INTELLIGENT DIALOGUE SERIES

S P R IN G 2 01 1

HOW DO YOU IDENTIFY AND ACTIVATE THE INFLUENCERS WHO MATTER MOST TO YOU IN TODAYS DIGITAL AND INCREASINGLY MOBILE WORLD?
PAGE 5 Identifying and Activating Influencers PAGE 8 The Power & Challenges of Influencer Engagement PAGE 11 The Tools & Technologies of Social Influence PAGE 19 Lost in Translation: Consumer Engagement Across Europe

PORTER NOVELLI: THE NEW INFLUENCE

ADELE MYERS
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT DIRECTOR OF ENGAGEMENT PLANNING & RESEARCH, NY EDITOR, INTELLIGENT DIALOGUE @ADELEJAM

INTRODUCTION

THE EXPLOSION OF SOCIAL MEDIA AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY HAS CREATED A WHOLE NEW WORLD OF INFLUENCE. YOU CAN LIKE BRANDS AND PRODUCTS ON FACEBOOK AND SHARE THEM WITH YOUR FRIENDS. YOU CAN LOOK UP WHAT YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY WEAR ON SITES LIKE THEFIND AND SOLICIT ON-THE-SPOT FEEDBACK ABOUT A PRODUCT OR SERVICE FROM THE MASSES BEFORE MAKING A PURCHASE. AND MOBILE TECHNOLOGY ENABLES ALL OF US TO TAP INTO THESE CREDIBLE RESOURCESTHE OPINION OF PEOPLE LIKE MEPRECISELY AT THE MOMENT OF INFLUENCE.

But how do marketers determine who has the influence that matters, and what do they do with that information? Is it possible to harness the power of our supercharged ability to solicit and share opinions about products, services and brands? And can it be done authentically and credibly?

Quite simply, many marketers are asking themselves, Who has the influence now? How do I find them, and how do I activate them to benefit my brand or company?

In this issue of Intelligent Dialogue, leading digital experts will answer these questions and more.

PORTER NOVELLI: THE NEW INFLUENCE

FOR A PHARMA CAMPAIGN TARGETING DOCTORS, ASHTON KUTCHER HAS NO SIGNIFICANCE.

PORTER NOVELLI: THE NEW INFLUENCE

ISRAEL MIRSKY
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, EMERGING MEDIA & TECHNOLOGY @ISRAELMIRSKY

IDENTIFYING & ACTIVATING INFLUENCERS

Today, literally anyone with content strong enough to be passed from individual to individual can be an influencer. This is why influence is so complex, and often contradictory. Much of it rests in the context of how content passes through networks. For identifying primary influencers, technology can be very helpful as it offers such proxies for influence as the number of RSS subscribers, website traffic or Twitter followers. But reach does not always equal authority. Highly authoritative influencers often have small, tight-knit followings of other influencers. These intermediate influencers consume and translate content that is prohibitively academic and erudite to a wider audience. If the goal is to achieve awareness in that larger audience, reaching further upstream to engage these authoritative individuals can be critical. When identifying which influencers to use, blogs and Twitter are the most accessible platforms. Forums are also valuable, but they are harder to penetrate because they are usually organic communities with no primary contact. Though they are not to be ignored, they are more valuable when used as listening tools. Attempts to communicate as a brand within forums are often met with intense skepticism, even hostility. On the other hand, a relationship with a blog author generally opens a relationship with his/her audience. Engagement should never be initiated until there is a clear understanding of what motivates and matters to the influencer. The first contact should never be the pitch. Activating influencers online is about building genuine relationshipsas meaningful and beneficial to the influencer as they are to the brand. Representatives of an organization should always read the blog or outlet and be able to discuss it intelligently. Never ask for anything until enough social capital has been established to extract valueor add it. Influencer identification is one of the fastest growing areas in the social media ecosystem, with vendors like Radian6, Klout, Traackr and Rapleaf offering various takes on the problem, either as an element of a larger social media analytics package or as a standalone offering. Each of these can be a powerful tool in the appropriate circumstances, but they are often misunderstood or misused. All too often, discussion of activating influencers centers on extricating something from them, as opposed to offering something that will raise their standing in the eyes of an existing audience or attract a larger audience. A relationship with an influencer can be considered strong when the influencer trusts an organization. That rarely happens if brands or companies appear to be motivated solely by selfish interests. In an ever more informed and engaged consumer population, influencers are the elite communicators. They are the most informed, the most articulate and the most passionate. Those looking to activate them should first come to know them as people. The fact that they are such strong individuals is often the very reason why they are such effective influencers, and why they can be such powerful advocates for brands. INFLUENCER SCORING PITFALLS AND BEST PRACTICES As social media matures, analytics and tools that help communications professionals manage the exploding volume of communications are growing with it. Because not everyone can be responded to or rewarded, dealing with this ever-expanding volume of communication in an efficient way requires a measure of triage and prioritization. The aim of influencer identification is to winnow individuals who matter for a given effort out of the mass of communicators.

PORTER NOVELLI: THE NEW INFLUENCE

LOREM IPSUM DOLOR SIT AMET, CONSECTETUR ADIPISICING ELIT, SED DO EIUSMOD TEMPOR INCIDIDUNT

PORTER NOVELLI: THE NEW INFLUENCE

ITS IMPORTANT TO RECOGNIZE THAT MANY OF THE PEOPLE YOU MAY WANT TO INFLUENCE MIGHT NOT YET BE TALKING ABOUT YOUR VERTICAL IN THE WAY THAT YOU ENVISION.
Agencies and vendors have been proposing a slew of standardized influencer scores, such as Razorfishs SIM score, meant to be a blended score of influence across channels. Within channels, there are similar standard scores, such as Klout, which as of this writing only considered statistics from an individual Twitter account when deciding whether someone could be considered an influencer. Unfortunately, vertical-agnostic blended scores tend to be useless to many campaigns for a number of reasons. The simplest example? For a pharma campaign targeting doctors, Ashton Kutcher has no significance. While he might influence their choice of consumer goods, there is little chance that his opinion will influence their professional choices. Structurally, blended scores have little meaning without adding additional dimensions of meaning. Many take them as gospel, though, and prioritize communications purely on these measures. Best practices influencer identification recognizes several realities: One, influence is a multi-stage process, where audiences of one influencer are influencers in their own right for a potential target. Public Relations has known this for a long time, but its easy to forget in the face of attractive graphs and lists that purport to rank how important a group of influencers is to a campaign based purely on data. For example, professional groups often influence numbers of consumer-facing thought leaders, even though such groups have much smaller, discernible audiences themselves. Finally, recognize that the ever-shifting nature of online dialogue and democratized distribution often rewards content quality over more easily defined metrics. United Airlines didnt think the Sons of Maxwell were influencers, and ignored their complaints of band equipment broken in transit. One well-produced piece of content later and Sons of Maxwell and United Breaks Guitars has 9 million views on YouTube alone. Your biggest influencer may not be the one with 100,000 followers, but the one motivated enough to create a piece of content that other people can relate to. Two, verticalize carefullybut not too carefullyon the basis of audience interests and consumption patterns. Tools like Radian6, Tracx and Traackr use keywords to break down communication to an area of interest, allowing you to use the things that people talk about to separate the signal from the noise. However, its important to recognize that many of the people you may want to influence might not yet be talking about your vertical in the way that you envision. Cast a net wide enough to find these influencers too.

PORTER NOVELLI: THE NEW INFLUENCE

COLTRANE CURTIS
FOUNDER, TEAM EPIPHANY @COLTRANECURTIS

PORTER NOVELLIS STRATEGIC ALLIANCE WITH TEAM EPIPHANY PROVIDES THE AGENCY WITH ACCESS TO A GLOBALLY INFLUENTIAL, MULTICULTURAL CONSUMER COMMUNITY.

THE POWER & CHALLENGES OF INFLUENCER ENGAGEMENT

As managing partner of communications agency Team Epiphany, Coltrane Curtis has spent the past several years at the forefront of influencer marketing. Founded in 2005, with the tagline We Influence Influencers, Epiphany creates innovative and measurable consumer engagement, building sustainable influence networks for such brands as Heineken, Pepsi, Gillette and Yahoo! But a tools effectiveness is specific to audience. The An early and passionate advocate of the power of influencer marketing, Curtis has both navigated and witnessed its explosive rise. He is well aware of the enormous potential influencers offer brandsand their inherent challenges. The landscape is changing, Curtis says. As brands look for ways to impact their business from the bottom up, engagement from influencers absolutely challenges the effectiveness of big ad spends. Influencers who are in tune with global culture and the finite details of a product can create tipping points for brands. But there are a lot of people claiming to have the resources for influencer marketing without being active participants, which can pose significant risks. HOW SO? You have to recognize the power, both negative and positive, that influencers can have. As much good as they can do, they can also destroy. To harness the power of influence, as well as the new channels of communication for influencers, you have to respect them just like any other public relations or media contact. We give the same respect to a 21-year-old blogger in Florida that we do to a writer or editor from Cond Nast. WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO ACTIVATE INFLUENCERS? We seek to include them in a way that enriches their lives in some capacity. For instance, if we are designing a product for a brand, we like to crowd source the product, creating a network, to hone the design before it goes to production. Influencers want to have input, to be active participants. Engaging and activating influencers requires a lot of reciprocity, and it always comes back to respect. This category scorns so many people because of the lack of respect with which they are approached. I would never ask someone to post something that wasnt appropriate, or approach him/her without having read his/her blog or knowing his/her voice or point of view. Activating influencers is as meticulous as any other aspect of business. It is a deeply collaborative process and there are no short cuts. HOW MUCH ARE THE TOOLS DIGITAL, AND HOW MUCH ARE THEY REAL WORLD? I would say 60 percent are real, 40 percent are digital. Digital enforces something that is created offline. Something may start in social, but it quickly becomes a real-world relationship. If we have to go to the top 25 markets to talk to teenagers to find out who is influencing them, we will do that. Then, each list has a program manager who maintains the list day in and day out. It is always evolving and it always has to be managed. influencer group we have for Pepsi is different from the one we have for Timberland or Heineken, and definitely different from the tween influencer list we are developing for another client. Everyone looks to their own set of influencers, in their own macro environment or influencer spheres. So it is very labor intensive. The solution for one brand is not the solution for another. WHAT TOOLS DO YOU USE TO ACCOMPLISH THAT? There is not one program that we have executed in the last two years that has not touched social media, specifically Twitter. Twitter, in particular, has allowed us to quantify word-of-mouth and utilize it as an impression against ROI or KPI.

PORTER NOVELLI: THE NEW INFLUENCE

PORTER NOVELLI: THE NEW INFLUENCE

10

PORTER NOVELLI: THE NEW INFLUENCE

MATT CURTIN
FOUNDER, SOCIALSMACK @MCCURTIN

PORTER NOVELLIS CLIENTS INCLUDE LEADING INNOVATORS IN THE DIGITAL SPACE, INCLUDING THE FOUNDER OF SOCIALSMACK WHO SHARES HIS VIEWS HERE.

THE TOOLS & TECHNOLOGIES OF SOCIAL INFLUENCE

In March 2010, Matt Curtin founded the Austin, Texas based SocialSmack. In the year since, the online communitywhich innovatively incorporates real-time elements of social networking, gaming and user reviews has generated extraordinary buzz as a coherent and compelling platform for users to connect with each other and share opinions about the brands that inspire them. As the site continues to grow in popularity, more and more brands are taking noticeand using the site to engage with consumers. In this hyper-connected social environment, brands have found that they have lost control of their message, Curtin says. Connected individuals, talking about their brand experiences, are largely in control of the sentiment. For businesses that are very elastic in nature, such as consumer goods companies that live and die by word-ofmouth, influencers have a tremendous amount of power these days. SO WHAT CHALLENGES DO BRANDS FACE WHEN TRYING TO HARNESS THAT POWER WITH THE TOOLS THAT ARE AVAILABLE? We as human beings dont converse like we used to we communicate in snippets and hieroglyphics. Think of a standard text message that says, ROTFLMAO! followed by a squiggly smiley face with a winking eye! We understand these micro communications, but when using a tool like Radian6 to find the sentiment of a brand and differentiate between what is positive and negative, it can be very challenging. You have situations where someone will say, I saw The Social Network and it was the bomb! And then the next person will say, I saw The Social Network and it was a bomb. Well, one of those statements is positive and one is negative. Social listening tools have a hard enough time delineating slang and helping brands understand actual sentiment, much less who is talking and their influence level or Klout Score. SOCIALSMACK ALSO INTRODUCES A SOCIALGAMING ELEMENT, WITH POINTS, BADGES AND STATUS. DO YOU THINK THAT EVENTUALLY THE ABILITY TO INFLUENCE WILL NEED TO BE AUGMENTED TO KEEP PEOPLE ENGAGED? For a certain segment of the population, the influence alone will be enough for them. It feeds their ego or their need to be seen as an expert in something. But if you go back to the number of different social technologies emerging, I think brands are going to have to create more compelling content or devices to attract consumer attention. I love the concept of the gameification of life. If you think of the common things we do every day how do you make them more engaging or compelling? Social gaming really allows you to do that. It feeds the competitive nature of the individual and it allows you to offer rewards. People will be much more willing to engage if brands reward them in some shape or fashionwhether it is a discount or some unique piece of content or item that not everybody else could get. SO MUCH TALK ABOUT INFLUENCERS FOCUSES ON THEIR DESTRUCTIVE POWER, BUT ON SOCIALSMACK, MOST FEEDBACK IS POSITIVE. DO YOU THINK SOCIALSMACK IS AN EXCEPTION IN THIS REGARD, OR DO YOU THINK THIS IS COMMON FOR INFLUENCERS? I think positivity is much more prevalent than negativity. If you look at our data, 82 percent of the feedback we get is of a positive nature. People want to be associated with a positive sentiment and, specifically, with a brand they feel passionate about. But on the other hand, that 20 percent who are negative are like a dog with a bone. They will not let go of very bad service they receive.

PORTER NOVELLI: THE NEW INFLUENCE

11

GARY STOCKMAN
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER @GARYSTOCKMAN

COMMAND AND CONTROL AND THE DIGITAL COCKTAIL PARTY

Over the past two years, we all have experienced first-hand radical changes in the way we connect and communicate. From Facebook to Foursquare, from Twitter to Farmville, we are connecting with friends, family members and old flames around the world and in real time. As individuals, we are getting very comfortable in social media. As companies and organizations, however, sometimes not so much. Todaydespite the proliferation of digital and social mediamany organizations are more inclined to sit back and observe than they are to use social media to learn from and engage their stakeholders. When this happens it is a huge missed opportunity. The point here is not to offer an argument for why organizations should engage with social media. That is a question that already has been asked and answered many times. Instead, lets look at two fear factors that stymie many organizations about social media: 1) How do I address the loss of control; and 2) How should my organization or brand behave online? COMMAND AND CONTROL One of the best pieces of advice on how to safely and credibly engage in the digital space comes from Charlene Li of the Altimeter Group: You can give up control and still be in command. With this critical distinction, Li succinctly addresses a fundamental fear impeding many companies as they try to move forward online. Traditional marketing has conditioned companies to expect nearly complete control over what is said about their brand, as well as where and when it is said. That is what they have paid for. In digitalparticularly in social mediathe audience controls the agenda, which makes some organizations very uncomfortable. Their digital efforts reflect it. By giving up controland the approval-driven micromanagement of conversationsorganizations can focus instead on formulating a well-executed and comprehensive digital strategy that allows them to be in command of the So before engaging with your target audience online, remember the basic rules of attending a cocktail party: Show up with a gift, speak naturally and make sure you are as interested in learning about the people you talk to as you are in talking about yourself. If you follow these simple rules, not only will you be invited back, you will also enjoy your time there a lot more. Equally important as what companies say is how they say it. Unfortunately, many organizations are more comfortable communicating in marketing jargon. That may work in internal or industry-specific conversations, but mainstream audiences find it stilted, stiff and condescending. Dont underestimate the importance of this: online communication requires a very human corporate voice. THE DIGITAL COCKTAIL PARTY Once an organization has gotten comfortable engaging in social media, how does it behave? Before venturing into the digital space, it is helpful for organizations to imagine themselves about to enter a cocktail party. Is your organization interesting to spend time with, or are you a bore? Organizations must recognize the significance of fostering conversations that communicate not only what they want to say, but also what stakeholders want to hear. Adding value to the conversation is critical. Companies need to continually provide a reason for constituents to engage. When it ties directly to the interests of the target audience, interesting and relevant contentcreated, aggregated or even linked-to keeps the conversation fresh. An obsessive focus on every online utterance will make any digital initiative a nerve-wracking and ineffective undertaking. By adopting an informed strategy to move past this mindset, organizations can use digital and social media to effectively achieve longer-term marketing goalsnot despite the fact they have given up controlling the conversation, but because of it. direction, pace and parameters of the dialogue they have with their target audience and key constituents.

12

PORTER NOVELLI: THE NEW INFLUENCE

COMPANIES NEED TO CONTINUALLY PROVIDE A REASON FOR CONSTITUENTS TO ENGAGE.

PORTER NOVELLI: THE NEW INFLUENCE

PORTER NOVELLI: FOOD 3.0

13

INTELLIGENT DIALOGUE

INSIGHT
HOW CAN COMPANIES AND BRANDS CREDIBLY AND SAFELY ENGAGE WITH INFLUENCERS IN THE DIGITAL SPACE? ONCE YOUVE INDENTIFIED THE RIGHT INFLUENCERS, HOW CAN AND SHOULD YOUR COMPANY OR BRAND CONDUCT ITSELF? WHAT ARE THE NEW RULES OF DIGITAL ENGAGEMENT?

14

PORTER NOVELLI: THE NEW INFLUENCE

THE ONLY WAY TO ENGAGE WITH INFLUENCERS CREDIBLY IS TO HAVE SOMETHING INTERESTING TO SAY THAT ADDS TO THEIR BODY OF KNOWLEDGE. CONTACT FOR THE SAKE OF FACE TIME IS DELETERIOUS AS IT DEFINES YOU AS UNIMPORTANT. ONLY ENGAGE INFLUENCERS WHEN IT IS TO THEIR BENEFITNOT YOURS.
PETER PITTS, DIRECTOR, GLOBAL REGULATORY AND HEALTH POLICY

THE WORLD OF DIGITAL INFLUENCE IS ALL ABOUT KARMA AND RELIES HEAVILY ON RECIPROCITY, AS THE CURRENCY OF SOCIAL MEDIA EXISTS IN RELATIONSHIPS. GIVING VALUE BEFORE ASKING FOR IT IN RETURN IS NOT JUST A GOOD IDEA, BUT EXPECTED.
NICOLE DALONZO, SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE, DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS GROUP (THE LAUGHING COW COMMUNITY MANAGER)

ITS EASY TO GET SWEPT UP IN THE LAX NATURE OF INTERNET COMMUNICATIONS, BUT POSITIONING YOURSELF AS A PROFESSIONAL WILL SPEAK VOLUMES ABOUT THE INTEGRITY OF YOUR COMPANY OR BRAND. THIS DOESNT MEAN YOU CANT HAVE FUN. HUMANIZE YOUR COMMUNICATIONS WHEN ENGAGING USERS. THEY WANT TO CONVERSE WITH ANOTHER PERSON, NOT A BOILERPLATE.
ZACH MOLINARO, SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE, GLOBAL HEALTH

IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS, THERES BEEN AN ACUTE NEED TO JUMP IN THE CONVERSATION FLOW SIMPLY BECAUSE COMPETITORS ARE IN THE SOCIAL SPACE. BUT ENGAGEMENT WITHOUT STRATEGY JUST DOESNT WORK. EACH OPPORTUNITY SHOULD LADDER UP TO THE BRANDS ULTIMATE PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVE.
JULIE ANN MATIC, VICE PRESIDENT, GLOBAL BRAND MARKETING

PORTER NOVELLI: THE NEW INFLUENCE

15

GONE ARE THE DAYS OF BIG-BUDGET, GLOSSY MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR TV AD CAMPAIGNS AS THE PRIMARY MEANS OF SHARING INFORMATION ABOUT A BRAND. YOUTUBE AND OTHER SOCIAL NETWORKING PLATFORMS HAVE DEMOCRATIZED MULTIMEDIA DELIVERY (ALONG WITH EVERYTHING ELSE) AND WITH THAT, GIVEN CONSUMERS A BROADCAST PLATFORM TO HAVE THEIR VOICES HEARD. AND THERE IS NO SHORTAGE OF CONSUMERS WITH SOMETHING TO SAY.
JUSTIN ALT, VICE PRESIDENT, DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS GROUP

BE TRANSPARENT! SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE DIGITAL SPACE TRULY DEMANDS NEW LEVELS OF OPENNESS, ESPECIALLY WITH THE STRINGENT FTC GUIDELINES AROUND BLOGGER/INFLUENCER RELATIONS. EMPLOYEES OF A BRAND/COMPANY ENGAGED IN BLOGGER/INFLUENCER RELATIONS, COMMUNITY MANAGEMENT OR ANY OTHER FORM OF ONLINE BRAND REPRESENTATION SHOULD DISCLOSE THEIR AFFILIATION. WHEN ANY EMPLOYEE/ REPRESENTATIVE OF A BRAND COMMENTS ON THE BRANDS SOCIAL MEDIA REAL ESTATE, IT IS BEST PRACTICE TO INCLUDE THE HASHTAG #CLIENT OR #DISCLOSURE TO SHOWCASE AFFILIATION. THIS IS PARTICULARLY IMPORTANT WHEN DOING BLOGGER OUTREACH, ESPECIALLY FOR PRODUCT REVIEWS. COMPLIANCE IS VITAL, NOT OPTIONAL.
GREG TEDESCO, SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE, BRAND MARKETING (GILLETTE COMMUNITY MANAGER)

16

PORTER NOVELLI: FOOD 3.0

LISTEN FIRST, ENGAGE SECOND AND LISTEN AGAIN. TO ENGAGE AUTHENTICALLY, MAKE SURE YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE TALKING TO. GET TO KNOW NOT ONLY YOUR INFLUENCERS, BUT ALSO THE NETWORKS THEY ARE INFLUENCING. LISTEN TO CONVERSATIONS HAPPENING AROUND YOUR BRAND AND TOPICS THAT YOUR BRAND INTERSECTS WITH. ONCE YOU ENGAGE WITH THE INFLUENCERS, LISTEN TO THEIR CONCERNS AND BE OPEN TO THEIR IDEAS. AND DONT PLAY GAMES (THE DANGERS OF TRYING TO DO SO ARE LEGENDARY) BUT BE TRANSPARENT AND ALWAYS DISCLOSE YOUR IDENTITY AND CORPORATE AFFILIATIONOPENNESS IS KEY TO BUILDING TRUST.
MARTA MAJEWSKA, VICE PRESIDENT, DIGITAL AND SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGIST

ASK THEIR OPINION ON WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY. ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR INFLUENCERS OTHER INTERESTS BEYOND THE SUBJECT YOU WANT TO TALK TO THEM ABOUT. STRIKE UP CONVERSATIONS WITH THEM AS YOU MIGHT START ANY PERSONAL INTERACTION REMEMBER THIS IS A TWO-WAY CONVERSATION. GIVE THEM DUE PROPS WHEN THEY RECOMMEND YOU TO THEIR SPHERE OF LISTENERS.
JOHN NORMOYLE, SENIOR STRATEGIST, DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS GROUP

PORTER NOVELLI: THE NEW INFLUENCE

17

18

PORTER NOVELLI: THE NEW INFLUENCE

DANNY DEVRIENDT
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT DIGITAL & SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGIST, EMEA @DANNYDEVRIENDT

LOST IN TRANSLATION: CONSUMER ENGAGEMENT ACROSS EUROPE

For governments, brands and companies, the ability to interact with target audiences on- and offline has become crucial. Increasingly sophisticated consumer engagement is leading to greater understanding, respect, loyalty and comprehension. And as more and more conversations and social interactions move online, we see more companies and brands doing a magnificent job of engaging loyal followers with digital and mobile technologies. However, many of the same organizations that enjoy tremendous success in America often struggle in Europe. Heres why. Effective community engagement in Europe requires On a continent like North America, online engagement is relatively efficient and cost effective. A substantial amount of consumers can be reached, from coast to coast, in a single country (the U.S.), and in a single language (English). Adding just one country (Canada) and two languages (Spanish and French), provides access to most of the entire continent. For metrics tools, conversation starters and community managers, three languages to engage and measure allows for profitable opportunities to scale online influence programs. In Europe, though, it becomes much more complicatedwith 750 million people scattered over 44 different autonomic countries, each with its own set of laws, socio-cultural habits and ethno-historic sensitivities. From the Atlantic to the Ural Mountains, and from the North Pole to Gibraltar, roughly 70 different languages are spoken. To read and write in all of them, you need to be fluent in five distinct alphabets (Latin, Greek, Cyrillic, Armenian and Georgian). This makes online influencing and community engagement fairly complicated. Economies of scale and reusing existing material becomes virtually impossible. Messages and message delivery vehicles need to be adapted to the local language and cultural needs. Messages not only need to be translated, they need to be rewritten. To build global communication strategies, it is important to involve people who have in-depth knowledge of their region from the very beginning. All too often, compelling strategies and tactics conceived far from the actual countries where they will be implemented prove to be impossible to execute. To successfully bridge Europes multicultural, multilingual diversity, it is far more effective to build communications strategies up from local insights and understanding. As many organizations continue to discover, in Europe, an overarching, top-down approach to consumer engagement often gets lost in translation. small, dedicated and integrated teams that can take an organizations concept and strategy and tailor it for the local country. These teams must work hands-on with the tools that are most relevant for each European region, which are often quite different from the big global players. For instance, its impossible to reach the Dutch through Facebook, because theyre on Hives. And Poland has at least four different equivalents of Twitter. Even in smaller countries like Belgium and Switzerland, communication needs to be done in three different languages, which has severe implications on timelines and budgets. Compounding the challenges, big international metrics tools are often unable to filter out all of the semantic sensitivities of these 70 European languages, or simply do not have enough volume to give accurate analysis enhancing the importance of local tools, and demanding a higher human involvement throughout the process.

PORTER NOVELLI: THE NEW INFLUENCE

19

NICK CHARLES
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, DIRECTOR OF CONTENT @NICKCHARLES61

THE NEW RULES AND ROLES OF EFFECTIVE CONTENT

Over the past 18 months, many organizations have come to realize that, whether they like it or not, they are now in the content creation business. Content has surpassed simply being the latest buzzword and is now seen as practically a magic bulleta surefire way for organizations to better connect with consumers. While robust, engaging, relevant, sometimes branded, often-times organic content is clearly an imperative that has been intensified and accelerated by a 24hour traditional and social media cycle, there are two fundamental understandings that are often lost in the rush to publish. The first is that contentregardless of how we define it, and for the purpose of universality lets go ahead and designate it as literally any communications element that positively or negatively affects an organization or brandis a tactic, not a strategy. In addition, companies more inclined to talk than listen As powerful and as accessible as they are, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, blogs and websites are tactical tools that are meaningless, or worse, without a sound strategy. There is no way that a haphazard, random approach to engagementWe Tweeted this! or We posted it on our Facebook page!can be effective. Today, many organizations struggle with the new role of content because they are blinded by social medias immediacy and potential reach. With metrics that can be easily or misleadingly parsed to purport a far larger audience than is actually engaged, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that there must be clear objectives in place in order to obtain any significant impact or reach. And while yes, there is definitely immediacy to digital communications, its instantaneous nature can be a significant liability without a broader, coherent plan in place. So how can a brand or company develop a sound communications strategy that incorporates content creation at its cornerstone? That is the second fundamental understanding that organizations must employ at all levels. If there is one paramount and overarching rule, it is that effective content creation should involve an exponentially greater amount of listening than talking. Organizations looking to hone their content creation process to effectively reach consumers should first learn to truly hear them. Understand and internalize who customers really are and what they are actually saying. Then, respond naturally and honestly. The best and most effective content is not just messaging propelled far enough and fast enough to simply reach a target audienceit is an integral part of an organic, strategic process that engages, adds value and inspires people to respond. often neglect to provide platforms or opportunities for engagement. As a result, they are incapable of hearing customers questions and concerns as they arise. They miss crucial opportunities to head off crises before they become critical, amplify advance good word and strengthen brand advocacy. The very content they have invested significant resources to create winds up alienating consumers rather than strengthening connections to them. With so much information out there, consumers need to be assured that they will be able to reach a company when they want or need to. Customers who are forced to wade through enormous amounts of content just to have a question answered or a concern addressed will eventually disengage, often abandoning a product in the process. More than ever before, effective content development is driven by consistent listening. Many organizations, communications agencies in particular, use the content imperative to intensify what they do bestnamely, talk. But broadcasting unrelenting monologues at consumers is not effective content creation. Adding to the already vast cacophony of chatter, not pausing for breath or significant reflection only exacerbates the chasm between brands and consumers.

20

PORTER NOVELLI: THE NEW INFLUENCE

PORTER NOVELLI: THE NEW INFLUENCE

21

OUR BLOGOSPHERE
PORTER NOVELLI TEAM MEMBERS NOT ONLY ENGAGE INFLUENCERS, BUT ALSO ARE INFLUENCERS IN THEIR OWN RIGHT. CHECK OUT SOME OF OUR EMPLOYEE BLOGS.
LUCMISSINNE.BE LUC MISSINNES THOUGHTS ON LEADERSHIP AND COMMUNICATIONS MOMMYLENS.COM LISA ROSENBERGS OBSERVATIONS ON BEING A MANAGER, A MARKETER AND A MOM

ADELEMYERSBRAINTEASE. BLOGSPOT.COM MARKETER AND MOM ADELE MYERS THOUGHTS ON IHEARTSOCIALMEDIA.NET MARTA MAJEWSKAS WORLD OF SOCIAL MEDIA CREATIVITY/GETTING AND STAYING INSPIRED AT WORK AND PLAY

HYPEBEAST.COM/BLOG SKYGELLATLY SKY GELLATLY BLOGS ABOUT MUSIC AND ENTERTAINMENT

MOJITOSANDFLORENTINE. WORDPRESS.COM ALLYSON CAMPBELLS CULINARY ADVENTURES IN NYC HELIADE.NET DANNY DEVRIENDTS TALES OF A MOBILE WARRIOR FROM BRUSSELS

22

PORTER NOVELLI: THE NEW INFLUENCE

GOLDMINDSBLOG.COM POSTS FROM PORTER NOVELLIS CALIFORNIA TEAM

PORTERNOVELLI.COM/BLOG THOUGHT LEADERSHIP FROM PORTER NOVELLI

OPENRTN.WORDPRESS.COM NICK SCARGILL BLOGS ABOUT TRAIN TRAVEL

SCHEINERINC.TYPEPAD.COM MIKE SCHEINERS CONVERSATIONS ON DESIGN, BRANDING, AND MARKETING

WWW.THINKSEEDODIFFERENTLY. BLOGSPOT.COM JOEL JOHNSON ON ADVERTISING & PR, DIGITAL STRATEGY, AND PNINTELLIGENTDIALOGUE.BE/ THOUGHTS FROM THE HEART OF EUROPE CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

WWW.THEPRGEEK.CO.UK JEMMA SMITH TALKS PR AND SOCIAL MEDIA FROM LONDON

23

PORTER NOVELLI: THE NEW INFLUENCE

24

PORTER NOVELLI: THE NEW INFLUENCE

RICHARD CLINE
FOUNDER, PRESIDENT, VOCE COMMUNICATIONS, A PORTER NOVELLI COMPANY @VOCENATION

BALANCING CONTENT AND PLATFORM

As founder and president of Voce Communications, one of Silicon Valleys most recognized and respected technology agencies and now a Porter Novelli company, Richard Cline has witnessedand helped drivethe powerful convergence of public relations, social media marketing and Web development. Since 1999, Cline has guided Voce with keen insight into technology and communicationsand equal foresight into the rapidly evolving and increasingly intrinsic roles they play in shaping dialogues with individual influencers and whole communities. For Cline, awareness is paramount. You have to pay attention, Cline says. Because it really is a community. The influencer mix changes, dynamics change. It used to just be media. Now it is really more about pure content, and where that content resides. That has changed everything. VOCE REFERS TO ITSELF AS COMMUNICATION ARCHITECTS. TO EXTEND THE METAPHOR, HOW HAVE INFLUENCERS BECOME MORE INTEGRAL TO THE DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF COMMUNICATION ARCHITECTURE? Like with any form of architecture, there is a lot of foundational workwhich involves understanding the landscape and who the people are that make up the culture or community you talk to. Over time, you assess and learn and understand a community of people that are invested in the areas that are critical to getting the message out. That is one of the bottom-line, foundational pieces that everything is built upon. You dont begin when someone says, Lets do a big campaign. Its something you work on every dayit is constant. It is not something you create for a launch. If it is not created already, you are probably in trouble.

HOW HAS THE ROLE OF INFLUENCERS CHANGED BOTH IN THE DECADE-PLUS OF VOCES EXISTENCE, AND EVEN IN THE PAST TWO YEARS? Five or six years ago, there was a transformation when a lot of the really influential journalists and columnists started making the move. A key figure in Silicon Valley was Dan Gillmor of the San Jose Mercury News. He was one of the first major journalists who said, I am going to become a publisher and make it or break it on my own. A couple years after that, you started seeing community businesses forming around these people who could effectively produce contentpeople like AllThingsDs Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher. That was the big movement at the top level, but it also encouraged a view that everyone is a journalist, and everybody has an opportunity to offer a critical view that is consumable by a lot of people quickly. That didnt happen overnight, but it did happen suddenly. And it did get a little ridiculous, where it seemed like everyone was a content expert for a moment. But what you saw ultimately was that nobody was afraid to put their own shingle up and cover things and share their opinions and their feelings. There is now a lot of noise, but it is also much easier to track, aggregate and effectively measure people to see what kind of influence they have. WHAT EFFECT HAS BETTER MEASUREMENT HAD? When the sophistication of measurement caught up, and companies like Radian6 were able to gauge content and also filter it through people, the content experts in these industries became so clear. The amount of pickup, the commentary, who responded and linked to them, and the ongoing tail of the discussion became so much deeper and more relevant. Once we were able to measure and apply a different set of tools, we became much smarter.

PORTER NOVELLI: THE NEW INFLUENCE

25

THERE IS NOW A LOT OF NOISE, BUT IT IS ALSO MUCH EASIER TO TRACK.

26 | PORTER NOVELLI: THE NEW INFLUENCE

IT USED TO JUST BE MEDIA. NOW IT IS REALLY MORE ABOUT PURE CONTENT, AND WHERE THAT CONTENT RESIDES. THAT HAS CHANGED EVERYTHING.

HOW DOES VOCE ASCERTAIN WHAT CONTENT WILL MOST EFFECTIVELY REACH AND ENGAGE KEY INFLUENCERS FOR A CLIENT AND HOW IS THE MOST APPROPRIATE PLATFORM THEN DETERMINED? We believe both content and platform are completely dependent on each other. Often-times, it really helps to take the platform first. But the number one rule is always that the company has to have its own voice, and we will not make it up and we will not artificially inseminate it. Social media is a very transparent universe. So content has to be authentic and it has to be true. If it has been manufactured, it rings hollow. When content is fake or unauthentic it can hurt you in the place where you can least afford it, which is the trust factor. If trust goes, you could spend thousands and thousands of dollars and still not get it back. It could take years. Losing the element of trust between a brand and a consumer is the worst thing that could happen. I see it as the biggest threat facing companies as they navigate the social media environment.

SO ARE CONTENT AND PLATFORM INSEPARABLY SYMBIOTIC, OR CAN THE STRENGTH OF ONE COMPENSATE FOR THE WEAKNESS OF ANOTHER AND STILL ENGAGE INFLUENCERS? Content is always king. The strength of a platform is really important and clearly we have strong opinions about this, but if you have a terrible site and your writing is really interesting and you are able to find information and make points that people havent made before, people dont care how effective your platform is. Theyll take that information and repost it on their own, better platform for you. Thats why authentic, real exchange is so powerful and why sincerity of voice is so critical. The more opportunities, platforms and places you have to go, the better connection you create with people. And the best connections you make are through honest, sincere interaction. The organizations that can do that, and who are honest and unapologetic about who they are, are the ones that win. If you look through the top 10 brands, they all have that skill set. Regardless of the function of their business, the face of their organization is communications. Its interaction.

PORTER NOVELLI: THE NEW INFLUENCE

27

REPEAT AFTER ME: THE SOCIAL NETWORK IS NOT JUST A MOVIE.

28

PORTER NOVELLI: THE NEW INFLUENCE

MIKE SCHEINER,
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, CREATIVE DIRECTOR, INTEGRATED BRANDING & DIGITAL @MIKESCHEINER

THE AGE OF DIGITAL LITERACY

Repeat after me: The Social Network is not just a movie. Facebook is not just something my daughter is on, and a community is much bigger than the town that I live in. The reality facing most marketers today is that some actually believe this or are only being provided a very narrow view of the story. So why is there so much confusion and lack of digital literacy when it comes to envisioning and implementing a digital and social media strategy? Marketers and companies now face the daunting task of learning a whole new digital language. In some cases, the consumer is more digitally literate than the brands he/she advocates. So whats a brand to do? First, digital literacy needs to come from within. Brands need to stop getting caught up in jargon or the latest catch phrase of the month and gain a deeper understanding of what these channels and new technologies mean to them. As mentioned in Ad Age: Forget brand as hero. Today, employees are the heroes. Companies have moved from treating employees as a liability when it comes to communicating to now treating them more as an asset of engaged people who live and breathe your brand. Just as social media has empowered the user, it has and can equally empower the employee. By educating internal stakeholders to listen and engage with social media, theyll be better at articulating a brands values and how the company values them. When a brand wants to add value, it needs to start from the bottom up and view these efforts holistically across the entire brand ecosystem. The greater the dialogue, the greater the potential to learn, the greater potential to engage. The digital landscape has accelerated and advocated this new way of communicating. Your employees are on Facebook, Tweeting, reading and commenting on blogs, so why not engage with them through the same channels that theyre already familiar with? Consider brands such as Zappos and Best Buy. Both companies use a variety of digital channels to improve internal communications, share ideas and engage with their specific audiences. Such efforts make these brands much more relevant. Each employee is not just an advocate, but also an ambassador to articulate the companys beliefs and values. Your employees, who are your biggest stakeholders, want to know and hear everything. How are we doing as a company? What about these new policies? Why do we have this new messaging? Where can I share my ideas about adding value to our company?

PORTER NOVELLI: THE NEW INFLUENCE

29

ED DIXON
PARTNER, MANAGING DIRECTOR, SINGAPORE @EFDIXON

SPOTLIGHT ON ASIA: EVERYTHING MOBILE

There is likely no other market where mobile/smart phone usage is as diverse as Asia. Asian markets are broadly differentfrom highly advanced mobile markets like Korea and Japan, to largely developing markets like Indonesia, Thailand and Indiawhere the mobile phone is a lifeline to the outside world for even the poorest rural consumer. Savvy brands are beginning to understand the market potential of mobile phones in Asia, and how to tap mobile technology to reach target consumers that, in some cases, cant be reached by any other means. MOBILE PENETRATION IN MARKETS LARGE & SMALL Chinas mobile users will number 850 million by the end of 2010, compared to 470 million Internet users in the country. Chinese mobile customers are young (more than 70 percent of mobile users are ages 10 to 29) and use their mobile phones most often at lunch and before sleep. The most popular content is mobile reading (blogs, forums, news), and searches for such content makes up 35 percent of requests on Baidu. In Japan the concept has transcended life. Memorial The New York Times quoted the United Nations as saying that in India more people have cell phones than access to a toilet. In a market with some of the largest disparities in wealth, there is demand for all types of phones, from $800 BlackBerry devices to $26 basic Nokia phones. Indonesia, with nearly 150 million mobile subscribers, has the highest growth in Southeast Asia. Mobile users outnumber active Internet users five to one, and many Indonesians use mobile phones as their primary Web access tool and use them for everything from banking to social networking. Mobile social networking is a significant mobile activity according to Yahoo!, with more than 89 percent of mobile Internet users accessing a social network per month47 percent of Indonesians access social networks daily via mobile. In Australia, mobile penetration has exceeded 100 percent. Investment by Telstra, Optus and VHA in highspeed mobile infrastructure in the past 18 months will put Australians among the worlds largest consumers of smart phone-based services per capita. Japan has 112 million mobile subscriptions, and 97 percent have a 3G data plan. As far back as 2007, major brands including Coca-Cola and McDonalds used mobile marketing as their primary medium to reach young customers via mobile coupon and loyalty programs. (tomb) stone maker Ishinokoe will soon begin producing gravestones with QR codes that link to pictures, videos and family information related to the deceased. Korean fashion and beauty brands and retailers have tapped into QR codes to educate, engage and entice customers. Cosmetics leader AmorePacific and bargain cosmetics brand The Etude House, along with retailer Hyundai Department store, have used QR codes in advertising and in-store merchandising. Shoppers scan the codes with their mobile phone cameras and are directed to mobile sites that provide product information, video tips andmost importantly discount coupons. MARKETING VIA MOBILE Created in Japan in 1994, QR (quick response) codes are now prevalent in many mature Asian mobile markets, including Hong Kong, Japan and Korea. While smart phone penetration in Korea is relatively low at four percent, the growth trajectory is rapid. Smart phone users grew more than 300 percent in the past year.

30

PORTER NOVELLI: THE NEW INFLUENCE

MORE PEOPLE HAVE ACCESS TO CELL PHONES THAN ACCESS TO A TOILET.

PORTER NOVELLI: THE NEW INFLUENCE

31

400

MILLION MOBILE SUBSCRIBERS AND FEWER THAN 40 MILLION INTERNET USERS.

32 | PORTER NOVELLI: THE NEW INFLUENCE

THE OPPORTUNITY TO LEVERAGE MOBILE/SMART-PHONE ACCESS TO REACH THE ENTIRE SPECTRUM OF THE ASIAN CONSUMERFROM RICH TO POOR, FROM URBAN DWELLER TO FARMERIS MORE DIVERSE AND HIGH POTENTIAL THAN ANYWHERE ELSE IN THE WORLD.

In terms of marketing, there have been a series of Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC) investigations on SMS/MMS-based mobile service operators (such as ringtone and wallpaper services). However, there has been strong interest in app storesboth Apple and Androidand smartphone access to social media platforms is being used to extend the reach of progressive marketers. DEVELOPING MOBILE MARKETS With more than 400 million mobile subscribers and fewer than 40 million Internet users, the opportunity to leapfrog over traditional online marketing to mobile marketing is compelling in India. Rural marketing is a top priority for both handset vendors and mobile services providers due to a great opportunity for providing value-added services to rural users. Marketers already are tapping into the potential of Indias millions of rural mobile phone users. Nokia offers agricultural and educational training via mobile phones. Reuters uses SMS to deliver market trends, weather forecasts and crop information to farmers. And Tata Indicom has developed a service that allows farmers in Gujarat to operate irrigation pumps remotely. In Vietnam, consumers willingly pay US $1,100 for an iPhone 4more than the countrys per capita GDP of US $1,050. Pakistan is a relatively untapped mobile market, but its rapidly growing businesses are effectively using SMS short codes to support abovethe-line and below-the-line marketing programs.

FUTURE TRENDS In Japan and other developed markets, mobile social networking and advanced personalized services are the future. NTT DoCoMo launched a virtual assistant service called i-Concier, which provides shopping advice and coupons from more than 250 brands, content providers and retailersall via smart phone. In developing markets, the future trend is toward deeper penetration into rural markets and the expansion of value-added services through 3G capabilities. A recent survey by Yahoo! on trends in Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines found that cost-effective data plans are driving Internet access via mobile phone. In Indonesia, Internet cafes are losing ground to mobile as primary access points. In Vietnam, consumers are tapping into mobile as well for activities including search and music. The opportunity to leverage mobile/ smart-phone access to reach the entire spectrum of the Asian consumerfrom rich to poor, from urban dweller to farmeris more diverse and high potential than anywhere else in the world.

PORTER NOVELLI: THE NEW INFLUENCE

33

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS
COVER (FRONT, BACK) PAGE 9 Top Image: Creative Commons Orin Zebest Bottom Image: Creative Commons C. Miles PAGE 2 Top Image: Creative Commons cleverclevergirl Middle Image: Creative Commons Samuel Mann Bottom Image: Creative Commons mnsc PAGE 4 Image: Creative Commons James Cridland PAGE 6 Top Image: Creative Commons cambodia4kids.org Middle Image: Creative Commons Dentsu London PAGE 17 Image: Creative Commons Marc_Smith PAGE 16 Image: Creative Commons Marc_Smith PAGE 24 Middle Image: Creative commons fla m PAGE 15 Image: Creative Commons Marc_Smith PAGE 23 Image: Creative Commons tomalen PAGE 14 Image: MikeBlogs PAGE 22 Image: Creative Commons, jmkster OPPOSITE PAGE Top Image: Creative Commons, Mike Licht; NotionsCapital.com Middle Image: Creative Commons wfabry Bottom Image: Creative Commons Ooskay PAGE 13 Image: Creative Commons, Editor B Top Image: Creative Commons, HomeBiss Middle Image: Creative Commons, clevercupcakes Bottom Image: Creative Commons, odannysullivan PAGE 21 Top Image: Creative Commons, Xelcise Bottom Image: Creative Commons Seth1492 PAGE 32 Image: Creative Commons malfet PAGE 31 IMAGE: Creative Commons Dipanker Dutta PAGE 18 Top Image: Creative Commons, Bottom Image: Creative Commons TRS BIEN SHOP PAGE 26 Top Image: Creative Commons Bottom Image: Creative Commons blprnt_van

Public Domain Photos adactio

34

PORTER NOVELLI: THE NEW INFLUENCE

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: GARY STOCKMAN, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER PORTER NOVELLI, 75 VARICK ST, NEW YORK, NY 10013 212.601.8114, GARY.STOCKMAN@PORTERNOVELLI.COM

PORTER NOVELLI GLOBAL HEADQUARTERS 75 Varick Street, 6th Floor New York, NY 10013 Direct 212.601.8000 Fax 212.601.8101 www.porternovelli.com