Building Trust throughDigital Communication

Professor Paul ArgentiTuck School of Business at Dartmouth

Bob PearsonBlog Council & WeissComm

““Trust is like the air we breathe. Trust is like the air we breathe. When it’s present, nobody really When it’s present, nobody really notices. But when it’s absent, notices. But when it’s absent,

everybody notices.”everybody notices.”—Warren Buffett

Capitalism is based on trust—when broken, credit markets seize and consumer spending grinds to a halt.

As a result of the global credit crisis, the credibility of the capitalist system is being seriously challenged:

• Alan Greenspan, dubbed the "greatest banker who ever lived,” admits to misunderstanding market mechanics

• Iconic CEO Jack Welch admits focusing on share price was dumb

• The Financial Times runs a major new series "The Future of Capitalism" calling into question the effectiveness and survival of our modern business system

Our System Hinges on Trust

Source: “Rebuilding Trust in Business,” Bronwyn Fryer, HBR blog, March 17, 2009

Does Business Act Responsibly?

0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

1968 70%70%

1976 15%15%

1985 30%30%

Yankelovich & CNN/USA Today/ Gallup Poll

2008 20%20%

Tainted Reputation byFinancial Association

• Trust, reputation, and image have become increasingly difficult for financial corporations to control

• In the wake of billion-dollar government bailouts and year-end bonuses, the public has been quick to judge all players in financial services—and their employees—as pariahs

““I’d almost rather say I’m a pornographer—at least that’s a I’d almost rather say I’m a pornographer—at least that’s a business that people understand.”business that people understand.”

–Retired Wall Street executive who asked to remain anonymous

““Oh, you’re one of Oh, you’re one of THEMTHEM…”…” –Comment to a recently laid-off JP Morgan Chase employee

“Wall Street’s New Pariah Status,” The New York Times, February 3, 2009

““Can I interest you in a faith-based account?”Can I interest you in a faith-based account?”–New Yorker, October 2008

Identity, Image &Reputation Drive Trust

Corporate IdentityNames, Brands, Symbols, Self-presentations

Corporate Reputation

Customer Image

Community Image

Investor Image

Employee Image

is perceived by…

Sum of their perceptions equals…

Companies with better reputations:• Command premium prices• Pay lower prices• Entice top recruits• Have more stable revenues• Face fewer risks of crisis• Experience greater loyalty

internally and externally• Are given greater latitude by constituents:

Opportunity to operate• Have higher market valuation and stock

prices• Have greater loyalty of investors, less stock

price volatility

Why does Reputation Matter?

Traditional Communication

Press releasesPitching

reporters

Special events

Search engines

Buzz

Web 2.0

Citizen journalism

MySpace

Social Media

Promotions

Media relations

IR

Branding

Viral marketing

Social networking

Metaverses

Folksonomy

Content optimization

Online outreach

Syndication Flickr

NewCommunication

Consumer-generated content

Public affairsThird party outreach

Grassroots outreach

Advergaming

YouTube

Employeecommunications

RSSBlogs

Tagging

Podcasting Wireless

Facebook

The evolution of communications requires a new approach to reputation measurement

Reputation environment is changing

Wikipedia

Brand management

GovernmentRelations

Operations

Management and Strategy

Finance

Recruitment, Retention

Customer Loyalty

Defining Social Media

Social Media is the democratization of content and the understanding of the role people play

in the process of not only reading and disseminating information, but also in

sharing and creating content. •Communication in the form of conversation, not monologue.  

•Participants in social media are people, not organizations.  

•Honesty and transparency are core values.  

•It's all about pull, not push.  

•Distribution instead of centralization.  

Web 1.0 vs. Web 2.0

CollectiveIntelligence

Web 1.0 Web 2.0

Published Content

Published Content

UserGenerated

Content

UserGenerated

Content

Web 1.0 vs. Web 2.0

Web 1.0•Push business models•Commercial software•Customer service•Bestseller products•Traditional media•1on1 customer relationships•Centralized product development

Web 2.0•Pull business models•Open source software•Customer self-service•The Long Tail•Social media•Customer community relationships•Decentralized product development

Shift of ControlInstitutionsCommunities of

Individuals

The Fundamentals of Trust

• Trust is more emotional than logical—it extends beyond rational thinking

• Trust is highly personal—no universal standard exists• The notion of trust is based on:

− Predictability: Predictability: you know what you’re going to get− Leaps of faith: Leaps of faith: you’re willing to deal with someone despite

incomplete knowledge of them− Exposed vulnerabilities: Exposed vulnerabilities: you enable someone to take

advantage of your vulnerabilities but expect they won’t− Blind belief: Blind belief: you rely on someone to follow through

without the need for constant oversight or questioning

If tarnished, trust is exceptionally hard to restoreIf tarnished, trust is exceptionally hard to restore

How Can Companies Bridge the Trust Divide?

• Trust is not only about following baseline rules, procedures, and protocol—that’s only the beginning

• Trust is a direct by-product of a company’s relationships of interdependency with its diverse and inter-connected constituencies

• To build trust, a company must not be authoritative must not be authoritative but authentic but authentic in all of its dealings with constituencies

• One current way: Through use of social mediaOne current way: Through use of social media

Source: The Authentic Enterprise, Arthur Page Society, 2007

Becoming an Authentic Enterpriseby Embracing Social Media

Companies become authentic by:•Dealing with constituents openly and candidly—forging partnerships partnerships as equals with constituentsas equals with constituents

•Honestly communicating the unique qualitiesunique qualities that set the organization apart from the competition and will truly add value to customers

•Clearly conveying the valuesvalues that define the organization—the underlying principles that underpin every action taken by employees and the organization as a whole

•Making promises and never failing to keep them

•Admitting mistakes Admitting mistakes when made and reiterating how they will be prevented the next time around

•Social media enables companies to communicate authenticallySocial media enables companies to communicate authentically

What Do Leaders of Great Brands Understand About

Building Trust Online?

#1: Customers are co-shaping your reputation everyday

Are you accidently outsourcing the building of your brand?

Customers Shape First Impressions

Customers are ChangingFaster than Companies

• Breadth: 500k new online customers each day

• Location: >40% of online in Asia

• 1st Impressions: YouTube Is 2nd largest search engine

• Habits: Brazil one of leading consumers of online info

Are you a student or an observer?

Countries’ Habits are Changingas They Mature Online: Brazil

#2: Leaders will identifyissues before they happen

Customers assume we are listeningto their issues in real time

Patterns are Clues Waiting to Be Found

• Patterns emerge before public awareness ‒ A common problem emerges in a forum in Beijing, a blog in the UK

and a mention on twitter in the U.S.‒ Your multi-function hot issues team springs in to action to analyze

what is happening and prepare ‒ When the issue becomes public, you are ready with answers

• Customers trust us to be smarter on identifying issues

• You decide that if a hot issue is defined, it must be solved

• Your company continuously integrates online learning’s into key parts of your company (institutional memory)

#3: You Realize that Your Customer Does Not Care Where You Want Them To Go

Customers are part of their own liquid network

Become a friend who can be trusted

A Tectonic Shift is Occurringin Where Conversations Occur

• Language: Customers speak online in their first language (10 reach 95%)

• Location: Facebook, Twitter, Forums

• Time of Day: Ex/low volume during day, high volume in evenings

Where do your customers like tohang-out, learn and share?

10 Languages Reach 95% of People;Hindi & Russian are Next

Trust Builds When You VisitYour Customer in their Home

#4: You Know that <1% of a Customer’s Time is Spent Purchasing a Product

99% of time is spent browsing and socializing

You build trust by being there when you areneeded, not when you need the customer

The Purchase Experience

<1% of a person’s time is spent actually purchasing our

products

Broadband users spend 1 hour, 40 minutes (48% of their spare time) online, and more than half of this is spent accessing entertainment and communication

Opinions are formed during the 99% of time outside of the purchase path

The Real World of Our Customers Online

E-Commerce WillBecome E-Community

• Reality: <1% of time is spent buying online. 99% is spent browsing & socializing

• Peer Influence: 3 of 4 customers look to their peers for advice on a purchase

• Integration: Why would we ask a customer to go to multiple sites? The value is…….?

Convergence is led by convenience

#5: You Focus on How PeopleConsume Content & Understand

How it is Changing

Customers decide where they will learn

It is not via advertising…

The Media World isn’t Changing…it Changed

• Media Outlets: 74 of top 100 outlets for Techmeme are blogs/online sites

• Bloggers: 3 of 4 look to each other for their next story

• Customers: 3 of 4 look to each other for purchase advice

• Conversations: are the driver of SOV, influence and recommendations

Don’t define it as offline or online. It’s all one media world. Just know which conversations are defining your brand

The New Media

32

Your Broadcast Station:Increasingly, the 1st choice for learning

#6: Your Customer is DiscussingYour Brand Everyday

Do you know where they are occurring?

Are you a participant or observer or are you absent?

How Does Your CustomerDiscuss Your Brand?

WHAT DOES THIS TELL ME?Top 50 most mentioned words in conversations surrounding

“Pharmaceutical” over the past 30 days.

WHAT DOES THIS TELL ME?Top 50 most mentioned words in conversations surrounding

“Pharmaceutical” over the past 30 days.

Dynamic Drill Down

1.River of News2.Topic Trends3.Conversation Cloud4.Language5.Media Type6.Post Tag7.Region8.Sentiment9.Source Tag10. User Assignment

Dynamic Drill Down

1.River of News2.Topic Trends3.Conversation Cloud4.Language5.Media Type6.Post Tag7.Region8.Sentiment9.Source Tag10. User Assignment

Do You Know WhereThe Real Traffic Is?

• Allstate insurance: 3.99MM

• Allstate insurance company: 943k

• Geico.com: 1.83MM

• Geico insurance: 1.77MM

• State Farm insurance company: 4.9MM

• Insurance quote: 31.99MM

• Insurance group: 22.3MM

• Home insurance: 75.8MM

• Auto insurance: 64.8MM

OR

What is Being Said About YourBrand in Each Key Language?

#7: There Isn’t a Destinationfor a Customer

Visiting your site is not their goal, no matter how pretty it looks

We are expected to just sort of “be there” when needed

Syndication of ContentMatters More than Site Traffic

• Micro-Communities: The social media world grows & fragments, simultaneously

• Customer-Driven Preference: “I want what I want where I want it”. Stop “spamming me”.

• Participation is a Choice: If companies don’t listen, customers vote via lack of traffic and participation.

What is your content syndication plan?

10-20% of Your Customers Will Call You Each Year Due to a Problem

80-90% will not call you despite a problem

Few will call you just to catch up

Q&As Matter

• Word of mouth matters

• Partnering with customers matters

#8: Customers Want to Do ThreeThings to Help Each Other

You build trust by being part of this process

Ideas, Knowledge, Solutions

1. Share ideas: Let’s improve the next product or service together

2. Share product knowledge: Here is what I know…hope it helps you

3. Help peers with problems: I had the same problem, here is what I did

Dell IdeaStorm:Over 11,000 Ideas & 325+ implemented

Think Big: Empower Your Customers to Share Knowledge and Benefit the World

Solved button added to

Original Post; clicking it will take user to

Accepted Solution

Solved button added to

Original Post; clicking it will take user to

Accepted Solution

Accepted Solution post Turns green

and logo added

Accepted Solution post Turns green

and logo added

#9: We don’t have to measuretrust internally, we live it

Our employees feel free to help each other and,as a result, our company

Leverage the world’s greatest operating system – the web

Employees Don’t ChangeWhen They Arrive for Work

• They prefer blogs

• They like to share ideas and comments

• They want real-life video, not canned productions

• They want to help each other, not be polite to senior management and hold in their thoughts

#10: We Judge a Person onHow They Interact with Us

Guess what...customers do the same thingwhen they shop with us online

Shopping is Changing Permanently

• Ratings & Reviews: Your peers define the brand and experience for you

• Co-Browsing: Your peers help you shop

• Contextual Content: Info you want appears when you discuss it

Individuals in companies can have the respect of peers. How many “company peers” do you have?

#11: We Listen to our Customers,So We Create New Communities

Think outside the box, then get rid of the box

A community-driven Site

Customers Prefer ContentThat Helps Their Businesses

Partnering with Customers

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#12: We Know Preparing forYesterday is Ineffective

Old models and habits hold back innovation

Watch for “antibodies”

Ask Yourself if You Knowthe Answers to These Questions

• Since mobile will be the leading source to go online in the next few years, our mobile plan will do…

• Since ten languages reach 95% of the online world, we are having conversations with customers in x today and y in the U.S. alone

• We know Facebook is growing fast, but we’re also participating in x, y and z properties, since they have high potential

• In China (or France or Czech or Brazil), we are active in the local sites, such as Toudou, since they are the online leaders in their country for video (or photos or search or other)

• We know the world’s greatest operating system is the web, so our employees can now access all competitive information in real time by xyz tool on abc platform

Yesterday’s Thinking Leads Us to Place High Value on Depreciating Assets

• The Top Rankings Matter: Mainstream media is decreasing in total SOV online

• The Brand is King: Personalities drive brands more than brands alone online

• The World is Important, But We Really Focus Mainly on the U.S.: 53 countries have English as a language and see similar content

• High Brand Awareness is Good, We’ll Build Brand Value in the Future Locally: Your brand is being shaped by your customers now

• Customers Count on Us: Nope, they count on each other, not you

Observations on the Old School

• They are old school, but don’t realize it

• They think tweaking the media mix will work

• They wear ties, sound smart and have an answer for everything and often represent yesterday’s thinking

• They are planning to succeed in a world that won’t exist in a few years

• They like to “content dump” to get rid of their messages in hopes someone will find it

#13: We Understand Ethical Behavior is a Key Part of Maintaining Trust

We don’t support Flogs or Splogs

We would never create a fake ad, so why a fake blog post?

#14: We know that leaders will enter and become relevant in conversations that occur everyday in every language all around the world in communities of

importance to our customers

Companies that cling to the past may not realize it,but they will lose relevance

MESSAGE

EXPERIENCE

CONVERSATION

RELATIONSHIPS

AFFINITY&

TRUST

WE BECOME CONVERSATION ARCHITECTS

WE BECOME CONVERSATION ARCHITECTS

Key Coordinates

• The Blog Council: www.blogcouncil.org

• My personal blog: www.csmg.us

• Everything else: www.twitter.com/bobpearson1845