Edelman Digital: In Twitter Interview, Edelman CEO Says Agency Will Remain Independent ‘Now and Forever’

Originally posted on PRNewser by Joe Ciarallo.

Edelman CEO Richard Edelman is a relatively new user of Twitter, so we reached out to him to conduct PRNewser’s first ever Twitter interview, which took place this morning.

When asked in the interview if there have been any serious offers to buy Edelman this year, the CEO responded, “The big holding companies know our story–the Pirate King–independent now and forever.”

Edelman also said that “social engagement” is a big factor for the agency when looking at potential new hires. “Beyond Facebook and Twitter too,” he said. “[We want them to have involvement in community by donating time and PR expertise.”...view full conversation @Edelman Digital

Edelman Digital: Friday Five: Ways To Own Your Brand Online

In a new media world, staking your claim online goes well beyond reserving a web address or two. Even companies and public figures without firm plans to participate in the social media space should be aware that consumers will still be looking for them and plan accordingly. Today’s Friday Five reflects five tips to help your clients (and yourselves) own your brand online.

Primary Twitter Account
Choose a Twitter handle that clearly reflects the company name and/or division. If you do not plan to activate Twitter immediately, ensure that the profile links to the company website and that the first tweet states that consumers can check back or links to a more active social forum (like a Facebook page).

Referring Twitter Accounts
While this isn’t always the case, some brands have been known to claim multiple twitter names, directing to the singular one in use. This prevents squatters from taking over an official-looking presence but it’s impossible to claim all possibilities. The best way to ensure your voice is the one consumers are hearing is to participate in the conversation whenever and wherever possible and appropriate.

Facebook
Similar to Twitter, find a unique URL for your company’s Facebook page that clearly reflects what will be represented there. If possible, this should match the company’s or program’s Twitter handle for consistency.

LinkedIn
Just as candidates represent themselves on this popular professional networking site, companies should keep their profiles updated as well. Establishing open positions and keeping up with industry accolades is more than just an effective recruiting tool. This is especially important now that LinkedIn allows users to follow company updates.

Blog Commentary
Commenting on blogs is a sticky process for many large companies and requires the consultation of a company social media policy and the participation of a designated spokesperson. One of the best ways to continue owning a brand online in this arena is to identify natural brand ambassadors proactively so that in times of trouble, they have the correct information to distribute within their invested community.
Edelman Digital

Edelman Digital: Quick Hits: May 21

NBC Turns Television Into a Social Media Game
Fan It is an interesting new initiative by NBC that aims to tie social networking directly into its programming. In combination with myNBC, NBC’s online fan community, the program rewards users who converse around and promote – through Twitter, MySpace, Facebook and Foursquare integration – NBC shows. This kind of social integration into television should provide new information for NBC to know early which shows are building a passionate fanbase.

Foursquare Snags a Deal with The Today Show
As if you needed another reason to pay attention to Foursquare, the location-based network has added another mainstream media partner to its ever growing roster. The Today Show partnership will center around the show’s yearly Concert Series. Users can earn special badges by attending the concerts and get tidbits about New York City venues.

You Can Now Skype From Your TV
Skype-on-TV sounds like something from the future, doesn’t it? Not anymore. If you own a Panasonic or Samsung internet enabled HDTV, all you have to do is purchase a special webcam once available, and you can start video chatting from your couch – with multiple people. This is big for Skype, considering the announcement that Google may be hot on their tail.

Google Close to Making Web TV a Reality
Speaking of Google, looks like it’s finally getting close to making its “Smart TV” platform a reality. We don’t know much yet, but partnerships with Sony and Intel should make this system smart, fast, and very web-content friendly. Could Google be making plans to integrate Google Talk into Smart TV, taking yet another swipe at Skype?

In the Future, We Will All Be Replaced by Telepresence Robots

Kind of puts the Google versus Skype discussion in context, doesn’t it?
Please view in full @ Edelman Digital

Edelman Digital: Social Networks Become Social Entertainment

This morning we hosted a Social Entertainment breakfast where we launched the findings of Edelman’s fourth annual Trust in the Entertainment Industry survey.

Gail Becker, President of Edelman’s Western region, presented the results and was joined on a panel by Matt Locke – Acting Head of Crossplatform at Channel 4, Maz Nadjm – Online Community Product Manager at BSkyB and Tom Watson – Labour MP. The Naked Pheasant himself, Mr Hargreaves, did a sterling job in chairing the proceedings. Please continue & review report here: Edelman Digital

Edelman Digital: Check-In Or Watch Your Reputation Check-Out

Guide to location-based services, such as Foursquare and Gowalla, for PR and marketing professionals.

I checked in on Foursquare as I arrived at a networking event the other day and I was greeted with a free drink if I showed my phone to the bartender. My excitement grew when Foursquare notified me that the restaurant across the street had a two-for-one dinner deal. I grabbed some colleagues to go with me. When we finished, I noticed that the bar across the street offered a free appetizer. So, we trouped across the street determined to follow our Foursquare adventure to its end even if we were already full. When we finished we had consumed drinks, dinner and appetizers all for less than $10 each.

As my experience shows, people are willing to give their location if they know they’ll get something for it. JiWire’s Insights report found that 53 percent of people are willing to show their location to get more relevant ads. Nielsen reports that 24 percent of Americans have a smartphone and we know that most of the new models have GPS. Foursquare has rapidly grown to 500,000 users and 275,000 check-ins in one day. Mashable reports that the other location-based check-in game, Gowalla, has about 100,000 customers. Additionally, nearly every user-generated review service is adding location to its mobile app because of its benefits to customers and the hope to attract higher advertising rates.

As a PR or marketing professional it is about time to add location-based services to your marketing mix and reputation management programs. Your customers are already mentioning your brand in these services and their comments are showing up in search results. It isn’t hard to understand that like other social media, location-based services need active engagement and monitoring. Chuck Reynolds daftly details the impact of these services on local search and search engine visibility in this blog post.

Although not sanctioned by the company, there was even a Foursquare Day last month on April 16 (4/16) that fans put together. I know you have a lot to monitor already in the fragmented social media fracas, so here are some tools that can make it easy to keep an eye on public comments on Foursquare and Gowalla. Both Check-In Mania and FourWhere allow you to search for your business and view the shouts and recommendations people leave.

I love to see the updates and advice from my friends as they check-in throughout their day. It helps me find better restaurants and gets me to try new businesses. As a PR person, I’ve seen it create real-time buzz around an event and drive longer-term search engine results. It’s time to check-in on your brand’s reputation before your customers check-out.Please view @ Edelman Digital

Edelman Digital: Quick Hits: May 13

Twitter to Launch “Business Center”
Twitter is inviting a select group of businesses to beta test its new “Business Center”. This new tool is designed to allow businesses to set up company profiles and have multiple users tweet on its behalf. Most significantly, for the first time companies will be allowed to receive direct messages from anyone….even if the company is not following the person. With this direct access to a company, Twitter is opening a new level of customer service for brands.

Facebook to Launch Location Features This Month
In a move that will surely stir up competition with Foursquare, Gowalla, and Brightkite, Facebook is rumored to be unleashing its long awaited location check-in functionality for individuals and brands this month. While information is sparse at this point, it is believed that users will be able to check into locations, as they do on Foursquare, and brands will be able to target advertising towards the end user in a much more localized aspect. McDonalds is going to be the first brand/retailer to test the functionality, allowing users to check into their restaurants, and products will be featured in the users news feed. This is a potential huge opportunity for advertisers and brands who are jumping head first into the exciting world of localized targeting of end users.

Bing Now Lets You Shop With Your Friends
Along with Twitter and Facebook integration, Bing has added “social shopping” into its search results. As social influence is a key influencer upon purchase decisions, adding this functionality is a natural progression for the search engine. Allowing searchers to post products onto their Facebook newsfeeds creates instant advocates or critics for a product and spurs conversation within communities.

3D Recording Device Being Developed for Cell Phones
The hottest trend in film, television, and even magazines today is 3D. However, a gap still exists between viewing content in 3D and creating content in 3D. Sharp is attempting to bridge the gap by creating a camera aimed to be installed into cell phones and digital cameras within the next few years. The device will have 3D recording capabilities for the everyday user, however they have yet to address the issue of viewing the content.

Facebook Privacy Concerns Prompt Students to Create their own Platform
Concerns about privacy and information sharing on Facebook have prompted a group of students in New York to create a new social network. Project “Diaspora” has raised over $23,000 through micro-funding site Kickstarter to begin development on their new platform. Their goal is to create software that will let users set up their own personal servers and hubs, and fully control the information they share. Update: Since this article, Project “Diaspora” has soared past the $50,000 mark in funding.

Zynga Offering “On Game” Ads
Zynga has partnered with ad network SocialVibe to run “on game” advertisements within popular games such as FarmVille and Mafia Wars. As opposed to “in game” advertising, this new delivery concept will run simple message ads at the bottom of the screen offering users game currency for engaging with the ad or offer. Zynga will charge brands only on initiated interactions, which average about $1. The new service will allow brands to create their own custom interaction between the consumer and the brand. Zynga promises higher quality offers than past ones which caused backlash for the company, prompting them to halt branded offers for a period of time. Please read more @ Edelman Digital

Edelman Digital: Bill Gross, CEO, TweetUp, Idealab

Last week in LA I had a chance to visit Idealab, an incubator that pioneered pay-per-click advertising a decade ago. The purpose of my visit was to meet CEO Bill Gross and his team and to learn more about TweetUp, an innovative new service that, I believe, has a great shot of creating a demand-driven ad network around Twitter.

(Idealab, not TweetUp specifically, is an Edelman client.)

Unlike Twitter’s own ad platform, TweetUp will surface not only tweets but tweeters. What’s more, they will be integrated as widgets/columns in key ecosystem apps like TweetDeck and contextually via large sites like Business Insider.

To me, TweetUp’s greatest appeal lies in that it’s a mix of paid, earned and social. In order to receive the best position for your tweets, the TweetUp system needs to perceive that you are an expert in the topic/keywords you are bidding for.
Edelman Digital by Steve Rubel

Edelman Digital: WOMMA Interview With David Armano

Originally posted on WOMMA.

WOMMA: After the social media hype is finally done, where do you see it fitting into the marketing profession?

David Armano: I don’t see it fitting neatly into the “marketing profession” and this is going to be challenge for organizations. That said, marketing will be a key element. Social media often touches customer service, PR, marketing, IT, and even HR responsibilities. I see the need for a center of excellence or “core team” in large organizations that help train and develop competencies, which can then be implemented through ALL of these disciplines. I see the need for more integration as well, not only between the different departments but also with partners. Think of all the different agencies and firms a large company works with. It’s all very complex, but I’m convinced that there needs to be multiple hubs or better yet nodes within an organization that plug into a centralized social media resource. It’s the best of both worlds.

WOMMA: The phrase “word of mouth” is usually pegged to marketing. What other ways should brands think about word of mouth?

DA: “WOM” does seem to be limited to marketing and it’s a shame because it’s so much bigger. Employees of large companies rely on word of mouth just as much as “consumers”. We look for references for prospective hires, and “word of mouth” also tells us when a team has done something worthy of taking notice. Ratings aren’t just for products, in a way they also work for people. Just look at all the reputation building that is going on in the world. Edelman’s trust barometer indicated that people increasingly trust expertise and often times expertise is built upon word of mouth, both within the marketing world and outside of it.

WOMMA: You attended SXSW. What or who did you see there that Word readers should keep their eye on?

DA: Well, the founders of Foursquare for starters and lots of platform developers not to mention user experience professionals or brilliant minds such as Microsoft’s Danah Boyd (client). SXSW is special not so much because of the size but also for its diversity. There are marketers there for sure but there are also hard-core developers and geeks from all over the world. There are also folks from smaller firms such as Altimeter Group who really grasp the big picture of where this is all going. Again, it’s way bigger than marketing.

WOMMA: How does a brand move past thinking about their image and begin thinking about their personality?

DA: Let’s be honest—a brand worries about their personality when they are in decline. Does Apple worry about their personality? Perhaps their brand police do, but really I see a laser focus on amazing products. Is Facebook focused on their personality? No—they are focused on keeping you addicted to their platform. I think that it’s more important for a brand to be valuable and authentic. If your brand’s product is a commodity, like toothpaste—then you are more reliant on clever marketing. But honestly, I think even innovation can happen with toothpaste.

WOMMA: Many brands are WOM-Curious but are stalled when confronted with the overabundance of specialists, experts and gurus. What is the shortlist of traits that they should look for in a WOM agency or consultant?

DA: Call it a WOM, social media, marketing, advertising agency or even a business consultancy—you are looking for the same things:

* Relevant industry experience

* Professional business conduct

* Case studies

* Talent and of course, “word of mouth”. What do others say about this firm or individual—what is their reputation? Referrals are just as important here as they are in every other facet of life.

On a personal note, when I made the news public that I had joined Edelman there were literally hundreds of responses on Twitter. I couldn’t find anything negative—in fact it was the opposite. This was probably the best indicator of my decision that I could have hoped for. Edelman Digital

Edelman Digital: Not All Fans Are Created Equal

Last week, Vitrue determined that the average value of a Facebook fan is worth about $3.60 in equivalent media each year.

The firm calculated this using a wide range of clients and their 45 million aggregate fans before coming to the $3.60 annual valuation. A couple assumptions they make right up front are that each status update posted by the brand generates an average of 1 new media impression for each fan of their brand. They also assume that the brand is posting two updates per day. Lastly, they placed a value to each impression by assigning a $5 CPM which translates to $300,000 in earned media per month or $3.6 million annually for a fan page with 1 million fans. Here is the mathematical equation if you’re interested:


1M impressions x 2 posts x 30 days = 60M impressions
60M impressions / 1000 x $5 CPM = $300,000
$300,000 x 12 months = $3.6M
$3.6M / 1M fans = $3.60

After the Adweek article hit the intrawebs last Tuesday, the emails came flurrying in. Rick Murray, our fearless leader and President of Edelman Digital said that the value of each individual fan will vary depending on some key variables:

* the quantity of engagement (frequency)

# the size of their personal networks (reach)

# the value of the actions they take… and that various people within their networks take

I agree with him and here’s why. Not all customers are created equal. Assuming the above formula is right and all I do as a fan is consume content, I am worth $3.60. But what if I do more than just consume it? Doesn’t my value go up if I comment on it, share it, and tweet about it? Doesn’t it also go up if I have 1,000 friends in my network versus just 100?

Metrics mogul Chris Lightner chimed in and brought up some excellent points and poked some serious holes in the calculation. And since he is much smarter than me, I won’t attempt to summarize:

First off, I appreciate the approach, leveraging “additional impressions generated by fans” in combination with a known media value of $5 CPM. But this $3.60 valuation heavily relies on the fact that the brand needs to post 730 status updates a year (or twice a day) to reach that $3.60 assumed value per fan. Two posts a day? This seems extremely high, even for the most active brands mentioned in this article (over engagement can result in loss of fans, no?). They’re taking the 1M customers and multiplying by 60 posts a month (each customer generating an additional impression), then valuing those impressions at a $5 CPM.

But, what if you’re like the real Starbucks Facebook page (Edelman client) that exists in real life and only posts 0.67 posts per day (I sampled the past 30 days and counted 20 posts), then what? Let’s use their real numbers:

6.8M Fans, x 20 Status Updates (0.67 per day for one month) x 1 additional impression per fan, x $5 CPM

If my math is correct (it is, I checked), that comes out to $680,000 in monthly value. Annualized, that’s $8,160,000 in media value. Divide that by their number of fans and you have a value of $1.20 per fan. This is using the exact process outlined in this article and makes perfect sense since the actual calculation uses 20 posts per month instead of 60, exactly 1/3 the number quoted in the article (and a result exactly 1/3 of the $3.60 stated in the article). So where did the 2 posts per day come from? If you posted 10 times a day would your fans be worth $18 in media value? I’m having trouble agreeing with that.

Let’s touch on the “1 impression per fan” assumption one more time. This is a key metric to consider when calculating the media value from social, but you also need to consider the connectivity of fans (and thus impressions generated from brand posts) is going to vary greatly from brand to brand. I looked at the fan pages for three of our larger clients and found that the impressions generated per fan per post were extremely different. This was due largely in part to the type of fans attracted to their page, as well as the type of content the brand is posting to their feed. The impressions generated per fan varied from 0.55 impressions to 1.2 impressions, all the way up to 4 impressions per fan per post! Make sure you know how many impressions are generated from your posts before you move forward with this calculation (available to the administrators of Facebook fan pages).

Would I be cheating if I just say that I completely agree with Chris? Well, I do but I’ll try and add a little value here. I decided to list the fan value for a few well known brands on Facebook with more than a million fans using the same formula:

* Coca Cola – $0.96 cents (5.3M fans and posts about 16 times per month)

* Youtube – $1.92 (4.8M fans and posts about 32 times per month)

* Pringles – $.030 (3.1M fans and posts about 5 times per month, in a good month)

* Adidas – $2.40 (2.7M fans and posts about 40 times per month. Also sharing links to their e-commerce store so one would assume that their fan value is much higher)

* Red Bull – $1.14 (2.5M fans and posts about 19 times per month)

The key takeaway in the formula isn’t necessarily the total number of fans a brand has on its page; but how often they are posting content. In fact, you can plug in any number in the formula for total fans and the value doesn’t change. The important thing to remember is that if you use this methodology to quantify the value of your fans, ensure that you use “real” numbers that Facebook provides to the page administrators.

And, not to reiterate what Chris has already said but … over engagement ALWAYS results in a loss of fans. I speak from experience managing a branded fan page and as a consumer who has un-fanned pages because of stream spam.

What say you? Do you agree that a Facebook fan is worth $3.60? Why or why not? Edelman Digital

Edelman Digital: Beauty Goes Geek

Originally posted on The Naked Pheasant.

A few weeks ago luxury fashion brand Chanel announced to the world the launch of its ecommerce platform, becoming the latest premium brand to embark on an online sales strategy.

In the past, such brands have maintained a niche business model built around ‘exclusivity’ and an ‘aspirational lifestyle’ that was intended to be unattainable by the masses. Like season sales, online shopping was, and is still, very much perceived to have the ability to devalue brands. In an industry where exclusivity means everything, broadening accessibility is usually something to be avoided. We only have to look at Burberry in the early noughties when it was garishly worn by ‘chavs’ all over England which had serious consequences on the brand in the years to follow.

But at a time when economic conditions continue to remain uncertain and as many fashion labels have suffered a sharp decline in sales, brands like Chanel have reconsidered their sales and digital marketing strategies, turning their interests towards the internet and social media platforms which present strong growth opportunities. These alternatives are also viewed favourably as the effectiveness of traditional glossy print advertising is questioned and the resonance it was once considered to have on consumers continues to flail.

Chanel is not the first luxury brand to yield to such pressures, (Louis Vuitton and Hermes have already led the way), nor will it be the last, but the decision for what is arguably the most sophisticated fashion house in the world to open an online sales platform may represent a new era for luxury brands.

Elite brands have always rationalised exclusivity through a customer’s sensory experience. It’s not just the quality and design of a product that is symbolic of a brand’s heritage; seeing and touching, as well as customisation, store atmosphere and personal service all translate into a premium experience. With such strong values to consider, recreating a brand’s presence online is more than a small task.

Burberry has done this with remarkable success. By engaging consumers with its Twitter account, Facebook page, and its most recent campaign – the ‘Art of the Trench’ – the brand continued to reach even greater heights by experimenting with technology in an effort to captivate young, affluent ‘Millennials’.

Earlier this year Burberry gave the fashion world what’s been described as a ‘technological makeover’ as it streamed its London Fashion Week show in 3D to five cities around the world which could be viewed live online by fashionistas everywhere. The effect it had on the colours, fabrics and textures of the clothes invited the audience to become part of the experience. Such digital initiatives contributed to the brand’s sales increase and it is now reported that the online channel has now surpassed sales in many flagship stores.

I think that opening an online platform is a good move for Chanel. Starting off by selling its fragrances online and potentially including its fashion accessories range later in the year, the platform helps keep the brand in-line with the competition. However, I doubt that it will go as far as making its handbags available as they continue to remain key to the brand and could damage Chanel’s brand equity and image of exclusivity if they were made widely available.
Edelman Digital