Social MediaThe evolution on media and communication

Change of the content consumptionImpact on the brand

March 2009

frozenfrogs

MèdiaWe often see media on a squared box: newspaper ads, tv ads, banner, flyers and so on. And again, often we live it in one way: the tv tells you to… , the brand tells you to..., the testimonial tells you to..., and so on.

But now that social networks such as Youtube, Facebook, MySpace or Twitter are well established in everyone life, it is obvious that communications between brand and consumer are changing.

But, really, what is happening?

Media is evolving and the audience is not just receiving the message. They get it, change it, share it and even send it back to the sender.

Terms such as word of mouth, viral, facebook, social media marketing, tag are becoming standard marketing words. Brand new tools? No. A natural evolution on how people communicate.

Let’s see what is changing.

frozenfrogs

Change of content consumption in Italy

The first effect of the evolution of the media is the change in the content consumption by the users. Blogs, in Italy, are reaching the saturation poing. Video consumption in on the rise.

The textual web is leaving room for the rich media, a more entertaining experience.

We can imagine that blogs are the tip of the social media iceberg, opening the road to a more deep and complete use of the net.

* Fonte: Universal McCann

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

2006 2007 2008

Video Blog Social Networks Podcast RSS

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

Daily Weekly

Frequency daily/weekly

Video Blog Social Networks Podcast RSS

frozenfrogs

First impact for the brand

What is changing for the brand?

No surprise that consumers reach their store already informed on what they want to buy. Nielsen showed us how consumers reach the store before shopping. It is likely to see a similar behaviour online.

Well, this is not the hot news.

And really, even that consumers can share opinions easier and faster, is not the big news.

Consumers are getting comfortable sharing their opinions online, both positive and negative Basically, they are climbing the learning curve. They are getting more and more confident with the basic 2.0 tools. We can expect more and more opinions shared online, and this should not be underestimated.

* Source: Nielsen

Shopping Center Ipermarkets Multimedia Store

33%13%

29%

22%

21%

21%

24%49%

25%

What do you know about your next thing to buy, before reaching the shop?*

I know everything With some clues Clueless

I share my un-satisfaction

I share my satisfaction

I read others opinions22%

15%

15%

27%

17%

18%

2008 2007

frozenfrogs

Time to InnovateThe first thing associated to social media is “blog”, but after seeing the Wave3 report, are we sure that blogs are the silver bullets for a social media strategy?

The creation and distribution of new content must adopt a more sociological and scientific approach. It is not anymore a matter of buying ad-units in the right place.

Why?

Consumers are now in fragmented and personalised spaces, and reaching them will be harder and harder.

Besides, the growing ad pressure, both online and offline, is making the audience a bit… careless? After all, for them, advertising means “fake”. (Nielsen BuzzMetric 2007, US consumer).

This can bring to continuous increase of conversion costs. And when these costs will be too high, even the best performance based model of advertising can not be effective.

First step to innovate? Listening over your corporate walls and grab momentum.

David Armano came out with an interest chart (see above).

The big launch with big budget might not be the most efficient way these days. If the audience does not get the right perception of your product, every economic offer will always be too high.

But if you can pre-launch your product, and examine the first opinions online, you will get those precious insights to improve your marketing & communication strategy.

strategy

insightplan

launchcampaign plan

launchcampaignstrategy

insight

adjustmeasure

1.Listen2.Think3.Act

frozenfrogs

Brand benchmark

We often see discussions about brand and online conversations, but are they related?

Considering the top 10 Italian brands (Interbrand 2008) by capital value, and cross-checking them with their impact on social media, we see a different scenario.

It is not a fact of being or not being inside a social network. A profile and its popularity (followers, fan, friends), on its own, does not impact a brand in any way. However, the main topics discussed by consumers can make a difference.

* data: Social Media Index from Vitrue.com

Gucci

Prada

Ferrari

Armani

Bulgari

D&G

Diesel

Geox

Pirelli

Benetton €1.107

€1.459

€1.567

€1.947

€2.220

€2.577

€2.729

€2.730

€2.775

€6.338

Inte

rBra

nd

Ferrari

Diesel

Gucci

Prada

D&G

Armani

Pirelli

Benetton

Bulgari

Geox 1

2

3

5

27

38

95

104

157

176

* Vitr

ue S

MI

frozenfrogs

I own, therefore I am

Groups and Facebook Fan Pages seem a representation of the concept of “I own, therefore I am”. If we look at the fan photos in Gucci Fan Page (210.358 fans in FB) they are a showoff of users with their Gucci shoes/sunglasses/bags; expecially on this group, do not even try to upload a picture of yourself with a fake Gucci product.

About Prada: users are just interested on shoes and bags. A pity considering all their beautiful productions but, like Armani, there is a sober and relaxed attitude.

Video sharing platforms are often a collection of the best tv ads and, without stopping to Prada, Gucci and Armani, these platforms are a great way to feed video materials from the Fashion exhibitions to everyone.

These platforms can help a brand spot upcoming threats too. As your Burberry coat can deny you access into a London pub, Gucci is an aspirational brand with strong connection with the hip hop world.

Blogs2%Photo Sharing2%

Micro Blogs22%

Video Sharing13%

Social Networks61%

Prada

Blogs4%

Photo Sharing4%

Micro Blogs28%

Video Sharing21%

Social Networks44%

Armani

Blogs2%Photo Sharing

2%Micro Blogs

11%Video Sharing

17%

Social Networks68%

Gucci

frozenfrogs

Not just TV

Blogs2%

Photo Sharing2%

Micro Blogs29%

Video Sharing60%

Social Networks8%

D&G

Blogs12%

Photo Sharing4%

Micro Blogs28%

Video Sharing49%

Social Networks7%

Bulgari

As we started to experience before, “brand lovers” use video sharing platforms to share their favourite ads and, considering D&G and Armani, all their related business like the Gold Restaurant D&G in Milan or the Armani home forniture line.

Even more, both brands have their peculiarities.

D&G provocative campaigns did not get the same negative reaction from the press. Actually the audience loved them, without being disturbed by the sexual references.

The audience also loved the tv ad aired by Bulgari, with Kate Moss. We can understand that most of Bulgari products are not for everyone, however we were expecting more conversations about sunglasses and other accessories.

frozenfrogs

Not just TV

Blogs7%

Photo Sharing8%

Micro Blogs23%

Video Sharing56%

Social Networks6%

Pirelli

Blogs10%

Photo Sharing10%

Micro Blogs23%

Video Sharing42%

Social Networks14%

Benetton

About Pirelli, the audience interest is on their ads and on the minifilm with Uma Thurman.

Pirelli, however, before being a brand, is a chemical industry for the audience. That is why Pirelli is rarely a topic of discussion but, strangely, their extension on the shoes industry was nearly ignored.

Benetton, definitely better aligned to the Inditex brands than the high fashion brands previously discussed, it finds its space on video and photo sharing platforms thanks to the sport sponsorships and, of course, to the very distinguishable work of Oliviero Toscani.

A strong visual style and one of the most important calendars let Benetton and Pirelli gain shares on photo sharing platforms.

frozenfrogs

The special ones: Diesel, Geox, Ferrari

Blogs3%

Photo Sharing4%

Micro Blogs24%

Video Sharing36%

Social Networks33%

Diesel

Blogs13%

Photo Sharing2%

Micro Blogs56%

Video Sharing26%

Social Networks3%

Geox

Blogs2%

Photo Sharing7%

Micro Blogs25%

Video Sharing44%

Social Networks22%

Ferrari

Ferrari does not need explanations. Status symbol and part of every men dream, it is the top brand. With a nearly equal distribution on video, text and photo.

Geox is the last in the ranking. However, after a qualitative analysis, we see that the conversation is from different markets rather than just Italy. A proof of Geox succesfully moving into other markets? It looks like yes!

Diesel, as we can also see in the online conversation, creates its international brand by not loosing momentum and adapting fast to the market.

frozenfrogs

Is it time for social media marketing?Now the big question… is it now time for social media marketing?

To answer, we need to examine two words:media and marketing.

Media: surely social media is a great extension of all the new-media activities but, because it is based on conversations, can it live on its own? Probably not.

So, can we still use the word marketing? If this media bases itself on conversation, it is very likely that the audience is not very recepitive on marketing messages. Like in Truman Show, talking with a marketing cut results to be annoying.

Social Media is not an alternative to the advertisement, but it can help traditional marketing campaigns - with the same marketing spending - to obtain better performances.

If I gain trust, my marketing message gains some trusts too. I can count on better performance of my marketing and communication campaigns.

You need 360 degrees content. Is it time to move away from using only your preferred way to communicate.

If you want to get started, ask yourself:

•Which content can I produce? And with which frequency?

•Where are my consumers? And what about their main concerns?

•Which are my limits? Do I need help? Do I have resources?

•Talking about metrics, which are the best one? What do I really need to measure?

•What do I hope to obtain? Can the final feedback help my business?

•What do I really want to say? And what do they really want to hear?

frozenfrogs

frozenfrogs

This research took place on Febbraio 2009, with the crosscheck of data from Interbrand and the Social Media Index (SMI) from Vitrue (www.vitrue.com). Data represented on charts are quantitative data only. Qualitative insights are expressed in the comments.

About this research

For any questions, you can write to Denis Rasia denis@frozenfrogs.it

Creative Commons NC-SA 3.0

Contacts

Copyright Notice

FrozenFrogsDigital Media Agency

frozenfrogs

Our projects start from listening to, and learning, from the online conversation of the consumers, analysing their online behaviours.

From their behavious and online activities, users send feedback and ideas that can help you reach results in terms of Engagement, Co-Creation, Conversation and, consequently, better results.

We strongly believe that the performance of an online business depends from the trust that you can establish with your clients.

We can help you establish this relation.

FrozenFrogs is a digital media agency, focused on the social media.

Thank you

frozenfrogs