Digital Perspective Blog

Twitter is nothing new.  Tweet-ups are nothing new.  But the first official Twitter Tweet-up in Spanish in Bogota, Colombia IS something new.

As I was scrolling one of my lists I came across @guidogaona (B-M Colombia Market Leader) rewteeting @laura (Laura I. Gómez, twitter bio: políglota mexicana trabajando en Twitter. las efes: familia, friends, fútbol, films, food, felicidad.) and she tweeted the following: “Acuerdense: Ciento Cuarenta tweetup mañana at BBC Cedritos: http://ow.ly/1ee23 #140bogota” (translation: Don’t forget: one hundred and forty tweetup tomorrow…”  As I looked at the twtvite it said the first official Twitter tweetup in Spanish (see invite: http://ow.ly/1ee23).  Pretty cool!

Update – Esteban Osorio, our digital in Bogota, went to the event http://twitpic.com/171wtw and can expect a recap shortly.

Various countries in Latin America have seen a huge growth in Twitter users, some countries only had a couple of thousand users last year now have hundreds of thousands – Colombia already has over 150,000 users…may seem low, but give it a little more time and let’s not forget that Colombia is the 11^th country with the most Facebook users.

Chile is estimated to have well over 200,000 users – it became an integral communication tool during the recent catastrophe that the country was faced with and is still coping with (I encourage you to please donate if you haven’t already: http://www.google.com/relief/chileearthquake/) – even the Chilean military is using twitter: www.twitter.com/ejercito_chile.  For ongoing updates, follow some of my friends there: @emiliosanfuente, @juanpablotapia, @colonnello.

No need to mention Brazil – they are the country with the second most Twitter users after the US.

So while it may just be a “small” tweet-up – it represents a lot more when you look at the big picture and the rapid adoption rates in Latin America especially in the social space.

We have received so many positive comments since we launched our Fortune Global 100 Social Media Study! I really appreciate those of you that took time to write and am enjoying hearing your questions and ideas. I thought it would be a good idea to answer some of the questions in an open forum. Here goes…

Q. What did you find most surprising?

A. Personally, I was surprised by the disparity across social media platforms. A full 79% are using one of the four platforms but only 20% of the companies included are using all four of the platforms considered in the study – Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and corporate blogs. However, only 33% are using corporate blogs versus 65% that are using Twitter. The fact that Twitter has become the platform of choice didn’t surprise me, but the margin certainly did.

Q. How did the rest of the F500 do in the study?

A. Our study only considered the Fortune Global 100 so I can’t answer that.

Q. How did you pick the platforms to include?

A. Social media is a diverse ecosystem made up of all different sorts of community websites and consumer generated media. In some ways, picking the most popular social media platforms rails against our believe that quality trumps quantity in social media. However, we had to start somewhere. I believe it is safe to assume that companies will start with the broadest platforms – those included in our study – before moving on to more niche communities.

Q. Why did you call it social media? Isn’t that term outdated?

A. Well, there are a lot of terms floating around. Some people call it “new media” but I’ve been doing this for more than 15 years now so it is clearly not new. Others call it “emerging media” but I’d argue that it has emerged. If anything it could be considered “evolving media” but as a very smart person told me today, all media is evolving. The reality is that I don’t believe it is the agency’s job to define or name the channel – we should follow our clients’ lead. The industry and clients at large still talk about and ask for social media strategy and tactics – and therefore I’ll continue to use language that they are comfortable with.

Q. How did you handle multiple accounts?

A. The study showed that those that are active in social media have multiple accounts. For example, those who are active on Twitter average 4.2 accounts, although their are outliers with many more. If a company was present and active they were included. We didn’t weight companies based on the number of accounts.

Q. Is there really a dialogue taking place or are companies only pushing their information?

A. We were pleasantly surprised by the fact that there is truly a dialogue taking place. Companies have a significant number of followers or fans and are responding to consumer comments. They are also actively following people who follow them, paving the way for a relationship to develop.

Q. Why does this study matter?

A. This study is important because companies are still grappling with many issues around participating in social media. They are trying to determine which internal department owns it (we’d argue it is a shared responsibility), how to create guidelines, which sites to participate in, and what type of content to share (we’d recommend content that contributes to communities of interest). A study of this magnitude that shows companies how peers are participating is valuable in helping to convenience skeptical executives to consider the possibilities. And plus it was fun to do.

And, my favorite question…

Q. When did you have time to do the research?

I didn’t. Ashley Welde of our Evidence-Based team and Paul Cordasco led the research effort with contributions from colleagues all around the world. Ashley and Paul are quite the dynamic duo and are passionate about evidence-based communications and social media – a perfect combination as far as I’m concerned. Great job guys.

Lastly, some of the best questions I received came from Phil Dobbie of BNET. We recorded a podcast last week that he published today. Enjoy, and thanks.

Along with the Fortune Global 100 Social Media Report that Burson-Marsteller launched this week, we have also launched a new product, the Social Media Check-up. The Burson-Marsteller Social Media Check-up is designed to very specifically advise a company or organization on their social media health and reputation. Our point of view within the agency is that there are several elements that define your online reputation – search positioning, blog presence, network of websites and social media – but that social media is the area that is least defined within companies. Therefore we created he Social Media Check-up as a subset of our Digital Check-up Product. It focuses on several critical elements that organizations must address to participate in social media. A snapshot of the elements considered includes:

• Infrastructure – assessment of staff readiness to embrace social media and company infrastructure including adoption of guidelines and monitoring programs
• Profile Pages – what is the quantity, tone and influence of conversations happening on the most popular social networks and does the organization have an appropriate engagement plan in place
• Opportunistic – are organizations contributing to communities of interest, how is the social position impacting search results, are you linking your various profiles
• Competitive Set - how does the company rate against competitors and what is the white space that is available for an organization to take a leadership role

We happen to like our product a whole lot but the reality is that anyone with a little common sense and a willingness to invest some elbow grease can do an online scan to help a company determine if and how to proceed. It is important that the data be used beyond analysis and actually be used to inform a strategy that is integrated across departments, objectives, and social media properties. Only then can companies truly begin to tap the potential of social media and enjoy creating relationships with stakeholders.

It is interesting with all of the resources available to them that Google responded to a public outcry as opposed to the steady public dialogue around privacy concerns. Since launching Google Buzz just a week ago they have gone through two rounds of privacy-related changes and continue to deal with public skepticism about their newest platform.

Concerns about Google and privacy aren’t new. They have a tremendous amount of consumer data based on their share of the search market alone. Combine that with gmail, calendar apps, their other programs, acquisitions and now tools like Buzz, they really do have the power to know everything about us. The marketplace has raised concerns about Google’s handling of consumer data for years. Remember, it was just this past December when Eric Schmidt said, “if you have something you don’t want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it at all.” Good point, but not exactly what I’d call a privacy policy.

Still, what concerns me is not the data so much as the blatant disregard for public sentiment before launching the Buzz product. It was almost as though they figured they’d give it a shot (say with auto-follow) and see if they could get away with it (they didn’t, so they switched it to auto-suggest). Which from my perspective is too bad as Buzz may have great user applications which are being overshadowed by the privacy outcry. It will be interesting to see if Google learns from this lesson as they bring additional apps to market.

There is no doubt that mobile applications are hot – CNET just recently reported that Apple’s app store has had over 3 billion downloads since July 2008 (when it started with just 500 apps, now there are over 100,000).   And you have probably heard the famous tagline: “There is an app for that” – there really is almost an app for everything.

Recently my friend sent out a tweet: “Cool free app from BMW M Power that can record the performance data of your driving: http://bit.ly/7q5Tm6”.  I own an M3 (E36 – old but well kept) and was immediately drawn to click on the link which opened iTunes / app location directly.  While I do not own an iPhone (love my BB 9700) I was willing to risk “stealing” my wife’s phone to test the app.  But something happened – as I started reading the customer reviews I quickly became disenchanted with the app.

“Not Good” “Great but useless” “BMW, you should be embarrassed” “Nice graphics, but utterly useless” “Potential, but comes up short” So – after reading these not-so-great reviews, I decided to not even try it out myself – why risk a domestic (I am exaggerating of course).

A few things are quite evident:

• We listen to our friends (Tweet got me to check out the app – I have a feeling that my friend did not really test it himself)

• We listen to people (and are influenced by them) that we do not know but who have had an experience with the product / service / destination / etc.

• Jumping onto trends just because does not work – we see too many brands trying to ride the wave, be it Twitter, a mobile app, or other without thinking it through and being strategic.

Ask yourself: what value will my creation / participation bring to you? I think BMW M Power Meter can improve and work on version 2.0 – listen to your drivers.

Interesting article written by Kristina Peterson (Dow Jones) titled: “Companies Increasingly Look to Blogs As Spokesmen“.  In essence mentions that more and more companies (of those that are actively blogging) are turning to their blogs to serve in functions / roles that were usually handled by spokesmen.

Companies such as Microsoft have been able to refuse or decline journalist request for comments while sending links to where requester may find relevant information – in employee blog posts.  Yet there has to be a well thought out strategy in doing so. 

Erin Byrne, chief digital strategist of Burson-Marsteller says that: “A company blog, when written by employees, has to balance the genuine nature of the blogosphere with the needs of the company…We never recommend that companies take a personal approach from the perspective of sitting around in your pajamas”

While there always will be spokespeople, corporate blogs at the very least can compliment and help companies answering journalist and/or blogger questions…

What do you think – questions / comments should be sent to our spokesperson (just kidding)…

I have been with Progressive Insurance for a long time – about ten years, both my cars are insured with them.  I pay a pretty hefty premium, this is not due to my driving record or that I have been in accidents – actually, I have never had any type of incident to date (knock on wood).

This weekend I was watching TV and came across an Allstate ad (believe it or not I was watching a program live and not on my DVR).  Ad made me go to their site and get a quote – turns out I could be saving a lot of money if I made the switch – about $100 per month.

Before pulling the trigger I thought it would only be fair to let Progressive counter – so I called them.  I spoke with two representatives – both extremely pleasant and helpful.  They made a real effort to work with me and keep me as a customer.  And what would you know, Progressive was able to provide me with an even better policy (keeping my limits exactly the same) – total savings per month: $170.  The only thing I would say is that Progressive might want to proactively help their customers reduce their rates – especially those that have been with them for a long time.

I decided to tweet about my experience on Saturday – a lot of followers asked me how and with who I saved the money.  And this Monday morning I also got a tweet from Progressive: “progressive: @fleander Thanks for the shout out! Glad you’re satisfied with your experience – thanks for choosing Progressive!”

To recap my journey: competitor TV ad, competitor website (quote), Progressive website (compared quote + customer service info), telephone with HUMAN contact, Twitter, and now this blog post.  All of these different touch points influenced my final decision, which swayed from one to another for a while, to stay with Progressive – and the fact that I am saving a lot of money.  But by the time I was talking to Mike – I thought to myself that even if they could not match or beat the competitor I would still consider staying with them if they came close.

A few important things:

• Customer service is so so so so important – a human that is friendly and willing to help (honest about it) can make the difference

• Social media is a great compliment to an experience with the brand, before, during, and after a decision

• A purchase decision CAN be influenced while a person is making up his/her mind

• Communications (marketing & PR) and customer service need to work together – and digital needs to be a integrated part of the overall strategy

• Customers will talk about you

Last weekend I was in Antigua, Guatemala for the Antigua Festival, as one of the speakers talk about this thing called digital media.  I had forgotten my Blackberry charger in Miami and had to scavenge the whole city for a new one – found it in a tiny kiosk in the marketplace.  As I walked the beautiful streets of Antigua, I am came across a McDonald’s – which must have been the most beautiful McDonald’s I have ever seen.

Antigua is famous for its colonial streets and builds – this MCD was in one of these old colonial houses with a gorgeous patio.  Later in the day I was talking to some colleagues and I brought up my McDonald’s experience.  Turns out the the Guatemala Franchise is one of the best in the world – the happy meal and McCafe concept were born there.  But what really got to me was the home delivery service that McDonald’s offers – which can be done online and with a credit card.

Now this may not seem like anything out of the ordinary, but for me it was for a few reasons:

1. I have never heard of MCD home delivery
2. Online users in LATAM are “afraid” of using a credit card online

The complete menu is not available for delivery, makes sense, who wants a melted Sunday.

One might think that a country with a internet penetration of only 10.2% why would anyone offer online home delivery, but when you consider their growth rate of 1,930.8% since 2000 it becomes pretty clear that Guatemala is ready and evermore connected.

It was also obvious from the festival that digital media was one of the hot topics.

Here are some photos from my trip.

From mobile web browsing to personalized handy applications, smart phones increasingly have become the mandate, rather than a luxury. Smart phone owners become so reliant on their trusty gadgets that these electronics have developed as part of the individual. Real-time updates, constant flow of information, and instant alerts make checking PDAs irresistible. With the onslaught of new smart phones hitting the market and new applications coming out every day, smart phones have not only impacted the way we interact with one other, but also how we go about our daily lives.

No longer solely for work, the smart phone has evolved to help us in our everyday tasks. What’s the weather like today? Check your phone. Don’t know how to get somewhere? Use the Google maps app on your phone. What’s the capital of Djibouti? Wiki it on your phone, (by the way, it’s Djibouti.) The prevalence of these devices has also sparked a whole debate regarding smart phone etiquette: when do you put down the phone?

Instead of altering the phone to fit our lives, we now have to consider how we alter our lives to fit the demands of the phone. Even Mark Penn has discussed the extremes of smart phone addictions, with the notion of the “Smartphoniac.” Mobile applications and digital expansion will only become more ubiquitous, so it is for us to decide how we set the precedence in using these powerful but slightly disruptive tools.

Does a smart phone rule your life?

Who is Mallory? Mallory Colliflower…who? Mallory is a Journo, News hound, Florida Gator (no one is perfect) Indie-music lover, Traveler, Geek, Substitute teacher by day, Online producer at The Miami Herald by night.

Every quarter Bradley Gerber at B-M Miami organizes and hosts the NewsFeed, a series of events to which South Florida reporters, editors, and journalists come to the office for open discussions on how the media industry is changing and how B-Mers can best tell the stories of our clients.

On Tuesday, B-M Miami welcomed Mallory Colliflower from MiamiHerald.com.  Mallory chatted with us about how services like Twitter are being used to redefine the journalist landscape, what the future holds for outlets like the Herald, and the typical lifestyle of a digital reporter & blogger.

I do not remember exactly how or when I started following Mallory on Twitter, but it was through this channel that we were able to connect.  About a week before this event, the Miami Herald held a tweetup - it was its first and ironically about 140 people showed up (Twitters will understand the irony).

The conversation was extremely engaging and Mallroy did exceptionally well for her young age (Must be the UF education) – and instead of me telling you how it went – I thought it would be interesting if you heard it from her directly on her blog.

Follow Mallory at http://twitter.com/malcolli or check out her blog: www.mallorycolliflower.com.