Archive for August, 2010
Authenticity Online (Site Seeding): PR Agency Reverb Communication’s brush with FTC over comments in iTunes
by Jon W Chin on Aug.29, 2010, under Advertisement, Social Media
Seth Godin had a book titled “All marketers are LIARS (Opps) nope, story tellers” he corrects it….We all hope to create a story – but where does one draw the line?
Briefly, the beef with this is that PR firm – Reverb Communication had seeded in the iTunes store in the pretense of a genuine user – raving about the product and all. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) came in and stopped it – suggesting deception. Well this is not new in the offline world as well…the thing in the online world is this can draw flake from users – in the online world there are no rules…how would this effect your brand image and your product?
I had my say on this topic on several occasions in my blog (please refer to this and this) and also in my public speaking arrangement in which I posted this question to the floor.
In the small island that I reside today – Singapore. I doubt this enforcement of the law will come so stringent in its effect (I stand corrected thought 
).
In my view, to jump start a conversation is okay but to go to the extent of saying “its the best product ever!” well that is where I draw the line. To me, there is a saying: “paper can never cover fire” – that is something I subscribe – even more so in the online world.
As most would realize, there are basically no rules there and everyone has a microphone. We all hear “Any publicity is good publicity” – well, does this really apply here? I think not, TRUST like a relationship is built in incremental steps and it only take one episode to cause it trumping down (think Tiger Woods) - this is something firms should take note.
Its a matter of time, someone would find out – especially some online users would pick on the words being used and some would even go to the extent to find evidence to build a case- I’ve personally seen this happen. So what happens if they break the bubble, I’m sure you can anticipate the ending – and then which reputational management comes into play – do we really want that? Or do we just cross our fingers and hope this would not happen to us.
I have ran campaigns in which I aim to gather the result of positive word-of-mouth, to me that is a result and not a means. Campaigns should be created (and communications) should be strategically planned to have that result. Its best if the reviews is created genuinely from users (in form of blogs, tweets and all) by tactics that you run – say competitions, games (leadership board etc) – something for them to talk about – or gain from and for them to spread…
Thats all from me for now…keen to hear what are your views on this topic.
Nanyang Business School Breakfast Talk – Advent of Social Media: What It Means To Marketing Practitioners
by Jon W Chin on Aug.27, 2010, under Social Media
Had a great time playing moderator role organised by one of the world’s leading business school, where topics around social media were debated and how it affects businesses.
Views were exchanged and lessons learnt. I had fun (which is most important)…
The panel…
From Left to Right..
1. Sarjit Singh – President of NBSAA
Mr. Andrew Tan, 2nd President of NBSAA
2. Peter Lim, Writer and Media Consultant of Plim HL, Singapore (former Editor-in-Chief of Singapore Press Holdings)
3. Jon Chin, Head Digital Strategy of ClickMedia
4. Nagalaksmi V., Account Manager of Google Adwords Singapore
5. Shalu Wasu, Associate Director of Ogilvy PR Singapore
6. Luke Soon, Principle of SAS Intelligence APAC
7. Dennis Wong, President of MBAAA
8. Bill Lee, MD of SAS Intelligence.
I had the honour to address a wide range of questions as they were raised and answered.
Topics ranging from how social media platform can be utilized in the healthcare industry while taking legal obligations into consideration; how both the ruling party and the opposite parties tap on social media platform to reach out to the voters in the coming general elections in Singapore; etc.
It was great fun and the best part I learnt stuff there!
Social Media Monitoring and Measuring – hey whats the difference?
by Jon W Chin on Aug.27, 2010, under Analytics, Social Media
Mashable ran an article titled “Why you need to monitor and measure your brand on social media” . The author Maria Ogneva touched on the difference between monitoring and measurement. Very interesting article she has there.
Digital strategists look for data to better understand a particular situation and from there it attempts to offer a solution. So where does this data come from – in this context it would be listening to the conversation out there. Having been bombarded with the conversation – how do you make sense of it all? That is the question.
To monitor, there is a magnitude of tools out there, ranging from Google alerts (free) to
Radian6 (paid). So what works? I cant answer that from you. For some, the free version works well, afterall, data is just data, its how you interprete the data that matters, isn’t it.
Alot of times people (read: clients) do not know the difference between monitoring and measurement (and also interpretation).
Whats is the point of monitoring – in my view the idea of monitoring is to garther insight and thereby use it to inspire strategy making. number (data) –> insights –> strategy – success in one audience generate success in another. Monitoring is pretty much useless if you cant interpreted to an action that ties in to company (campaign) objective.
Many a times, I hear companies say – so and so (competitor) have 5000 fans – in my mind (silently of course) – so what? what does these 5000 fans means? I can get you 10000 fans if you want – just give me the carrots (attractive) ones of course and I can bait. But sadly this is how it works out there. The success of a campaign is down to the number of fans…but isnt social media about conversation – candid conversation. Gone are the days of interruption marketing – we now need to engage and speak social language! So the advocates of social media says. we need interaction – we need to use their consumer language to make them act! of course in a subtle non-intrusive manner.
Typically, a successful online endeavour needs a plan and also questions that you need to ask your self.
Here are some…
- Behavioural : everything you communicate to your customers has a purpose. What do you want them to know?
- Essential : deliver information that your best propects and customers require to succeed in work or life – meet them expressed needs and wants – better still fulfil their latent needs.
- Strategic: – your efforts must be an integral part of the company overall business strategy - link your online endeavour (social media) to bottom-line results.
- Integrated Communication: Social media needs to be coherent with other modes BUT please do not just put a Press Release onto a social media platform (BIG MISTAKE).
- Targeted – you need to target your content (i.e. products precisely so that it is truly relevant to your prospects. Shift consumer behaviour via education.
- Ownership – get someone to spear head it and get that person to OWN it. I am a firm believer of people do not do what you say but what you paid. Pay for their behaviour and performance.
and last but not least – measure it! online can always be measured , but only if you have a clear understanding of your strategic communications objectives. just keep it simple – “how will we know that my content (social endeavour) is working to begin with….
What are your thoughts? I am keen to hear.
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