Download Innovations in communication: need for new ideas to engage the

Insights
Strategy Documents
I22/2012
Communication
Innovations in
communication: need for
new ideas to engage the
entire society
Doing things differently is as important today as making things that are
different from the ones produced by others. Traditional challenges in the area of
communication are complemented by new challenges of the digital world and
force professionals and companies to look for new creative ideas that would boost
not only communication proper, but business in general.
Is it possible that the ideas that worked in the
pre-digital era are still viable? What is key for
innovations in communication at the moment, in
the context of the new digital world? What has to
be done to ensure that communication innovations
are effective in the online environment?
the technological progress and democratisation
of technologies, which goes hand in hand with
influence. However, never before have we
observed a reality where all actors were at the
same time producers, authors, distributors and
recipients of their own or other peoples’ ideas,
content and information.
Challenges faced by brands in the current
context are changing the roles of communication
professionals, who realise that the influence they
used to enjoy in the past, is decreasing. Technologies
are changing this at an exponential rate: currently
more information is produced than over the whole
history of humankind, and according to forecasts,
in 2020 we will be producing 85 times more
information than at the moment.
That’s why communication professionals are trying
to reinvent their role, to get familiar with the new
scenarios and play safely. If there is one word that
defines the profession of communication, it is the
change: by its nature, the role of communication
was to shape public opinion as well as the vision
of companies, brands and the environment to make
sure that they adapt to the changing times.
Current transformation of the media and the
communication is similar to many other advances
experienced in the course of history thanks to
According to Ben Bradfield, Weber Shandwick’s
Director for Innovation, EMEA, the purpose of
communication as a professional field is to change
This document was prepared by Corporate Excellence – Centre forReputationLeadership and contains references among other sources to
the statements of Ben Padfield, Chief Innovation Officer EMEA, Weber Shandwick, during the workshop New Challenges of the Economy
of Ideas: How to Innovate in Communication? organized by Weber Shandwick jointly with Dircom in Madrid, on May 8, 2012.
Innovations in
communication:
need for new ideas
to engage the
entire society
behaviours, convince and modify/promote/
reinforce attitudes that lead to certain behaviours
by using messages and content that connect
audiences with companies.
The main change: loss of control
An essential change that came about in the past few
years is the loss of communication initiative on the
part of companies and communication professionals.
In fact, many companies and professionals of the
sector still act as if they were in control of the
process, thus directing erroneous strategies and
communication policies.
But what is happening to ordinary people? What are
they doing with the power that returned to its true
owners? People take advantage of the availability
and quick access to information in order to shape an
opinion and act in favour or against different causes.
The behaviour of citizens, including their role as
consumers in the economic dimension has become
“It is more
important than
ever before to
engage persons
in the process
of development,
creation and
distribution
of content and
communications
of brands”
more revolutionary, proactive and demanding than
ever before. The demands that they express are
no longer limited to what concerns them directly,
they are increasing and affect the core of business
management.
Padfield believes that the capacity of companies
to revert this process, turn it around and use it as
an opportunity to a large extent determines their
success in the new scenario of communication.
That is why the best brands have tried to promote
– jointly with their audiences – new ideas, new
concepts and new content that manage to unite
them around a cause or a project.
In the world where the attention and time of
people are more precious than ever, it is extremely
important to involve people in the process of
development, creation and distribution of content
and communication. This is because those who
have been considered amateurs will soon become
true communication professionals.
Gráfico 1: Drivers of World Class Brand Sociability
1. It‘s not the medium – and it‘s more
than the message
World class brands are much more likely
than the average brand to create original
content. 45% of them create content
specifically for social media purposes,
compared to 28% of all global companies.
World class brands depend upon much
more than just the medium to make
themselves social.
2. Put yor brands in motion
World class companies do more than
experiment with social media tools. They
apply their tools in more social ways than
the average global company. For example,
they are 44% more likely to offer
brand-related mobile content, 43% more
likely to participate in “check-in” apps,
41% more likely to do proximity marketing
and 40% more likely to have their own
branded YouTube channel.
3. Integrate or die
World class organizations are much better
integrators of brand personality – they are
nearly twice as likely as other
organizations to have a consistent brand
personality across all social and
traditional media channels and are much
more likely to include a social media
element to their traditional print or
broadcast messaging.
4. Make social central
61% of world class brands have a
dedicated social media strategist or
manager, vs. 41% of all global brands.
“The most important thing we can do is to
centrally plan social media activities
across all channels to amplify key
messages.” – Global Executive.
5. Listen more tan you talk
World class companies fine-tune their
messages to customer and integrate what is
on their brand stories. Nearly twice as
many world class brands have changed a
product or service based on fan
recommendations compared to the average
global brand.
6. Count what matters – meaningful
engagement
World class brands place more weight than
other brands on their number of
contributors when measuring social media
effectiveness. Social contributors are
ranked #1 by world class companies but #6
by other companies as mey metric.
7. Think global
Executives managing world class brands
consider global reach as important as
customer service as a driver of corporate
reputation while the average global
executive ranks global reach last. “Our
social branding goals involve a very firm
commitment to increase the recognition of
the company’s globalization.” – Global
Executive.
8. Go outside to get inside
World class companies are nearly twice as
likely as average global companies to
engage outside support to enhance and
measure their brands social performance.
9. Be vigilant
To protect their social brand integrity,
world class brands are always on high alert.
Compared to the average global company,
they are 85% more vigilant since Wikileaks
has been in the news and the 58% more
likely to be concerned about privacy
violations.
Source: Weber Shandwick, 2011.
Insights
2
Innovations in
communication:
need for new ideas
to engage the
entire society
That’s why brands need to create true social
experiences in order to activate these relations
with their audiences: they are no longer just Trade
Marks (TM) from the commercial point of view: they
have turned into Common Marks(CM) from the
social point of view. In this sense, as was pointed
out by McLuhan, brands are more than just a
message media, and the public can be viewed as the
audience and the channel at a time, they are cocommunicators. That’s why we observe cooperation
in the business domain, as companies realise that
together they are more efficient and can benefit
from greater value generated jointly.
the brands’ social exposure, as opposed to 45% in
2010, and the figure is expected to increase to 65%
in the next three years.
The audiences are more
influential than the media
The fact that the world today is entirely
interconnected and favours viral spreading
patterns seems to be obvious. However, in
this new context it is important to understand
that there are two elements that in addition to
engagement and cooperation in production and
distribution mentioned above, ensure success of the
communication strategy: on the one hand, one has
to have an excellent idea that would truly match
expectations of consumers; and on the other hand,
these ideas should be developed from the audiovisual
perspective, because this will increase their impact
(visual thinking instead of verbal thinking, because
people are always more open to share images rather
than words).
All of the above proves that it is important
for companies to have a clear position in the
social sphere, to know their own social focus. A
recent opinion poll held by Weber Shandwick
internationally and published in the end of 2011
shows that managers of global brands attribute 52%
of their reputation achievements to the degree of
“The brand’s
audience is its
main channel of
communication
and
recommendations
are the currency
in the new
reputation
economy”
Gráfico 2: Why does brand sociability matter?
Global brand executives
attibute 52 % of their brand‘s
reputation to how social it is
today. They project in to be
65 % in three years.
65 %
%
52 %
45 %
go
y
toda
in 3
ears
y
+45
ar a
1 ye
54 %
23 %
Rewards
outweigh risks
One-third say quality of
online presence or
engagement is a
prime driver of
corporate
reputation
20 %
3%
Global brand
executives think
the rewards of social
media outweigh the
risks by more than
a 2-to-1 margin.
Don‘t know
Risk Risks and rewards are fairly even
outweigh rewards
BUT...
33 %
84
A large majority of
global executives
believe their brand‘s
sociability is not yet “world class.”
%
Source: Weber Shandwick, 2011.
Insights
3
Innovations in
communication:
need for new ideas
to engage the
entire society
Given these three elements (cooperation, invention
and visualisation), the contribution of the user to
spreading of information on many occasions will be
a proven and measureable fact.
Achieving interaction between persons, becoming
a contact point for different audiences is essential
for establishing this social positioning so much
desired by many brands that are operating on the
market.
Brand reputation is more than ever affected by this
third element (in addition to what they do and say):
what is said about them by their users rather than
just consumers. Their influence capacity to a large
extent determines this capacity of the brand.
That’s why it is so important for the brands today
to have users and followers who generate influence,
who, in addition to informing, are able to present
information in a favourable light, link, motivate
and direct the communication. This is a great
change from the past, when communication was
controlled by the brands.
Therefore, the brand’s audience is its main channel
of communication and recommendations are the
currency in the new reputation economy: today
audiences are more important and influential than
the media. Social advocacy is a technique that
allows the best brands to receive a higher level of
feedback to move in the direction that matches
expectations of its users and to be more active than
their competitors when it comes to creating and
sharing, generating and spreading.
Conclusion: the era of influential ideas
In the economy of reputation the best reputation
is achieved through cooperation with the society
and different stakeholders at the time when it is
important to create and share value. But this value
is a product of exchange of ideas, projects and
hopes. The new economy that we are building (or
the anarconomy characterized by lack of central
control, according to the definition suggested
by Jonathan C. Hall, Professor of the Columbia
University), is not only the economy of attention
and reputation. It is also the economy of ideas.
Only the best communication ideas succeed, and
the best ideas are usually the result of talent and
knowledge interaction, the know-how of the entire
universe of users and individuals. Engagement is
the most important value of the exchange, and the
ideas that favour greater connection and exchange
are those based on the human values and attitudes.
Activating the close circle of a user (his or her
family, friends and colleagues), in addition to
involving them, is the most direct and effective way
of transforming him or her into a true ambassador
and – favourable – activist for the brand, and
achieving that this person shares the goals, methods,
objectives and strategies of this brand.
Those brands that allow their users to interact
with them in the process of management and
communication, have fun and enjoy this process,
are those that achieve greater engagement and as a
result, better reputation. The true brand innovation
at the moment is sharing initiative with the
users and turning them into the best channels of
expressing the brand’s creativity.
Insights
4
Leading by
reputation
©2012 Corporate Excellence – Centre for Reputation Leadership
Business foundation created by large companies to professionalize the management of intangible assets and contribute to the development
of strong brands, with good reputation and able to compete in the global market. Its mission is to be the driver which leads and consolidates
the professional management of reputation as a strategic resource that guides and creates value for companies throughout the world.
Legal Notice
This document is property of the Corporate Excellence – Centre for Reputation Leadership and has as its objective to share business
knowledge about Brand, Reputation, Communication and Public Affairs Management.
Corporate Excellence – Centre for Reputation Leadership is the owner of all the intellectual property rights of the images, texts, designs
and any other content or elements of this product and has the necessary permission for its use, and therefore, its copy, distribution, public
release or transformation is prohibited, without express authorization from the owner.