Social Engagement Archives : Page 3 of 3 : Persona Design

Brand CEOs/Leaders: Why Aren’t You Using The Power of Your Voice Online?

August 30, 2012/0 Comments/in Brand Strategy, Brand Values, Brand Voice, Facebook, Online Marketing, Social Engagement, Social Media, Twitter /by Lorraine Carter

As a company director or CEO you are of course aware of your influence on the internal dynamics of your business and brand. Your actions and decisions extend beyond the day-to-day issues of just running the business.

You champion the vision and core values that drive your company activities. You have creative control over how your brand is marketed to your customers. Your interaction with employees influences their behaviour and helps create a culture that has an effect on the identity of your company brand.

However the challenge for many brands is effectively projecting this brand ethos and identity to their customers. With company leaders having such an influential role on the internal brand development why are they so often inaccessible, unknown and unheard by the external stakeholders?

What many business leaders fail to recognize is that they have the potential to have a hugely influential role in developing the brand’s public image.

Embrace Social Media for the Sake of Your Brand

Your responsibility to your company brand is now much more than how effective you are in the workplace or traditional leadership roles. Research into CEO activity online, and particularly through social media channels, has proven that company leaders who proactively engage online positively affect brand image, customer behaviour and relationships with key market influencers.

Enhance Your Brand’s Image

Company leaders who embrace social media bring a level of authenticity and openness to the brand message that brand communication campaigns cannot replicate. CEO’s understand their core brand values better than any one else in the company. They are the visionaries behind the brand, the leaders of the brand.

When company leaders use Facebook or Twitter to join the online conversation it ensures that the brand message is a dialogue and not just a one-sided promotional push from the company.

82% of respondents in a recent survey into the social media activities of C-level executives said they are more likely to trust a company when its CEO and leadership team communicates openly via social media about their core mission and values. 71% felt that a Tweeting CEO also boosts brand image and 78% said that it gives the perception of better communication.

Inspire Employees

Employees have a fundamental role in championing and shaping the brand image during customer interactions. Company leaders who use social media set the standard and tone for how to communicate and interact with potential customers.

CEO activity on social networks also appears to influence employees’ confidence in their company. The study findings indicate that 82% of employee respondents trust a company more when the company leader and management team communicate via social media.

Boost Sales, Increase Your Profitability

A company leader’s social media presence influences purchasing decisions. 77% of survey respondents claimed to be more likely or much more likely to buy from a company whose CEO uses social media to clearly define company values and leadership principles. Direct access to the company leader can help close sales that might have proved more difficult for lower level employees to achieve.

Financial Services firm ING Direct Canada is known for its tweeting CEO, Peter Aceto who has said using social media helps him gauge how both employees and customers view the company and its products. It helps him keep in touch at a grass roots level and enables him build a more ‘accessible and engaged relationship’ in his market. “We saw it as a competitive advantage for us. There was no science. There was no ROI. We just needed to get going, start to build a community and learn how we can use it.”

No time? No excuses!

In this post digital era brand leaders are surprisingly slow to adopt social media as a means of developing their brand’s identity. Social Media takes time and commitment, particularly for those that are new to online engagement.

While time, or lack thereof, is an excuse used by many business leaders who have yet to adopt social media the fact of the matter is that the world has changed and there is no hiding anymore. If you are not speaking for yourself and your brand then someone else will do the speaking for you and you might not like what they have to say.

Brand Blog

Nervous of using social media? A good way of getting used to introducing your views to your customers is through a blog. Most leaders are more comfortable writing a post rather than launching themselves into an open dialogue with customers. Richard Branson writes a blog with a style that is very true to his personality, a personality that is deeply intertwined with the Virgin brand. He’s also very active on other social channels too such as Twitter, Facebook and Google+.

Facebook & Twitter

Social Media is not going away. In fact it’s the most ubiquitous part of our lives now and becoming the more dominantly preferred form of communication for many users over more traditional email.

Your customers have integrated Facebook and Twitter into their daily lives. There is no better place to influence your brand image and enhance customer engagement than through these channels.

It will benefit not only your customer’s perceptions of your brand but it also provides you, as a leader, with a greater understanding and insights into how customers engage and interact with your brand online.

The time is NOW to embrace social media and start really using the power of your voice online to shape public perception of your brand. It could be the most influential thing you do for your brand this year.

• Do you know how to leverage your voice online to strengthen your brand image?

• Does your brand strategy articulate the role of the leader in the development of your brand image?

Stats: *BRANDfog, 2012 CEO Social Media & Leadership Survey, March 12 2012

In the Line of Fire? Top 5 Tips to Safeguarding Your Brand Against Damage

August 16, 2012/0 Comments/in Brand Reputation, Brand Risk Management, Brand Risk Mitigation, Brand Strategy, Customer Engagement, Social Engagement, Social Media /by Lorraine Carter

Digital technology has transformed the way we do business with social media being the most significant catalyst in the mix. Multiple new additional touchpoints has widened our customer reach to levels never experienced before but conversely has also added new levels of complexity in the management and understanding of that intricate web of communications.

Not only can brands can now foster new relationships with potential new customers online through multiple social media channels but they can also be the beneficiaries of increased exposure from loyal customers who spread their ‘brand’ message positively for them.

What happens though when digital activists use online media against your brand? How do you respond, mitigate risk and protect your brand’s reputation?

The trend of digital activism, or ‘clicktivism’ that has emerged over the last few years has seen a significant shift in the way groups worldwide are getting attention for their causes.

Injunctions might prevent activists from physically getting close to your company property but online activity has fast become the platform of choice with its mobility and potential speed of impact.

While some digital activism has spurred real life action, for brands the real danger of armchair activism results not in high-risk big movements but rather, in equally damaging effects to brand reputation, perception and image, from online activities.

Don’t be tempted to allow your legal team to throw their weight around too quickly. You’ll be rapidly tried in a court of public opinion . . . and you will loose if handled badly.

Top 5 Tips to Safeguarding Your Brand Against Digital Activism

Typically digital activism is a person, or group of people who seek to pressurize or damage the reputation of a brand, using online means, because they disagree with the policy, ethos or activities of the company in question.

As with traditional brand risk management, safeguarding your brand against potential online damage starts with preempting future issues that may arise from brand activity and having the necessary preparation and scenario planning in place to deal with the situation if it presents itself.

1. Don’t Give Digital Activists the Attention They Crave

Viral sensations rarely stem from positive interactions between companies and customers. Digital activists are looking to maximize attention for their cause, which requires provoking activities to make an impact.

Responding to unfounded claims and negativity with heavy handed clumsiness can often do more harm than good for the brand under fire. What might have been a small and insignificant post can quickly turn into an inflammatory issue with prolonged consequences for the brand if a company responds to provocation inappropriately.

Remember, digital activists do not gain attention by their online posts alone. They require other online users to interact, become incendiary and spread the word too.

Sensationalism and stunts often loose credibility for digital activists. If you have built a strong brand reputation, authentically embrace your fans, then taking the high road and not responding can have a more positive effect on your customers. Conversely, ill-thought out or poorly worded responses can have even loyal customers becoming incensed and sharing the exchange online.

2. Preempt: Take Control of Your Online Brand Assets

Every great brand is built on a promise to its customers with a foundation of strong core values. If you believe in your brand values then you need to preempt and recognize any negative issues that others may have with your activities and take precautionary measures to safeguard your brand.

Customers are quick to recognize fake products and knock-off brands when they see them offline. In the digital world the ability for others to take control of online domain names, twitter handles, logo variations or Facebook profile names means that your brand is increasingly at risk from imposters.

Create dormant social media profiles for your brand, using any potential variations of your brand that may otherwise be hijacked by digital activists. Include SEO key words in blogs websites, and buy up similar domains to ensure that you control your brand communications.

Shell Oil is under consistent attack from Greenpeace digital activists who use social media and digital tools to protest against the company’s drilling activities in the Arctic. Using a website with a brand imaging and creative fake social network profiles, Greenpeace sabotaged the brand reputation and gained significant coverage for their cause when their tactics went viral.

Epic Shell PR Fail or Greenpeace Villains?

3. Be Sincere: Take Responsibility When You Are in The Wrong

Sometimes brands makes mistakes and are in the wrong. They are after all, managed by humans and nobody is infallible. Customers don’t escalate to extreme action instantly, they build to a boiling point which means you have time, all be it very short, to diffuse a potential firestorm. You must have the right pre-considered planning in place though to resolve problems quickly and effectively.

Brands are unlikely to suffer major damage to image unless there are numerous instances of poor customer experiences. If other customers empathize with a cause it can escalate rapidly. Saying sorry and dealing with real customer issues can save brands a lot of future embarrassment and long term reputational damage, not to mention loss of hard earned trust, profitable revenue and market share.

One disgruntled Vodafone customer whose problem was ignored by the company created www.vodafail.com to allow all frustrated customers to vocalize their negative brand experiences. This would never have happened if the customers’ grievance had been acknowledged and addressed appropriately – quickly!

In 2009 United Airlines baggage handles broke guitars belonging to Canadian band Sons of Maxwell. When their request for the company to replace their guitars was ignored the band wrote a song ‘United breaks Guitars’ which currently has over 12 million views on YouTube. Think what that’s cost the business in lost revenue and brand damage, versus acknowledging their mistake and replacing the broken guitars.

4. Influence the Influencers

Digital Activists rely on customers, shareholders, bloggers, journalists and other influencers to give credence to their cause and spread word of their activities.

Develop a relationship with your key brand influencers. Create and sustain an open dialogue so if instances of digital activism against your brand occur, your brand is asked for a response before public comment is made.

If the digital activists make claims that are deceitful in an online space then this only demonstrates their contempt for the public. Journalists and bloggers do not want to risk their credibility by highlighting the cause of those who create brand sabotage without basis. Having an open dialogue with these influencers can prevent the spread of negative brand associations.

5. Integrate Digital Technology into Your Brand Risk Management Strategy

Define and develop your brands online social media policies as a fully integrated part of your brand risk management strategy. Employee training regarding the digital management of your brand is a must. Distribute, articulate, train, assess, reiterate and frequently revisit your personnel training throughout the company, top down.

Fine Gael unfortunately learned the hard way about what can happen if you mismanage online communications. By deleting a comment on their Facebook page regarding gay marriage the party suffered major backlash and a prolonged online debate about the situation.

Remember brands are built on trust. They make emotional connections with their target audiences that must be compelling, authentic and convincing. If the brand deviates or behaves inconsistently or inappropriately it can be very difficult to rebuild and earn that trust again.

It’s vital you nurture, respect and protect your relationship with your customers diligently. Listen, monitor, engage and above all demonstrate integrity and respect – step into your audiences’ shoes, no matter how uncomfortable!

• Is your brand safeguarded against digital activism?

• Have you identified potential areas of risk and likelihood, on and offline, to your business/brand that might attract digital activist backlash?

• Have you integrated brand risk management with preparation and scenario planning and policy development into your overall brand strategy?

How to Successfully Build Your Brand in a Post-Digital World

August 7, 2012/0 Comments/in Brand Experience, Brand Reputation, Brand Risk Management, Customer Engagement, Customer Service, Integrated Marketing, Interactive Marketing, Marketing, Mobile, Online Marketing, QR Codes, Social Engagement /by Lorraine Carter

‘Digital’ is no longer a buzz word in business circles, nor is it viewed as another tool in the marketing arsenal. It’s now so integrated into our lives that it underlies everything we do.

Consequently digital has radically changed the rules with regard to managing a brand’s development and reputation. Companies are now operating in a post-digital world, which continues to evolve, and challenges marketeers to constantly update their strategies to stay relevant.

Traditional brand building models are no longer adequate on their own and must be fully underpinned and leveraged with a digital strategy if they are to flourish. Put digital centre stage if you want to succeed. Fully embracing digital is critical to building a brand that remains relevant with today’s customer and enjoys sustainable growth.

Understanding Your Customers Online

Customers are increasingly becoming ‘digital natives’; embracing digital technology in all aspects of their daily lives. Creating a brand that remains relevant in the post-digital world starts with understanding the post-digital global culture.

Digital natives like to converse and share information online. The ease at which today’s customers can talk about a brand online, share their opinions, and influence the market means that, in essence, digital natives have become co-creators of your brand. They drive your image, reputation and bottom line.

As your customers becoming increasingly powerful in shaping your brand it is critical you fully understand they are in effect co-branders. Rather than trying to control customer opinion, successful brands are those who aim to listen, understand and engage with their customers. To succeed you must build your brand strategy with a fully inclusive thought process that respectfully includes, understands and integrates their input.

Your customers will talk about you and disseminate their opinions to the market whether you engage or not. Far better to proactively and responsively be part of the conversations! Anything that hinders speed and agility contributes to failure. The market is littered with disaster case studies of brands that arrogantly ignored or poorly responded to their customers, contributing to their own demise.

Brands that embrace this fluid and constantly changing dynamic with their customers have a far greater capability for exponential growth and lasting success.

Engaging with Your Customers Online

Never before has engaging with digital natives at all touch points been such a critical factor in the development and success of brands. Customers increased access to information, choice, and purchasing opportunities means it is a much more non-linear decision making process.

Customers now are much more influenced in their purchasing decisions by online conversations, reviews and pre-purchase interactions, even if their final actual purchase is made offline. Social endorsement carries huge weight in the purchasing mindset today.

76% of customers recommend companies they trust to a friend or colleague. (Source: Edelman)

The Millennial generation are highly-skeptical of brand content and marketing in social media. Instead 86% of customers in that group say that user-generated content has more influence on what they buy. (Source: Bazaarvoice Study)

62% of all online shoppers read product-related comments from friends on Facebook, with 75% of these shoppers clicking through to the retailers site. (Source: Sociable Labs Social Impact Consumer Study)

With the voice of their peers having greater influence than the voice of the proprietary company, brands must make sure that they solicit feedback from customers in order to ensure their offering remains relevant, satisfies their customers needs and builds customer loyalty. Amazon is a great case in point with its recommendation system, loyalty programme, post purchase feedback and mobile app.

Unsatisfied customers can damage brand reputation at an alarmingly fast rate. By having an appropriate brand strategy and structures in place to respond and engage with your customers at all relevant touch points you can ensure that digital natives are poised to support your brand development in their online interactions. Honesty, integrity and responsive consistency in all your brand interactions is critical to your success, and is the cornerstone to your brand risk management strategy too.

Technology also offers brands new opportunities to engage with their customers e.g. QR codes have been used by multiple B2B and B2C brands such as Irish Management Institute, Guinness, Tesco and Volkswagen to instant purchasing options with apps on mobile devices e.g. Amazon, Ebay and many of the utilities companies too.

The ability to extend the reach of your brand experience has never been greater. By embracing digital in all aspects of your business your brand can offer customers a flexible and consistent experience, which they can also adapt to suit their lifestyles, and you can use to manage their expectations too.

Create a Consistent Brand Experience On and Offline

Customers no longer see a divide between their online and offline experience of a brand. Virtual and real worlds are now merged into a more complex tapestry of ongoing experience. Touch points that range from websites, to apps, social media platforms and face-to-face interactions all offer different kinds influence when it comes to building a positive and consistent brand experience.

Digital is now a fully integrated part of peoples’ lives therefore it should also be fully integrated into your brand strategy so that your online and offline brand activity seamlessly merges into one great experience for your customers and enhances their lives.

Consistency in the brand experience is critical in the building of a relationship with your customer. Customers expect to be able to get feedback, deals and reviews, even while standing in a retail or service environment. Brands must be proactive in order to be relevant.

Apple’s commitment to ‘humanizing technology’ demonstrates success, which includes a formidable combination of its quality products with the experiential “wow” of the Apple Store and it’s ‘genius’ service. This symbiosis between the real and the virtual, including making an appointment online to get customer support at the local store, is a significant contributory element to Apple’s success. Apple seamlessly simplifies and enhances their customers’ lives.

Digital technology has forever changed our cultures, work and home lives around the world including social structures. This needs to be reflected in your business to ensure long-term success and be a critical part of your brand risk management strategy too.

• How thoroughly have you integrated your brand into the post digital world?

• If you are falling short in your online brand strategy, how quickly are you going to address this risk to your business?

Social Media – How to Choose the Right Fit for Your Brand for Effective ROI

August 3, 2012/0 Comments/in Brand Relevance, Brand Strategy, Business, Communication, Customer Engagement, Facebook, Google+, Interactive Marketing, Market Demographics, Marketing, Mobile, Online Marketing, Pinterest, Return On Investment, Social Engagement, Social Media, Target Market, Twitter /by Lorraine Carter

Social media adoption figures have sky rocketed in Ireland in the last few years. The Irish market has shown an engagement with social networks that is among the highest in Europe. We are the 4th heaviest users of social media in the EU, the 2nd highest users of Linkedin after the USA, and 1 of every 5 minutes we spend online is spent on social networks.

In contrast Irish businesses have been relatively slow to adopt social media as a tool to engage with this very active online audience and to leverage it effectively for commercial return.

We have spoken before about the value of social media for building brand awareness online. Implementing a social media strategy for business takes an investment of time and resources. To maximize the return on this investment, it is vital that businesses understand and select the right social media fit for their brand and design content that suits the activity typical of each individual network and their brands relevant target audience. Selecting the right type of social network for your brand requires a number of considerations.

Which social networks suit your brand?

With so many social networks available it is important to pick the type that best fits with your brand image/personality/values etc., your product type, and that has the highest propensity of target market users. Remember, different social networks serve different purposes and target different markets.

For consumer brands operating in Ireland the focus must include Facebook. In both Ireland and worldwide Facebook continues to dominate where consumers spend their time online. It is still a less relevant platform though for B2B interaction compared to other options available.

Twitter should also be considered. Penetration numbers with Irish audiences mean that members of your target audience can be found in that space too but engagement style is quite different to Facebook. Twitter is also a very valuable B2B platform, again depending on your target audience.

YouTube is the second largest social media site after Facebook and the second largest search engine after Google making it one of the hottest social media platforms. It’s an ideal platform B2B or B2C to expand your content marketing and grow your brand awareness, when used appropriately. It also brings your brand alive in a more personal way, in terms of getting a sense of your brand personality.

Linkedin is the professional social media network and very business orientated. With 591,000 Irish users it is a must for any professionally orientated brand serving a B2B market. This audience is typically older, educated and has higher incomes. Three quarters of Linkedin members have a college or university degree. Two thirds are over thirty-five and seven out of ten earn over $60k/€50k.

Pinterest is a more recent social media platform to show significant and very rapid growth globally as well as in Ireland and has passed out Twitter in the US in term of frequency of online activity. It should definitely be considered by brands that have compelling visual content; particularly if they also sell consumer products relating to food, the home, arts & crafts, style & fashion, vacations & travel, inspiration & education etc. It has a very strong female usage bias in the US but is more equally balanced between the genders in the UK.

Google+ is growing at an increasingly fast rate, particularly among males in the 25 – 35 age. It has increased its audience share in Ireland by 13% since the beginning of the year and this looks set to continue.

Where are your brands target customers?

Pick the appropriate social network that contains the maximum number of your brands target audience.

With over 2,093,900 Facebook users in Ireland, 68.5% of the population, it is safe to say that Facebook should be a focus for any consumer brands looking to increase target awareness online, particularly within the Irish market. The same applies with Twitter, who have over 180,000 Irish members and growing daily.

Facebook is more popular among Irish females and the average age of a Facebook user is 30.5 years. While the highest portion of Facebook users are in the 15-35 age bracket, the 55+ is growing at the highest rate.

Why do they use social media and when are they most active?

Depending on your audience type and relevant platform, they are largely using social media for their personal entertainment. However professional platforms like Linkedin are business orientated and used for multiple professionally related reasons e.g. information sources/sharing, building professional profiles and brand awareness, networking and recruitment etc.

This is important to remember when exploring how best to target your online customers. No social demographic wants to read content that is entirely promotional or irrelevant to their interests. All media strives to produce interesting, entertaining, and compelling content and social media should be exactly the same.

Understanding what your target audience is doing online makes it easier to target them with messages that catch their attention and stimulate interaction. Entertaining content typically gets most attention and is usually the most widely shared.

Latest figures from American markets show a growing trend amongst audiences to use social networks, particularly Facebook and Youtube, while watching television and sporting events. Audiences are looking to interact and share their experience in real time.

On the other hand Linkedin often hits peak use at lunchtime in the US through to the afternoon for viewing public profiles, while engaging from their desks, and mobile usage peaks after dinner in the evening as users think about their personal/business goals etc.

It is important for marketers to become skilled in engaging in conversations about hot topics in order to generate relevant customer interest online. Brands who join in conversations and do not simply try to self promote typically create far more valuable interactions with their online audience.

What content will resonate with your audience?

Monitoring the online conversations of target audiences can provide valuable insight into the type of information that engages brand/customer interactions most.

Compelling Content is Key

When it comes to content for social networks it is not one fit for all. Each social network will have unique audience interactions requiring its own brand strategy. Tone, content type, and audience demographic vary between networks. Brands who push the same content on all their social media profiles are wasting a valuable opportunity to increase target awareness.

Posts should be tailored to the fit each individual social network. If your brand uses Facebook to promote sales and promotions then consider using Twitter as a customer services tool. Like any marketing campaign it is important to gage reactions and adjust your social media campaign accordingly.

• Does your brand have a social media strategy?

• Is your brand active in a social network that maximizes target audience reach?

• Can we help you to tailor your online activity to maximize your ROI in social media marketing?

How to Achieve Greater Profitability With Superior Brand Customer Relations

July 24, 2012/0 Comments/in Brand Champions, Brand Reputation, Brand Risk Management, Brand Strategy, Branding, Business, Communication, Customer Engagement, Customer Service, Social Engagement /by Lorraine Carter

In the current operating environment perceived brand ‘value’ is now one of the key influencers on purchasing behaviour. Customers want and expect to get the most out of their investment. Indeed in today’s market customers have more information, choice, market access and as a result have higher expectations than ever before.

Consequently the ability to satisfy customers and convince them of your brand’s superior value has become a much more significant challenge for many companies. Those that achieve that level of perceived higher brand value through more meaningful, personalized and lasting brand experiences can drive growing sales that are both more profitable and sustainable.

Why Retaining Customers is Key to Profitability & Growth

The majority of marketing budgets are primarily focused on attracting new customers. This could be viewed as a significant error when you consider that it costs 6 times more to sell something to a new prospect than to sell that same thing (product or service) to an existing customer.

For all the new business you have attracted over the last few years how much business have you ‘left on the table’ or lost by not ‘working on’ or enhancing your brand relationships with your existing customers?

Not only do repeat customers spend 33% more than new customers, but referrals amongst repeat customers are statistically 107% greater than non-customers. So, developing superior customer relations not only helps maintain profitability but it also drives growth.

What Went Wrong?

Customers stop doing business with you for any number of reasons. One of the biggest is if they have a complaint that goes unresolved or is badly handled. They can also leave you simply because they feel unappreciated and not valued by your company.

9 Ways to Generate Superior Brand Value and Increased Profits by Nurturing Customer Relations

1. Put Customers At The Heart Of What You Do

Developing superior brand value requires aligning your brand strategy with the needs of your customers. Customer perspectives should inform and shape your brand identity, your customer value proposition and ultimately translate into a compelling and consistent customer experience.

If all departments within the organization understand their role in developing and delivering first class customer relations then developing superior brand value becomes a cohesive organizational goal.

2. Value Your Customers

Customers should also be viewed as strategic assets with the acquisition cost factors fully understood and recognized to achieve equitable customer lifetime valuation. Companies typically invest considerable effort in locating, acquiring and keeping potentially loyal customers so understanding brand loyalty and retention are key to ensuring growth with the right customers.

3. Think of Employees as Brand Value Creating Assets

Customer relations should be nurtured at all touch points, but none has a greater influence on brand value than the face-to-face interactions between employees and customers.

Employees are the face of the brand and need to represent the brand and align themselves with the brand values when they interact with customers. An employee who understands the customers needs and ensures customer satisfaction will both deepen the customer brand relationship but also further generate superior perceived value for the brand.

4. Encourage Customer Feedback

Developing superior customer relations is not all about what you give to your customers. It’s also about allowing your customers to provide feedback and ensuring they feel that their opinions are of value to your company.

Conduct regular surveys and polls with your customers to ensure you understand their current challenges and needs. Customers feel valued by your brand when they think their opinions are appreciated and you get very valuable customer insights.

5. Implement Appropriate Online Brand Social Media Policy

Customer relations are fostered at each touch point both on and offline. Incorporating a corporate social media policy in your company congruent with your brand will provide employees with the guidelines they need to engage appropriately with your customers.

6. Provide Regular Training

Informed employees are effective employees. Your employees are the face of your brand and they must reflect the brand accordingly.

Train your team to understand your brand, the importance of their role and their responsibilities as representatives of the brand. If they believe in the brand then this will translate into their customer interactions. An effective brand must be authentically lived from the inside out to the market place to become a powerful brand.

7. Adapt to Stay Relevant

Adapt and develop your products and services based on customer needs. An offering that is aligned with, and driven by, customer needs is much more sustainable in the long term. If your brand strategy has a flexible, responsive and listening customer focus then implementing new technologies has a higher success rate because it’s finely tuned to meet ongoing and changing customer preferences.

8. Develop A Customer Brand Risk Management Strategy

Every brand needs a brand risk management strategy which also includes clear guidelines for how customer relations should be managed in the event of an untoward issue arising. This should include all interactions on and offline, together with proactive, prompt and high integrity responsiveness from the top, down the chain of command.

9. Reach Out and WOW

The ability of your employees to wow your customers with the level of service they provide can create a compelling level of perceived superior brand value that develops loyal customer brand champions.

Empowering your employees to offer a level of service beyond what would be expected (within brand guidelines) can create a highly targeted branding experience and greatly enhance the customer’s perceived brand value.

Listen, monitor, record and evaluate your customer opinions. Brand value is based on perceptions. In-depth understanding about how your brand is viewed by your customers equips you with the information you need to satisfy and exceed customer expectations.

If you want to develop a profitable business that enjoys sustainable growth then your brand must go beyond simply satisfying minimum basic needs. It must develop more in depth relationships with your target market to create an enhanced level of perceived brand value.

A brand that listens, understands and responds to the needs of their customers creates first class brand value for the customer and thereby increased profitability for the business.

• Is your brand strategy truly customer-focused?

• Does your brand undertake customer feedback exercises?

5 Ways to Improve Online Brand Risk Management

July 2, 2012/0 Comments/in Brand Reputation, Brand Risk Management, Brand Strategy, Social Engagement, Social Media /by Lorraine Carter

Strong brands are built by fostering relationships built on trust with your target audience. This process takes a great deal of time and effort on the part of the brand custodian or company. If something happens to break this trust, the fall out and subsequent impact on your customer’s perceptions of your brand can happen at an alarming rate and potentially be devastating.

The potential positive impact of social networking on increasing brand awareness and building brand equity is indisputable. Research shows 94% of corporates use social media and 85% say that it’s given their business more exposure (source MBA programmes). Brands strive for increased interaction with their target audience as they build relationships with their customers and customers look to online channels to extend their brand experience. While online touch points offer huge benefits to brand development they do so while adding considerable complexity to brand risk management.

Managing Brand Risk Online

The essence of successful brand risk management lies in taking a proactive approach to preempting potential threats or compromise to the brand and putting in place contingency plans to mitigate any problems that may arise. Online brand activities are far more challenging to control because so much of the communication taking place about the brand is done by external stakeholders; consumers, commenter’s, competitors etc.

While companies cannot control what others say about their brand online, steps can be taken to monitor, manage, reduce potential risks and positively influence the online activities that shape the brand’s reputation.

1. Internal Management Platform

The integration of an effective internal management platform is important to ensure that those managing company online brand accounts do so in a structured, focused and controlled manner, one that fits into the overall brand strategy.

Cadbury’s Crème Egg Facebook page is accessed by an audience of 2.3m which is as much made up of a younger audience as it is by adults. The brand has a responsibility to ensure its younger audience is protected. Those who manage Cadbury’s social media accounts encourage user-generated content and monitor activity in a way that posts and Tweets are always kept appropriate, engaging, and brand relevant

2. Streamline Multiple Profiles

The greater the number of online profiles a brand has e.g YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Linkedin and Google+ etc. the greater the level of potential risk to brands. When conversations are spread out across multiple social channels, it is easy for companies to quickly loose track of what is being said about their brand. It’s also often difficult to keep track of which profiles have been updated and if videos and content have uploaded correctly. Brands should be selective in their use of social media applications and focus on the platforms which best suit the needs of their target audience and fit within the brand’s communication strategy.

3. Social Media Monitoring Platform

Social media’s most damaging potential impact is on reputation. The wider the brand’s social media reach, the higher the need to balance the benefits and risks of social media engagement in order to effectively protect the social media perception and reputation of the brand. Software and online programmes, can be employed which not only enable users to effectively monitor and manage the conversations and engagement taking place around their brand but also allows them to co-ordinate social media strategy and activity across multiple platforms. Lack of structure and monitoring of conversations in this way leaves companies particularly open to the greatest of risks.

4. Be Proactive: Respond Quickly & Effectively When Issues Arise

The potential to rapidly spread negative word of mouth online can be hugely threatening to a brand if issues arise. The lightning speed at which things happen in the social space is something that all companies need to be fully aware of when putting their social media strategies in place. The team or individual responsible, in a company, for interacting on the brand’s social media profiles needs to be capable of quickly monitoring and effectively dealing with any issues that arise.

5. Employee Training

While you may be risk averse in your general business strategy does the same apply to how you and your employees engage in social media? Social media activity needs to be considered when outlining acceptable behaviour expected of employees. If they are perceived as representatives of your brand or somehow connected to your brand then how they interact online can be viewed as a reflection of your brand. Educating your employees on the potential repercussions of their online behaviour on the brand, empowering them to be positive brand ambassadors online and training them in how to be vigilant about social media both personally and for your business can reduce risks to your brand.

[Tweet issued by Chrysler after the following tweet sent by an employee: “I find it ironic that Detroit is known as the #motorcity and yet no one here knows how to f***ing drive,” read the tweet of a Chrysler employee though the F-word was uncensored]

Online Risk Assessment

As with offline brand risk assessment, the various risks associated with social media use need to be identified and quantified before contingency plans can be put in place. Your brand risk assessment strategy needs to take into account the likelihood and potential damage resulting from negative online occurrences such as employee defamation, negative consumer feedback, as well as any other risks to which social media use exposes a brand. Risk assessment also involves identifying the controls that are already in place, together with those which should be introduced to reduce any other jeopardizing elements.

It is critical that brands expand current risk management policies to include social media. Once risks have been identified, it should be apparent whether, and where, the brands risk management strategy needs to be expanded in order to better address the risks associated with communicating online.

• Does your brand have a strategy specific to its online activity?

• Do you have a contingency plan in place to deal with the potential repercussions of negative online brand communications?

• Have you assessed the current risks affecting your brand’s social media activity?

• Are your employees training in business-specific social media management?

5 Ways to WOW Your Customers by Using Social Media

June 5, 2012/0 Comments/in Brand Strategy, Branding, Customer Engagement, Facebook, Interactive Marketing, Social Engagement, Social Media /by Lorraine Carter

Do you WOW your customers? A company that creates a positive brand experience for their customers, particularly one that goes beyond consumer expectations, is richly rewarded by increased brand loyalty and expanding profitability.

Social Media offers companies the perfect platform to enrich the customer brand experience and empower the customer to help the brand meet its key business drivers.

Social Media not only offers another touch point for consumer brand interaction, it also enables companies to create the ultimate brand experience by wowing their customers beyond their typical brand expectations. Companies who don’t offer a social media touch-point to their customers risk of loosing valuable customers and potential profits.

Last week we spoke about finding what makes your brand stand out from its competitors. Now find out how social media can help your brand to WOW your customers in 5 keys steps.

1. Offer Them Something Exclusive

Online consumers are demanding. In order to be willing to interact with brand’s online they expect to be offered something beyond what they can experience offline. Offering your social customer’s something that goes beyond their physical purchase leaves them with an enriched brand experience and typically develops a stronger attachment to the brand.

Wowing your customers can be done by offering them access to exclusive online competitions, games unique to their social media profiles, or special offers and discounts offered exclusively to online fans. Exclusive social media posts not only keeps them engaged and motivated but it helps to develop strong brand loyalty when customers feel they are being rewarded for their extended brand interaction.

Burberry is a great example of how brands can engage with their online audiences. The culmination of Burberry’s social media use was seen last September with the unveiling of its 2012 collection exclusively to its Twitter and Instagram followers right before it hit the runway. The show was also live streamed on Burberry’s YouTube channel and shared behind-the-scenes footage.

Since then, Burberry’s following has grown to over 800,000 on Twitter and over 11.6 million on Facebook, while it’s YouTube channel has received over 12 million views. Was the return on social media investment worth it? I am sure Burberry think so; their profits rose 21% in the 12 months since the launch of their social media strategy.

2. Offer Your Followers a ‘Behind-the-scenes’ View

Sharing videos, images and your brand story provides consumers with a clear picture of your brand, shapes their perceptions of your brand identity and humanizes your brand thereby helping it build stronger, lasting relationships.

Sharing these intimate details offers a sense of inclusion to consumers, reaffirming their affinity with the brand and its values. Brands such as Ford use their social networks to share information with fans about the history of the company and their plans for the future, giving fans a sense of inclusion and understand of the brand.

The Four Seasons has created individual Twitter accounts for each of its local hotels from New York to Sharm El Sheikh. The Four Seasons Twitter accounts interact with followers and share their pictures. In addition to a friendly and ‘human’ approach to its interaction, the accounts also share tips on places to visit in their respective cities. The social media team is a direct reflection of customer service that you’re going to find inside any Four Seasons hotel.

3. React and Respond

Online consumers like to share, be it a compliment or a complaint. By providing a brand with a social media profile you are giving your customers the space they need to share their experience. Critically, your customers are already in a position to shape and influence each other’s experience of your brand by commenting on their own pages.

Having a centralized space that encourages comments allows you to monitor and addresses your consumer’s reaction to your brand much more responsively. Letting your customers know when you appreciate their positive comments, or quickly trying to address and solve their negative experiences allows you to offer them enriched experience of your brand beyond the point of sale, giving your customer a renewed sense of value.

Remember, be it positive or negative commentary, the online customer can spread the word far faster and with far greater reach than those offline. Managing their online commentary can be key to maintaining strong customer loyalty and increased profitability potential.

Social Media channels are fast becoming the customer-query space of choice. Utilizing Facebook and Twitter to provide customer service has proven to be beneficial for both customer and company alike. Addressing customer queries promptly in a visible space displays to the world the importance of your customers to your brand.

Dutch airline KLM recently launched their 24/7 customer support on Twitter and Facebook. Customer queries are answered promptly in real time at no cost to the customer and without valuable time wasted on call-waiting.

They used a highly engaging “Live Replies” campaign, on the day of launch when they responded to tweets with a small army of staff in an airplane hanger holding up signs!

4. Showing Them You Value Their Suggestions

Customers are very comfortable in offering suggestions via social networks. Not only do brands receive relevant feedback but they often also receive ideas for new products.

Brands such as VitaminWater used a Facebook app to ask their fans for feedback and suggestions from which they developed a new flavour for their product mix. This is a win win situation. Fans feel relevant, valued, appreciated by the brand, and the brand ends up with a new product for their mix.

5. Reward Them For Their Loyalty

Brands like USA Network reward their five million+ online fans and followers by allowing them to earn points for simply watching videos, chatting, playing games and reposting content to Twitter and Facebook. Rewards can be redeemable for tangible and virtual goods, like show-branded merchandise and goods such as gift cards for major retailers.

What this means for businesses.

Online consumers are demanding. And they want more than ever before; more experience, more engagement, more rewards and more reasons to connect with each other and brands through social media.

By leveraging social media, a company can add to their consumer’s overall brand experience in a meaningful way and a customer that has been wowed can become fierce brand advocates for a company. Loyal online customers can help meet key business drivers for a company, like better customer support, faster innovation and increased demand and awareness.

The voice and value of social media positively influences purchase behavior, adoption rates and brand perception. It helps to build the consumer’s affinity with the brand and can create a highly targeted branding experience. Consumers become willing advocates and brand champions for the brand they love.

• Does your brand strategy incorporate online marketing / social media?

• Are your customer’s wowed by your online branding activity?

• How are you building brand loyalty online?

Armed and Dangerous: How Misuse of Social Media Can Damage Your Brand

April 6, 2012/0 Comments/in Branding, Business, Communication, Marketing, Online Marketing, Social Engagement, Social Media, Technology /by Lorraine Carter

Digital disruption seems to be taking over businesses across Ireland and worldwide. Companies are jumping on the social media bandwagon in their thousands with little apparent thought for brand strategy or brand management. And why is this? The answer for most, it seems, does not extend far beyond ‘because other businesses are online and so are our customers’. Here in lies the problem.

The decision as to whether online marketing or social media is right for your business is a strategic one, if it ties into the marketing and ultimate business strategy of your company. However, this appears to be something evading many companies who are setting up social media profiles for their brands/businesses with little regard as to what role they are deemed to play, how these profiles will help drive the profitability of the business and how congruent their activity is with their brand.

When employed correctly social media can be an extremely powerful marketing tool for your business. It can be an effective method of building strong customer relationships, adding brand value, reinforcing strong brand imagery, gathering valuable customer feedback and, particularly for small and medium companies, it can provide great exposure for your company that may be prohibitively expensive using more traditional marketing tools.

In the wrong hands, social media can be hugely detrimental to your brand image, company reputation and even cause you to loose revenue for your business.

In January of this year McDonalds attempted to create a social media campaign on Twitter which aimed to have the public spread their positive stories about the McDonalds brand using the hashtag #McDStories. In their naivety, McDonalds did not take into account that on social networks the company cannot control the brand message spread by the public.

What was intended as campaign to develop positive connotations about the McDonalds brand was quickly hi-jacked by disgruntled customers who spread their McD horror stories at such a rate that it trended worldwide.

While feedback should always be welcomed by businesses, the ability to respond to negative feedback and positively spin the situation is paramount to building the brand customer relationship.

The choice of Twitter as an application proved to be a poor one for McDonalds when used in this capacity. The ability for thousands to comment at once made it impossible for McDonalds to appropriately respond.

This week alone saw a monumental social media mistake suffered by one Irish company hoping to employ Facebook as a means to generate more fans and promote their business offers online.

Denis Mahony Motors in Dublin offered anyone who liked their Facebook page over the last few days of March, entry into a draw to win a new Mercedes if they shared the competition with their Facebook friends.

The contest was to end on Sunday 1st April. What initially seemed to be a huge success (the company’s Facebook fans rocketed in numbers during the days leading up to 1st April), proved to be a colossal PR disaster for the business when they announced on Sunday that the stunt was an April Fools prank.

What Denis Mahony Motors failed to take into account is that no customer wants to feel they have been made a fool of, particularly in front of their friends, which is essentially what happened to those who spread the company’s contest message.

Sunday saw fans of the page drop from 10,000 to 5,000 in less than 20 minutes and disgruntled former-fans quickly took to the company’s Facebook wall to voice their anger.

The company subsequently recognized their mistake, apologized and offered a new competition with vouchers to be won and discounts on cars for a month. However for many potential customers the damage has been done, not to mention the negative press that a mistake like this gains on online blogs and forums.

The big mistake made by Denis Mahony Motors is in not understanding the nature of Facebook interactions. Unlike other social networks Facebook is very much personal with the majority of communication taking place between friends. Had this campaign been run on Twitter then perhaps the backlash would have been less severe. What began as a social media stunt ultimately cost the company potential sales and damaged their brand’s reputation.

On the other hand IKEA ran a very successful April Fools prank. IKEA alerted customers to a “fake” product recall, saying it had sold some the incorrect left-handed allen keys 01-01-2012 and 31-03-2012. “To exchange your incorrect allen key, we’ve provided a swap box at the store entrance, 1st April”.

The advert ran in the press and online gaining the brand huge “positive” publicity and viral media exposure and as it spread. To date one of those blogs, where it was posted, has had 929,025 views alone, not to mention all the sharing through Facebook and Twitter. It even got endorsements across multiple other channels for being in the top 5 best April Fools pranks this year!

Many company leaders and their employees have personal profiles online in various social media channels for communicating with friends, but that does not mean they know how to effectively use them to positively increase their company brand image and profitability for their business. Online interaction at a personal level is invariably very different to that in a brand / business capacity. We all know how to use a scissors but that does not mean we can all be successful hairdressers without proper training.

A social media strategy is one which ties into your overall brand strategy and marketing plan for your company, one which contains realistic expectations of what social media can achieve for your business, and one which is managed by someone with the necessary marketing and technological skills to run the campaign successfully.

Once a campaign has run its course your business should have a stronger social media presence and an expanded fan base of eager and engaged potential customers.

As you embrace the opportunities online marketing and social media poses for your brand, it might prudent to reflect on where you may need some help, to ensure your activities produce positive outcomes for your brand and your target audience and ultimately support the profitable growth of your business.

• Do you understand all the rules that apply when designing and implementing a successful social media campaign for your brand?

• Have you thought about how social media fits into your marketing strategy?

• Have you identified where online your customers are most active and how you can reach them?

QR Codes – A Hot Trend for Cross Platform Marketing to Grow Your Brand

May 18, 2011/0 Comments/in Advertising, Apparel, Brand Collateral, Branding, Business, Communication, Customer Engagement, EProducts, Estate Agents, Innovation, Integrated Marketing, Interactive Marketing, Market Insights, Market Research, Marketing, Mobile, Online Marketing, Packaging, Packaging Design, Pharmaceutical Industry, Professional Services, Publishers, QR Code Readers, QR Codes, Retailers, Return On Investment, Smart Phones, Social Engagement, Social Media, Target Market, Technology, Tourism, Trends, Wayfinding Systems /by Lorraine Carter

A QR Code (short for Quick Response) is a specific matrix barcode, storing information in both the vertical and horizontal directions, readable by dedicated QR barcode readers and smart phones / camera phones.

QR Codes were originally developed in 1994 and used in the vehicle manufacturing industry for tracking parts etc, but are now being used very successfully in integrated marketing campaigns across the globe. The technology has seen a huge uptake in Japan and South Korea.

A smart phone user can now scan one of these QR Codes in magazines, newspapers, on transport and billboards, business cards, products, packaging, on a PC, TV or cinema screen and it can take the user to a URL (webpage), video, send them a text message, save a vCard or event to the users contact book or calendar and even compose an email. QR Codes effectively create a direct link between the physical world and online arena.

While the adoption of QR Codes in some markets has been slower to take off, the technology is gaining some serious traction in the smartphone market. Ireland has some of the highest smart phone penetration rates in Europe with an estimated 1.3 million users.

Indeed many Android, Nokia, and Blackberry phones come with QR Code readers pre-installed and iphone has a large selection of free downloadable QR Code reader apps available in iTunes. QR reader software is now available for most mobile platforms.

For any savvy business owners, brand custodians and marketeers, QR Codes are of particular interest as they give them the “ability to measure response rates with a high degree of precision” allowing for easier ROI (return on investment) calculation, thus helping assess effective spend in marketing budgets.

Examples of QR Codes Used to Promote & Grow Your Brand:

1. Food & Drink Producers:

QR Codes on packaging, leaflets, posters, vehicle livery, advertising and indoor displays can be used to launch an event or provide information relating to online promotions, Facebook competitions, information about where food/drink/beverages have been grown and produced, consumption suggestions together with recipes and serving suggestions on your brand’s web site.

2. Professional Services:

Add QR Codes to your business cards, stationery, newsletters, white papers, videos and presentations etc. to provide customers with a direct link to additional information about your business and new services, launch a conferences or announce a seminar, identify calendar fixtures (scan the code and save the date, time and place of an event), LinkedIn page and more in-depth news updates.

3. Pharmaceutical Industry:

Use QR Codes to drive your target audience (professionals or consumers) towards accessing more in-depth information specifically about health, therapies, OTC brands, products, usage, white papers, research and development, innovation, responsibility, mission, investors, media releases, seminars, conferences, careers etc.

4. Retailers:

Retailers can use QR Codes printed in window displays or on brand promotion collateral with special offers delivered to the consumers smart phone when scanned, together with appliance/product instructions, new product launches, competitions, Facebook incentives etc. They can also use QR Codes on clothing tags, books, electronic goods and toys. QR Codes can also be used on staff uniforms, name tags and signage.

5. Publishers:

Whether you are producing books, magazines, newspapers or newsletters you can add interactive elements online to support and enhance your hard copy content making your brand material more valuable and a front of mind brand, as a “go-to-resource” for your consumers e.g. more in-depth article analysis, video content and interviews, interactive entertainment guide, sports clips/profiles, interactive exhibition reviews etc.

6. Tourism & Wayfinding Systems:

Restaurateurs, hotels, guest houses, cities, countries (Tourism Ireland) you can use QR Codes on posters, advertising to promote and bring your audience directly to your destination and give them an interactive “feel or experience” using video etc., for what you have to offer, together with incentives such as discount or promotional/ticket codes. QR Codes can also be used to interpret natural and historical points of interest in museums, walking tours and on nature trails, adding to or enhancing the user experience through the signs.

7. Estate Agents:

Put a QR Code beside each property listed, or on “For Sale” signs, and interested customers can scan the relevant code supplying them with information such as GPS coordinates, a Google Map with directions, house plans, property features, launch a video or photo tour of the property etc.

8. Politicians & Celebrities:

Use QR Codes in appropriate locations or in relevant media so the target audience can scan and see the VIP speak about their policies or promote an upcoming event, movie or participate in an interview etc.

Some recent examples of effective use of QR Codes include the following.

In January 2011, the Memphis Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum launched a line of branded museum t-shirts and apparel which featured museum brand logos and designs on the fronts and a QR Code screened on the right back shoulder, which directed to the museum’s web site or artist interviews.

The U.S. Army Garrison Yongsan in Seoul, South Korea became the first Army organisation to use QR Codes for official media campaigns in January this year.

The Japanese are using QR Codes in cemeteries on grave stones as a way to remember and share more information about their loved ones and unite mourners !

The Lviv Tourism Movement (Ukraine) have placed QR Codes on more than 80 tourism objects helping individual tourists easily access information about the city.

Sun-Maid, that iconic centennial brand, has used QR Codes on its canister and six-pack raisin packaging in a bid to increase brand loyalty/awareness and give it the competitive edge.

In a promotional tie with the Dreamworks animated movie “Kung Fu Panda 2”, debuting later this month, they are using QR Codes to take consumers to a mobile website where they can enter a contest to potentially win the grand prize, a trip for four to Zoo Atlanta. Top winners will get VIP treatment at the Zoos Giant Panda centre and the company will also give out “Kung Fu Panda 2” toys to 100 other sweepstakes winners. Sun-Maid raisins are a favourite brand for kids, so the “Kung Fu Panda 2” cross-promotion is a natural tie-in.

As a brand awareness, marketing and business growth tool QR Codes offer almost limitless innovation and opportunities, with definitive measurability. Be it a teaser, guerrilla marketing campaign, event management or information resource, the list is endless !

Some examples of QR Code readers for your smart phones include:

iphone: Qrafter, i-nigma QR Code Reader

Blackberry: QR Code Scanner, ScanLife 2D Code Reader, ATT Code Scanner

Android: Barcode Scanner

How would you like to leverage the use of QR Codes to grow your brand and increase your sales ?

Give us a call, we’d love to hear your thoughts and share some of our more exciting ideas to make your brand grow and come alive !

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