Walter Adamson

HP+ Managing the HP fallout will take more than PR

In a huge week of IT industry news HP dropping the Touchpad was one of the biggest tsunamis. Especially since it came with news that HP will sell off its PC division.

Is that what you heard?

Well you may have it wrong. HP is mounting a PR war to counter that interpretation, which might seem futile to outsiders, but if you're an insider how could you do anything else?

But it will take more than PR to convince people otherwise, HP is going to have to go into overdrive with a new HP+!

People like Michael Dell heard the wrong version, according to this tweet:

 

HP's UK head of their PCG Group clarified things in The Guardian:

There have been a number of incorrect stories saying that HP is quitting the PC business. Let me be absolutely clear in saying that at no stage has HP said it is quitting the PC business. Three options are being investigated, and whether the company is spun off, sold or kept in the HP portfolio.

There. That's crystal clear, right? Michael Dell's interpretation, admittedly acting with self-interest, isn't far off is it? And if self-interest needs to be taken out of the equation then we'd have to heavily discount all the HP spin.

It's a touchy subject. HP's PR machine, through Bill Wohl who rightly describes himself as a "seasoned Chief Communications Officer for HP" took offence to this tweet via @rwang0 and @timbo2002.

But isn't that a seriously reasonable tweet?

From my observations Bill Wohl does a good job, and his Twitter stream is eclectic. I like a lot of his references. But he's really pulling the belt too tight to call a rational observation "wrong" and even "inappropriate".

As soon as he did that he just ran up the flag of PR mumbo jumbo and asked people to salute, which they won't these days.

Just Google it - this sentiment is out there everywhere. @rwang0 and @timbo2002 are no duds! Even this article which Bill Wohl praised for its positive take on the Autonomy acquisition had this to say "...effectively putting the PC business on the market". There's even a coherent argument by Bill Sydner at Infoworld postulating the HP breakup "The sharks are circling HP -- can anyone save it? "

If you are going to telegraph your punches then you better have an alternative strategy to surprise the attackers! Otherwise they are going to be all over you - like on UFC - ground and pound!

The question is how to come to grips with the sentiment and contribute and participate in where it is headed?

It's a very difficult position to be in, witness Nokia's self-initiated implosion when they forecast the end of their Symbian platform. Sales weren't supposed to drop like a stone, but they did. HP could be facing similar prospects in its PSG Division. It's frightening, considering that Nokia have lost 75% of their Western European smartphone sales in few months since making their ill-fated announcement - and Nokia want to stay in the business!! (See Why Europe Is So Critical to Nokia in Smartphones by Tomi Ahonen)

And the best way is for HP to be as decisive as they were in killing the Touchpad. Otherwise it is going to be a long hard haul to nowhere for the HP PR team.

HP should also get real about WebOS which is as dead as a dodo.

How do you think that HP can best handle the social media over PSG

Please comment below.

Walter @adamson
http://xeesm.com/walter

Sticky start to Vaseline's 140th Anniversary promotion

By accident I came across a promotion for Vaseline's "140th birthday". It's a product owned by Unilever - a company which boasts 1H2010 sales of €21.9 billion, "underlying volume growth 6.6%, underlying sales growth 3.8% and underlying price growth (2.6)%, underlying operating margin up 30bps with continuing strong gross margins offset by significant investment in advertising and promotional expenditure, up 180bps and a net cash flow from operating activities €2.2 billion, up €0.2 billion".

It's big outfit, with massive resources - more than 13,000 people across North America alone  – generating nearly $10 billion in sales in 2009.

As the promotion byline Vaseline asks “How Do You Flip for Vaseline Petroleum Jelly?” and "to celebrate the wonder jelly’s 140th anniversary, Vaseline is compiling the ultimate list of uses by inviting fans to share how they flip for Vaseline Petroleum Jelly".

The campaign centres on social media, and in particular their Facebook page:

...where loyalists can share their favorite uses. The 140 ways Vaseline likes best will be showcased in a video montage highlighting the wonder jelly’s versatility. Everyone who submits a tip will be entered for a chance to win1 a limited edition jar of Vaseline Petroleum Jelly which has been bedazzled with Swarovski crystals.

Nice :)

Where it gets a bit sticky is that the Facebook Page isn't there?!!!

Well, it is there, but empty!

The promo urges you to log on to the Vaseline page and share your tips and usage. And the Wall breathlessly urges:

The Official Vaseline Facebook Page Have you seen all of the new, exciting things happening on our page? Check out the "What's New" tab for a chance to win some cool prizes!

When you click on the What's New Tab, which has also been set as the landing page for facebook.com/vaseline, then you see COMING SOON.

Fair enough. These things happen, but I was a bit taken aback that a massive concern like Unilever doesn't care to coordinate it's PR and "buzz" with the ability to capture that buzz at the destination. It's a bit sloppy, maybe the rollout logistics got stuck in the Vaseline jelly?

Just as another thought about the campaign, although they did manage to get their Twitter page up and running, there is no link or integration to the campaign as a whole. The Twitter URL goes to a generic product page, which again has no connections or links to the Facebook page and campaign. Yet the PR builds this expection of a cross-linked event:

For 140 years, people have been talking about their favorite ways to use Vaseline Petroleum Jelly and now Vaseline is crowd sourcing some of the best tips from fans. The campaign will engage consumers via a newly launched Vaseline Facebook Community (www.facebook.com/vaseline) and Twitter page (www.twitter.com/vaselinebrand) where loyalists can share their favorite uses. The 140 ways Vaseline likes best will be showcased etc etc

I just wonder if anyone thought about the implementation of this linkage as the Twitter page is a dead-end, and from there I'm unsure how anyone would battle back to find the Facebook page.

I also wonder if it struck Unilever that there is a great coincidence gone begging - that the 140th anniversary and the 140 ideas they wish to select and promote coincide with the 140 characters of a tweet? To me this would have provided a vehicle to make some buzz, and to also provide more links between Twitter and the Facebook "community". I don't know what, I'm not that creative, but perhaps they could have used the 140-140-140 to be a really special focus on Twitter as the centrepiece of the promotion - as a hub to spoke out to Facebook?

When you sit back and look at these various aspects of the campaign and how it's been executed so far, it looks a little half-baked don't you think? I'm sure that Unilever can do better, but unfortunately in this case a whole lot of wheels have come unstuck (or got stuck depending on your perspective!).

But you know I am actually curious about the best 140 uses of Vaseline, I think that we could be amazed, so I've liked their empty Page.

How do you think this effort became unstuck in the corporate labyrinth?

How should have Unilever verified the rollout better?

How did their social media team break down?

Do you agree with me that their Twitter connection appears to be a dead-end in terms of this promotion?

Would you agree that the 140 years and 140 ideas could have been "buzzed up" with a connection to the 140 characters of Twitter?

http://xeesm.com/walter

Related articles

• Vaseline Asks "How Do You Flip for Vaseline Petroleum Jelly?" (eon.businesswire.com)

Microsoft tops social media savvy companies - survey

I was surprised to see that a new survey has found that employees at Microsoft Corp are the most social media-savvy in the world.

The NetProspex Social Index was determined after an analysis of more than 100,000 business executives from the Fortune 1000 companies in the first quarter of 2010.

Apple ranked 10th, while eBay, Amazon, Disney and Google rounded out the top 5. Some surprises? - Raytheon #8 ahead of Best Buy #9, EMC #16 ahead of Cisco #20, and Coca Cola #50.

I was surprised because Microsoft, from an outsider's industry perspective, has shown itself to be increasingly unable to adopt, adapt and make business and cultural changes necessary to maintain it's competitive position. It's often said in these kinds of conversations, perhaps over a beer, that the structure of Microsoft mitigates against any broad-reaching cultural and business changes because of the autonomy of the local regional and country managers. Changes are crushed at these borders in direct alignment with the reporting and compensation system.

But here is evidence to the contrary. Achieving widespread and coordinated use of social media takes cultural change. And here I disagree with the Reuter's authors who say "not surprisingly, the list was dominated by technology and software companies". Achieving this cultural change is not a natural capacity of technology companies, and often in fact they are the worst and most conservative. A "social media engagement culture" is not a technical achievement!!

What this report also brought out to me is the enormous opportunity which is being missed by Microsoft's resellers and distributors who almost certainly are less social media aware and capable then Microsoft. This means that the resellers are missing out on a myriad of important ways of connecting and building important business relationships with Microsoft, from which they could add value to their customers.

In this respect Mike Dubrall from the Social Media Academy and the Gillwell Group were prescient in putting together the "Social Media for High Tech Channel Partners" program. This program was been run by Qwest and EMC for their partners, and it teaches partners how to navigate their social media spaces and how to engage their customers and vendors in a more social and comprehensive manner.

So, in the context of the NetProspex survey, it means that Microsoft offers its partners huge potential to become engaged and to build their business, if they know how to do it! Those that do will win.

http://xeesm.com/walter

(The NetProspex Social Index (NPSI) was used to score social network activity across 9 major networks: Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, MySpace, Friendster, Flickr, LiveJournal, hi5 and Flixster. The score is based on the average number of friends or connections across major social networks (friendliness) and the average number of tweets, # following, and # of followers per employee (twitter score).)

Social Media Tools Week: Social Media Assessment - how to start

Thanks to all of you who attended my second webinar today (Social Media Tools Week) on Social Media Assessment - How To Start.

I've seen in practice that many companies skip this Assessment stage or don't understand why it is important. Of course the very large agencies do apply their own assessments,and have inhouse or acquired tools to do an excellent job.

The presentation shows how every business can think about Assessment, and why it is important.

I was struck by this comment: "Media is an arena where people with shared interest and enthusiasm converge around a shared idea" by Helge Tennø Post Digital Marketing 2009.

If you BELIEVE THIS, as I do, then you need to find the right arenas and match the shared interest with your own and understand how to contribute and ideally, find the actual people who are most enthusiastic.

This is Social Media Assessment – before thinking of tools or "doing something on Facebook".

You can get a copy of the presentation from Slideshare.

Where does an Assessment fit in with developing a strategy?

Let's say that:

• You understand enough about social media
• You have some kind of customer-oriented feedback, ideas
• You have some idea of resources and how it can be handle
• You need a strategy (however large or small).

It’s at this point that you need to do an Assessment.

You want to map the terrain, identify the places and spaces that matter, understand the real environment, and then develop a strategy which is informed and practical and effective.

The Assessment is one of the suite of methodologies taught by the Social Media Academy and put into practice by its graduates across the globe. These have the benefit of being consistent, having people talk the same language, and being continuously improved from global feedback.

I'm sure you have experience in developing forms of Assessment, before doing the strategy work, or perhaps you don't agree with this logic?

Please add your comments below as I'd love to see those ideas.

http://xeesm.com/walter

Brands in social media deliver higher search rates - comScore

Here is some good news for brands - people using social media demonstrate higher search rates for a brand if they have previously been exposed to branded marketing or "name dropping" on social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter or YouTube.

This a result of a study conducted by comScore: "The Influenced: Social Media, Search and the Interplay of Consideration and Consumption", in collaboration with social media agency M80 over a three month period.

"Social media-exposed consumers are far more likely to search for brand and product-related terms, and click on a brand's paid search ad," said Graham Mudd, vice president of comScore.

"This finding provides strong evidence that investing in social media marketing can both increase initial brand consideration and drive higher conversion rates once the consumer has decided to purchase." 

ComScore's survey found that the highest click-through rates (CTR) were seen when brands actively communicated with users through specifically tailored social marketing programs - such as when a company made and actively engaged with consumers through a  dedicated Facebook page.

More good news, you can find the Scribd presentation here and a whole further analysis by Cindy Kerber Spellman.

From my brand or your brand to everyone’s brand

There's a lot of interesting and thought-provoking discussion about "who owns brands" being stimulated by the impact of social media.

For example from Beth Harte of MarketingProfs:

If you’ve hung out in social media circles long enough, I am sure you’ve heard “you don’t own your brand, your customers do.” Nothing can be further from the truth and why we need to be very careful with how we phrase this as marketers, consultants, agencies, etc.

FACT: You do own your brand and brand messaging

FACT: You don’t own relationships customers have with your brand.

And I've weighed in thinking that while brand is alive and yours, "branding" is dead as in sending messages which "position" your brand into the social media.

But I'm on the fringe, and so when someone at the heart of consumer marketing speaks, from a company active in social media, I listen. Here's what Jose-Alberto Duenas, marketing vp of ready-to-eat cereals of Kellogg U.S. said in an interview in BrandWeek:

BW: What’s the greatest insight you’ve learned from using the digital/social media space?

JD: It’s an enabler of the relationship between consumers and the brand. It strengthens what you have. It gives you an opportunity to listen to what consumers think and feel about the brand, and also, one of the biggest lessons we’ve learned is “transparency is key.” That’s basically because you are moving from “my brand” or “your brand” to, actually, “everyone’s brand”. And that is a very interesting [transition].

So it's everyone's brand, and the key is transparency - and it is a journey.

Planning the journey, recognising the true starting position, managing the risk as you go, understanding the organisational change, the cultural change - perhaps these are now the things on which we should be focused and not the debate.

Brand verus branding - has social media killed branding?

Over at Beth Harte's blog The Harte of Marketing, there is a good debate about brand versus brand relationships, and about the whole notion of a brand.

I'm far from knowledgeable on this topic, but I have been reading avidly and putting things in the context of the whole shift to and impact of social media, and in relation to buyer behavior and the way brands must now behave in the social media.

Here's what I wrote, you will have to read the full blog post first in order to place the people quoted below:

I'm confused myself, but I have formed opinions lately after researching the relationships between brands and social media, and observing the trends in buyer behaviour and their reaction to "traditional" advertising and marketing.

OK I'm confused, and I am also biased. I'm biased because I believe that marketing today is often synonymous with managing marketing campaigns - promoting stuff rather than helping an organisation manage the whole brand experience.

To me, sending out the "messages" is branding, and branding I think is dead since social media doesn't need or respond to "messages" and positioning. It's because of this thought that I can't find myself agreeing with Scott that "managing brand perception is as much about public relations". I think that is trying to "manage" the unmanageable - it's potentially fake and pushing messages which aren't going to hit fertile ground in the social media. 

Of course "brand" is alive, and is very well in many companies. 

But what is brand? You gave two sets of characteristics, or hierachies, and they are both useful. I think they overlap in various ways, and as you noted also useful frameworks for thinking about relationships in the social media in general. 

I'm preferring to think of "brand" as simply "brand behavior" - holistically, as Kim states. That need to operationalize the brand also fits in with what some of Craig says. And if I am interpreting Craig correctly, translated into my mindset, brand is defined by customers' experience which is "what THEY say" about how the brand behaves. 

Craig also says "if message doesn’t match perception and experience, we’re in trouble, and we’ve lost ownership right there". Brand does have signals and presence. "Messages" I am not so keen on as a term - it smacks of marketer and PR push. But for sure when the ads and the brand behavior don't gel then we have zero "brand depth". Personally, this lack of brand depth has reached plague proportions in say the airline industry and sections of the retail industry in my opinion. 

Scott also says "the best brand managers are those who nurture relationships with consumers to help influence those perceptions in a positive way" and that makes sense to me. I put that into "brand" not "branding" because it is not sending "messages" in a marketing or PR sense. It is being part of the behavior - participating and contributing - that's exactly what we talk about in social media isn't it. 

So this is where I have reached, my perhaps uninformed summary: 

1. Brand is brand behavior; Brand promise is the expectation of brand behavior;
2. Therefore brand has to be managed across all touch points, holistically, and this has to be well operationalized;
3. Therefore, where social media is part of the brand behavior it also has to be planned and managed across all touch points, holistically, and this also has to be well operationalized;
4. Most "marketing managers" "marketers" and "marketing" is simply promotion, bankrupt promise, same fake ads, and a complete disconnect from (a) the rest of the organisation, (b) the holistic brand behavior, and (c) brand.
5. Buyers now don't like the marketing of (4), don't trust it, don't believe it, and immediately sense its incongruence with brand behavior and REPORT on this in the social media. That is why I say "branding" a la (4) is dead - and those marketers, the majority, have a big problem as a "profession".
6. Marketing and brand management, done "properly" in the big picture holistic way as a guardian of brand value, through assuring brand behavior, has a bigger role than ever given the advent of social media.
7. But marketing as branding is the walking dead.

Do I have the right end or the wrong end of this brand stick?

By the way, the opportunity for marketers is to reinvent themselves "back to the future" - back to their bigger purpose of governing brand behavior.

Influencing action - managing in the social media?

In "What Managers Really Do" by Dr. Henry Mintzberg (Wall Street Journal | August 17, 2009) his theme was that "when they aren't dealing with interruptions they have three basic ways to exert their influence".

Read more at Wall Street Journal »

I noticed this bit:

"DR. MINTZBERG: Basically, managing is about influencing action. Managing is about helping organizations and units to get things done, which means action."

So perhaps the management in the social media is about influencing action - about helping partners and clients to get things done, which means action?

What do you think, is this part of the brand experience and brand behaviour?

See the Linkedin Discussion.

New IT tools less than half of new customer care

IDC APAC reported that "customer care is emerging as a key IT investment area for CIOs in the current downturn", according to the findings of a new poll. 

While most organisations are reducing or freezing their investments in IT, 23 percent of the Australian-based respondees indicate they will still invest in IT solutions that can help them increase earnings or save costs. Chief among these areas is customer care, which nearly half of the respondents saw as a way to generate revenue, with many ready to progress beyond traditional customer relationship management, IDC says.

The world has changed so rapidly in the last 12 months in terms of customers informing themselves and in creating their own customer experiences that it will take a lot more than "new advanced customer care tools, such as customer analytics, customer database management and new web-based tools".

It's going to take a whole new business planning approach to social media and customer engagement, and that's hard work. It's where you need serious business-purposed planning and execution processes, such as those of the Social Media Academy.

See full article and my comment.

Related is the study released today by the Australia Centre for Retail Studies, which found that found that about 50% of people in Australia research their purchase before heading to the store.  Comments to this article centred on the need for an effective online buying website, but I think that it goes much deeper given the new role of the social web.

The social media is part of the brand behaviour, and this needs to be taken in to account in planning the whole customer interaction and how they inform themselves. Again, this is not a simple matter and certainly not something like just running a Facebook campaign or "launching" a Twitter profile. It requires serious cross-function planning and a proper social media assessment.

See full article and my comment.

It's more and more shaping up that 2010 will be the year when social media and the customer experience hits critical mass.

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