Post on 13-Jan-2016
Social Media’s Duel Edged Sword:
The Good, The Bad and the Ugly
Presented to the Cause Marketing Forum on February 15, 2011
About Geoff
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Why a Duel Edged Sword?
• Affiliating with causes has never been easier
• $• Citizens can not only
participate, but they can provide feedback
• Requires a deeper level of authenticity in CSR
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Examples: The Good (AMEX)
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AMEX: Post Mortem
• Good: Integrated media relations, influencers online to drive traffic
• Good: Strong use of Facebook application. Used Twitter, etc. to drive to application.
• Good: Call to action: Like = dollars • Good: Call to action: Sign up, spend, get a discount• Good: Used Wall to share small business stories,
encourage engagement.• Bad: Moment in time, has not sustained.• Bad: Not enough traffic driving back to AMEX site.
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Examples: The Bad (Groupon)
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Groupon: Post Mortem• Bad: Calls to action to help charities were not
obvious. • Bad: Web site for people to participate and
donate was never highlighted on the ads!!!• Bad: Blogosphere blew up, Groupon did not
address concerns, instead justified on their blog• Bad: Groupon did not engage bloggers directly,
disregarded feedback• Bad: Groupon didn’t message effectively on
social channels
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Examples: The Ugly (Komen/KFC)
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KFC/Komen: Post Mortem
• Bad: Komen web site contradicted the campaign with its research
• Bad: No social media component, but… social media ended up being a key medium.
• Good: Blogosphere blew up, KFC engaged directly
• Bad: Komen ignored it
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Dos and Don’ts from the Good, the Bad and the Ugly
• Do: Use Facebook, Twitter as direct channels to enage, drive traffic to cause marketing site.
• Do: Expect online engagement. Use social media tools to empower people to participate in the cause activity.
• Do: Have a socially enabled web site that explains the action (authenticity), even if SM has small role in promo. Consumers do not distinguish.
• Don’t: Ignore bloggers and criticism. Address it, lest it escalate. Plus necessary for search.
• Don’t: Let Facebook own your traffic.
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The Current State of Authenticity
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Infusing Authenticity to Reflect Culture
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Authenticity Example: Haagen-Dazs
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Dos and Don’ts from Make a Bee
• Do: Have your own site to drive traffic to from Twitter, Facebook, traditional comms
• Do: Use SM to empower people to participate as individuals: Make and send a bee
• Do: Explain your company’s interest in the cause
• Don’t: Forget to integrate Twitter and Facebook into your site, so outbound sharing can happen
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The Importance of Tying Back to Culture
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Ripples of Kindness
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Dos and Don’ts from Ripples of Kindness
• Do: Use influencers to seed the campaign ideas (400 people, $100)
• Do: Give people a way to sound off, participate• Do: Explain your purpose (Could have tied better
to the mission)• Do: Integrate Facebook and Twitter outbound
promo, even if you are Yahoo!• Don’t: Forget to integrate traditional comms! It
works better if you do.
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Pepsi Refresh: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
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The Good
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The Bad
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The Ugly
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Do’s and Don’ts from Pepsi Refresh• Do: Empower people to act on behalf of the cause on
your own site• Do: Integrate traditional PR and marketing into online
influencer programs• Do: Use Facebook and Twitter as primary
inbound/outbound channels• Do: Address criticism head on • Do: Acknowledge wrongs, change and evolve• Don’t: Over focus on the company promo. • Don’t: Fail to clearly state the cause. In this case, no
specific causes, so theory of change?
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Summary Points• Civic media is the great
opportunity to embrace customer voices
• It can also turn on us• To avoid worst case
scenarios, cause marketing campaigns need better engineering
• Authenticity mapping to corp. culture, ethos
• Use the tools to connect dots for stakeholders
• Have your own site, use Facebook Twitter for In AND Outbound
• Empower stakeholders to participate, embrace and own your story
• Be prepared for the ugly, and evolve (two way dialogue)
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Questions?
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