Image by George Dearing via Flickr

"The tweeting car was one of two Ford Fiestas that left Dearborn, Michigan today bound for the Silicon Valley DIY festival. The cars are linked via Caravan Track, a cloud-based app designed by University of Michigan students, and other experimental applications.

“We believe this is the first time vehicles will be socially connected through the Internet during a cross-country trip,” T.J. Giuli, a Ford research engineer, said. The apps, he added, “really explore new boundaries in the use of digital tools to expand social links.”

The Tribune had an article recently highlighting how brands are wrapping Twitter into customer service activities.

AT&T chimed in here

“AT&T not only maintains a presence on Facebook and Twitter, but employs a full “blogger relations” team and utilizes YouTube.
“These are not PR people, they are real customer care managers who spend their days helping people via social media,” Roskopf said. “Posting on Facebook or tweeting will get you a fast response..”

And here’s one of the ways the ‘no frills’ bunch frames it.

“Twitter and Facebook are a great way to have your voices heard and a great way to voice a concern,” said Christi Day, an emerging media strategy specialist at Southwest Airlines. “I would say it is a large part of our customer communication strategy.”
The Dallas-based airline has two employees devoted to its Twitter page, and a team of three who monitor its Facebook fan page.

Every time I see these types of pieces, I think  of the handful of first-hand experiences I’ve had.

Not surprisingly, Comcast was the first real experience, followed by State Farm insurance and most recently Esurance. Most notably was the set of scenarios with State Farm.

My parents were flat out turned down for a new roof after it was destroyed by the hurricane a few years back. Of course I started venting a tad on Twitter for starters, and subsequently moved the conversation to their Facebook page.

Within a few weeks my parents were contacted by a ’special agent’ and magically the roof was replaced soon thereafter. Not trying to be big-man-on-campus by flexing my Twitter muscle, just pointing out how things have changed..whether you have 7, 7000, or 7 million followers is beside the point.  Companies now are listening. They have to. And it’s about time.

Lastly, as a sidebar that the techie in me couldn’t help but notice. Why is the Tribune still running their site on TypePad? It’s a wonder its newsroom can turn a profit after figuring in what it takes to maintain it.

The quote below from Harris Diamond reflects a few things.

While most brands are implementing social communications programs using one or two social platforms, only a handful are thinking holistically about managing communications across all media and touch points.

1. PR is increasingly taking the reins of interactive media strategies. Their DNA is founded in communications..social media is online media and the latter requires the same best practices as the offline world.

2. The touch points Diamond refers to stress how organizations are hard-pressed to scale engagement. Right now, brands are bulking up customer service teams just to respond..and they’re learning as they go along.

3. There’s a tug of war going on between the best way for brands to harness and reach customers. Do you build a hub. Do you fish where the fish are? Because the answer is of course a resounding yes to both, it becomes a question of who can lead the charge long-term. You have to wear customers down (with substance) with the value you provide and that takes time.

Too many see the “social” elements of media as a quick fix.

Shiv Singh, a VP at Razorfish, had a post this morning entitled “Owning the brand. Employees & Customers,” where he discussed ways certain brands typify the notion of being “social.”

It made me recall a recent post from Tom Davenport that cited Starbucks’ crowdsourcing site and its apparent lack of responsiveness to actual requests.

It also made me think of Starbucks’ sponsorship of BetaCup, an effort whose goal is to reduce the amount of coffee cups in landfills. If Starbucks is such a “social brand” how come they rejected a recent recycling effort brought up by 11% of their shareholders?

Here’s Tom Davenport’s quote on Starbucks’ My Idea site.

“When I checked the My Starbucks Idea site, I found out that I was not alone — there were 70 or so comments about the lack of lemons for tea. I was reminded that the tea selections at Starbucks are generally pretty lousy (only one mediocre black tea, for example) and that several times I (and apparently my fellow tea lovers as well) have been told that tea of the kind I like was unavailable. (Does that happen for coffee?) And I remembered some of my previous research on idea and suggestion sites, which found that you shouldn’t ask for ideas unless you are prepared to implement them.”

The other thoughts that came to mind were some from Umair Haque and his assessment that corporations don’t need social media strategies, they need social strategies — that is — real agendas outlining how they intend to business in our communities. The point is, brands can put every employee they want on the global stage and give them a voice, but you if you don’t provide a level of substance beyond “buy my shit” then it’s just noise. I don’t need more noise.  If these brands are leading the way, as Singh suggests below, I’d be licking my chops as a competitor.

As we move through 2010 and figure out how to leverage this hidden asset, the question is when how do you manage your brand in a world where employees can (and I believe should) be your brand advocates. Is this even possible? Does it run the risk of doing more damage to your brand than you can handle? I don’t think it does and nor does retail brands like Best Buy and Starbucks. Both are brands that I discuss in my book as ones that are leading the way with the creation of social voices – real people that speak authentically on behalf of the brand. Developing social voices has had another wonderful unintended consequence – the brands themselves have become social at the core or as I refer to them, they’ve become social brands.

 For starters, I liked the description of publishing. How’d I miss that one?

Publishing means connecting a community through the art and science of communication.

But the the passage that sparked the digital thought was the one that reinforced the economics of digital publishing and newer models of reaching and serving customers online.

In the digital medium, Brands can embrace the core tenets of publishing without the operating costs of traditional publishing approaches. In fact, by rethinking the approach to traditional marketing and customer service spending (including CRM and direct marketing budgets), Brands that become Publishers can finally integrate  large portions of their business that were once in disparate silos. And that is a very big deal, indeed.

Refreshingly, most of the companies I speak with are retooling various customer touch points to not only be more adaptive to the social web, but integrate better with existing processes. It’s that integration that can reduce some of the silos mentioned in the Battelle piece.

Tom Davenport raised a good point recently. He cited @comcastcares and Starbucks as examples of brands using Twitter and crowdsourcing for service and feedback but falling short on consistent communications. Davenport’s scenario reflects why some many companies are retooling systems and processes to capture more of the digital conversations happening in real-time.

But capturing those conversations is only part of the battle. You need a process for how customer information is passed through the organization.

You’re seeing the “left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing syndrome” magnified so much more these days. Marketing or corporate communications might be excited about making a connection to an influencer, but it’s wasted if the details of that relationship can’t be communicated accurately and efficiently.

And even when the flow is there, there’s still business processes that need to kick in for event-driven stuff. See Davenport’s example of walking into Comcast’s store — one line of business had no idea what the other had promised. Lastly, before you deem socialCRM as the savior, like other tools, it has more to do with how your business is structured.

Brands have to make sure they have the human infrastructure to transform the way a line of business operates..only then will the supporting tools serve their real purpose – enablement.

blogs.hbr.org

I concluded that I’d rather not be reminded through social media that Starbucks doesn’t really care much about me and my preferences as a customer. What social media sometimes do is make us aware that we can communicate with just about anyone — but it doesn’t mean that the other party will actually listen or respond. I, for one, would rather work with a company that truly cares through a single communications channel — even snail mail — than one that shows its lack of caring through all the latest Web 2.0 tools.

It’s all about the idea. And this is one . . . key for any agency that we were going to be working with: it’s about the idea, being media agnostic and figuring out where do you take that idea to best fit it into the marketplace.

One of the things I like about Ogilvy’s thoughts is how they make it clear that social media isn’t owned by one department or the other. That ownership volley is what costs too many companies precious time. It’s much easier to rally the business units that want to step up and commit resources and budget.

The other thing that stood out is Ogilvy’s Social Enterprise Change Framework. There’s simply not enough frameworks out there to anchor how companies can begin thinking about an interactive strategy. Hell, I still reference Forrester’s POST methodology for some of the sessions I’ve run. What the Ogilvy framework smartly outlines are the steps required for brands to establish “Centers of Excellence” – yes the COE is back. And it actually maps really well to the challenges I see in the marketplace. Without sharing the burden – ok,tasks – companies are easily victimized by the silo effect and just can’t scale social media expertise across the organization.

The “Action” step in the diagram shows how talent needs to be peppered throughout the organization. Which lines of business to start with can often be the most daunting exercise. It’s hard to look inward and admit your customer service sucks needs improvement, although half the Twitterverse probably already knows it.

And while “action” is the right word in this context, I’m seeing companies act with more preciseness these days, as if engagement strategies were planned for long-term sustainability. I know, what a concept, right? Part of it’s from earlier social media war wounds  and part of it’s due to the listening capabilities that are now utilitarian. What the Ogilvy whitepaper also largely underscores is how twenty-ten will be year that social media’s shiny new object affliction is finally cured.

Ogilvy Enterprise Social Media v1 0

1. It’s never been more important to have brand consistency by bridging offline and digital. If your online persona is built on trust, you better bring that same trust to  the conference room.

2. Big marketing is still big marketing. The thing that’s different is companies are chipping away person by person instead of campaign by campaign.

3. Not enough  resources are being committed to developing a holistic approach to marketing and word-of-mouth. When you get just a fragment of someone’s work week, the result is a fragmented strategy. Go figure.

4. Practitioners are getting better at building the business case for their initiatives, and ROI isn’t always the anchor. Texas Instruments knew that peer-to-peer collaboration would help its business. Could they tie specific numbers to that interaction before they built their community? Of course not.

5. There will be huge dollars spent in 2010 on understanding influence. We’ll only scratch the surface.

6. I should have put my Twitter handle on my business card.

[Note: For a recap of the Texas Instruments case study presentation at the Word of Mouth SuperGenius conference, click here.]

Image via CrunchBase

While Jive and Lithium are the ones mentioned in this Wall Street Journal piece, Telligent also has a strong story when it comes to the integration of mobile environments and things like online forums and groups.

A good example, and one the WSJ briefly alludes to, is having the capability to use email to push messages back and forth to a customer’s online forums. But that scenario isn’t just a no-brainer for external communities. It’s also big when you’re introducing online applications inside the firewall to a group of new users. By allowing a company’s employees to use their mobile phones, you don’t have to disrupt the way they’re communicating today.

We typically set up groups internally and users can create and receive updates on their mobile devices when new information is available. As users get comfortable with that approach, they’ll often move to more sophisticated subscription options like RSS feeds or personalized widgets.

While I’d rarely be against the development of a full-blown iPhone app in this context, I think the way mobile’s evolving, most access will be browser-based.

Dedicated applications will bring their own merit though, perhaps providing offline access, exclusive content and the "official" brand feel that a richer client app might provide. Either way, the mantra should be flexibility. If your customer can’t tell your online forum is anchored to your website, that’s probably a good thing.

Posted via web from George Dearing dot com

I ran across one of Denuo’s recent projects this morning after the agency followed me on Twitter. It’s launched a program called Betacup, with the goal of eliminating the waste of disposable coffee cups. The way they’ve launched it is a living case study of online community and social activism.

They’ve made it really easy to get involved, stay involved and spread the word about something they’re passionate about. I noticed they’re also using a fund-raising platform called Kickstarter, (below) which is nicely integrated into the Betacup site.

It’s great to see a socially responsible effort that’s not just a campaign, but a narrative of what one agency is really doing to spur change. Bravo.

Betacup from the betacup on Vimeo.

Posted via web from George Dearing dot com

Image via Wikipedia

• Times updates social media guidelines [Los Angeles Times]
  (tags: socialmedia journalism media
• Retailers Dumping More Into Paid Search [MediaPost]
  Consumers continue to buy online, but many are spending less on average per transaction. During the first half of the quarter, conversion rates rose 17% year-on-year, but the average order value declined 27%."
  (tags: research seo search paid+search ecommerce retail mediapost)

  

• Tweets or bleats? Tool measures importance on Twitter [Reuters]
  Tried TweetLevel last week..a few users chimed in and wanted topical breakdowns, alluding to an industry-like List of key influencers.

  

• Coca-Cola Lays Out Its Vision for the Future at 2010 Meeting [AdAge]
  "Mr. Kent said the company will focus on working across many geographies, cultures and channels, targeting the right consumers in a fragmented media environment and innovating."
  (tags: cocacola marketing business brands advertising branding adage coca-cola)
• It’s Time To Clobber Social Media (And Get Down To Business) [Dachis Group]
  Telligent and Dachis Group have a formal alliance. Ping me if you have questions on how we work together.
  (tags: business social dachis+group strategy presentations collaboration social+computing)

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

• Year of Mobile? How about the Year of Now [The eMarketer Blog]
  "The NPD Group noted this week that more US consumers have mobile data subscriptions than last year, and the Yankee Group’s “Mobile Commerce for the Holidays” webinar likewise indicated strong consumer demand for multimedia smartphones with data plans."
  (tags: mobile emarketer admob mobile+computing wireless research analysts)
• CMOs: Consumers Are Connected. You Need To Be, Too [Forbes]
  Agree with this: "CMOs should appoint dedicated staffers to coordinate efforts"
  (tags: CMO c-suite social+media digital+strategy)

  

• Social Media Users Really Are More Social [AdWeek]
  " RSCG-commissioned white paper yesterday stated that 27.6 percent of American social media users said that their offline relationships are actually benefiting from online interaction via social media."
  (tags: adweek EURO+RSCG research socialmedia digital+strategy marketing)
• Teaching the Facebook Generation [BusinessWeek]
  (tags: socialmedia business facebook social digital culture teaching education)
• Mobile Social Networking Grows; Top 10 SocNets
  (tags: mobile research social+networking)

Image by Just Nora via Flickr

Note to self..log out of the AppStore before letting son play with iPhone. And what kind of message does it send to companies trying to capture attention in crowded app stores?

Ok so he’s only three, but his purchases were driven by the icons of the apps and of course by the screenshots included. Pay attention to detail and represent your brand/company at every turn like it’s the last time anyone will ever see you.

Posted via email from George Dearing dot com

Image by George Dearing via Flickr

• 3 Flavors of Social Search: What to Expect [ReadWriteWeb]
  (tags: social+search)
• Top 5 Budget Social Media Monitoring Tools | Our Social Times
  And if you need to monitor your internal or external community data you can use Telligent Analytics 3.0.
• Top 50 Journalism Blogs
  (tags: media blogs journalism news press)
• Four-Out-Of-Five New Media Users Interact With Companies & Brands Online, Up 32% From 2008
  "the frequency of interaction is increasing, too, with more than a third (37%) of users engaging companies or brands via new media at least once per week (up from one-in-four last year)."
  (tags: customer+service new+media social+media social+networking interactive)

Image via CrunchBase

• Success Factors for Brands on Facebook [ADWEEK]
  "There’s no media cost to setting up on Facebook, but brands often find the quickest way to build a sizable following is through — you guessed it — paid advertising.

  Take Little Debbie. Nearly six months ago the snack food brand set up shop on Facebook with a standard fan page. It posted updates, uploaded old TV spots and waited. Crickets. Then, last Thursday, it rolled out an engagement ad "reach block" that messaged 21-49-year-olds touting a sweepstakes for a Smart car with the option to become a fan. Within 12 hours, Little Debbie’s fan base went from 5,000 to over 125,000. It welcomed people with a message asking their favorite Little Debbie snack. It got over 6,000 comments." (tags: facebook brands social+media social+networks)

• M-Commerce’s Big Moment [BusinessWeek]
  "Yet, m-commerce may finally be hitting its stride. And some analysts who in recent years became more conservative in their forecasts are now having to make upward revisions. In January, consultant ABI Research projected North American sales of physical goods ordered via cell phone would reach $544 million this year, up from $346 million in 2008. Now, Mark Beccue, senior analyst at ABI, is considering updating his 2009 forecast to $800 million. "I thought hockey-stick growth was going to come in 2010, but it looks like it’s already a hockey stick," Beccue says. "Next year, it will double again."
  (tags: retail iphone mobile m-commerce mobile2.0)

It’s amazing how far the U.S is behind in mobile payments. I don’t really go to Starbucks but I’m certainly interested in how this plays out. There’s big implications for brands, especially as their experiences move to the handset.
I can see all sorts of mashups spawning from the convergence of location-based services, micropayments and of course social networking.