Social Media’s Duel Edged Sword: The Good, The Bad and the Ugly Presented to the Cause Marketing Forum on February 15, 2011

About Geoff February 15, 2011Social Media, a Duel Edged Sword2

Why a Duel Edged Sword? Affiliating with causes has never been easier $ Citizens can not only participate, but they can provide feedback Requires a deeper level of authenticity in CSR February 15, 2011Social Media, a Duel Edged Sword3 Image by Guitarwarlord

Examples: The Good (AMEX) February 15, 2011Social Media, a Duel Edged Sword4

AMEX: Post Mortem Good: Integrated media relations, influencers online to drive traffic Good: Strong use of Facebook application. Used Twitter, etc. to drive to application. Good: Call to action: Like = dollars Good: Call to action: Sign up, spend, get a discount Good: Used Wall to share small business stories, encourage engagement. Bad: Moment in time, has not sustained. Bad: Not enough traffic driving back to AMEX site. February 15, 2011Social Media, a Duel Edged Sword5

Examples: The Bad (Groupon) February 15, 2011Social Media, a Duel Edged Sword6

Groupon: Post Mortem Bad: Calls to action to help charities were not obvious. Bad: Web site for people to participate and donate was never highlighted on the ads!!! Bad: Blogosphere blew up, Groupon did not address concerns, instead justified on their blog Bad: Groupon did not engage bloggers directly, disregarded feedback Bad: Groupon didn’t message effectively on social channels February 15, 2011Social Media, a Duel Edged Sword7

Examples: The Ugly (Komen/KFC) February 15, 2011Social Media, a Duel Edged Sword8

KFC/Komen: Post Mortem Bad: Komen web site contradicted the campaign with its research Bad: No social media component, but… social media ended up being a key medium. Good: Blogosphere blew up, KFC engaged directly Bad: Komen ignored it February 15, 2011Social Media, a Duel Edged Sword9

Dos and Don’ts from the Good, the Bad and the Ugly Do: Use Facebook, Twitter as direct channels to enage, drive traffic to cause marketing site. Do: Expect online engagement. Use social media tools to empower people to participate in the cause activity. Do: Have a socially enabled web site that explains the action (authenticity), even if SM has small role in promo. Consumers do not distinguish. Don’t: Ignore bloggers and criticism. Address it, lest it escalate. Plus necessary for search. Don’t: Let Facebook own your traffic. February 15, 2011Social Media, a Duel Edged Sword10

The Current State of Authenticity February 15, 2011Social Media, a Duel Edged Sword11

Infusing Authenticity to Reflect Culture February 15, 2011Social Media, a Duel Edged Sword12

Authenticity Example: Haagen-Dazs February 15, 2011Social Media, a Duel Edged Sword13

Dos and Don’ts from Make a Bee Do: Have your own site to drive traffic to from Twitter, Facebook, traditional comms Do: Use SM to empower people to participate as individuals: Make and send a bee Do: Explain your company’s interest in the cause Don’t: Forget to integrate Twitter and Facebook into your site, so outbound sharing can happen February 15, 2011Social Media, a Duel Edged Sword14

The Importance of Tying Back to Culture February 15, 2011Social Media, a Duel Edged Sword15

Ripples of Kindness February 15, 2011Social Media, a Duel Edged Sword16

Dos and Don’ts from Ripples of Kindness Do: Use influencers to seed the campaign ideas (400 people, $100) Do: Give people a way to sound off, participate Do: Explain your purpose (Could have tied better to the mission) Do: Integrate Facebook and Twitter outbound promo, even if you are Yahoo! Don’t: Forget to integrate traditional comms! It works better if you do. February 15, 2011Social Media, a Duel Edged Sword17

Pepsi Refresh: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly February 15, 2011Social Media, a Duel Edged Sword18

The Good February 15, 2011Social Media, a Duel Edged Sword19

The Bad February 15, 2011Social Media, a Duel Edged Sword20

The Ugly February 15, 2011Social Media, a Duel Edged Sword21

Do’s and Don’ts from Pepsi Refresh Do: Empower people to act on behalf of the cause on your own site Do: Integrate traditional PR and marketing into online influencer programs Do: Use Facebook and Twitter as primary inbound/outbound channels Do: Address criticism head on Do: Acknowledge wrongs, change and evolve Don’t: Over focus on the company promo. Don’t: Fail to clearly state the cause. In this case, no specific causes, so theory of change? February 15, 2011Social Media, a Duel Edged Sword22

Summary Points Civic media is the great opportunity to embrace customer voices It can also turn on us To avoid worst case scenarios, cause marketing campaigns need better engineering Authenticity mapping to corp. culture, ethos Use the tools to connect dots for stakeholders Have your own site, use Facebook Twitter for In AND Outbound Empower stakeholders to participate, embrace and own your story Be prepared for the ugly, and evolve (two way dialogue) February 15, 2011Social Media, a Duel Edged Sword23

Questions? February 15, 2011Social Media, a Duel Edged Sword24