Archive for the ‘Social Media’ Category

This week some of the Generate team went to the Think! Sponsorship Conference at the British Museum, where our MD Rupert Pratt was hosting a session on reputation management.  The event was themed around the Digital Revolution and what this means for the sponsorship industry.

The majority of the speakers seemed to have a similar opinion about running sponsorship campaigns in a digital age.  My main outtakes from the day can be summarised by the following 10 tips:

1. Treat digital like any other channel – the traditional rules still apply so it’s still vital to know your audience and target them accordingly
2. Digital can be a great way of getting to hard to reach groups e.g. young men but like any marketing activity you must make sure that you are operating within the same legal boundaries e.g. data protection laws around competitions
3. When communicating via social media make sure you adapt your style accordingly – make it short and simple, well structured, informal, interactive and most importantly optimised for search engines
4. Social media shouldn’t be used as a tool to make a hard sell but to build brand image and loyalty, which can lead to future financial returns
5. Don’ t be scared of social media  – this is a common concern amongst rights holders and corporate brands, which has led to a number of high profile Twitter bans.  If used correctly social media can be a very effective sponsorship tool
6. If you have major reputational concerns social media may not be right for you.  If you do decide to operate in this space make sure you are strategic in your approach – don’t just create a Facebook page if it doesn’t fit with your strategy
7. If your brand does suffer any digital reputational issues it is important to treat it like any other communications crisis but to act faster in resolving it
8. Evaluation is key.  It is vital to develop metrics and KPIs for digital campaigns to measure success
9. To keep up to speed with future digital trends watch out for developments in mobile and augmented reality over the next 12 months
10. For inspiration take a look at some successful digital campaigns such as IBM at Wimbledon, Sky Arts activation of Antony Gormley’s One And Other, Budweiser’s Bud House for the World Cup and Samsung’s partnership with The British Museum

Social media is definitely giving people a voice.  News travels at such speed and opinion is so easily shared online.  Social media gives people the chance to so quickly start a conversation with each other and mobilize communication.   Opinion gets heard when campaigns, petitions or groups are established that people can get behind, and when momentum builds for these campaigns people take notice. The fact that celebrities are also so active on social media sites also enables news and opinion to spread so fast.

As you’ll see from most of the headlines about the recent X Factor controversy, putting a figure behind the opinions e.g.’50,000 people have joined Facebook in protest about Gamu’s X Factor exit’ really demonstrates instant opinion and is something previously wouldn’t have been able to have been measured.  Before social media, ITV would have previously have received letters of complaint or telephone calls, to which would never have been made known.

Remember that there is still an X Factor wild card which may mean that Gamu will be reinstated so it could all have been planned to generate talkability and ‘bring back the nation’s favourite’ next week.

We saw opinion influence through social media previously with X Factor when the campaign that ran on Facebook at Christmas last year prevented X Factor winner Joe from taking the Christmas number one.  This was so influential that Rage Against the Machine beat him to the number one spot. A similar ‘we hate Jedward campaign’ ran last year during X Factor but people quickly forgot about it, and didn’t affect ITV’s ratings or the show’s appeal.

I don’t think the viewing figures will change as a result of the latest X Factor story or people will be less interested in the show. In fact it will probably make people watch it more now.

It’s important to note though that social media is often supported heavily by traditional media.  Successful social media campaigns  or opinion online is amplified in traditional media. It spreads like wildfire online, but traditional media gives it that level of credibility and momentum.

MS