Deloitte, assieme a Beeline Labs e The Society of New Communications Research ha recentemente pubblicato i risultati di una ricerca, “2008 Tribalization Survey”, effettuata intervistando i responsabili MARCOM di oltre 140 organizzazioni (BtoB, BtoC, no-profit), che si sono sino a questo momento cimentate in progetti di “online community management”.
Dal report si percepisce chiaramente che l’interesse nei confronti di questo settore è in forte ascesa. Sempre più società sono disposte ad investire nelle “communities”:
- il 35% ha dichiarato di aver riscontrato un significativo incremento in word-of-mouth
- il 28% relativamente alla brand awareness
- il 24% in customenr loyalty
- il 24% ha inoltre dichiarato che le community online sono riuscite ad apportare anche un notevole apporto di idee e insights riguardo ai prodotti/servizi offerti
Per approfondire, potete dare un occhio alle slides qui sotto, leggervi le dichiarazioni rilasciate per questo articolo o scaricare la versioane integrale del report registrandovi qui.
Osservando il modo in cui sono state gestite le campagne dei rispettivi candidati alle primarie repubblicane e democratiche negli Stati Uniti, possiamo attestare che l’utilizzo dei così detti “new media” si sia finalmente affermato.
Oggi è possibile aggiungere Barack tra i propri “friends” su Facebook, utilizzare YouTube come piattaforma per dibattere online, avviare un dialogo con i propri elettori attraverso weblog, ecc.. Sembra quasi che non sia più il caso di parlare di “new media”, dato che non c’è più niente di veramente nuovo, e sia invece meglio utilizzare la definizione alternativa di “social media”, in considerazione “dell’indole sociale” che caratterizza questi nuovi canali di comunicazione.
Insomma, per una volta, il marketing politico ha qualcosa da insegnare a quello “commerciale”, e le ultime campagne elettorali americane hanno svolto un ruolo da apripista, grazie ad una sperimentazione assai più aggressiva e coraggiosa di quanto sia stato messo in pratica fino ad oggi da grandi brand multinazionali.
A conferma di tutto ciò, Deloitte ha recentemente pubblicato un interessantissimo white paper, “New Media and the 2008 Campaign Season – Valuable Lessons for Business about being First, Fast and Nimble.”. Il report si rivolge ai professionisti del settore offrendo un’analisi puntuale del trend social media in chiave politica e suggerendo alcuni spunti da tenere in considerazione per un MARCOM che sia al passo con i tempi.
Ecco alcune dichiarazioni rilasciate dai due ricercatori della Deloitte che anno steso il rapporto (press release).
“Businesses are well advised to keep a keen eye on effective and ineffective uses of new media by the campaigns, in particular as a response tool to attacks,” afferma David Smith. “From John F. Kennedy’s use of TV to Ronald Reagan’s use of telemarketing to Howard Dean’s use of the Internet, history offers an abundance of examples. This year’s presidential campaigns are no exception. Candidates are being marketed as new products and campaign managers are rapidly adopting and adapting the latest communications techniques to promote and protect their candidate’s personal brand advantage. The pace is furious.”
E a seguire Rob Underwood: “What’s driving all this? We’re entering a new age – a time of collaborative, de-centralized brand management.” “It used to be that campaigns could create a candidate with a set of position papers and carefully wrought advertisements. That model has changed. Candidates and companies now appear to have entered a more radical phase where brand – their most guarded and valuable asset — has become part of the public domain. Average citizens with access to a blog or Facebook now view themselves as stakeholders in brands – whether that brand is Barak Obama or Apple. Resistance to this change may be futile.”
Smith and Underwood presenano inoltre una serie di insights molto interessanti:
- You’ve lost control of the message. Your carefully crafted commercials, news releases, and websites are fair game for revisionists. Engage these new media influencers by categorizing their blogs, social networking sites and chat rooms as advocates, neutrals or hostiles. Nurture advocates with useful information while taking action to move neutrals in a positive direction. Consider creating your own revisionist acts. Creativity counts and can win points.
- For better or worse, YouTube is egalitarian. No matter how much you spend on production, there’s no guarantee your YouTube ad will be any more popular than other videos that address your brand. Slick and professional are not the hallmark of most popular YouTube videos. Before using YouTube as an advertising medium directly, consider if someone else is already doing a more effective and catchy job already.
- Facebook provides many plausible functions for markets, none of which is clearly dominant yet. Facebook recently announced that it strategically wants to be viewed as an application platform, not just a social networking site. While all of the campaigns have created a basic Facebook presence – not all that different from creating a simple web page or MySpace site, it’s expected that some campaigns will build custom applications to extend functionality, likely to build networks and mobilize communities. Facebook has also rolled out advertising functionality that allows precision in the types of ads targeted to specific segments.
- Brand terrorism may be right around the corner. For many businesses it is not a matter of whether, but a matter of when. Consider your vulnerabilities now. Re-think and update your crisis management plan quarterly. Identify the required participants and how they will be contacted in an emergency. Include a plan for how to leverage partners and affiliates in your response. Regardless of attack source – new media or old, new media will be part of the response. Think “Swift Boats” on steroids.
- Not responding is no longer an option. Attacks can not be ignored. From Dukakis’ response to “Willy Horton” to John Kerry’s delayed counter-attack from “Swift Boats,” the campaigns have shown what happens when they are either slow to respond or fail to retaliate at all – the attacker wins the day. New media such as social networking and blogs have greatly expanded the sources of threats and the speed at which attacks spread.
- Your media plan may need shredding. Picture yourself watching an online video of your passengers stranded on a tarmac or your CEO portrayed as Big Brother on YouTube. Create a media plan with an appropriate blend of traditional and new media, and then build in flexibility so you can scrap it and shift spending as needed. Remember that brand damaging information moves faster than good news.
- Your organizational structure may be an impediment. Upend a monolithic marketing organization and replace it with smaller units to enhance market-sensing capabilities and nurture instincts. Create the ability to act and react faster. Re-define the notion of “smart hires” based on the new structure, and build teams that balance mature experience with youthful new-media instincts to achieve depth and significantly improve results.
Sempre sul sito di Deloitte, è possibile ascoltare un episodio di Deloitte Insights podcast, Consuming Habits: The Generational Divide in the Age of New Media, che affronta alcune aspetti relativi all’evoluzione dei consumi mediatici degli americani:
- What are the major differences in media consumption habits between matures, boomers, Gen Xers and Millennials? (5:33)
- Younger generations want it all — a portable device from which they can instant message, text and e-mail, as well as take photos, shoot videos, listen to music, play games and access the Internet. How smart will smart phones get? (17:21)
- What are the cross-generational impacts of social networks? (23:02)
- Do you see one device or platform dominating in the near future — especially with respect to mobile devices? (38:51)
