Follow the RULE for engaging customers in an authentic relationship

The new way of marketing is based on a growing body of scientific research showing that the context of a community deeply influences how people interpret their experiences. This in turn shapes their willingness to do more than engage in a transaction.

Follow these four tenets so that your brand can RULE:

Reframe: Focus on the whole person including basic drives to acquire, to bond, to learn and to defend what a person considers important. Kimberly-Clark, makers of pull-up diapers, engaged all these drivers in its toilet training campaign. The company launched a website with instructional videos, featuring a community of parents learning together. Content shared among friends exceeded the project’s target by 400 percent.

Understand: Explicitly associate your brand with fundamental human values. A study of 50,000 brands found those that grew the most explicitly linked to values such as joy, connection with other people, exploration, pride, and societal improvement. Starbucks for example linked perceptions of the chain with ideals of universalism and benevolence by encouraging customers to take action on their values.

Listen: Gain insight to go beyond what people say to better understand their emotional experience with your brand. 3M Company collects thousands of reviews and comments from more than a dozen retail sites, mobile apps and Facebook postings. It uses that data  to improve marketing campaigns. One product was selling below expectations until 3M changed its product copy, quoting the language consumers used online.

Engage: Enlist the entire company—not just marketing and advertising—to take part in brand advocacy.With customers demanding authenticity, companies must “walk the talk” by creating cultures where brand values are expressed every day. Embassy Suites Hotels created a multi-pronged initiative to influence employee behavior. For example, new team members receive a booklet introducing them to goals and expectations for a distinctive brand experience. 

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Defusing the corporate social media time bomb. Brand reputation and release of confidential information are among the risks of social media, whether initiated by fans, customers, employees or social media hijackers. A report by the Altimeter Group urges companies “to start taking social media a lot more seriously, even following IBM’s example by making social media a board-level issue. A good place to start is to watch and learn from other companies’ mistakes and successes in dealing with social media crises, and learn from your own company’s past mistakes, as well.” (via Defusing the Corporate Social Media Timebomb)
Defusing the corporate social media time bomb. Brand reputation and release of confidential information are among the risks of social media, whether initiated by fans, customers, employees or social media hijackers. A report by the Altimeter Group urges companies “to start taking social media a lot more seriously, even following IBM’s example by making social media a board-level issue. A good place to start is to watch and learn from other companies’ mistakes and successes in dealing with social media crises, and learn from your own company’s past mistakes, as well.”

(via Defusing the Corporate Social Media Timebomb)

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No community yet for Zipcar customers. Zipcar drivers have never coalesced into a community. Recent research notes that Zipcar has failed in its attempts to create rituals among users like waving to each other on the road, as well in rallying them around the green advantages of using car sharing. Apparently, users are not too interested in such rituals and don’t really find the green theme so convincing or exciting.Lesson: If you want to create community , check with your customers and see if they want to be in one.   Via Why Do Zipcar Users Abuse the Cars? 4 Lessons For the Access Economy ,TriplePundit 

No community yet for Zipcar customers. Zipcar drivers have never coalesced into a community. Recent research notes that Zipcar has failed in its attempts to create rituals among users like waving to each other on the road, as well in rallying them around the green advantages of using car sharing. Apparently, users are not too interested in such rituals and don’t really find the green theme so convincing or exciting.Lesson: If you want to create community , check with your customers and see if they want to be in one.   Via Why Do Zipcar Users Abuse the Cars? 4 Lessons For the Access Economy ,TriplePundit 

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The IBMer who cut the e-mail cord and survived to tell the tale

He lives in the Canary Islands. Works for IBM. When he decided more than 4 years ago that he would no longer respond via e-mail but would use social media channels instead, some colleagues referred to him as “that stubborn Spaniard.” Here’s why Luiz Suarez took a such drastic step and what happened next. Via The Raconteur

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The Social Business Life Cycle | Smart Business, Social Business Michael Brito considers himself a student of the social business, community building and customer advocacy. This is a work in progress. I am still not sure if “Social Business Life Cycle” is the right word.  I was also thinking about calling it the “Social Business Adoption Life Cycle” but I am not sure.  I would love your feedback on how I can improve this so that it makes more sense. The point I am trying to make with this model is that there is a chronological approach that has forced the evolution of social business. It started with the growing influence of the social customer.  The immediate response to the social customer is what is referred to as the social brand (i.e. brands/companies and organizations engaging with the social customer on the social web). Today, the social brand is causing a multitude of challenges internally (i.e. no governance and policies, employees running wild in social media, social media ownership issues, etc.) for many organizations and they are now trying to operationalize social media internally. This model represents most companies today. I argue in my book that an organization must first focus internally and get their “internal houses” in order so that any and all external engagements with the social customer are more meaningful, actionable and more effective.

The Social Business Life Cycle | Smart Business, Social Business

Michael Brito considers himself a student of the social business, community building and customer advocacy.

This is a work in progress. I am still not sure if “Social Business Life Cycle” is the right word.  I was also thinking about calling it the “Social Business Adoption Life Cycle” but I am not sure.  I would love your feedback on how I can improve this so that it makes more sense.

The point I am trying to make with this model is that there is a chronological approach that has forced the evolution of social business. It started with the growing influence of the social customer.  The immediate response to the social customer is what is referred to as the social brand (i.e. brands/companies and organizations engaging with the social customer on the social web). Today, the social brand is causing a multitude of challenges internally (i.e. no governance and policies, employees running wild in social media, social media ownership issues, etc.) for many organizations and they are now trying to operationalize social media internally.

This model represents most companies today.

I argue in my book that an organization must first focus internally and get their “internal houses” in order so that any and all external engagements with the social customer are more meaningful, actionable and more effective.

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Meet the New Consumer | Brand Innovation for the New Consumer Since 2007, our highly acclaimed national studies and ethnographies have painted a clear picture of this powerful and fast-growing consumer segment. Our latest report, Unleashed: How New Consumers Will Revolutionize Brands and Scale Sustainability (March 2011), updates key findings and features videos and photo journals from representative consumers, as well as insights from some of the world’s most powerful and forward-thinking brands. More than 70 million adults across the United States are considered New Consumers, defined less by demographics than by shared values. Early adopters and “box turners” increasingly concerned with products’ impact on the planet and its people, these savvy shoppers are twice as likely to try new things, share their opinions online and reward (or punish) brands based on corporate practices. Even during the recession, 25 percent are willing to pay more for sustainable products. At the same time, they’re re-evaluating purchasing priorities, often opting for DIY projects and choosing to enjoy experiences instead of new commodities. Source: BBMG

Meet the New Consumer | Brand Innovation for the New Consumer

Since 2007, our highly acclaimed national studies and ethnographies have painted a clear picture of this powerful and fast-growing consumer segment. Our latest report, Unleashed: How New Consumers Will Revolutionize Brands and Scale Sustainability (March 2011), updates key findings and features videos and photo journals from representative consumers, as well as insights from some of the world’s most powerful and forward-thinking brands.

More than 70 million adults across the United States are considered New Consumers, defined less by demographics than by shared values. Early adopters and “box turners” increasingly concerned with products’ impact on the planet and its people, these savvy shoppers are twice as likely to try new things, share their opinions online and reward (or punish) brands based on corporate practices. Even during the recession, 25 percent are willing to pay more for sustainable products. At the same time, they’re re-evaluating purchasing priorities, often opting for DIY projects and choosing to enjoy experiences instead of new commodities.

Source: BBMG

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Be a Social Business: PR Trends in 2011

As we approach the end of 2010 and head into the New Year, these savvy companies are realizing that the front end is not enough:  unless you actually become a social business you can’t be a social brand.

Could this be why some companies have been ambivalent about open, social engagement?

David Armano of Edelman thinks so – in his  excellent presentation on SlideShare he says many firms are not ready for social media.  He shows why this is the case and what you need to do internally to get ready for external social media engagement.

(read the rest on b2cmarketinginsider.com)

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