Interview with Gunaseker C Rajaratam

AW: Should companies allow employees to have access to social networking sites?

 

GR:  Blogs, social networking and now the next best thing Google Wave! , I have heard managers lament loss of productivity. i remember the same laments when computers were new and you had those dumb 2D games that everybody were playing on office computers.

I actually encouraged my team of around 30 field staff to play as much as they could on the spare office computers. And when I had a huge project that had loads of data entry work, the filed staff themselves started entering the data they collect when they return to the office. The project was completed on the scheduled date with excellent data accuracy that I could not have expected if I had appointed data entry operators or subcontracted the work.

 

 

AW: Do you think it limits productivity? What guidelines should be set in place if so?

 

GR: A smart company would realize that it could pay to allow people to have their fill of the new technologies and when the technology stabilizes the time spent by each employee would become less. Some companies could even exploit the familiarity and skills among their employees as I did.

 

Gunaseker C Rajaratam – Promoter at Methodlab India

Interview with Adrian Martorana

AW: Should companies allow employees to have access to social networking sites?

 

AM:  Social networking sites are already a significant media channel but the issue companies have is a combination of productivity ( how much time is spent of these sites) and security (obviously).

The concern could be a passing phase because the technology and scale of uptake has been far quicker than the ability of company management to understand it, categorise it and put a process in place. As a result both employees and management are in virgin territory.

But as someone said this is no different to how email started (some people still don't know email etiquette and send letters with 30 exclamation marks and red print for effect), internet usage and dare I say monile phones.

 

 

AW: Do you think it limits productivity? What guidelines should be set in place if so?

 

AM:  My advice for companies is to allow access simply because you cannot go against a global trend and the benefits are pretty inspiring from a number of angles.

If companies are a bit scared from a security and productivity then trial it with a stand alone computer where people can log in to start with - that way they can ease themselves into the 21st century.....

In a way this is similar to some companies refusing to have a blog fro employees in case they hear bad news and it starts to spread.....

 

Adrian Martorana – Managing Director at Brand Passion Ltd

Interview with Andrew W Morse

AW: Should companies allow employees to have access to social networking sites?

 

AM: Companies should develop an enterprise-wide policy (we call it an 'eStrategy') for internal and external interaction with all stakeholders. This eStrategy needs to consider the benefits of social and professional networking and determine an integrated corporate approach to sites such as: Facebook, LinkedIn, Plaxo, Twitter, YouTube, Xing and others which are language or sector specific.

 

AW: Do you think it limits productivity? What guidelines should be set in place if so?

 

AM: Select employees should be appointed to be bloggers, twitterers, video uploaders on behalf of the company. Others may be allowed access to social networking sites during work hours to promote products and services, and to monitor and respond to complaints, negative blogs, etc.

 

However, not all employees need to have access and to avoid a reduction in productivity, access or time online, should be predetermined and managed. Some companies will simply block a site from the network, others may allocate an aggregate amount of time per day. This will be specific to the business.

 

The approach will vary considerably, due to the company's philosophy. For instance some recruiters use LinkedIn extensively (many LIONs are recruiters), and yet others do not us it at all and are afraid that their employees will capitalise on building a network and then take this asset with them to set up in competition!

 

The most important step is to recognise that there are massive benefits in social and professional networking, and to develop an eStrategy to capitalise on these.

 

Links:

[ http://www.digital-tsunami.com|leo://plh/http%3A*3*3www%2Edigital-tsunami%2Ecom/rOMK ]

 

 

Andrew W Morse – Founder of Digital Tsunami “Communications Evolution”

Interview with Brian Varner

AW: How can university athletic departments leverage social media, and why should they?
BV: Fund-raising. Those that are following and contributing on your social networks are certainly engaged with the school. This is a highly qualified list for annual fund-raising. I also see short-term needs being fulfilled. When the Bonnies win their conference tournament this year, there’s a short window before they need to travel. This excitement could be an opportunity to fundraise to help the band and cheerleaders make the trip for the full collegiate athletic atmosphere supporting the Bonnies in tournament action. Yes, the above could also be applied for the Olympic sports as well.

AW: How can the risk of social media, when it is used by athletes, be minimized?
BV: Should athletes use it – I see where athletic departments would want to control messages, but can these be completely controlled. Whatever the athletic department’s stance, there should be language of inappropriate use, especially if it use on campus computers. Yes there is a threat, but the same threat can be an opportunity. The coaches and dept’s could use social networking to keep tabs of their athletes. Are there alcohol/drug references and pictures on their posts? Are they posting when they should be in class? There are numerous questions like these that can be answered. These topics came to mind based on a recent AOL article on dangers of social posting - http://www.walletpop.com/economizer/article/how-social-media-can-be-costly-to-your/721020?icid=mainhtmlws-main-ndl3link7http%3A%2F%2Fwww.walletpop.com%2Feconomizer%2Farticle%2Fhow-social-media-can-be-costly-to-your%2F721020


Brian Varner is a local advertising solutions specialist at Internet Broadcasting.

Social Media Travels Around Airlines

I never associated air travel with social media before I heard of the new media marketing efforts made by Southwest Airlines and Jet Blue. According to an article titled “Airlines' social-media use takes off”, Southwest and Jet Blue aren’t the only airlines to experiment with social media. American airlines recently gave customers a 10 percent discount once their Facebook page reached 10,000 fans, and a Delta YouTube video of a Northwest plane being repainted with Delta colors was viewed 200,000 times.

Although these are positive examples of social media marketing, there is also a risk for negative publicity. While most attempts by airlines promote consumer interaction, the internet and social networking sites also offer a forum for consumers to complain about bad service, flight delays and lost luggage. For instance, a Canadian musician posted a video on YouTube this past summer describing how United Airlines destroyed his expensive guitar.

However, I think social media marketing for airlines is ultimately more of a positive endeavor for airlines than a negative one. I’m a very nervous traveler and I am definitely uneasy on any flight long or short. However, if airlines are able to create a brand image that is friendly safe and open, I would be more likely to fly with them even if it is more expensive. In general, I feel that people who are able to interact with a brand and feel good about a brand will be more loyal to that brand. It’s important to be able to trust a company, especially when they are in charge of your personal safety. When airlines like Southwest allow employees to post comments and updates on Twitter and Facebook, it makes the airline seem genuine, safe and trustworthy.

Although airlines have seen success by utilizing pre-existing social media sites, many feel that the next frontier is for companies to create their own social networking sites. American Airlines has created one specifically for African American consumers called BlackAtlas.com. This site will have featured bloggers and rely on user-generated content about travel destinations from an African-American viewpoint.

I agree that companies should head in the direction of American Airlines and create their own social networking sites. I use Facebook and Twitter, but I rarely seek out interactions with brand on these sites. When I think of pre-existing social networking sites, I think people already have pre-existing notions of what they like to use them for. If someone always uses Facebook to keep in touch with friends, it is going to be a tough transition for them to keep tabs on their favorite airline. Therefore, I think that airlines are travelling in the right direction when it comes to creating their own social media sites.

Interview with Dan Austin

Aw:How can university athletic departments leverage social media, and why should they?
DA:Aside from Division 1 men's football and basketball, attendance is paltry at many Division 2 and 3 programs and other sports. Even if ticket sales are not an issue or were free, higher attendance and following make for better school spirit and experience and potentially could raise advertising revenues and school and team awareness and consideration.

Case in point, my son attends Carleton outside of Minneapolis and plays on the varsity football team and runs track, even though he is there for the academics. The football team is actually fairly good and plays some decent schools with great rivalries. Yet, attendance is usually about 1,000--less than his high school and in a town where there isn't much competition on a Saturday afternoon.The drivers for low attendance undoubtedly include: it's a Division 3 school, smaller town and many will go to see the Minnesota Vikings or Gophers play. However, part is also due to minimal support received in the school website and paper. The football team passively leaves communication of the games to those that manage the site and paper.

AW: What form of social media is most important to university athletic departments?
DA: A more proactive approach would be to use social media on and off campus to drive attendance by driving first time fans to games from the school and local community, while also striving to build a loyal following among people that have gone via several outlets:
- LinkedIn and/or Facebook groups
- social media annoucements and blasts
- Twitter followings

All could draw people to the team's landing pages, groups, etc. and test incentives for coming to the first game or become loyal fans. Even ideas such as, we'll go to your event if you come to ours or member-get-member.

Dan Austin is Chief Comercial Officer at American Express.

Athletes as Journalists

Cincinnati Bengals football star Chad Ochocinco is currently in the process of creating his own social media news network on Twitter. He plans on partnering with Motorola phones to create his own news network: Ochocinco News Network (OCNN). According to an article on Bleacher Report, Ochocinco’s plan “is to use Motorola's new line of phones and player contacts from around the league to provide ‘breaking news’ on NFL teams and players.” His tagline is “If I break it, you might as well believe it.”

Ochocinco is trying to “eliminate the middle man.” He is attempting to make it so that other major news organizations actually become second-hand news sources. They will be forced to retweet the NFL news that Ochocinco and his band of players put out.

If it works, I think this is the future of news. The job of journalists is to report the news accurately, honestly and in a timely fashion, but they are only middle men. Receiving the news from a first-hand account seems so much more pure and untainted. Players’ accounts of what’s going on in the NFL would be instant, raw and unclouded by an outsider’s perspective.

If these athletes can create a legitimate news source they will truly be able to forge more personal and meaningful relationships with NFL fans. This is something the NFL shouldn’t shy away from. As a sports fan, I would definitely feel more connected to an organization or team if I felt I was getting the inside scoop.

This is undoubtedly the next opportunity for Twitter and sports organizations alike. Although the NFL will try to place guidelines on athletes who create their own news network, they should consider what it means for the potential hoard of fans who fill feel loyal to a brand that keeps them in the know.

Social Media Challenges Traditional Corporate Climate

Several retail stores advertise mainly in traditional forms of media like print, television and radio. The feeling consumers get about retail stores is drawn from their experience shopping at the store or how they perceive the radio, T.V. or print advertisement that was put out. Therefore, a retail company is easily able to control the centralized message sent out to the consumer.

However, today, more and more companies are turning to social media in order to build relationships with consumers. The article, “Zappos gets savvy with social media”, talks about how the online shoe store is beginning to use social media sites like Facebook and Twitter to reach out to consumers. They currently have 1.3 followers on Twitter and 21,000 fans on Facebook. Aaron Magness, director of new business at Zappos said the company is attempting to build relationships with consumers rather than sell products to consumers.

"We let our customers see our culture and decide if we are somebody they can relate with. It breaks down the barriers of consumer vs. company and becomes more about a consumer buying from a friend," Magness says.

In order to break down this barrier of consumer vs. company via social media, Zappos allows nearly 500 of its 1,400 employees Twitter about what they’re doing at work. In addition, the site collects all public mentions of Twitter, even the ones that aren’t positive. On Facebook, Zappos employees post videos of office humor, company picnics and employees at work.

Magness says that this genuine social media conversation is not controlled or inhibited by Zappos executives at all. The company currently enforces no consistent policy on what can be posted on social media and what can’t.

Some might feel this is a risky way to build authentic consumer relationships. For example, what prevents an irate employee from launching a public relations nightmare? According to Paul Gillin, founder of Paul Gillin Communications, companies must create a corporate environment that is fun and more open that the traditional cubicle style office.

“Paranormal Activity”: Where did the traditional movie trailer go?

As Halloween approaches the typical slew of horror movies begin running their course in theaters and on T.V. Most notable, more and more commercials advertise the latest batch of scary movies. Since I hate scary movies, and almost always let them slip through my pop culture radar, I usually don’t pay attention to what gory flicks are released each October. However, one particular advertisement caught my eye. Last Tuesday, when I was watching MTV around 10 p.m. a quick 30-second spot for the movie “Paranormal Activity” really captured my attention. The brief movie plug didn’t have dramatic dialogue or any flashy action sequences. Instead the commercial panned an audience of insanely frightened movie goers. They were screaming, jumping in their seats and clutching each others arms. It was absolutely riveting. The commercial ended with writing that told viewers to visit the movie’s Web site to request a showing of the movie in their area.

An article on Adage.com titled “How ‘Paranormal Activity’ Hit it Big” explained why this low budget horror flick might become one of the most profitable movies of the year. Aside from its shockingly minimal production budget of $15,000, social media is the main reason. Paramount decided to take the film’s marketing efforts in a different direction by allowing fan’s to hit a demand button on the film’s Web site. This has allowed the movie to generate its own viral online buzz.

Josh Greenstein, co-president of marketing at Paramount, said that “the focus throughout has been to sell ‘Paranormal Activity’ as an experience rather than just a movie.” He goes on to say it was their goal to sell the movie as a terrifying film that is best experienced in a communal environment like the movie theater. Additionally the movie has a sponsored Twitter account and Facebook page. On the Facebook page, fans are able to upload videos of their own reactions to the film.

The article on Adage.com explained that four lessons can be drawn from the social media marketing used by Paramount. I believe that the most important and innovative lesson is to let consumers dictate distribution. I always think of social media marketing as a way for consumer to interact with a brand or product. “Paranormal Activity” shows that letting consumers dictate distribution is a major benefit of social media. By doing this, Paramount was able to know who and where their product was most desired. The result: a highly profitable campaign.

Athletes and Twitter: Consumers Beware

When I first started using Twitter, I couldn’t find many of my friends on it. Aside from the ones that are especially tech savvy or entering the communications field, many of my friends still don’t tweet. This left me one option: I decided to follow professional athletes. As a former college athlete and sports enthusiast, I found it interesting that I was able to track the everyday updates of athletes like Lance Armstrong, Dara Torres, Katie Hoff and Terrell Owens. Even their most mundane posts somewhat interest me. I hate to admit it, but following celebrities and professional athletes is kind of a rush. It’s definitely easy to see how athletes can leverage themselves through social media. They are truly able to interact with their fan base and build relationships.
An article on the Chief Marketer Web Site titled “Finding Ways for Athletes to Leverage your Social Media,” expanded my notion of how athletes might attempt to leverage their relationships with fans and consumers in the future. Previously, before the age of social media and web 2.0, the star power of professional athletes was limited to advertisements that involved a lot of input and control from a sponsor. For example, when Michael Phelps is in a commercial for Speedo, it’s likely that Speedo heavily influences what he says and how he says it. After all, they have an image to maintain and products to sell. Any level-minded consumer is well aware of this. Consumers understand Speedo pays Phelps, Phelps regurgitates what Speedo says, and then Speedo sells more products. But, what if it was less obvious than that? What if athletes could shamelessly plug brand names as seamlessly as they carry out day to day tasks like making dinner or practicing their sport? Enter Twitter: The micro-blog money maker.
In this article, the author talks about sponsors and brands letting go of some of their control and releasing it into the hands of athletes. This way, athletes can “integrate products into their lifestyle.” Athletes don’t have to only tweet about their trip to the supermarket. They can tweet about what they might have bought there or what product they absolutely can’t live without.
Too obvious? Some might think such verbal product placement would be too blatant for consumers to fall for. I thought so too until I found myself searching for a yoga DVD that a swimmer was saying she had just used.
Basically, social media opens up many new possibilities for athletes to really make the most out of endorsement deals and their brand power. Consumers beware, the casual twitter update make actually be a shameless, but smart, way companies are able to get their message across.

Marketing Tools

There are several effective marketing tools on the internet available to people who want to track themselves or their products through social media networks. What's especially surprising is that they are free. A visit to Google's Web Site offers multiple options for those who want to join the conversation.

Here are a few tips to help become familiar with current social media.

Make a twitter account. Not only can you catch up on gossip in under 140 characters, but you can track all posts and links on the site that mention a specific topic you are interested in.

Use Google alerts. By typing in key phrases, you can direct Google to notify you via e-mail when your topic of interest appears in the news.

The best way to experience all the internet has to offer is to definitely play around with the social media tools out there. It can be intimidating, but the only way to get the hang of it is practice. Good Luck

IMC Class

Today in class we began blogging.