The recent Ofcom report found that 49% of 8 - 17 year olds had one or more personal pages on social media sites like Bebo, MySpace and Facebook.

Shel Israel has a great post which includes a video interview with the Disney people responsible for Club Pengiun and their games world strategies.

One really interesting statistic mentioned was that ClubPenguin new has 100 million members.

So what use is Twitter to corporate marketing and PR? Here is a journalists view of it as a tool to help news gathering and distribution.

There are some great examples in the article.

Kelloggs are running an online ad campaign based upon cost-per-enagagement. This is a hi-breed between online digital advertising and community sites. Will be interesting to see who else looks at this. This one is focussed on kids. (Source: AdAge)

Johnson and Johnson have just completed a programme where they got a group of bloggers together for a multi day event. It sounds like they avoided the mistake many companies make and ensured that this was a ‘soft branding exercise’ focussing on topics of discussion rather than promotion of products.

(Thanks to WOMMA for the link)

As companies continue to ban Facebook and other social networking software as a 'waste of time' for staff and 'not useful as a business tool' I will remind them of a well known quote in the IT industry...

At the time DEC, as it was known, was the number 2 IT company in the world and dominated the non-mainframe world with their mini-computers. They had the technical skills to develop their terminals into intelligent standalone PCs but choose not to.

Many businesses cannot see the value in using social networking and Word of Mouth communication techniques. I wonder if they will go the same way as DEC by missing out on an emerging technology?

For more fun predictions see here

Research reported in the Wall Street Journal into blog readers and the fact that reading a blog can become habit forming. Many people tend to follow a routine. When travelling to London I always stand on the same spot on the platform. I used to buy a daily newspaper. Now I do not. I take my information via online news services, blogs and recently Twitter.  

Interview with Guy Kawasaki and the authors from Forrester Research and their new book ‘Groundswell’. Groundswell is not available in the UK yet but from reviews in the US looks a great book looking at the rise and rise of social media and organisations can use it to enhance internal and external communication.

Sally Falkow on the latest research into maximising PR coverage online – don’t just distribute your release online but optimise it for search engines. There has been a lot written about the social media version of the press release. Sadly many PR agencies are strong on the people and communication skills but have less developed IT skills. This research shows how SEO added to a traditional press release can have real added value online.

David Wilson reports on the latest research from the USA on how women are reading and commenting on blogs because of their relevance and authenticity. A great quote “Several recent surveys indicate that our trust in institutions is declining. We are losing trust in the government, politicians, the media and many corporations. But as it turns out, we trust each other,” said Elisa Camahort Page, BlogHer co-founder and COO. “The blogosphere is increasingly becoming the digital ‘kitchen table’ where individuals can sit down to have an authentic conversation about all the topics that affect their daily lives - from household products to presidential candidates.”

Mike Butcher and start-up technology companies are in the US visiting IT companies and VC’s as part of WebMission08 to see how it is done over there. Follow their progress on Mike's blog and Twitter account to see who has gone.  

Shel Israel interviews the Twitter guys. After seeing it as a total waste of time I have been using Twitter for a few weeks now and found it invaluable and great fun. I saved getting caught by a rail delay by someone Tweeting that there was a problem further up the line. That alone made it worth using as I was not late for my meeting. I have also been able to find new data sources and research resports because the people I have chosen to follow are knowledgeable in areas I am interested in. Looking for somewhere to eat the other evening in London I posted a question on Twitter and got a response within 15 minutes advising me of a local place. Last week I linked up two people at the same conference using Twitter.

Number 10 will be creating a microsite to cover the PM's tour of the USA. They will be blogging and uploading images plus Twittering. A great way to keep the public and media informed (Note: Research has shown that journalists use blogs etc to get leads for stories)

What could be the business applications for an integrated social media campaign:

• Product 'roadshow' travelling from location to location across Europe with regular updates via blogs, Twitter and podcasts
• Trade shows - daily social news reports including video and audio interviews with customers on the stand
• Senior management employee updates especially where workforce is geographically or time zone based (think NHS - 24 hours/365 - would managers ever be able to see all employees 'face-to-face') 
• Board meeting news reports (now just what does senior management get up to?  Note: I remember a video from circa 1987 of all the US senior Lotus managers in a board meetinmg trying to figure out how to adjust the brand new boardroom chairs. Some of the best brains struggling to read and follow the instructions. I wonder where that ever went? As we were under a critical spotlight at the time - who remembers Vaporware? - it may have made us seem more human at the time or opened us to more mirth in the media.)

I am sure there are lots more practical examples that would apply to your own organisations. 

While thinking about crowd behaviour and the reach of influencers through social media I stumbled upon (thanks Google) Marc Dingman, and his blog. Marc is a neuroscientist looking at human behaviour. From him I found out about Mirror neurons and the research by Rizzolatti and his team in Italy. Whilst one of my modules in my Psychology degree looked at human behaviour and development as well as language and learning I was not aware of this branch of research.

In essence the research suggests a group of neurons is activated when we do certain tasks or see (and hear) others doing it. To quote from research being done in humans....

'.... when a person observes another person's action, their motor cortex becomes more excitable. This excitability can be measured by recording the size of a motor evoked potential (MEP) .... The changes in MEP size are taken as a measure of mirror neuron system activity, because MEPs come from primary motor cortex which is closely connected to the mirror neuron regions of the brain....'

In other words by observing actions in others our neurons are stimulated to copy (mirror) them. This has implications in human behaviour studies where 'free will' seems to be reduced and 'automatic behaviour' results. I don't know about you but when I watch rugby I can become very excitable and physically engaged as the rucking and mauling gets closer to the try line. When with a group of friends that effect seems to be magnified.

To further quote.....

'...Eye tracking provides another indirect measure that may reflect mirror neuron processing. As a person moves their hand, their eyes move ahead of the hand to look at the object the person will grasp. Similarly, when watching someone else's action, your eyes are likely to anticipate what the other person will do....'

In other words we start to anticipate action.

Further research has looked at audio stimuli. It suggests that 'mirroring' can occur even through sound. We do not just need to see an action being done - just hear it. As humans we are very well attuned to peoples moods and can 'feel' it when talking to people. Next time you speak to someone on the phone just check out what you think their mood is. Happy, sad, excited, bored?

From a social networking standpoint this could impact how people are able to influence others. Without the internet we would normally only be able to influence others who are physically close. With the internet WOM marketing and 'crowd influencing' shifts up to another level.

AdAge (thanks to WOMMA for source) has a summary of the ZenthOpimedia survey on the most effective source of information to consumers. TV has the highest recall. Friends & Family is the most influential.

The question has to be asked 'What is a friend?' Can a Social Media (cyber) friend be as influential as a 'physical' friend? We know the effect of TV stars endorsement. If Delia (Smith - the cook. See her web site) recommends a product its sales will increase. Richard and Judy had a TV Book Club (online version) and a recommendation from them can drive an author to the top of sales list. Can that be replicated in either an online community with no media stars or by the cyberspace equivalents of Delia or Richard and Judy?

There has been a lot of research into 'flocking' or crowd behaviour. The latest is from Leeds. Their research showed that a small percentage of people can influence large groups. Like a herd of sheep we will follow. Whilst the research was looking at crowd behaviour in physical situations (follow my leader) it does have application in the cyberworld.

Now how many social media friends do I have? How many do I follow? How many of those are themselves influential?

Although they orginally said that 'we will not respond to direct questions on Twitter' Number 10 seems to have done so. Over at Richard Sambrook's (Head of BBC News) blog he has details of an interesting response from Number 10 to a journalists question.

Starbucks recently announced a 'customer conversation'. Quite a few people were unsure of the value. Would they listen? Would they act?

The answers. Yes and yes.

Starbucks actions? They have brought back their free 'testing taster' and responded to another top wish from the over 1000 people who have commented. Check it out

I did some research for a presentation recently looking at the decline in print circulation of newspapers and how they are 'compensating' with increases in online traffic. Here is the lastest news from Hitwise, looking at the Independent

In the light of recent research from Ofcom showing that 49% of 8 - 17 years are using social media sites in the UK this comment from an interview with Shel Israel is worth companies pausing to consider for marketing and HR...

Question: What is the biggest finding from the many interviews you’ve done on the SAP Global Survey, what’s the one trend you’re finding?

"That’s easy. in every country, youth is driving social media adoption. That means that when the Club Penguin generation comes into the marketplace, most traditional marketing simply won’t work. So companies really need to start understand what SM tools work for them."

Note: Club Penguin is now owned by Disney.

 

Wondering what others (Disney, Reebok, Pepsi etc) are doing with social communities and networks? Check this out (Source: WOMMA)

Number 10 used the recent Progressive Government Summit 2008 to use live blogging. 

If you are still coming to terms with Web 2.0 and Social Media check out these great online slide resources...

What is social media? and The evolution of communication

Social media metrics

What should companies be doing? Taking at least 10% of their customer services, PR and marketing budgets and putting them 'on (the) line' to engage in the ongoing conversation. Ensuring all employees are fully up to speed on using social media (infact many are already doing so) to improve internal and external communications.

An interesting story from Paul Chaney on the use of Twitter and LinkedIn to help him with information.

I am only a recent Twitter user but have already found it invaluable. Like Paul I needed some help. In my case I needed extra case study and background information to help a presentation I was asked to do at short notice. I put a request out with both LinkednIn and Twitter. My first response was on Twitter within 30 minutes. That was done publicly and I am sure helped some of the further contacts I got. In total I had 6 responses on Twitter. All provided details of subject matter experts or access to published research. A couple of people replied direct to me via my Twitter account.

LinkedIn had seven responses. 2 direct as they were from people already in my network but I had not thought to contact direct. 2 were sales in nature - companies pushing their software solutions - they were OK but not quite what I wanted. The others were good. The first LinkedIn response was with me in 4 hours. The others came in over the next 4 days.

Conclusion:

• Twitter wins for speed of response
• Twitter wins in terms of non-selling and just linking to other experts
• LinkedIn wins in terms of knowing more about the source of info (click through to responders profile)

Both worked. I would use both again but allow more time for LinkedIn. Twitter is fast.

I am not sure why but I never even thoought of using Facebook! I will next time.

The company does monitor Twitter and the blogosphere. They did see the postings and did react...

This is the story...

A Twitter protest against poor customer service is written about on blogs. Where to next? And is either the company PR department or their agency monioring their online reputation so they can nip this in the bud?

Time will tell....

Anyone in marketing or PR must be watching how traditional media deals with changing consumers behaviour. With declining readerships and ad revenues print is under pressure. Jeff Jarvis in his latest post looks at what newspapers need to consider doing to stem and reverse the decline.

Interesting post from New Media Knowledge on the use by major studios of social media to help promote new films.

As it can take a long time (many months) in post-production to edit a film there is plenty of time and materials to create a campaign. Studios have woken up to the fact that DVD sales - especially with out-takes, interviews and background stories - can be as popular as the film itself and help to boost total sales. (If you have a franchise you can be clever and look at brand merchantising that will boost overall sales many times over - think Star Wars)

Can this sort of 'fan' behaviour be created by other businesses? Absolutely. There are lots of examples of businesses big and small who are using social media to engage with 'consumer communities'. It could be bespoke mens suits (www.englishcut.com) to organic wormeries and flowers(www.wigglywigglers.co.uk) to car fan sites (www.gomotoring.com/about).

The important thing in all is that many people like to engage in a 'conversation' with the brand and fellow brand travellers.  

A really excellent video interview by Shel Israel over at Fastcompany.tv. Shel interviews Fran Stephenson, Director of Comms at SeaWorld San Antonio and Kami Huyse of MyPRPro on how they used social media communication to successfully launch a new ride.

Their problem was that the ride was due to be ready a month earlier than the original date and so the planned promotion would not help. How could they quickly and effectively market the ride for that gap period?

They decided to use a social media campaign. Kami and Fran explain to Shel what they did to engage with communities that would help influence others. They actively engaged employees in video and text blogging to create excitement and targeted forums to maximise awareness.

What can other companies learn about using social media campaigns from this interview?

• Results can be measured
• Researching and targeting audiences is important (even theme park rides have an established fan base)
• Trying to restrict access to materials (corpororate logo police) is self-defeating (notice that Fran says they were happy for bloggers and forum members to use their materials in anyway they wanted in their own blogs)

Eastman Kodak has just announced the appointment of its first Chief Blogger, Jennifer Cisney.

The announcement states:

'...Cisney will provide daily oversight and creative guidance for Kodak's two blogs - "A Thousand Words" and "A Thousand Nerds" - and will boost the company's social media presence.

In addition, Cisney will serve as the company's eyes and ears online, listening to customer feedback and sharing ideas and tips related to Kodak's products and services....'

Great case study from Todd Defren over at Shift Communications in the USA showing how really targeting the message pays off. Many PR companies make the mistake of 'broadcasting' just like you would with a press release. Throw if far and wide and something will stick...

As Todd explains being selective and building a relationship with key influencial bloggers is key. The challenge is there is no media list to simply look up and build a mass e-mailing list. It takes desk based research to find out bloggers who have good 'circles of influence'. As Todd shows that sort of research pays back dividends.

Sparks is a division of Miller Brewing and rather than have its web site follow the style of the corporate Motherbrand it took its lead from its customers (Wisdom of the Crowds). 

Really neat way PM is using social media and Web 2.0 to engage with the public.

I subscribe to Number 10's Tweets. That alerted me to the microsite calling for input to this weekends summit. On there is a YouTube video with Mr Brown asking for input.

The summit is also promoted on the Number 10 website 

I know the goal is 'joined up Government' but this looks like 'joined up social media'.

An interesting article on BA and its T5 woes. (Source: The People Bulletin).

If employees had been raising concerns for 'some time' why did BA go ahead anyway? Two possibilities spring to mind.

1. Senior management did know and went ahead anyway hoping for the best.

2. Senior management did not know because somehow issues were filtered and kept from them

I have no way of really knowing what went wrong. No doubt an MBA case study or examination will come out one day. I just hope it was number 2 as that is fixable. Number 1 does not bear serious consideration.

If it was number 2 and internally the upward communication process is broken I wonder if web 2.0 tools such as blogs and forums would have helped. Certainly they can help downward communication but 'wisdom of the crowds' can often give senior managers an objective view of what is happening far from the board room.

McDonalds is stepping up its online activity (Source: AdAge) and taking its story direct to its consumers.

Interview with Robert Scoble on social media tools and their use in monitoring and supporting online brand reputation.

In the just published 2008 PRWeek/PR Newswire Media Survey (Source: WOMMA blog) 73% of journalists said they use bloggers as a source of information as part of their research.

What does this mean for companies?

They need to be either self blogging or engaging in conversations with bloggers or they are going to be missing two important elements in the communication mix - bloggers (about 10% of total population online) and the media themselves.

Number 10 is increasing its use of social media tools. (This is not some clever April Fools joke I hope!)

You can now access a Flickr photostream. As Gordon is in the photos I guess he is not personally taking them. They are also using Twitter to send out micro-blogs. They also have a YouTube channel and down the right hand side of their web site they have options for webchats and a petition section.