The New Influence

8/7/2019 The New Influence

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INTELLIGENT DIALOGUE SERIES

HOW DO YOU IDENTIFY AND ACTIVATE THE INFLUENCERS WHO MATTER

MOST TO YOU IN TODAY’S DIGITAL AND INCREASINGLY MOBILE WORLD?

PAGE 5

Identiying and Activating

Inuencers

PAGE 8

The Power & Challenges

o Inuencer Engagement

PAGE 11

The Tools & Technologies

o Social Inuence

PAGE 19

Lost in Translation:

Consumer Engagement

Across Europe

SPRING 2011



2 | PORTER NOVELLI: THE NEW INFLUENCE




INTRODUCTION

THE EXPLOSION OF SOCIAL MEDIA AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY HAS CREATED

A WHOLE NEW WORLD OF INFLUENCE. YOU CAN “LIKE” BRANDS AND

PRODUCTS ON FACEBOOK AND SHARE THEM WITH YOUR FRIENDS. YOU CAN

LOOK UP WHAT YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY WEAR ON SITES LIKE THEFIND

AND SOLICIT ON-THE-SPOT FEEDBACK ABOUT A PRODUCT OR SERVICE FROM

THE MASSES BEFORE MAKING A PURCHASE. AND MOBILE TECHNOLOGY

ENABLES ALL OF US TO TAP INTO THESE CREDIBLE RESOURCES—THE

“OPINION OF PEOPLE LIKE ME”—PRECISELY AT THE MOMENT OF INFLUENCE.

But how do marketers determine who has the inuence that matters, and what do they

do with that inormation? Is it possible to harness the power o our supercharged ability

to solicit and share opinions about products, services and brands? And can it be done

authentically and credibly?

Quite simply, many marketers are asking themselves, “Who has the inuence now? How

do I fnd them, and how do I activate them to beneft my brand or company?”

In this issue o Intelligent Dialogue, leading digital experts will answer these questions

and more.

ADELE MYERSEXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT

DIRECTOR OF ENGAGEMENT PLANNING & RESEARCH, NY

EDITOR, INTELLIGENT DIALOGUE

@ADELEJAM

http://twitter.com/#!/adelejam

http://twitter.com/#!/adelejam




“FOR A PHARMACAMPAIGN TARGETINGDOCTORS, ASHTONKUTCHER HAS NOSIGNIFICANCE.”



PORTER NOVELLI: THE NEW INFLUENCE | 5

ISRAEL MIRSKYEXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, EMERGING MEDIA & TECHNOLOGY

@ISRAELMIRSKY

Today, literally anyone with content strong enough

to be passed rom individual to individual can be an

inuencer. This is why inuence is so complex, and

oten contradictory. Much o it rests in the context o

how content passes through networks. For identiying

primary inuencers, technology can be very helpul as itoers such proxies or inuence as the number o RSS

subscribers, website trafc or Twitter ollowers.

But reach does not always equal authority. Highly

authoritative inuencers oten have small, tight-knit

ollowings o other inuencers. These intermediate

inuencers consume and translate content that is

prohibitively academic and erudite to a wider audience. I

the goal is to achieve awareness in that larger audience,

reaching urther upstream to engage these authoritative

individuals can be critical.

When identiying which inuencers to use, blogs and

Twitter are the most accessible platorms. Forums are

also valuable, but they are harder to penetrate because

they are usually organic communities with no primary

contact. Though they are not to be ignored, they are

more valuable when used as listening tools. Attempts

to communicate as a brand within orums are oten met

with intense skepticism, even hostility. On the other

hand, a relationship with a blog author generally opens a

relationship with his/her audience.

Engagement should never be initiated until there is a

clear understanding o what motivates and matters to the

inuencer. The frst contact should never be the pitch.

Activating inuencers online is about building genuine

relationships—as meaningul and benefcial to the

inuencer as they are to the brand. Representatives o an

organization should always read the blog or outlet and

be able to discuss it intelligently. Never ask or anything

until enough social capital has been established to extract

value—or add it.

All too oten, discussion o activating inuencers centers

on extricating something rom them, as opposed to

oering something that will raise their standing in the

eyes o an existing audience or attract a larger audience.

A relationship with an inuencer can be considered strong

when the inuencer trusts an organization. That rarelyhappens i brands or companies appear to be motivated

solely by selfsh interests.

In an ever more inormed and engaged consumer

population, inuencers are the elite communicators. They

are the most inormed, the most articulate and the most

passionate. Those looking to activate them should frst

come to know them as people. The act that they are

such strong individuals is oten the very reason why they

are such eective inuencers, and why they can be such

powerul advocates or brands.

INFLUENCER SCORING—

PITFALLS AND BEST PRACTICES

As social media matures, analytics and tools that help

communications proessionals manage the exploding

volume o communications are growing with it. Because

not everyone can be responded to or rewarded, dealing

with this ever-expanding volume o communication

in an efcient way requires a measure o triage and

prioritization. The aim o inuencer identifcation is to

winnow individuals who “matter” or a given eort out o

the mass o communicators.

Inuencer identifcation is one o the astest growing

areas in the social media ecosystem, with vendors like

Radian6, Klout, Traackr and Raplea oering various

takes on the problem, either as an element o a

larger social media analytics package or as a stand-

alone oering. Each o these can be a powerul tool

in the appropriate circumstances, but they are oten

misunderstood or misused.

IDENTIFYING & ACTIVATING

INFLUENCERS

http://twitter.com/#!/israelmirsky

http://twitter.com/#!/israelmirsky




LOREM IPSUM DOLOR SIT AMET, CONSECTETUR

ADIPISICING ELIT, SED DO EIUSMOD TEMPOR

INCIDIDUNT




In March 2010, Matt Curtin ounded the Austin, Texas–

based SocialSmack. In the year since, the online

community—which innovatively incorporates real-time

elements o social networking, gaming and user reviews—has generated extraordinary buzz as a coherent and

compelling platorm or users to connect with each other

and share opinions about the brands that inspire them. As

the site continues to grow in popularity, more and more

brands are taking notice—and using the site to engage

with consumers.

“In this hyper-connected social environment, brands have

ound that they have lost control o their message,” Curtin

says. “Connected individuals, talking about their brand

experiences, are largely in control o the sentiment.

For businesses that are very elastic in nature, such as

consumer goods companies that live and die by word-o-

mouth, inuencers have a tremendous amount o power

these days.”

SO WHAT CHALLENGES DO BRANDS FACE WHEN

TRYING TO HARNESS THAT POWER WITH THE

TOOLS THAT ARE AVAILABLE?

We as human beings don’t converse like we used to—

we communicate in snippets and hieroglyphics. Think

o a standard text message that says, “ROTFLMAO!”

ollowed by a squiggly smiley ace with a winking eye!

We understand these micro communications, but when

using a tool like Radian6 to fnd the sentiment o a brand

and dierentiate between what is positive and negative,

it can be very challenging. You have situations where

someone will say, “I saw ‘The Social Network’ and it was

the bomb!” And then the next person will say, “I saw ‘The

Social Network’ and it was a bomb.” Well, one o those

statements is positive and one is negative. Social listening

tools have a hard enough time delineating slang and

helping brands understand actual sentiment, much less

who is talking and their inuence level or Klout Score.

SO MUCH TALK ABOUT INFLUENCERS FOCUSES

ON THEIR DESTRUCTIVE POWER, BUT ON

SOCIALSMACK, MOST FEEDBACK IS POSITIVE. DO

YOU THINK SOCIALSMACK IS AN EXCEPTION INTHIS REGARD, OR DO YOU THINK THIS IS COMMON

FOR INFLUENCERS?

I think positivity is much more prevalent than negativity. I

you look at our data, 82 percent o the eedback we get is

o a positive nature. People want to be associated with a

positive sentiment and, specifcally, with a brand they eel

passionate about. But on the other hand, that 20 percent

who are negative are like a dog with a bone. They will not

let go o very bad service they receive.

SOCIALSMACK ALSO INTRODUCES A SOCIAL-

GAMING ELEMENT, WITH POINTS, BADGES AND

STATUS. DO YOU THINK THAT EVENTUALLY

THE ABILITY TO INFLUENCE WILL NEED TO BE

AUGMENTED TO KEEP PEOPLE EN GAGED?

For a certain segment o the population, the inuence

alone will be enough or them. It eeds their ego or their

need to be seen as an expert in something. But i you

go back to the number o dierent social technologies

emerging, I think brands are going to have to create

more compelling content or devices to attract consumer

attention. I love the concept o the gameifcation o lie.

I you think o the common things we do every day—

how do you make them more engaging or compelling?

Social gaming really allows you to do that. It eeds the

competitive nature o the individual and it allows you to

oer rewards. People will be much more willing to engage

i brands reward them in some shape or ashion—whether

it is a discount or some unique piece o content or item

that not everybody else could get.

MATT CURTINFOUNDER, SOCIALSMACK

@MCCURTIN

THE TOOLS & TECHNOLOGIES

OF SOCIAL INFLUENCE

PORTER NOVELLI’S CLIE NTS INCLUDE LEADING INNOVATORS IN THE DI GITAL SPACE, INCLUDING THE

FOUNDER OF SOCIALSMACK WHO SHARES HIS VIEWS HERE.

http://www.socialsmack.com/

http://twitter.com/#!/mccurtin

http://twitter.com/#!/mccurtin

http://www.socialsmack.com/




Over the past two years, we all have experienced frst-hand

radical changes in the way we connect and communicate.

From Facebook to Foursquare, rom Twitter to Farmville, we

are connecting with riends, amily members and old ames

around the world and in real time.

As individuals, we are getting very comortable in social media.As companies and organizations, however, sometimes not so

much. Today—despite the prolieration o digital and social

media—many organizations are more inclined to sit back and

observe than they are to use social media to learn rom and

engage their stakeholders. When this happens it is a huge

missed opportunity.

The point here is not to oer an argument or why

organizations should engage with social media. That is a

question that already has been asked and answered many

times. Instead, let’s look at two “ear actors” that stymie many

organizations about social media: 1) How do I address the

loss o control; and 2) How should my organization or brand

behave online?

COMMAND AND CONTROL

One o the best pieces o advice on how to saely and credibly

engage in the digital space comes rom Charlene Li o the

Altimeter Group: “You can give up control and still be in

command.” With this critical distinction, Li succinctly addresses

a undamental ear impeding many companies as they try to

move orward online.

Traditional marketing has conditioned companies to expect

nearly complete control over what is said about their brand,

as well as where and when it is said. That is what they have

paid or. In digital—particularly in social media—the audience

controls the agenda, which makes some organizations very

uncomortable. Their digital eorts reect it.

By giving up control—and the approval-driven

micromanagement o conversations—organizations can ocus

instead on ormulating a well-executed and comprehensive

digital strategy that allows them to be in command o the

direction, pace and parameters o the dialogue they have with

their target audience and key constituents.

An obsessive ocus on every online utterance will make any

digital initiative a nerve-wracking and ineective undertaking.

By adopting an inormed strategy to move past this mindset,

organizations can use digital and social media to eectivelyachieve longer-term marketing goals—not despite the act they

have given up controlling the conversation, but because o it.

THE DIGITAL COCKTAIL PARTY

Once an organization has gotten comortable engaging in

social media, how does it behave?

Beore venturing into the digital space, it is helpul or

organizations to imagine themselves about to enter a cocktail

party. Is your organization interesting to spend time with, or

are you a bore? Organizations must recognize the signifcance

o ostering conversations that communicate not only what

they want to say, but also what stakeholders want to hear.

Adding value to the conversation is critical. Companies need to

continually provide a reason or constituents to engage. When

it ties directly to the interests o the target audience, interesting

and relevant content—created, aggregated or even linked-to—

keeps the conversation resh.

Equally important as what companies say is how they say

it. Unortunately, many organizations are more comortable

communicating in marketing jargon. That may work in internal

or industry-specifc conversations, but mainstream audiences

fnd it stilted, sti and condescending. Don’t underestimate

the importance o this: online communication requires a very

human corporate voice.

So beore engaging with your target audience online,

remember the basic rules o attending a cocktail party: Show

up with a git, speak naturally and make sure you are as

interested in learning about the people you talk to as you are in

talking about yoursel. I you ollow these simple rules, not only

will you be invited back, you will also enjoy your time there a

lot more.

COMMAND AND CONTROL AND THE

DIGITAL COCKTAIL PARTY

GARY STOCKMANCHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

@GARYSTOCKMAN

http://twitter.com/#!/garystockman

http://twitter.com/#!/garystockman




PORTER NOVELLI: FOOD 3.0

“COMPANIESNEED TO

CONTINUALLYPROVIDE AREASON FOR

CONSTITUENTSTO ENGAGE.”




I N T E L L I G E N T D I A L O G U E

HOW CAN COMPANIES AND BRANDS CREDIBLY AND SAFELY ENGAGE

WITH INFLUENCERS IN THE DIGITAL SPACE? ONCE YOU’VE

INDENTIFIED THE RIGHT INFLUENCERS, HOW CAN AND SHOULD YOUR

COMPANY OR BRAND CONDUCT ITSELF? WHAT ARE THE NEW RULES

OF DIGITAL ENGAGEMENT?

INSIGHT




“THE ONLY WAY TO ENGAGE WITH INFLUENCERS CREDIBLY IS TO

HAVE SOMETHING INTERESTING TO SAY THAT ADDS TO THEIR

BODY OF KNOWLEDGE. CONTACT FOR THE SAKE OF ‘FACE TIME’ IS

DELETERIOUS AS IT DEFINES YOU AS UNIMPORTANT. ONLY ENGAGE

INFLUENCERS WHEN IT IS TO THEIR BENEFIT—NOT YOURS.”

PETER PITTS, DI RECTOR, GLOBAL REGULATORY AND HEALTH POLICY

“THE WORLD OF DIGITAL INFLUENCE IS ALL ABOUT KARMA AND

RELIES HEAVILY ON RECIPROCITY, AS THE CURRENCY OF SOCIAL

MEDIA EXISTS IN RELATIONSHIPS. GIVING VALUE BEFORE ASKINGFOR IT IN RETURN IS NOT JUST A GOOD IDEA, BUT EXPECTED.”

NICOLE D’ALONZO, SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE, DI GITAL COMMUNICATIONS GROUP

(THE LAUGHING COW COMMUNITY MANAGER)

“IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS, THERE’S BEEN AN ACUTE NEED TO JUMP

IN THE CONVERSATION FLOW SIMPLY BECAUSE COMPETITORS ARE

IN THE SOCIAL SPACE. BUT ENGAGEMENT WITHOUT STRATEGY JUST

DOESN’T WORK. EACH OPPORTUNITY SHOULD LADDER UP TO THE

BRAND’S ULTIMATE PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVE.”

JULIE ANN MATIC, VICE PRESIDENT, GLOBAL BRAND MARKETING

“IT’S EASY TO GET SWEPT UP IN THE LAX NATURE OF INTERNET

COMMUNICATIONS, BUT POSITIONING YOURSELF AS A

PROFESSIONAL WILL SPEAK VOLUMES ABOUT THE INTEGRITY

OF YOUR COMPANY OR BRAND. THIS DOESN’T MEAN YOU CAN’T

HAVE FUN. HUMANIZE YOUR COMMUNICATIONS WHEN ENGAGING

USERS. THEY WANT TO CONVERSE WITH ANOTHER PERSON, NOT A

BOILERPLATE.”

ZACH MOLINARO, SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIV E, GLOBAL HEALTH



16 | PORTER NOVELLI: FOOD 3.0

“GONE ARE THE DAYS OF BIG-BUDGET, GLOSSY MULTI-MILLION

DOLLAR TV AD CAMPAIGNS AS THE PRIMARY MEANS OF SHARING

INFORMATION ABOUT A BRAND. YOUTUBE AND OTHER SOCIAL

NETWORKING PLATFORMS HAVE DEMOCRATIZED MULTIMEDIA

DELIVERY (ALONG WITH EVERYTHING ELSE) AND WITH THAT, GIVEN

CONSUMERS A BROADCAST PLATFORM TO HAVE THEIR VOICES

HEARD. AND THERE IS NO SHORTAGE OF CONSUMERS

WITH SOMETHING TO SAY.”

JUSTIN ALT, VICE PRESIDENT, DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS GROUP

“BE TRANSPARENT! SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE DIGITAL SPACE

TRULY DEMANDS NEW LEVELS OF OPENNESS, ESPECIALLY WITH

THE STRINGENT FTC GUIDELINES AROUND BLOGGER/INFLUENCER

RELATIONS. EMPLOYEES OF A BRAND/COMPANY ENGAGED IN

BLOGGER/INFLUENCER RELATIONS, COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT

OR ANY OTHER FORM OF ONLINE BRAND REPRESENTATION

SHOULD DISCLOSE THEIR AFFILIATION. WHEN ANY EMPLOYEE/

REPRESENTATIVE OF A BRAND COMMENTS ON THE BRAND’S

SOCIAL MEDIA REAL ESTATE, IT IS BEST PRACTICE TO INCLUDE

THE HASHTAG #CLIENT OR #DISCLOSURE TO SHOWCASE

AFFILIATION. THIS IS PARTICULARLY IMPORTANT WHEN DOING

BLOGGER OUTREACH, ESPECIALLY FOR PRODUCT REVIEWS.

COMPLIANCE IS VITAL, NOT OPTIONAL.”

GREG TEDESCO, SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE, BRAND MARKETING (GILLETTE

COMMUNITY MANAGER)




“LISTEN FIRST, ENGAGE SECOND … AND LISTEN AGAIN. TO ENGAGE

AUTHENTICALLY, MAKE SURE YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE TALKING

TO. GET TO KNOW NOT ONLY YOUR INFLUENCERS, BUT ALSO THE

NETWORKS THEY ARE INFLUENCING. LISTEN TO CONVERSATIONS

HAPPENING AROUND YOUR BRAND AND TOPICS THAT YOUR BRAND

INTERSECTS WITH. ONCE YOU ENGAGE WITH THE INFLUENCERS,

LISTEN TO THEIR CONCERNS AND BE OPEN TO THEIR IDEAS. AND

DON’T PLAY GAMES (THE DANGERS OF TRYING TO DO SO ARE

LEGENDARY) BUT BE TRANSPARENT AND ALWAYS DISCLOSE YOUR

IDENTITY AND CORPORATE AFFILIATION—OPENNESS IS KEY TO

BUILDING TRUST.”

MARTA MAJEWSKA, VICE PRESIDENT, DIGITAL AND SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGIST

“ASK THEIR OPINION ON WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY. ACKNOWLEDGE

YOUR INFLUENCERS’ OTHER INTERESTS BEYOND THE SUBJECT

YOU WANT TO TALK TO THEM ABOUT. STRIKE UP CONVERSATIONS

WITH THEM AS YOU MIGHT START ANY PERSONAL INTERACTION—

REMEMBER THIS IS A TWO-WAY CONVERSATION. GIVE THEM

DUE PROPS WHEN THEY RECOMMEND YOU TO THEIR SPHERE OF

LISTENERS.”

JOHN NORMOYLE, SEN IOR STRATEGIST, DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS GROUP




DANNY DEVRIENDTEXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT

DIGITAL & SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGIST, EMEA

@DANNYDEVRIENDT

For governments, brands and companies, the ability to

interact with target audiences on- and oine has become

crucial. Increasingly sophisticated consumer engagement

is leading to greater understanding, respect, loyalty andcomprehension. And as more and more conversations and

social interactions move online, we see more companies and

brands doing a magnifcent job o engaging loyal ollowers

with digital and mobile technologies. However, many o

the same organizations that enjoy tremendous success in

America oten struggle in Europe. Here’s why.

On a continent like North America, online engagement is

relatively efcient and cost eective. A substantial amount

o consumers can be reached, rom coast to coast, in a

single country (the U.S.), and in a single language (English).

Adding just one country (Canada) and two languages

(Spanish and French), provides access to most o the

entire continent.

For metrics tools, conversation starters and community

managers, three languages to engage and measure allows

or proftable opportunities to scale online inuence

programs. In Europe, though, it becomes much more

complicated—with 750 million people scattered over 44

dierent autonomic countries, each with its own set o laws,

socio-cultural habits and ethno-historic sensitivities. From

the Atlantic to the Ural Mountains, and rom the North Pole

to Gibraltar, roughly 70 dierent languages are spoken. To

read and write in all o them, you need to be uent in fve

distinct alphabets (Latin, Greek, Cyrillic, Armenian

and Georgian).

This makes online inuencing and community engagement

airly complicated. Economies o scale and reusing existing

material becomes virtually impossible. Messages and

message delivery vehicles need to be adapted to the local

language and cultural needs. Messages not only need to be

translated, they need to be rewritten.

Even in smaller countries like Belgium and Switzerland,

communication needs to be done in three dierent

languages, which has severe implications on timelines and

budgets. Compounding the challenges, big internationalmetrics tools are oten unable to flter out all o the semantic

sensitivities o these 70 European languages, or simply

do not have enough volume to give accurate analysis—

enhancing the importance o local tools, and demanding a

higher human involvement throughout the process.

Eective community engagement in Europe requires

small, dedicated and integrated teams that can take an

organization’s concept and strategy and tailor it or the

local country. These teams must work hands-on with the

tools that are most relevant or each European region,

which are oten quite dierent rom the big global players.

For instance, it’s impossible to reach the Dutch through

Facebook, because they’re on Hives. And Poland has at least

our dierent equivalents o Twitter.

To build global communication strategies, it is important to

involve people who have in-depth knowledge o their region

rom the very beginning. All too oten, compelling strategies

and tactics conceived ar rom the actual countries where

they will be implemented prove to be impossible to execute.

To successully bridge Europe’s multicultural, multilingual

diversity, it is ar more eective to build communications

strategies up rom local insights and understanding. As

many organizations continue to discover, in Europe, an

overarching, top-down approach to consumer engagement

oten gets lost in translation.

LOST IN TRANSLATION: CONSUMER

ENGAGEMENT ACROSS EUROPE

http://twitter.com/#!/dannydevriendt

http://twitter.com/#!/dannydevriendt




Over the past 18 months, many organizations have come

to realize that, whether they like it or not, they are now in

the content creation business. “Content” has surpassed

simply being the latest buzzword and is now seen as

practically a magic bullet—a surefre way or organizations

to better connect with consumers.

While robust, engaging, relevant, sometimes branded,

oten-times organic content is clearly an imperative

that has been intensifed and accelerated by a 24-

hour traditional and social media cycle, there are two

undamental understandings that are oten lost in the rush

to publish. The frst is that content—regardless o how we

defne it, and or the purpose o universality let’s go ahead

and designate it as literally any communications element

that positively or negatively aects an organization or

brand—is a tactic, not a strategy.

As powerul and as accessible as they are, Twitter,

Facebook, YouTube, blogs and websites are tactical tools

that are meaningless, or worse, without a sound strategy.

There is no way that a haphazard, random approach to

engagement—“We Tweeted this!” or “We posted it on

our Facebook page!”—can be eective. Today, many

organizations struggle with the new role o content

because they are blinded by social media’s immediacy

and potential reach. With metrics that can be easily or

misleadingly parsed to purport a ar larger audience than

is actually engaged, it is easy to lose sight o the act that

there must be clear objectives in place in order to obtain

any signifcant impact or reach. And while yes, there

is defnitely immediacy to digital communications, its

instantaneous nature can be a signifcant liability without

a broader, coherent plan in place. So how can a brand or

company develop a sound communications strategy that

incorporates content creation at its cornerstone? That is

the second undamental understanding that organizations

must employ at all levels.

More than ever beore, eective content development

is driven by consistent listening. Many organizations,

communications agencies in particular, use the content

imperative to intensiy what they do best—namely, talk.

But broadcasting unrelenting monologues at consumers is

not eective content creation. Adding to the already vast

cacophony o chatter, not pausing or breath or signifcant

reection only exacerbates the chasm between brands and

consumers.

With so much inormation out there, consumers need

to be assured that they will be able to reach a company

when they want or need to. Customers who are orced to

wade through enormous amounts o content just to have a

question answered or a concern addressed will eventually

disengage, oten abandoning a product in the process.

In addition, companies more inclined to talk than listen

oten neglect to provide platorms or opportunities or

engagement. As a result, they are incapable o hearing

customers’ questions and concerns as they arise. They

miss crucial opportunities to head o crises beore

they become critical, ampliy advance good word and

strengthen brand advocacy. The very content they have

invested signifcant resources to create winds up alienating

consumers rather than strengthening connections to them.

I there is one paramount and overarching rule, it is that

eective content creation should involve an exponentially

greater amount o listening than talking. Organizations

looking to hone their content creation process to

eectively reach consumers should frst learn to truly hear

them. Understand and internalize who customers really are

and what they are actually saying. Then, respond naturally

and honestly. The best and most eective content is not

just messaging propelled ar enough and ast enough to

simply reach a target audience—it is an integral part o an

organic, strategic process that engages, adds value and

inspires people to respond.

THE NEW RULES AND ROLES OF

EFFECTIVE CONTENT

NICK CHARLESEXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, DIRECTOR OF CONTENT

@NICKCHARLES61

http://twitter.com/#!/nickcharles61

http://twitter.com/#!/nickcharles61




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ALLYSON CAMPBELL’S CULINARY

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MOMMYLENS.COM

LISA ROSENBERG’S

OBSERVATIONS ON BEING A

MANAGER, A MARKETER

AND A MOM

IHEARTSOCIALMEDIA.NET

MARTA MAJEWSKA’S WORLD OF

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ADELEMYERSBRAINTEASE.

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MYERS’ THOUGHTS ON

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BLOGOSPHEREOURPORTER NOVELLI TEAM MEMBERS NOT ONLY ENGAGE INFLUENCERS, BUT ALSO ARE

INFLUENCERS IN THEIR OWN RIGHT. CHECK OUT SOME OF OUR EMPLOYEE BLOGS.

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As ounder and president o Voce Communications,

one o Silicon Valley’s most recognized and respected

technology agencies and now a Porter Novelli company,

Richard Cline has witnessed—and helped drive—thepowerul convergence o public relations, social media

marketing and Web development. Since 1999, Cline

has guided Voce with keen insight into technology and

communications—and equal oresight into the rapidly

evolving and increasingly intrinsic roles they play in

shaping dialogues with individual inuencers and whole

communities. For Cline, awareness is paramount.

“You have to pay attention,” Cline says. “Because it really

is a community. The inuencer mix changes, dynamics

change. It used to just be media. Now it is really more

about pure content, and where that content resides. That

has changed everything.”

VOCE REFERS TO ITSELF AS “COMMUNICATION

ARCHITECTS.” TO EXTEND THE METAPHOR, HOW

HAVE INFLUENCERS BECOME MORE INTEGRAL

TO THE DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF

COMMUNICATION ARCHITECTURE?

Like with any orm o architecture, there is a lot o

oundational work—which involves understanding the

landscape and who the people are that make up the

culture or community you talk to. Over time, you assess

and learn and understand a community o people that

are invested in the areas that are critical to getting the

message out.

That is one o the bottom-line, oundational pieces that

everything is built upon. You don’t begin when someone

says, “Let’s do a big campaign.” It’s something you work

on every day—it is constant. It is not something you create

or a launch. I it is not created already, you are probably

in trouble.

HOW HAS THE ROLE OF INFLUENCERS CHANGED—

BOTH IN THE DECADE-PLUS OF VOCE’S

EXISTENCE, AND EVEN IN THE PAST TWO YEARS?

Five or six years ago, there was a transormation whena lot o the really inuential journalists and columnists

started making the move. A key fgure in Silicon Valley

was Dan Gillmor o the San Jose Mercury News. He was

one o the frst major journalists who said, “I am going to

become a publisher and make it or break it on my own.”

A couple years ater that, you started seeing community

businesses orming around these people who could

eectively produce content—people like AllThingsD’s Walt

Mossberg and Kara Swisher. That was the big movement

at the top level, but it also encouraged a view that

everyone is a journalist, and everybody has an opportunity

to oer a critical view that is consumable by a lot o

people quickly.

That didn’t happen overnight, but it did happen suddenly.

And it did get a little ridiculous, where it seemed like

everyone was a content expert or a moment. But what

you saw ultimately was that nobody was araid to put

their own shingle up and cover things and share their

opinions and their eelings. There is now a lot o noise, but

it is also much easier to track, aggregate and eectively

measure people to see what kind o inuence they have.

WHAT EFFECT HAS BETTER MEASUREMENT HAD?

When the sophistication o measurement caught up, and

companies like Radian6 were able to gauge content and

also flter it through people, the content experts in these

industries became so clear. The amount o pickup, the

commentary, who responded and linked to them, and the

ongoing tail o the discussion became so much deeper

and more relevant. Once we were able to measure and

apply a dierent set o tools, we became much smarter.

RICHARD CLINEFOUNDER, PRESIDENT, VOCE COMMUNICATIONS, A PORTER NOVELLI COMPANY

@VOCENATION

BALANCING CONTENT AND PLATFORM

http://vocecommunications.com/

http://twitter.com/#!/vocenation

http://twitter.com/#!/vocenation

http://vocecommunications.com/




“THERE IS NOWA LOT OF NOISE,

BUT IT IS ALSOMUCH EASIERTO TRACK.”




HOW DOES VOCE ASCERTAIN WHAT CONTENT

WILL MOST EFFECTIVELY REACH AND ENGAGE

KEY INFLUENCERS FOR A CLIENT AND HOW

IS THE MOST APPROPRIATE PLATFORM THEN

DETERMINED?

We believe both content and platorm are completely

dependent on each other. Oten-times, it really helps to

take the platorm frst. But the number one rule is always

that the company has to have its own voice, and we will

not make it up and we will not artifcially inseminate it.

Social media is a very transparent universe. So content

has to be authentic and it has to be true. I it has been

manuactured, it rings hollow. When content is ake or

unauthentic it can hurt you in the place where you can

least aord it, which is the trust actor. I trust goes, you

could spend thousands and thousands o dollars and still

not get it back. It could take years. Losing the element

o trust between a brand and a consumer is the worst

thing that could happen. I see it as the biggest threat

acing companies as they navigate the social media

environment.

“IT USED TO JUST BE MEDIA. NOW IT IS REALLY MORE ABOUT PURE CONTENT,

AND WHERE THAT CONTENT RESIDES. THAT HAS CHANGED EVERYTHING.”

SO ARE CONTEN T AND PLATFORM INSEPARABLY

SYMBIOTIC, OR CAN THE STRENGTH OF ONE

COMPENSATE FOR THE WEAKNESS OF ANOTHER

AND STILL ENGAGE INFLUENCERS?

Content is always king. The strength o a platorm is

really important and clearly we have strong opinions

about this, but i you have a terrible site and your writing

is really interesting and you are able to fnd inormation

and make points that people haven’t made beore, people

don’t care how eective your platorm is. They’ll take that

inormation and repost it on their own, better platorm or

you. That’s why authentic, real exchange is so powerul

and why sincerity o voice is so critical.

The more opportunities, platorms and places you have to

go, the better connection you create with people. And the

best connections you make are through honest, sincere

interaction. The organizations that can do that, and who

are honest and unapologetic about who they are, are the

ones that win. I you look through the top 10 brands, they

all have that skill set. Regardless o the unction o their

business, the ace o their organization is communications.

It’s interaction.




“REPEATAFTER ME:‘THE SOCIALNETWORK’ IS

NOT JUST AMOVIE.”




Repeat ater me: “The Social Network” is not just a movie.

Facebook is not just something my daughter is on, and a

community is much bigger than the town that I live in. The

reality acing most marketers today is that some actually

believe this or are only being provided a very narrowview o the story. So why is there so much conusion and

lack o digital literacy when it comes to envisioning and

implementing a digital and social media strategy?

Marketers and companies now ace the daunting task o

learning a whole new digital language. In some cases, the

consumer is more digitally literate than the brands he/she

advocates. So what’s a brand to do?

First, digital literacy needs to come rom within. Brands

need to stop getting caught up in jargon or the latest catch

phrase o the month and gain a deeper understanding o

what these channels and new technologies mean to them.

As mentioned in Ad Age:

”Forget brand as hero. Today, employees are the heroes.

“Companies have moved rom treating employees as a

liability when it comes to communicating to now treating

them more as an asset o engaged people who live and

breathe your brand. Just as social media has empowered

the user, it has and can equally empower the employee. By

educating internal stakeholders to listen and engage with

social media, they’ll be better at articulating a brand’s

values and how the company values them.”

Consider brands such as Zappos and Best Buy. Both

companies use a variety o digital channels to improve

internal communications, share ideas and engage with their

specifc audiences. Such eorts make these brands much

more relevant. Each employee is not just an advocate, butalso an ambassador to articulate the company’s belies and

values. Your employees, who are your biggest stakeholders,

want to know and hear everything. How are we doing as a

company? What about these new policies? Why do we have

this new messaging? Where can I share my ideas about

adding value to our company?

The digital landscape has accelerated and advocated

this new way o communicating. Your employees are on

Facebook, Tweeting, reading and commenting on blogs, so

why not engage with them through the same channels that

they’re already amiliar with?

When a brand wants to add value, it needs to start

rom the bottom up and view these eorts holistically

across the entire brand ecosystem. The greater the

dialogue, the greater the potential to learn, the greater

potential to engage.

THE AGE OF DIGITAL LITERACY

MIKE SCHEINER,EXECUTIVE VICE PRES IDENT, CREATIVE DIRECTOR,

INTEGRATED BRANDING & DIGI TAL

@MIKESCHEINER

http://twitter.com/#!/mikescheiner

http://twitter.com/#!/mikescheiner




There is likely no other market where mobile/smart

phone usage is as diverse as Asia. Asian markets

are broadly dierent—rom highly advanced mobile

markets like Korea and Japan, to largely developingmarkets like Indonesia, Thailand and India—where

the mobile phone is a lieline to the outside world

or even the poorest rural consumer. Savvy brands

are beginning to understand the market potential

o mobile phones in Asia, and how to tap mobile

technology to reach target consumers that, in some

cases, can’t be reached by any other means.

MOBILE PENETRATION IN MARKETS LARGE & SMALL

China’s mobile users will number 850 million by the

end o 2010, compared to 470 million Internet users

in the country. Chinese mobile customers are young

(more than 70 percent o mobile users are ages 10 to

29) and use their mobile phones most oten at lunch

and beore sleep. The most popular content is mobile

reading (blogs, orums, news), and searches or such

content makes up 35 percent o requests on Baidu.

The New York Times quoted the United Nations as

saying that in India more people have cell phones than

access to a toilet. In a market with some o the largest

disparities in wealth, there is demand or all types o phones,

rom $800 BlackBerry devices to $26 basic Nokia phones.

Indonesia, with nearly 150 million mobile subscribers,

has the highest growth in Southeast Asia. Mobile

users outnumber active Internet users ive to one, and

many Indonesians use mobile phones as their primary

Web access tool and use them or everything rom

banking to social networking. Mobile social networking

is a signiicant mobile activity according to Yahoo!,

with more than 89 percent o mobile Internet users

accessing a social network per month—47 percent o

Indonesians access social networks daily via mobile.

While smart phone penetration in Korea is relatively

low at our percent, the growth trajectory is rapid.

Smart phone users grew more than 300 percent in the

past year.

MARKETING VIA MOBILE

Created in Japan in 1994, QR (quick response) codes

are now prevalent in many mature Asian mobile

markets, including Hong Kong, Japan and Korea.

Korean ashion and beauty brands and retailers have

tapped into QR codes to educate, engage and entice

customers. Cosmetics leader AmorePaciic and bargain

cosmetics brand The Etude House, along with retailer

Hyundai Department store, have used QR codes in

advertising and in-store merchandising. Shoppers

scan the codes with their mobile phone cameras and

are directed to mobile sites that provide product

inormation, video tips and—most importantly—

discount coupons.

In Japan the concept has transcended lie. Memorial

(tomb) stone maker Ishinokoe will soon begin producing

gravestones with QR codes that link to pictures, videos

and amily inormation related to the deceased.

Japan has 112 million mobile subscriptions, and 97

percent have a 3G data p lan. As ar back as 2007, major

brands including Coca-Cola and McDonald’s used mobile

marketing as their primary medium to reach young

customers via mobile coupon and loyalty programs.

In Australia, mobile penetration has exceeded 100

percent. Investment by Telstra, Optus and VHA in high-

speed mobile inrastructure in the past 18 months will

put Australians among the world’s largest consumers

o smart phone-based services per capita.

SPOTLIGHT ON ASIA:

EVERYTHING MOBILE

ED DIXONPARTNER, MANAGING DIRECTOR, SINGAPORE

@EFDIXON

http://twitter.com/#!/efdixon






“MORE PEOPLEHAVE ACCESSTO CELL PHONESTHAN ACCESSTO A TOILET.”




400 MILLIONMOBILESUBSCRIBERSAND FEWER

THAN40 MILLIONINTERNETUSERS.”

“




In terms o marketing, there have been a series o

Australian Consumer and Competition Commission

(ACCC) investigations on SMS/MMS-based mobile

service operators (such as ringtone and wallpaper

services). However, there has been strong interest

in app stores—both Apple and Android—and smart-

phone access to social media platorms is being used

to extend the reach o progressive marketers.

DEVELOPING MOBILE MARKETS

With more than 400 million mobile subscribers and

ewer than 40 million Internet users, the opportunity

to leaprog over traditional online marketing to

mobile marketing is compelling in India. Rural

marketing is a top priority or both handset vendors

and mobile services providers due to a great

opportunity or providing value-added services to

rural users.

Marketers already are tapping into the potential o

India’s millions o rural mobile phone users. Nokia

oers agricultural and educational training via

mobile phones. Reuters uses SMS to deliver market

trends, weather orecasts and crop inormation to

armers. And Tata Indicom has developed a service

that allows armers in Gujarat to operate irrigation

pumps remotely.

In Vietnam, consumers willingly pay US $1,100 or an

iPhone 4—more than the country’s per capita GDP o

US $1,050. Pakistan is a relatively untapped mobile

market, but its rapidly growing businesses are

eectively using SMS short codes to support above-

the-line and below-the-line marketing programs.

FUTURE TRENDS

In Japan and other developed markets, mobile social

networking and advanced personalized services are

the uture. NTT DoCoMo launched a virtual assistant

service called i-Concier, which provides shopping

advice and coupons rom more than 250 brands,

content providers and retailers—all via smart phone.

In developing markets, the uture trend is towarddeeper penetration into rural markets and the

expansion o value-added services through 3G

capabilities. A recent survey by Yahoo! on trends

in Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines

ound that cost-eective data plans are driving

Internet access via mobile phone. In Indonesia,

Internet caes are losing ground to mobile as primary

access points. In Vietnam, consumers are tapping

into mobile as well or activities including search

and music. The opportunity to leverage mobile/

smart-phone access to reach the entire spectrum o

the Asian consumer—rom rich to poor, rom urban

dweller to armer—is more diverse and high potential

than anywhere else in the world.

THE OPPORTUNITY TO LEVERAGE MOBILE/SMART-PHONE ACCESS TO REACH THE

ENTIRE SPECTRUM OF THE ASIAN CONSUMER—FROM RICH TO POOR, FROM URBAN

DWELLER TO FARMER—IS MORE DIVERSE AND HIGH POTENTIAL THAN ANYWHERE

ELSE IN THE WORLD.



FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

GARY STOCKMAN, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

PORTER NOVELLI, 75 VARICK ST, NEW YORK, NY 10013

212.601.8114, [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

The New Influence

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