a very structured outputs framework that married back against TNSW’s overall brand objectives and key messages. The strategy didn’t change, we just altered our game plan to glean the most detailed information.
In order to establish an overall brand perception, Daemon Digital first created a query framework and key word search against TNSW’s key messages run through a crawler system tracking over 6 million conversations of web chatter across blogs, wikis, forums and networks. From this, an eco-system of activity was created across each key message area to establish levels of activity and sentiment around these.
Using a combination of free tools, Daemon Digital established more specific trackers against the content creation from ‘7 Days in Sydney’ and the identity ‘Sydney Sider’. Blogs, microblogs, videos and engagement were tracked on a weekly basis, aggregated and expanded at specific points in the campaign to give greater insight.
The campaign itself is a success, with significant shift in the share of voice in social media from 22% to 39%. Ongoing measures are in place to track against the objective of increasing the number of travellers to Sydney by air ticket tracking and the number of nights in hotels.
For more on Daemon Digital and to view the case study http://ow.ly/LI1U
Post. CD
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Lights out. Social Media on.
Correctly valuing and monetising social media engagement for clients that, unlike other media, can’t be switched on, or pre-programmed in quite the same way, is just one of the challenges specialist social media agencies face.
Conversations with clients recently have often come back to numbers. Yes, numbers meaning prices, but more often, numbers as in number of hours.
Social media is about dialogue. And one of the inherent values of social media that we don’t see anywhere else, is the opportunity to respond to outside occurrences in real time through the sharing of thoughts, ideas and emotions all wrapped up in various forms of conversation be that written, verbal, through images or video.
In order to do that however, you need to be constantly tuned in or switched on. Anyone who has even a smattering of work ethic does not hang up on a conversation, ditch a proposal or walk out on a meeting simply because it’s officially time to clock out. Let’s make no mistake, there are certainly those who don’t work a minute outside when they are paid to do so. And perhaps they’re the smart ones, but that’s a different conversation.
The point is, when your social media audience is most engaged, is when you need to be present and accounted for in the conversation. If that’s midnight, it’s midnight. What clients sometimes find it hard to understand is that this means being constantly switched on. So, when they ask you how many hours you’re going to spend on their social media strategy or campaign this week, the answer should be ‘as many as it needs’ rather than ‘as many as you’re paying for between the hours of 9am and 5pm’.
That’s all very admirable in an ideal world but at the end of the day, we’re all here to make money. Sure, we want to create brilliant work that makes our clients and ourselves successful along the way but we need to be realistic about just how we can do that. So where’s the healthy balance? Where’s the point you switch off?
This isn't about answering all the questions, but one question that has been answered is that being switched on when it counts means you can maximise on all the good stuff and mitigate some of the bad stuff better and more swiftly.
A great example of just that is this case study from Tourism New South Wales.
http://ow.ly/JIJ0
Post: CD
Conversations with clients recently have often come back to numbers. Yes, numbers meaning prices, but more often, numbers as in number of hours.
Social media is about dialogue. And one of the inherent values of social media that we don’t see anywhere else, is the opportunity to respond to outside occurrences in real time through the sharing of thoughts, ideas and emotions all wrapped up in various forms of conversation be that written, verbal, through images or video.
In order to do that however, you need to be constantly tuned in or switched on. Anyone who has even a smattering of work ethic does not hang up on a conversation, ditch a proposal or walk out on a meeting simply because it’s officially time to clock out. Let’s make no mistake, there are certainly those who don’t work a minute outside when they are paid to do so. And perhaps they’re the smart ones, but that’s a different conversation.
The point is, when your social media audience is most engaged, is when you need to be present and accounted for in the conversation. If that’s midnight, it’s midnight. What clients sometimes find it hard to understand is that this means being constantly switched on. So, when they ask you how many hours you’re going to spend on their social media strategy or campaign this week, the answer should be ‘as many as it needs’ rather than ‘as many as you’re paying for between the hours of 9am and 5pm’.
That’s all very admirable in an ideal world but at the end of the day, we’re all here to make money. Sure, we want to create brilliant work that makes our clients and ourselves successful along the way but we need to be realistic about just how we can do that. So where’s the healthy balance? Where’s the point you switch off?
This isn't about answering all the questions, but one question that has been answered is that being switched on when it counts means you can maximise on all the good stuff and mitigate some of the bad stuff better and more swiftly.
A great example of just that is this case study from Tourism New South Wales.
http://ow.ly/JIJ0
Post: CD
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater
Agencies tend to like the invention of new. There’s nothing wrong with being innovative. In fact, it’s both commendable and desirable, and, in the majority of instances, needed. What they’re sometimes not very good at doing is acknowledging the value in existing work or work (gasp), that is not their own.
So when it is right to take out the tried and tested, dust it off and make it better? When is it ok to say ‘that’s working, it’s working well, so we’re not going to change it (much)’?.
It’s a little bit of practice what you preach….
We’ve always advocated that social media is a long term commitment and by being continually involved in the space you have a voice that gets heard and has credibility. The application of that ethos helped in the creation of a successful social media campaign for Tourism New South Wales starting from somewhere around, ooh, I’d say, the 100m mark?
Our challenge? To raise the profile of Sydney as a destination of choice for young travellers (aged 18-30 years) from the UK and Ireland looking to travel on a variety of visa types.
We already had two things: A youth market contributing 37% of international visitor arrivals in New South Wales, and an engaged fan base on Facebook of a little over 3,000 fans. So we harnessed both of these and used them as a foundation to build even higher.
Facebook became the fulcrum for the campaign. The fan base at the beginning of May 2009 was 3,359. Since then, the number of fans has more than doubled through purely organic growth, with an increase of 4,275 additional fans. The fan base, which has a strong representation from the 18-30 target market, is now host to a total fan base of 7,634. And perhaps ‘fan’ is the wrong word. These aren’t discount driven relationships or pure broadcasting, they are engaged participants having conversations and sharing information.
Of course that didn’t happen all on its own and there was a carefully crafted strategic approach backing it that comprised of both offensive and defensive elements; a lot of research; content creation; seeding in travel and vertical markets; and general passion and enthusiasm for a fun job with a great client.
Better yet were the results. Tourism New South Wales share of online voice in social media for ‘Sydney’ went from 22% in the months leading up to the campaign to 39% at its conclusion including forums, blogs and micro-blogs.
So yes, it’s a lot of hard work too but the point is this. If clients have bothered to take themselves into the world of social media and they’re not doing a bad job, they may need your help and direction which they’ve obviously recognised (and for that we praise them) but don’t disregard their experiences to date. Use what they have and let them share their knowledge and challenges with you. It makes sense and it works. And you know what? You both end up feeling better for it.
See more of 7 Days in Sydney here:
www.facebook.com/seesydney
http://www.7daysinsydney.wordpress.com/
www.flickr.com/photos/7daysinsydney
www.youtube.com/seesydney
www.twitter.com/sydneysider
www.twitter.com/7daysinsydney
http://www.bestcityintheworld.wordpress.com/
Post. CD
So when it is right to take out the tried and tested, dust it off and make it better? When is it ok to say ‘that’s working, it’s working well, so we’re not going to change it (much)’?.
It’s a little bit of practice what you preach….
We’ve always advocated that social media is a long term commitment and by being continually involved in the space you have a voice that gets heard and has credibility. The application of that ethos helped in the creation of a successful social media campaign for Tourism New South Wales starting from somewhere around, ooh, I’d say, the 100m mark?
Our challenge? To raise the profile of Sydney as a destination of choice for young travellers (aged 18-30 years) from the UK and Ireland looking to travel on a variety of visa types.
We already had two things: A youth market contributing 37% of international visitor arrivals in New South Wales, and an engaged fan base on Facebook of a little over 3,000 fans. So we harnessed both of these and used them as a foundation to build even higher.
Facebook became the fulcrum for the campaign. The fan base at the beginning of May 2009 was 3,359. Since then, the number of fans has more than doubled through purely organic growth, with an increase of 4,275 additional fans. The fan base, which has a strong representation from the 18-30 target market, is now host to a total fan base of 7,634. And perhaps ‘fan’ is the wrong word. These aren’t discount driven relationships or pure broadcasting, they are engaged participants having conversations and sharing information.
Of course that didn’t happen all on its own and there was a carefully crafted strategic approach backing it that comprised of both offensive and defensive elements; a lot of research; content creation; seeding in travel and vertical markets; and general passion and enthusiasm for a fun job with a great client.
Better yet were the results. Tourism New South Wales share of online voice in social media for ‘Sydney’ went from 22% in the months leading up to the campaign to 39% at its conclusion including forums, blogs and micro-blogs.
So yes, it’s a lot of hard work too but the point is this. If clients have bothered to take themselves into the world of social media and they’re not doing a bad job, they may need your help and direction which they’ve obviously recognised (and for that we praise them) but don’t disregard their experiences to date. Use what they have and let them share their knowledge and challenges with you. It makes sense and it works. And you know what? You both end up feeling better for it.
See more of 7 Days in Sydney here:
www.facebook.com/seesydney
http://www.7daysinsydney.wordpress.com/
www.flickr.com/photos/7daysinsydney
www.youtube.com/seesydney
www.twitter.com/sydneysider
www.twitter.com/7daysinsydney
http://www.bestcityintheworld.wordpress.com/
Post. CD
One great idea and one great blog
The latter first.
If you have ever worked in a creative industry, particularly on the agency side, then you will love this post to David Thorne’s blog 27b/6: http://ow.ly/I1A5. In fact, if you like that post, you’ll probably love the others too, particularly this one: http://ow.ly/I1D9
Now to the good idea. Apparently it’s not fundraising but it is handraising, http://www.ihave.org.uk/ allows charities to create wish lists of required goods and services and for individuals to fulfill those wishes. Requirements are many and varied, for example a marketing strategy, a pint of blood, a laptop, warm socks and old bras. The wish lists are many and certainly varied enough to enable everyone to do something this Festive Season.
Post:RS
If you have ever worked in a creative industry, particularly on the agency side, then you will love this post to David Thorne’s blog 27b/6: http://ow.ly/I1A5. In fact, if you like that post, you’ll probably love the others too, particularly this one: http://ow.ly/I1D9
Now to the good idea. Apparently it’s not fundraising but it is handraising, http://www.ihave.org.uk/ allows charities to create wish lists of required goods and services and for individuals to fulfill those wishes. Requirements are many and varied, for example a marketing strategy, a pint of blood, a laptop, warm socks and old bras. The wish lists are many and certainly varied enough to enable everyone to do something this Festive Season.
Post:RS
Friday, November 20, 2009
Social Media promotion of ‘The Hangover’
Daemon Digital is helping to promote the Warner Home Video Blu-ray, DVD and On Demand release of the hit film, The Hangover. The campaign, which launched at the start of November, employs a highly targeted social media strategy to encourage people to interact with the film and its characters and ignite interest in the home release of one of the year’s most popular comedies.
A competition to win an all expenses paid trip to Las Vegas will be the centrepiece of the campaign; however Daemon recommended a supporting strategy which would drive a high number of entrants as well as importantly encouraging entrants to engage with the storyline of the film and therefore start conversations with the brand.
Entrants to the competition are invited to upload their funniest party photo to a dedicated page on Facebook – in creative costumes, striking poses and pulling faces that could only be captured in a split second; essentially doing things that make others laugh out loud, a la The Hangover!
The specific promotion of the campaign involves seeding invitational content through social media networks such as Twitter and Facebook news feeds, as well as creating a dedicated Facebook page with backgrounds and avatars in the style of the film and its characters.
The campaign results will be judged using traditional traffic based statistics together with an evaluation of the quality of conversations and interactions generated. Thus far, three weeks into the promotion, the Facebook page has over 11,200 fans.
You can enter the competition by visiting: www.facebook.com/hangovermovie
A competition to win an all expenses paid trip to Las Vegas will be the centrepiece of the campaign; however Daemon recommended a supporting strategy which would drive a high number of entrants as well as importantly encouraging entrants to engage with the storyline of the film and therefore start conversations with the brand.
Entrants to the competition are invited to upload their funniest party photo to a dedicated page on Facebook – in creative costumes, striking poses and pulling faces that could only be captured in a split second; essentially doing things that make others laugh out loud, a la The Hangover!
The specific promotion of the campaign involves seeding invitational content through social media networks such as Twitter and Facebook news feeds, as well as creating a dedicated Facebook page with backgrounds and avatars in the style of the film and its characters.
The campaign results will be judged using traditional traffic based statistics together with an evaluation of the quality of conversations and interactions generated. Thus far, three weeks into the promotion, the Facebook page has over 11,200 fans.
You can enter the competition by visiting: www.facebook.com/hangovermovie
Thursday, October 22, 2009
It’s always the little things in life…
…and here are two great examples.
Firstly the Ogori Café in Chiba, Japan, where instead of getting your order, you receive the order of the person in front of you instead. A really simple and fun idea that allows you to surprise and treat the next person in line. Love this, such a good idea and how much fun http://ow.ly/w3ff
Secondly, the Fun Theory from VW, which is a site dedicated to the concept that fun is the best way to change people’s behaviour. Simple genius. The piano stairs are awesome http://ow.ly/w3mA
Firstly the Ogori Café in Chiba, Japan, where instead of getting your order, you receive the order of the person in front of you instead. A really simple and fun idea that allows you to surprise and treat the next person in line. Love this, such a good idea and how much fun http://ow.ly/w3ff
Secondly, the Fun Theory from VW, which is a site dedicated to the concept that fun is the best way to change people’s behaviour. Simple genius. The piano stairs are awesome http://ow.ly/w3mA
Monday, September 28, 2009
Fiery Sydney sunset sparks social media success
With the youth market already contributing 37% of international visitor arrivals in New South Wales, Tourism NSW were keen to further encourage young travellers to visit Sydney and extend their stay.
Acknowledging word of mouth as an effective channel, they recognised a need to generate content containing a balance of information, opinion and entertainment which would position Sydney as a unique destination. By engaging social networks through defensive and then offensive strategic communications the @sydney_sider Twitter account was established to promote key messages regarding Sydney and react to discussions, comments and questions as they arise.
On 16th July 2009 the setting sun caught the attention of Sydneysiders which was reflected through the Twitter Stream. As an established account @sydney_sider was able to leverage existing followers to encourage Sydneysiders to tweet comments and photos of the natural spectacle.
The Twitter stream for “Sydney” swelled with keywords “sky” and “sunset” with descriptions including best, beautiful and love. Creating the hashtag #sydneysunset, @sydney_sider was able to direct traffic to the stream of positive sentiments and images which were retweeted and shared creating 107,274 impressions.
This user generated content was also used to create a post on the Sydneysider blog, earning high Google rankings for the query “Sydney sunset” and an increase in interactions on the Tourism NSW managed Facebook page.
By reacting immediately @sydney_sider was able to take the organic conversation around a natural phenomenon and increase the presence of Sydney in the Twitter stream, reaching 66,795 people in 191 aggregated tweets.
Daemon Digital Case Study_Sydney Sunset
Acknowledging word of mouth as an effective channel, they recognised a need to generate content containing a balance of information, opinion and entertainment which would position Sydney as a unique destination. By engaging social networks through defensive and then offensive strategic communications the @sydney_sider Twitter account was established to promote key messages regarding Sydney and react to discussions, comments and questions as they arise.
On 16th July 2009 the setting sun caught the attention of Sydneysiders which was reflected through the Twitter Stream. As an established account @sydney_sider was able to leverage existing followers to encourage Sydneysiders to tweet comments and photos of the natural spectacle.
The Twitter stream for “Sydney” swelled with keywords “sky” and “sunset” with descriptions including best, beautiful and love. Creating the hashtag #sydneysunset, @sydney_sider was able to direct traffic to the stream of positive sentiments and images which were retweeted and shared creating 107,274 impressions.
This user generated content was also used to create a post on the Sydneysider blog, earning high Google rankings for the query “Sydney sunset” and an increase in interactions on the Tourism NSW managed Facebook page.
By reacting immediately @sydney_sider was able to take the organic conversation around a natural phenomenon and increase the presence of Sydney in the Twitter stream, reaching 66,795 people in 191 aggregated tweets.
Daemon Digital Case Study_Sydney Sunset
Monday, September 7, 2009
Can you ease into Social Media?
I’ve been reading with interest the reactions to companies who have stumbled in the social arena. In particular on blogs outlining Habitat UK’s hashtag spam, those commenting reeled at the idea of having an intern execute such a highly visible part of the communications strategy. And yet at the same time there is disbelief around the policies in place for US Marines, US Open competitors and on game day for the NFL.
Closer to home, Mat Rogers tweeted his way into trouble with the NRL and at the Social Media Summit in Melbourne the heavily government based audience continually expressed concern at trying to have a two way conversation when it takes forever to get copy approved.
While contemplating whether companies should hire, outsource or DIY their social media strategy, JD Rucker states “having a poorly run social media strategy is worse than not having one at all”. At the same time Nancy Williams is adamant (as I’m sure many of you are): social media without conversation isn’t social media.
When it comes to sports and politics, the consequences of a social media stumble can mean more then just crisis communications. (And of all people to stumble, sportsmen and the public service seem to be the very best at it and I doubt your clear/strict/enforced social media policy is going to change that much.) This is based on rules and regulations set in stone long before the rise of blogs and Twitter.
So while those involved push for changes to allow a more open channel of communication, will we (the public, fans, advocates, constituents, lookers-on, social media mavens) allow them to approach the medium with baby steps? If they won’t let us comment, will we share their content? If they won’t publish our feedback, will we give them our opinion? If they can’t answer our questions, will we seek out (and trust) their advocates instead?
Original post by http://mab397.wordpress.com
Closer to home, Mat Rogers tweeted his way into trouble with the NRL and at the Social Media Summit in Melbourne the heavily government based audience continually expressed concern at trying to have a two way conversation when it takes forever to get copy approved.
While contemplating whether companies should hire, outsource or DIY their social media strategy, JD Rucker states “having a poorly run social media strategy is worse than not having one at all”. At the same time Nancy Williams is adamant (as I’m sure many of you are): social media without conversation isn’t social media.
When it comes to sports and politics, the consequences of a social media stumble can mean more then just crisis communications. (And of all people to stumble, sportsmen and the public service seem to be the very best at it and I doubt your clear/strict/enforced social media policy is going to change that much.) This is based on rules and regulations set in stone long before the rise of blogs and Twitter.
So while those involved push for changes to allow a more open channel of communication, will we (the public, fans, advocates, constituents, lookers-on, social media mavens) allow them to approach the medium with baby steps? If they won’t let us comment, will we share their content? If they won’t publish our feedback, will we give them our opinion? If they can’t answer our questions, will we seek out (and trust) their advocates instead?
Original post by http://mab397.wordpress.com
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Has momentum for change become unstoppable?
Tipping points, according to Wikipedia are "the levels at which the momentum for change becomes unstoppable". Are we far away when it comes to business use of social media platforms? Or more directly when will the business risk of engaging with social media outweigh the perceived risk it represents?
When not taking a risk is actually taking a bigger risk, according to @murnahan, is ‘when your competition does it sooner and better than you’. So could it be that a basic human emotion is the key driver for many organisations? Is it a balance of fear of lost opportunity against the fear of sustained web attack or more succinctly the fear of losing control of the message?
Many organisations, and indeed communications professionals cite losing control of the message as a key reason to avoid social media as a channel to market. But surely this implies control of the message to begin with? If social media channels are an extension of word of mouth then organisations’ have never really had control, it’s just that the reach of those conversations was more limited. Sure, a badly handled guitar or the (alleged) mold in your apartment weren’t discussed on millions of screens, but even now they are, the issue isn’t message control but lack of engagement and dialogue.
It’s not the message that is uncontrolled it is the channel, and that’s what scares business.
Managing reputation and creating relationships with customers are key drivers for every business. Creating engagement with a customer or entering into a dialogue with them in any other medium would be seen as a positive influencing factor likely to elicit repeat business. But in social media it is risky?
If tipping points are those at which the momentum for change becomes unstoppable, surely we are approaching that point at some speed. To actively manage social media channels each business must evaluate its own tolerance for risk and at the very least they should be actively evaluating that tolerance rather than hoping that the societal impact of social media will diminish.
That really would be risky.
When not taking a risk is actually taking a bigger risk, according to @murnahan, is ‘when your competition does it sooner and better than you’. So could it be that a basic human emotion is the key driver for many organisations? Is it a balance of fear of lost opportunity against the fear of sustained web attack or more succinctly the fear of losing control of the message?
Many organisations, and indeed communications professionals cite losing control of the message as a key reason to avoid social media as a channel to market. But surely this implies control of the message to begin with? If social media channels are an extension of word of mouth then organisations’ have never really had control, it’s just that the reach of those conversations was more limited. Sure, a badly handled guitar or the (alleged) mold in your apartment weren’t discussed on millions of screens, but even now they are, the issue isn’t message control but lack of engagement and dialogue.
It’s not the message that is uncontrolled it is the channel, and that’s what scares business.
Managing reputation and creating relationships with customers are key drivers for every business. Creating engagement with a customer or entering into a dialogue with them in any other medium would be seen as a positive influencing factor likely to elicit repeat business. But in social media it is risky?
If tipping points are those at which the momentum for change becomes unstoppable, surely we are approaching that point at some speed. To actively manage social media channels each business must evaluate its own tolerance for risk and at the very least they should be actively evaluating that tolerance rather than hoping that the societal impact of social media will diminish.
That really would be risky.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Losing control can be fun
It seems those hippies were on to something after all! And in the spirit of the 40th anniversary of Woodstock, maybe by loosening the grip on their brand, companies might be able to experience something more out of this world.
Whether it is the integration of user generated content into a campaign or refusing to censor the dissident voice in forums, many brands have been communicated in the voice of the customer in a bold new way.
Unfortunately sometimes the experience can be a disaster, sure to cause painful flashbacks for decades to come. Brand managers can play it safe and minimise the risk, you just need to know what you’re getting into, do it with people you trust and, of course, everything in moderation.
Originally posted by @digitaldaemon
Whether it is the integration of user generated content into a campaign or refusing to censor the dissident voice in forums, many brands have been communicated in the voice of the customer in a bold new way.
Unfortunately sometimes the experience can be a disaster, sure to cause painful flashbacks for decades to come. Brand managers can play it safe and minimise the risk, you just need to know what you’re getting into, do it with people you trust and, of course, everything in moderation.
Originally posted by @digitaldaemon
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Social Media Revolution
A number of years ago, Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod, both teachers in the US, created a video entitled Shift Happens; Did You Know? The themes of Did You Know? are global and designed to be relevant to schools and children around the world and to raise interesting topics of conversation around societal shifts largely driven by the adoption of internet protocol. The themes raised are relevant to a much wider audience than schools and children.
The video embedded below, created by Socialnomics09, youtube.com/user/Socialnomics09, follows a similar theme but investigates the reach and impact on societal shift of increasing usage of Social Media.
Enjoy.
The video embedded below, created by Socialnomics09, youtube.com/user/Socialnomics09, follows a similar theme but investigates the reach and impact on societal shift of increasing usage of Social Media.
Enjoy.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Look after the sense and the pounds will look after themselves
In her ‘Stuff and Junk’ blog (http://tinyurl.com/nlmkad) Mandi Bateson, writing as mab397 highlighted the following oversight in a recent eDM she received from travel.com.au. Can you spot the not so deliberate mistake below:
Did you spot anything missing?
The destinations for these great deals perhaps?
$435 is a great price for a flight to some places but not if it’s to Brisbane! For the record, the cheapest flights in all of these offers were not for the airlines’ “hometown” and it took at least four clicks from the eDM to find a destination matching these fares.
As Mandi so ably points out, are we so quick to overcomplicate our campaigns that we miss the very, very basics?
Did you spot anything missing?The destinations for these great deals perhaps?
$435 is a great price for a flight to some places but not if it’s to Brisbane! For the record, the cheapest flights in all of these offers were not for the airlines’ “hometown” and it took at least four clicks from the eDM to find a destination matching these fares.
As Mandi so ably points out, are we so quick to overcomplicate our campaigns that we miss the very, very basics?
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
3 seconds is all you get
It used to be, according to the traditional rule of thumb, you could divide newspaper readers into three distinct groups based on how they read each page. This rule of thumb was called the 30:3:30 rule and was based on the theory that people read each page of a newspaper in 30 seconds, three minutes or 30 minutes.
The theory followed that in 30 seconds all you could read on each page would be the headlines, that in three minutes you would read both the headlines and the first paragraph of each piece and that finally, in 30 minutes, you could read every word in every story on the page.
Now, with internet penetration levels at their current highs and with wall to wall access to broadcast media; newspapers do not break news anymore. They can report it and they can add significantly more analysis and editorial than their broadcast competitors – but in simple terms the old rule of thumb doesn’t hold up so well anymore for print media, so how well does it apply to our uptake and use of social media?
The first problem with a rule which has 30 seconds as it’s lowest time parameter is that in social media, 30 seconds is a long time. Consider Twitter for example where 30 seconds to read a tweet is a lifetime. In 30 seconds you could conceivably have read a post, retweeted it and moved on to check the footie scores.
So, for social media there’s a new rule: the 3:30:3 principle or that someone will spend three seconds reading a tweet; 30 seconds reading a blog post; or finally and as a maximum say three minutes following a link, responding to a post or starting a conversation.
In its simplest form, this principle promotes that you have to use language that will capture someone’s imagination in three seconds, encouraging them to want to know more, follow you, digg you, join as a fan or even simply entertain.
There are apparently more new words added to the English language each year than existed when Shakespeare was alive and with only three seconds to make a lasting impact we may well need to keep creating them.
The theory followed that in 30 seconds all you could read on each page would be the headlines, that in three minutes you would read both the headlines and the first paragraph of each piece and that finally, in 30 minutes, you could read every word in every story on the page.
Now, with internet penetration levels at their current highs and with wall to wall access to broadcast media; newspapers do not break news anymore. They can report it and they can add significantly more analysis and editorial than their broadcast competitors – but in simple terms the old rule of thumb doesn’t hold up so well anymore for print media, so how well does it apply to our uptake and use of social media?
The first problem with a rule which has 30 seconds as it’s lowest time parameter is that in social media, 30 seconds is a long time. Consider Twitter for example where 30 seconds to read a tweet is a lifetime. In 30 seconds you could conceivably have read a post, retweeted it and moved on to check the footie scores.
So, for social media there’s a new rule: the 3:30:3 principle or that someone will spend three seconds reading a tweet; 30 seconds reading a blog post; or finally and as a maximum say three minutes following a link, responding to a post or starting a conversation.
In its simplest form, this principle promotes that you have to use language that will capture someone’s imagination in three seconds, encouraging them to want to know more, follow you, digg you, join as a fan or even simply entertain.
There are apparently more new words added to the English language each year than existed when Shakespeare was alive and with only three seconds to make a lasting impact we may well need to keep creating them.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Risk and Reward
“Perhaps you are just warming up to the idea that this “new” media is where things are going. The fear of jumping in is really pretty normal. After all, it is hard to believe in something after you have watched all the things you always knew about business and economy suddenly change. So what will make all of this feel better and help it all make sense? The answer is this: If your competition does it sooner and better than you, the cost of lost opportunity will be greater than any other potential risk.”
So writes Mark Aaron Murnahan in his piece The Social Media Marketing Dilemma a simple but undeniably accurate view of many organisations’ position with regards Social Media.
There is a tipping point, when the risk of engaging with Social Media will outweigh the perceived risk it represents and surely we are rapidly approaching that point.
So writes Mark Aaron Murnahan in his piece The Social Media Marketing Dilemma a simple but undeniably accurate view of many organisations’ position with regards Social Media.
There is a tipping point, when the risk of engaging with Social Media will outweigh the perceived risk it represents and surely we are rapidly approaching that point.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
The Jump Shot
Dervs and Cuzzy: two students, two strangers, two lucky of the luckiest people you’re ever going to meet, who’ve just spent 7 Days in Sydney having the time of their lives.
With a few real Sydneysiders to show them around, Dervs and Cuzzy, from Ireland and Britain respectively, have been sharing their experiences from the best city in the world with their followers, friends and fans.
While not everyone gets an all expenses paid trip to Sydney, Dervs and Cuzzy allows everyone to live vicariously through their experiences:
www.facebook.com/seesydney
www.youtube.com/seesydney
7daysinsydney.wordpress.com
www.twitter.com/7daysinsydney
Monday, June 22, 2009
The best offence is a good defence
So you know what you want to achieve with Social Media. You’ve drafted your strategy document and you’re ready to press the go button. So what next, how do you actually engage with an audience using Social Media? It sounds great and you’re sure it’s exactly what your organisation needs, but how do you actually get it done?
If you want to engage your audience in a conversation and start relationships through the use of Social Media, you have to do the hard yards first and build a credible, defensible reputation in the space on which to build more targeted message based campaigns.
In simple terms, building the credibility of your organisation, or your products or services is easiest done by getting your hands dirty. You don’t have to start and or write your own blog (although you could), but you should comment on others where your comments add value or demonstrate expertise.
If you see a value in micro blogging, don’t ignore replies you receive and actively search out questions that you can answer. Search through existing content, on for example, You Tube or Flickr and add commentary or thoughts that substantiate your proposition.
Join social networks in Facebook, My Space or Bebo as appropriate and create an active profile by engaging with your fellow members or fans. And most of all, represent your organisation, product or service honestly, openly and realistically to enhance your reputation.
If you want to engage your audience in a conversation and start relationships through the use of Social Media, you have to do the hard yards first and build a credible, defensible reputation in the space on which to build more targeted message based campaigns.
In simple terms, building the credibility of your organisation, or your products or services is easiest done by getting your hands dirty. You don’t have to start and or write your own blog (although you could), but you should comment on others where your comments add value or demonstrate expertise.
If you see a value in micro blogging, don’t ignore replies you receive and actively search out questions that you can answer. Search through existing content, on for example, You Tube or Flickr and add commentary or thoughts that substantiate your proposition.
Join social networks in Facebook, My Space or Bebo as appropriate and create an active profile by engaging with your fellow members or fans. And most of all, represent your organisation, product or service honestly, openly and realistically to enhance your reputation.
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