Why social media matters - so much!

The control of products, services and advertising is increasingly shifting to the consumer. Gone are the days of creating an award-winning creative ad and placing it in all the right places. Gone are the days of you telling the consumer what they need. They are telling you. Just ask Motrin or Dell(a).

According to a Forresters research report released recently, "The distinction between traditional and innovative marketing techniques will become significantly more pronounced as the socially driven online communities continue to gain momentum".

...And to quote the CEO of one of Belgium's most aggressively innovative digital TV stations: "The 30" TVC has no future. We have to be realistic and face the fact that it will disappear within the next ten years."

Those are some disruptive theories. But I firmly agree. Marketing as we know it is dead.
I've blogged about it in the post "The death of PR", and will go a step further: social media IS the new PR - especially when marketing to female consumers.

Brands that want to market their products/services to women will need to integrate social media in their marketing strategy.

Why do I place so much emphasis on social media in marketing to women?
Because women treat information gathering as a textured and interactive process – one that includes gathering AND exchanging information – both online and offline - with friends and peers and support networks.
Women also re-evaluate their selection criteria throughout the information gathering process. While men tend to identify a few key selection criteria and then buy a product that matches those criteria to offer them a “good solution”, women will keep adding and amending their criteria - listening to opinions and advice, evaluating your product offering against a complex, nuanced set of criteria - and shop until they find a product that offers “the perfect solution”.

Social media will continue to affect and change the way in which consumers interact, with brands and with each other.

Below the future of social web, as detailed in a research report released by Forresters a few weeks ago.

The Five Eras of the Social Web:
1) Era of Social Relationships: People connect to others and share
2) Era of Social Functionality: Social networks become like operating system
3) Era of Social Colonization: Every experience can now be social
4) Era of Social Context: Personalized and accurate content
5) Era of Social Commerce: Communities define future products and services




Astute marketers will take note and educate themselves now on social media and how it impacts their business and their customer - ahead of the pack.

Read more here

In Brands We Trust (And the winners are....)

I couldn't help smiling at the results of the Readers Digest "Trusted Brand 2009" results for Belgium when I saw them today.

Have a look who's the leading in the "Banking/Building Society" category. Fortis. Admittedly, the field work for this survey was done in August 2008, so things have changed a tad since then.



When it comes to marketing-to-women it is interesting to note that Nivea (and not Dove!) is the big winner throughout Europe and the most trusted cosmetic brand amongst Belgian consumers. Nivea has been very actively working on promoting the brand and engaging with its prospective consumers - both male and female over the past few months. (they clearly understand that if you can first convince the woman, it is then much easier to get the men along too!). You can see some of the activities they've done in Belgium recently on my friend Caroline's social media blog here.



Although there is no overall winner there are a few brands that rise above the rest across multiple countries.

The most nominated brands across the common categories are:

􏰀 NOKIA - For the 9th consecutive year Nokia is the most “Trusted Brand” of mobile phone handset in every country – no
change since the study was first published in 2001.

􏰀 NIVEA - continues to be the brand of skin care that most people trust (winner in 16 out of 16 countries).

􏰀 VISA - Similarly there is no change to the line up of trusted brands in the category of credit card. In 14 out of 16 countries Visa retained the pole position.

􏰀 CANON - remains the trusted brand of camera in 13 countries.

􏰀 KELLOGG'S - is the trusted brand of breakfast cereal in 10 Western European countries and Nestlé predominates in 4/5 of the CEER countries + Portuga.


About the Trusted Brands Survey:
The "Trusted Brands" is an annual consumer survey, involving over 23,000 people in 16 European countries. The survey’s primary objective is to find out which brands Europeans trust the most in a range of consumer product categories.

The reports per country can be found here.

Sins and Virtues at BGGD

I attended another great edition of Brussels Geek Girl Dinner last night!
Taking time out of our busy daily lives to meet up with friends & likeminded souls to talk, discuss and be inspired, BGGD should be a compulsary 'destress' moment for all modern girls!

The theme of this edition was "Sin" (and therefore by association also "Virtues") - topics close to my heart as they often come to play in the way we as women view ourselves.

Murielle Scherre of La Fille D'O spoke freely with the 100 attending ladies about sin, virtue and everything in between. As always, she pointed out that as women we should decide for ourselves whether the so-called sins really are sins, and the virtues really virtues before feeling guilty about too many things we think or do. She also pointed out that women should not put themselves in either of the two camps of "sinner" or "saint". Instead they should be comfortable with both facets - and more - within themselves. I couldn't agree more!

The theme of sin continued throughout the night with sponsorship by MariaBingo - an online gaming site, as well as more virtuous sins in the form of low-fat Belvita cookies (yummy-yummy).

With many of my female friends actively thinking about or making a living from things related to 'sin', I will blog more on the topic soon.....

Friday Fun: gender stereotyping

Here's a fun ad for a friday afternoon! It's called "Beware of the doghouse" and forms part of J.C. Penny's end of year print & viral campaign (agency: Saatchi & Saatchi).

We here at Muse really like the ad: it deals with gender stereotypes (and some very realistic situations we can all relate to) in a light-hearted, non-offensive way that still respects both sexes. And as we're 3 weeks away from the festive season, it also highlights the gift-buying anxiety many of us feel at this time of year.

...And if the number of presents pawned on ebay on January 1st is anything to go by, this ad reminds us: make sure you get it right, or you end up 'in the doghouse' (and your gift on ebay)!

Enjoy!

Monday Morning Memo

Ok, it's no longer monday morning, I know. But it's still monday, so it's still memo time! Here's a quick round-up of what's happening out there that caught my attention over the past few days:

About social Media, gender and a storm in a cyber teacup:
There's loads being said on the value (or lack of it) of social media out there right now, this post on Lipsticking being just one of them. What else is interesting on social media & gender? This McCann study is worth a read, as is this study on the effects of age and gender on blogging.
Definitively read the post on social media on my good friend Caroline's blog!

Boomer women online
For those interested in how the boomer generation uses technology, the internet and social media, read this post over on Lipsticking and bookmark 'The Boomer Blog'! It has loads of interesting information!
Interesting fact: 80% of boomers use computers, one third of them go on-line every day! (US statistics)

How are buying decisions made?
An interesting post well worth a read (check out this chart that documents the basic characteristics of life development stages!) Helpful reading in understanding what drives us as humans (and consumers) during various life-stages.

About brands, soulmates and online trends

As the week picks up speed on this busy monday morning, I'm picking up on many interesting developments via my Google feed reader. Much is happening in the world-wide marketing (and marketing-to-women) realm that is worth sharing:

I know I keep blogging about social media, but that's because I cannot emphasise the importance of social media enough as part of smart marketing to women campaigns.
An interesting podcast I found on PodTech that details the impact of social media on corporate marketing and PR functions and the latest trends in social media strategy and implementation.

Dating through brands? Now here's a very interesting concept from a marketeers' point of view:
BRAND-MATES is a site where people select as many or as little of the brands that are near and dear to their heart and then they can have some fun searching and connecting to other "like-branded people" to date, find a soul-mate, or maybe just find a friend.
Imagine the data and insights one can collect with this site!

Here's a title that made me stop in my tracks this morning:
"By 2012 women will outnumber men online by more than 8 million!"
Again, these are US statistics, but I think it is safe to assume the same trend will make itself felt here in Europe over the coming years too. Interesting in the excerpt below is the fact that 'women's community' was the most visited and fastest growing internet category! Marketeers, take note!

Author Kaira Sturdivant Rouda on why women are taking over the internet, so to speak:
"The important thing to realize is that women are natural networkers. We’ve been the community builders in the real world since the beginning of time. Think of the most important charities in your community. Most likely they were created by, and continue to be championed by, women. Now, there’s the web. “Women’s community” was the most visited and fastest growing internet category according to ComScore Media Metrix. Women are building community online as never before. And, they are using it for business. Social networking makes business more personal and intuitive. The formally defined lines in society are falling away - and finally, work and family can become more blended."

PR as we know it is dead.

It's not a nice title, I know, it makes many people veeeeeeeery uncomfortable. But it had to be said.

I've kept it inside for so long, I just had to get it out: traditional PR is dead.
Actually, it's been dead for quite a while, it's just that we don't really want to face it. Many of us are still in denial, and for those I suggest reading this post called "Sorry PR people, you're blocked" by the editor of Wired magazine. (Do note the major PR firms black listed here...)

PR = press relations.
...And it's with that definition, which is still held as THE correct definition by many agencies and clients alike, that the problems start.

PR is NOT just about press relations (and it never has been).
PR is (and I beg your forgiveness for going back to PR 101 here, but it is necessary) about "the profession of promoting goodwill between an organization or an individual and it's publics, its employees and its customers".

As far as I'm concerned, 'the press' is just one channel we can utilize to help build relationships with our various audiences/publics.

I've never liked doing 'traditional' PR, even though many people - employers and clients alike - have tried to push me in that role. Mass email blasts of a press release which contains really nothing news worthy insults not only my intelligence to write it, but the client's intelligence and most of all, the journalist's intelligence when we dare sell it to them as news worthy. No wonder we're being blocked (even when we send it to the right journalist/editor)!

I firmly believe PR is about informing people, facilitating conversations between a company and it's publics, helping audiences understand what the company stands for, convincing consumers that it's products/services help solve a real, concrete need in their lives. I'm sorry: but are we really still expecting the humble press release to achieve all these goals?

I am often challenged by more 'traditional' PR firms about the recommendations I make to my clients. "You're suggesting a 'Motivate Me' section on their website? A team blog? A pro-active social media plan??? That's not PR!"

Wake up guys! The traditional media (women's mags / daily newspapers / prime time television) are no longer the "endorsers/influencers" the consumer turns to for believable advice. They're listening to recommendations by friends on FaceBook or reading reviews from fellow travellers on TripAdvisor. They're reading the CEO's blog or visiting user forums. They don't have time or attention or energy to waste and the little they have they are dividing very consciously between the topics, activities and people that really interest them. So you still think a press release is going to do the trick?

In the 'new' PR (and I still shudder to use the term 'PR') it's about 3 key things:
- Show them you are real (don't be scared to show you're not perfect!)
- Show them you care (tell them you'll fix what's wrong - and then do!)
- Show them your company is about more than just making money, getting them to 'buy'.

Don't underestimate the intelligence of your consumer - it's the biggest mistake you can make (also see my post '2008 - the year of banishing bullshit).

PR as we knew it is dead. And it's for the best.

PS Incase you're still doubting the view above, also read 'The new PR'
and 'What PR people should know about social media' - a wealth of information on both sites!