Earlier this week I published Part 1 of the interview with Ben Hong, Sr. Mgr. Technical Services, Global Customer Care and Digital Home Group for Logitech.The first half of the interview gave you a brief introduction to Ben and his team at Logitech.

This is the final portion of this written interview.

Part Two: People, Process, & Tools- Logitech with Ben Hong

What kind of training is required for team members who are active online? And, does your company have a social media policy in place? Can you tell us a little bit about these efforts and how they help (or hinder ) the team.

We train our team on how to be online ambassadors and effective writers for blogs, micro-blogs and knowledge bases (SEO). So far, training has been extremely important to maintaining consistency and control. Without it there would be chaos. Currently, the online ambassador training provides our employees with knowledge of the social media policy. It’s helpful, not a hindrance.

If you could share your favorite tips, best practices, lessons learned or social media must have – what are they?

• Look before you leap….have a framework and plan before you get started.
• Start with social monitoring. It is incredible what you learn your customers are talking about and provides critical insight about where your early investments should be made.
• If you are managing a social media program for customer service you must be social internally as much as you are externally. Key learning’s and shared insights complement VoC programs.

There are many tools for tweeting, listening, and overall participating in social media – which ones do you use either personally or for your work?

Co-tweet, Radian6, TweetDeck, backtype, delicious, FriendFeed, NetVibes, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, WordPress, Yelp, Flickr, StumbleUpon, Digg, Google Buzz, ShareThis, Technorati

Whether you have your own community on your “dot com” or you participate in existing social networks (Twitter, Facebook, Get Satisfaction etc) – what do you do to build the community and encourage your community members to become ambassadors for the brand?

We have a reputation model in the community that helps us and community member identify and recognize key contributors. Our Logi Legends and Gurus have a close relationship with my team and we work side by side with them in the community. To help them with their work we often send them our products.

Do you reward community members for the work they do? If so, how?

Nothing formal … yet.

When helping customers in social channels do you reply publicly or privately? Does it differ by channel? Discuss how you make this decision.

We reply both publicly and privately. If we are managing a customer escalation in our forums or on Twitter we respond publicly but ask for specific information to be provided privately. We do this to protect customer information. Otherwise we respond publicly to all else.

Is YouTube a part of your support efforts? How do you use this and other video channels for customer service and support? Do you create the videos or is another team responsible for these? Do you engage with the YouTube community? How do you measure success for your video efforts?

Our plans for YouTube are in development. We plan to publish 1-2 videos per month.

Many companies have gone through some highly visible social media gaffs (Dominos, Southwest); while others have seen offline issues go viral due to social media (Graco recalls, Toyota recalls). In your opinion how should a company deal with crisis online? Do you have a process in place that helps you determine next steps in the case of your own “crisis”?

Responses should be quick, open and honest. To that end, Logitech was put to the test recently when the US National Labor Committee reported on Chinese labor issues back in April of this year. Joseph Sullivan, our Sr. VP of Worldwide Operations, responded with a letter to the committee and we posted in online. In his letter which he shared, he stated the plain truth. Thankfully we had severed the relationship with the offending factory, however, he was clear to state when and why. It was met with positive comments and response.

What is next for you and your team? What are you excited about today?

Twitter enhancements, YouTube and Facebook integration are on our roadmap. Right now I am working on Radian6 setup and configuration.

What is your favorite social media tool, network or other for personal use?

LinkedIn. I was an early adopter and have seen how it evolved. It helps me keep up-to-date with colleagues, recruit, participate in communities of interest/practice and share what I am working on.

Thanks to Ben for taking the time to share!

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Often when we talk about social media in business we talk about “social media marketing” which is a term I dislike for various reasons -one reason being that it supposes it only lies in one department rather than an integral part of how we communicate with customers, employees, and stakeholders.

One area that should be part of the grand scheme when it comes to social media is customer service.  Today many companies are finding ways to connect with their customers directly via the web, often offering support and help. Since this is a focus in my work I wanted to highlight the subject on my blog.  Through my work I have had the opportunity to chat with many others that are using social media for support. I have learned a lot from them and want to share some of these conversations through a short series of interviews. My hope is that you will find this information helpful in building your online customer care communities.

In order to facilitate these posts I sent a series of questions to a few folks and they were kind enough to respond. The first interview is with Ben Hong, Senior Manager Technical Services, Global Customer Care and Digital Home Group at Logitech. Due to the number of questions I have broken this post into two posts. Part two will be published later this week.

Part One: Customer Care Online First Steps- Logitech with Ben Hong

Can you describe your career path that brought you to where you are today?

It has been one focused on creating the best possible experience for customers by implementing service innovations and managing for high performance.

How would you describe a typical work day?

Busy, busy and busy…so it usually starts even before I leave for the office by reading and responding to email, tweets and Facebook. When I arrive, I try meet with each member of my team individually to discuss projects/tasks and provide the team with feedback or direction.  The rest of the day is spent managing programs which normally involve participating or chairing meetings, preparing and delivering presentations, briefs and reports. For the last few months I have also been spending time throughout the day monitoring our discussion forums, Twitter, Facebook and Blogs. Putting into action our social media support program is what excites me about work these days.

What responsibilities fall into your department or team? Where does you team fall in the organizational structure ( eg. customer service? communication?)

My team and I lead social media, knowledge management, VoC and training initiatives within the Global Customer Care and Digital Home Group organizations of Logitech.

How many people work on your team?  What are you able to accomplish with this size team in the social space – e.g channels? quantity of daily responses?

My team is made up of two products specialists, curriculum designer, and various contractors that provide technical writing, training and video content.

• Blogs – We write one Tips and Tricks blog post each week for the corporate blog and respond to on average 2-3 comments each day.
• Customer Forums – We monitor customer forums from 20-30 responses per day for the team.
• Internal Forums – We monitor internal discussion forums for our customer care agents and respond daily to 10-20 posts per day.
• Twitter – We co-tweet with marketing/PR teams and respond to 2-5 customer care or technical support questions each day.
• Social Monitoring – We just acquired Radian6 as social monitoring tool. However, we have been using a variety of free tools to track blogs, twitter, product reviews and other social media. We typically report once a week on social media trends/buzz for our Harmony Remote Controls products.
• Videos – Currently creating prototype videos for publication on YouTube and Viddler. Our plan is to publish 1-2 videos per month.

Social Media plays a large part of your role, but typically people associate the use of Social Media with Marketing, what are the biggest benefits realized by your business due to your team’s participation in social media for customer service?

We are early on in our adoption of social media for customer service, month three. There are two early benefits to our participation in social media responding to and managing negative customer experiences, learning more about our customers through social monitoring. Our long term goals are tied to the mission of delivering an engaging online customer service experience.

How did you initially convince the business that engaging with customers via social channels for customer service was the right strategy?

It’s a work in-progress, but we asked to create an incubator team. Our chain of command from CMO to VP to Directors have all been extremely supportive and eager to see the program grow.

Generally, customers don’t care what department you work in when they connect online. Do you work closely with other internal departments to integrate social media communication efforts? If so, which ones?

Absolutely. We work closely with marketing, sales, PR, CX, QA and product/software engineering teams. Our marketing and PR social media programs are more mature and we have learned a lot by partnering with them.

There are many social channels where your customers will engage with each other – how do you decide which social spaces you will participate in?

Given where we are with the development of our program we have focused primarily on mass social media applications and networks. Social monitoring tools will help us to decide if and where we move next. For us it is critical to look before we leap.

As social channels grow, and customers come to expect businesses to respond online to their requests – there has been a lot of talk about scaling efforts. Is this a concern for your team? If it is how will you scale to meet the growing business? If not, why?

Yes, scale and resourcing is a critical part of our plan, which is why we have decided to take a measured approach to building out the program. Currently we have a small team, with a roadmap for adding resources.

How do you measure the success of your social media efforts?

Success is and will be tied to our corporate and departmental goals. So, NPS and cost will be key measures of our success.

Do you have KPIs for your team (for example time to response) if so can you share what these are and why they were chosen?

We are working on them.

Watch for part two…

In part two I ask Ben questions around the people, process and tools he is using to accomplish the work they are doing online for customer service.

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I get a kick out of Foursquare.  I am not a gaming sort, unless you count MarioKart and Rockband, but badges and points and mayorships give me the giggles.  But, please don’t invite me to Farmville.

What do I like about it?

• Cyber stalking my friends
• Sharing notes about what I am up to at that location and sending it to my Facebook update
• The thrill of getting mayorships when you least expect them and the excitement of a new badge
• A little competition with friends (badges and weekly leader board)

Foursquare has grown in popularity since I started using it, and with popularity comes the folks that look for “the rules” or the  “etiquette”.  And, then slowly we see an unwritten gaming protocol form or best practices emerge as we did for Twitter. But still, for the individual who prides themselves on neat little buckets, and proper rules and regulations – Foursquare may not be for you.  In fact it may seem downright chaotic. The truth is anyone can add a location, which means some places can have more than one “Check-in”. Egad! Which is the “real” one!! And, while you may envision a “check-in” as the building or retail shop – someone else decides they can check-in at the front door, backdoor and toilet.

I am not saying there shouldn’t be “rules” or “etiquette” – but it is all in fun. So, relax. If your friend feels he wants to check in on the Highway – hey, it is his life. No one is handing out free tires because you are the Mayor of the 401 and Winston Churchill. But, Peter Kim makes some fair points in his post “Should You Be Checking in on Foursquare” – maybe it isn’t cool if you are the mayor of the coffee shop you work at…unfair advantage and it loses out on the shop getting any play for loyalty. But, at the same time – if there is no free coffee or discounts for the mayor  – does it really matter?  Peter also mentions one that I think has some weight – a sales person checking in to a prospect. This could have implications for their work, and could cause issues with regards to  up to competition – unless that user is carefully guarding their check-ins.

So what “rules” do I follow on Twitter?

• Generally speaking I check-in to “real” places. Mostly because I am not inclined to set up a venue for “my coach”.  And, I don’t think my friends need to know when I go into the public washroom. That said, cool if you want to.  But, don’t be surprised if eventually you don’t get points for checking in to your “Superman underpants”. If you read the Foursquare Blog they talk about tweaking the program by adding some neat little cheater code  so mayorships and badges can’t be taken from your sofa.
• When I check-in I choose carefully how I share…some I don’t tweet out, some I don’t update on Facebook. Some just go to my Foursquare friends (who are just that…friends).
• If the location already exists I use that one. If I don’t like how it is set up (maybe it doesn’t have a cute icon, or the address) I go in and change it later on – not create a new one!

While it is a fun game, the best thing about Foursquare is keeping a tight reign (hehe) on your friends and (over) sharing with them. While the badges and points are cool…and I love seeing my name at the top of the leader board -

the coolest thing is realizing that a friend is at the same place…at the same time as you.  So, while it might make your obsessive compulsive side cringe with the chaotic. Step back, relax. Have fun. But, play fair -they are your friends afterall.

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I made fun of the Indigo sign, but I am a big fan of the book store. Any book store. But, I have a soft spot for Chapters-Indigo since I spend over three years working there while I went to university. It doesn’t hurt that I have an addiction to books.  I love fiction (the type you can imagine the characters so vividly that even years later you can tell a friend about the novel); and the odd summer junk novel (usually crime / mystery novels like Kathy Reich), I have also been known to read a thoughtful history book or gripping book on pop culture.  But, my biggest fixation is my collection of business books. I love books on marketing, social media, Internet culture, management….and I believe I own more than I have actually read.  It is always my intention to read, but I also read about 200 blogs.

That said here are some of my recommendations for great business books (chances are I own them if you need a loaner)

• Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t – Jim Collins
• Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything – Don Tapscott
• Growing Up Digital: How the Net Generation is Changing Your World  – Don Tapscott
• Purple Cow: Transform you Business by Being Remarkable – Seth Godin
• Permission Marketing: Turning Strangers Into Friends – Seth Godin
• A Whole New Mind – Daniel Pink
• Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape Our Decisions – Dan Ariely
• Everything is Miscellaneous: The Power of the New Digital Disorder  – David Weinberger
• Cluetrain Manifesto: The End of Business as Usual – Locke, Weinberger,
• The Tipping Point: How Little things Can Make a Big Difference – Malcolm Gladwell
• Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking  – Malcolm Gladwell
• Outliers: The Story of Success – Malcolm Gladwell
• First, Break all the Rules – Markus Buckingham
• The Long Tail – Chris Anderson
• Here Comes Everybody – Clay Shirky
• Citizen Marketers: When People are the Message – Ben Mcconnell

These are just a few of the ones I haven’t yet read but own:

• Tribes – Seth Godin
• Six Pixels of Separation – Mitch Joel
• Truth Agents – Chris Brogan & Julian Smith
• Meatball Sundae – Seth Godin
• Free: The Future of a Radical Price – Chris Anderson
• Twitterville – Shel Israel (getting this on Tuesday)

And, if you are looking for gift ideas these are books that I would like (and may buy on a whim while in a bookstore)

• Whuffie Factor – Tara Hunt
• New Rules of Marketing: Marketing on the Web – Tamar Weinberg
• Art of Community – Jano Bacon
• Socialnomics: How Social Media Transforms the Way We Live and Do Business – Erik Qualman

Now, perhaps time for a trip to my favorite book store…

Do you have any favorites I missed?

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I keep promising myself that this is the week that I will write the next great post on Megoagain.com. And, instead I get sucked into an episode of True Blood, Weeds or Dexter (I am still catching up on Weeds and Dexter!) or I spend my evening…ahem…working. Being  a Community Manager is a job that doesn’t end at 5pm. The community doesn’t stop  because you are enjoying the long weekend. And, to be honest I get kind of sucked into visiting our Twitter page, and our forum just to see what is going on and if I have missed anything of great interest.

But here is a quick post with the top 5 ways to build a community I have discovered in the last 6 months as a Community Manager:

1. Differentiate

Are there other communities that cater to your audience? How do you differentiate? If you run a branded community the differentiating factor may just be the ability to offer the “inside scoop” or a direct connection to employees.

2. Empower and reward users for their hard work

Super users work hard, in some cases they spend more time on the community than the Community Manager. Check your metrics to see who are most valuable members and reward them – with verbal thanks, with kudos, a special private board, thank you gifts, share special news or ask for their help and feedback.

3. Take it offline

In this role, and in my past role as Marketing Manager at another company I have had the opportunity to take my community “offline”. This is a great opportunity to gather feedback, really get the know the people that make up your community, and reward the users as well.

4. Be active

Participate as much as you want the community to participate. Set the tone.  Create content (blogs, posts and more) and start discussions with your members. Encourage conversation and engage with your super users and newbies! Even a “welcome” to the community can be the reason a user comes back again.

5.  Stand Back

Sometimes the job of the Community Manager and other employees is to stand back and let the community take care of it. If the community manager is constantly responding to posts – what is the role of the community members?

I know I said Top 5…but this one is really important.

6. A community is never “done”

This is likely the reason I spend many evenings “working”! A community is a work in progress and a Community Manager must constantly be looking for ways to engage, participate, build and integrate the community into the business or other customer touch points.

Other great articles you should read by brilliant community gurus:

Everything I Know About Community I Learnt Tending Bar – Jeff Sandquist

How to Kick Start a Community  – Jeremiah Owyang

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I get a kick out of people who put down Twitter as ridiculous (Who cares that you are eating your cereal) or that it is all about ego (Why wouldn’t they care what I was having for breakfast!) According to Margaret Wente of the Globe and Mail; ” If you thought Facebook was banal, try Twitter. It makes people who write their thoughts on Facebook sound like Shakespeare.” Ian Brown of the same newspaper suggested in a CoverItLive discussion that it was our fear of dying that made us gravitate to Twitter.

At least Ian Brown gave it a chance, tested it out by using it for a DISCUSSION. He ENGAGED by CONVERSING with his followers. Check out his Twitter stream – he has 80 updates, and the majority are @replies. Wente, on the other hand gave it 4 updates over the course of a week.  She followed 5 people.  82 people followed her banal tweets about trying to figure out this Twitter business. Considering she had 5 updates, and only 82 followers – and Twitter is in real-time – she likely didn’t get too many replies.

The first few times I used Twitter I wasn’t immediately sure about microblogging. However, now I watch it for news, go there to ask questions (sometimes before Google), chat with friends, and sometimes I just listen. My suggestion is – if you are going to try out Twitter, or become a Twitter tourist – give it a few weeks. Follow people, and not just celebrities because they won’t likely reply to your tweets. Tweet frequently. Reply more. Put up a picture, and stay awhile!

Just for fun, watch this video.

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After my last post about social networks in the workplace I did a little Twitter survey to find out what sites are blocked at work beyond the obvious (Facebook, MySpace)

This is what I have so far:

What is blocked at your workplace? v

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When I joined the workforce e-mail was pretty standard as a method for communication and the Internet was commonly used for research purposes. But, in the early days of email many business owners and managers did not allow e-mail in the offices for fear that their employees would not get any work done, they were concerned over how to manage, store and capture e-mailed information, and of course they grappled with security issues surrounding e-mail. Today, business owners and managers have realized that e-mail has increased the speed of business communication, and concerns over data capture and management as well as security have largely been overcome.

Social Networks Stats and Facts

There is a new tool that has caused much consternation and hand-wringing for IT Managers and business owners – social networks and social media.  A new report by Nielson puts social networks ahead of e-mail in online activities according to a recent article in the Globe and Mail.  Neilson found that 1 in 11 minutes online is spent on a social network or blog site, bringing social networks and blogs to the fourth most popular activity following search, general interest portals and software manufacturers. More telling is the growth seen by social networks during the period of the study (Dec 2007-Dec 2008) which saw between 1.4 and 1.9% growth for the top three activities versus an incredible 5.4% for social networking.

There are 150 Million active Facebook users and a recent research study from Pew Inernet shows that 11% of online adults say they have used the social network Twitter. A Netpop report shows that 7 Million people in the U.S. are contributing to content online and that social networking sites have grown a whopping 93% since 2006!

Despite the growth in the use of social media and social networks specifically, many corporations have decided to bury their head in the sand and hope it goes away, much like they did when e-mail came on the scene. Instead of facing the issues these companies have decided to simply block employees access.

Blocking Access

The concerns for social media are similar to those in the 1990s when e-mail entered the workplace: productivity, data capture, privacy and security. The approach the same – block, refuse access, refer employees to old technology (oddly in the case of social media it is often e-mail!). But this is short-sighted, unrealistic and a passive approach that will eventually (if not already!) be seen as anti-productive.

Let’s look at the concerns companies have regarding social media:

Productivity: This has to be the most ridiculous of the reasons. 1) If employees want to be slack off all they need to do is go stand by someone else’s desk, go for a smoke break, chat at the water cooler, close their eyes and have a snooze. Let’s face it if you can’t trust your employees are doing their job…then you didn’t hire the right people or they are bored, unchallenged or unempowered. 2) If employees are allowed to use social media they can actually become more productive! (More on this in next post)

Data Capture/Management: Many social networks are easily followed, stored and saved. People have clearly moved beyond this issue with e-mail – and this can be accomplished with Social Networks. Ownership can be overcome by businesses as well by contracting space on sites for block of space that would be under control of the company as suggested by Salesforce.com precedent. Another alternative is to set up internal IM systems, social networks and Wikis for use with Internal Communication. While this does not help customer and vendor communication it can allow employees some use of tools that will help productivity while maintaining data security and capture.

Privacy and Security: This is a biggie, and closely related to data capture and management. Panic has ensued amongst business owners with regards to data privacy and corporate secrets. And, of course it can be an issue as more and more employees spend time on social networks discussing their lives (which includes work) with Facebook status changes, LinkedIn profiles, and of course the tweets on Twitter. Companies obviously want to limit and retain close control over sensitive company information, at the same time they also must find ways to engage and communicate directly with their customers (or risk losing them). As social media becomes increasingly interconnected and more customers EXPECT companies to be active on social networks it will become inadequate to simply block social media sites and use URL filtering. Instead companies can help alleviate the privacy and security (and avoid potential lawsuits) issues by creating policies and educating employees on safe data handling. (Note: There are also IT tools available on the market to help monitor, examine historic patterns of leaks and discover and eliminate malware that have in the past been issues with some Web 2.0 sites). Privacy and security is an issue whether your employees are using social media or not – but a easy to understand policy, and a central contact for questions related to privacy and security can help companies avoid future issues.

Net Generation at Work

Companies that decide to limit or block use of social media are not only unnecessarily limiting their communication with their customers through online methods, they are also forfeiting the chance to discover new tools for collaboration within the organization. By closing the company off from social media they are also driving away younger employees who are looking to work for companies whose culture fits their life and ideals.  Don Tapscott in his book Grown Up Digital says the “Net gener [age 18-32] arrives at work, eager to use his social networking tools to collaborate and create and contribute to the company. For starters he’s shocked to find that the company’s technological tools are more primitive than the ones he used in high school…And they are surprised, perhaps naively, to learn that corporations have antiquated ways of working.” These same Net Generation workers can, if given a chance, show companies how to collaborate in new ways more effectively and efficiently. But, these workers don’t stick around long according to Tapscott – they usually only last two years before moving on. Which is too bad since Tapscott’s research shows that those companies that embrace the Net Gen norms perform better than those that don’t..

This generation, of which I am a part of (well I missed it by a month…), view life and work different from other generations according to Tapscott – and that view is defined by 8 characteristics or norms: Freedom, Customization, Scrutiny, Openness, Fun/Entertainment in life and work, Collaboration, Speed, Innovation.

Tapscott definies these characteristics as they relate to work (summary):

Freedom: Net Geners expect to mix work and their personal lives, and this includes choosing when and where they work. They want flexible hours, the ability to telecommute, and other services that make their lives easier.

Customization: They want employers to treat them as individuals and this means giving them learning and development opportunities that are right for them. They want an adaptable work environment, job descriptions that are project based and customized, flexible benefits,  and more frequent discussions on their contribution to the organization.

Scrutiny: How we search for jobs has changed and how we research the company before we make a change has as well.  According to Grown Up Digital 60% of Net Geners check out a company before accepting a job offer. They want to work for companies that are transparent, share information, and have integrity. Tapscott says: “Young people respond well to management integrity…there is greater loyalty and lower turnover, and employees are more likely to do the right thing.” (For example more likely to get their job done even if they take a break to check Facebook, and more likely to hold company secrets sacred and follow company privacy policy).

Collaboration: Net Geners want to work with other people and collaboration is how they get stuff done. To them the workplace should be less about hierarchies and departmental silos and more about connecting with others to solve a problem. Using social networks, social bookmarking, Wikis, aps like LinkedIn Huddle Workpaces or Virtual worlds (Second Life) to meet, collaborate, plan, and execute.

Fun/Entertainment: Fun and work go hand in hand for this generation – they don’t need to be separate. Cultures that allow employees to have a little fun at work end up with more productive staff. We all need a break before diving back into another round of work – and if surfing on a social network is that little bit of fun – why block it?

Speed: This generation is used to speed and instant responses. Why not? We no longer have to wait for dial-up or snail mail! For Net Geners red tape is frustrating, feedback should be in real-time and bureaucracy can mean doom in the market. They use social media tools such as Wikis and IM to speed up communication within the workplace.

Innovation: This is a fascinating point Tapscott makes: “If video games taught this Net Generation anything, it’s that every problem has seemingly endless solutions” and so this generation is looking for new ways to their jobs, to be innovative in their workplace, to challenge status quo. Many of these young workers bring their knowledge of social media to the work place creating new communication channels, building collaborative work systems, and finding new ways to solve a business problem.

In the End

Social media such as instant messaging, blogging and social networks have gained ground as communication tools outside the workplace by leaps and bounds, and it is only a matter of time before they, like e-mail before them, become necessary and an acceptable part of the work place.  The concerns for productivity,  data management, and security and privacy are valid – however they can be overcome by education, corporate policy and new IT tools. Ultimately, if a company hires good people they will need less process and bureaucracy to police the space – as the employees in an open and empowered culture will be more likely to use social media tools wisely. Through using social media in the workplace employees will find new ways to harness collective knowledge, collaborate, and create ways to communication effectively internally and externally.

As always  – connect on Twitter and Google Friend Connet (right hand side). And, if you enjoyed this content – subscribe!

Images from Stocl.xchng (bigevil600, brokenarts, glennpeb)

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Last night on Twitter Mack Collier tweeted (rather retweeted @kathyoreilly)

It reminded me something that I had thought about a few times – TV is more fun with friends,  and therefore TV is more fun with Twitter! During the U.S election I watched the news, and twittered; after the bruhaha in Parliament Stephane Dion and Stephen Harper made speeches on Canadian television and I listened to the speeches while joining the conversation on Twitter. Beyond politics, I have twittered about Lost, Grey’s Anatomy and the Oscars. Last night I tweeted about my dislike of the Simpson’s (simply tired of it….):

I received a number of replies – only one admonishing my remark, the remainder agreeing and one suggesting that the Family Guy is far superior. But, I digress…

We already know that many people are using their computers while watching television – multi-tasking at its best. We are more engaged checking our email, chatting, surfing social networks, playing games and tweeting than we are with the television program.  Of course what we are doing on the Internet doesn’t usually have to do with what we are watching on TV. Except in the case of the social networks as we often IM, tweet and change our status reflecting what is going on with the television program at hand.

Some of my recent tweets for example were regarding a program Inside the McDonald’s Empire.

So, what better way then for the networks to engage with its audience again then through social networks like Twitter that are “real time”.

According to Mack Collier who immediately tweeted back to me in reply to my comment there are some Interactive uses in the US through Dish.

Here in Canada we can get “more info” on some Sat channels such as CBC and The Weather Network. The Weather Network for example allows you to choose your region. Occassionnally I have seen news casters refer to a Facebook group, and increasingly I have seen and heard Twitter mentioned (The View, Canada AM, The Hour, The Daily Show).

But while TV isn’t always a “social”, we do often end up in social situations talking about TV. So, why not bring those two things together? As, you saw from the first “tweet” – on Sunday night the 5 of the top 10 trending topics were TV programs, so what is the opportunity for networks? How can they get some excitement back into TV? Is there a possibility for new revenue streams?

What if our favourite shows advertised a Twitter hashtag in the corner for people to follow along? What kind of conversations would take place? Could there be trivia? Maybe polls? Analysis by crowd? A real-time forum to discuss the intricacies of our favourite dramas! Fact checking could be shared with others watching the same debate/interview/speech; programs could request real-time questions and requests from their audience; or perhaps during the Oscars they could share tidbits from live tweets on the best/worst dressed. There could be special access to clues or theories (for Lost!), or  a “backstage pass” as producers tweet behind the scenes (imagine the green room at Letterman….or MTV awards).  A live event such as concert, sporting event would become social even if you can’t make it to the event! Of course there could be shared links to pictures, video, or interviews with the stars or experts.

What else can you think of? Would you participate?

As always  – connect on Twitter and Google Friend Connet (right hand side). And, if you enjoyed this content – subscribe!

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The Internet and prevalent use of social media has certainly changed how brand messages are shared and created.  A search for a brand on Google may be more likely to bring up consumer-generated content then the corporate site. The company is no longer the sole communicator of brand messages through the traditional one-way methods such as print and television advertising. A marketer can talk about their high quality products all they want in their advertising, but if the product doesn’t hold up to those messages consumers will re-interpret and spread new brand messages to their peers and community.  You will often hear traditional marketers lament the lose of “control” over their brand messages. But are they required to give up control completely?  Does a marketer just throw up their hands and give the consumer the microphone? Certainly, a brand is not what you think it is, it is what your customer thinks it is. But while marketers can no longer easily control the brand messages,  as said well on Experience the Blog:

“Legal ownership provides certain benefits but imparts little control.
Managing a brand is like the proverbial herding of cats–it’s about
influence and not command. Particularly in the era of social media,
brands must strive to exert more influence with less control as the
voice of the consumer becomes a greater part of the marketing
environment.”

A company can still be involved in their brand messages by listening to and engaging with consumers, by understanding their consumers interpretation of the brand, and by ensuring that these consumers understand the company’s values – AND that the actions of the company reflect those values. If we didn’t have some opportunity to join the conversation – there wouldn’t be much point in a marketing or communication department would there?

I bring this issue of “control” over brand messages up as a jumping off point to discuss the recent change to Skittles.com. I know some of my readers don’t read the same blogs as I do so here is a quick summary:

A couple days ago Skittles.com got rid of their regular web site and essentially gave their site over to social media sites. They decided to let go, and let popular social sites tell you what Skittles are all about. Interesting concept, for sure.

This image was the “home page” – a link to Twitter Search for “skittles”. Click on Friends and it takes you to their Facebook page, click on Media and you get Flickr (anything tagged “Skittles”) and YouTube, click on particular Products and you get Wikipedia.

Takes a brave company to give their site over to the general public. And, I hazard to say – in this case – stupid. My opinion only.

Why?

1) Who is the primary demographic for Skittles? I would guess teenagers? Kids? Certainly not the over 18 crowd…but the site requires you to put in your age before you get access. So first mistake – forgetting your target demographic. Unless of course I am wrong and it is really a 18+ market…or they are trying to gather market share in that age group.

2) They underestimated the jokers and pranksters out there. Within 24 hours the Twitter stream using the word Skittles or #Skittles included people talking about drugs, racial slurs, religion and anything else you don’t want associated with your brand and certainly not on your home page! While I am all for transparency and not censoring – they could have created something to at least keep out the ridiculous  – and keep the it “clean” allowing for a more meaningful conversation. And, I am certainly not advocating removal of valid complaints or comments on Skittles – just the irrelevant stuff.

3) Lack of engagement. They have jumped in to point the site to various social networks- but what are they doing to close the loop? Are they conversing or is it still a bit one-way?

I had a conversation yesterday with friends Martin Waxman and Melanie Rockcliff when I met up with them yesterday about this interesting example of using social media. Melanie had a great point that perhaps Skittles just wasn’t the right brand for this type of experiment. I think she is bang on- imagine this kind of site for a product that is really edgy, or targeted to College/University crowds. Beer was one of the ideas we tossed around. Beer already requires a age requirement, and for those drinks targeted towards the younger College/University group – the bizarre and silly works well.

All said, Dave Fleet is correct that we don’t know the objectives for the Skittles campaign and perhaps this effort will accomplish what they set out to do. If they simply wanted to get some Google juice for their website (in which case – bravo objective accomplished – here is another link), or they wanted to get people talking about Skittles and build a little buzz – then they have succeeded . But, these are short term, and in my opinion won’t likely sell a boat load of Skittles.

Personally, unless they start selling bags with just red and purple….I am not buying. Yellow and green are simply icky. So I am not interested in “Tasting the Rainbow”.  Not my thing – coloured candy balls. Haven’t been into those since I walked to the corner store with my best friend with a quarter in my pocket.

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