Entries Tagged 'Mike Spataro' ↓

Everywhere I go these days it seems like I run into people who are scrambling to fill what appears to be the trendiest new job in corporate America today - head of social media.

Everyone from Harvard to confidential global brands are putting feelers out to find people who can lead their social media programs. It’s going to be interesting to see how things progress as more brands move from measurement to engagement.

In 2007, more dollars started shifting to social media, but the big turning point for many companies is the movement in the form of existing employees or new hires to drive strategies across multiple functional areas within a company. The leading brands in social media understand that corporate integration across the entire organization is crucial to success.

Mike Spataro

Michael Dell’s interview with Shel Israel provides a great glimpse inside his company’s strategic approach to social media – a term you almost feel the Dell CEO doesn’t like when you read between the lines of his interview. It’s easy to see why the tech giant has gone from the poster child for not getting the blogging community to among the best in the world at it in just a few short years.

To Michael Dell, it’s all just an extension of his company’s longstanding policy to listen and learn from its customers and detractors. The only difference is it’s now through this new channel on the Web. Rather than steal Shel’s thunder, its better you hop on over to his site for the full interview. My favorite Dell quote from the piece though is, “We don’t own our reputation, we just own our actions.”

And while Dell continues to get a lion’s share of credit for its social media accomplishments, dozens of other brands are doing just as well operating somewhat under the radar and outside the media spotlight. One of those companies is Disney. Even though its been up and running for several months, very few people have noticed or written about the wildly successful Disney Moms Panel of experts who advise people about visiting Disney Parks and Resorts.

I was fortunate in a previous job to work with the PR machine at Disneyland on several major campaigns. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that Disney struggled for years with its Web strategy and wasn’t the first to jump into social media. However, a lot has changed over the past year and the Moms Panel is proof positive that change is underway in the land of Mickey. Yes, Disney hand-picked the moms and trained them, but they exercise no editorial control over responses.

The fact that more than 10,000 people volunteered to be one on the panel tells you how powerful social media can be for Disney in the years ahead. It’s hard to imagine a brand that doesn’t have more to gain - or lose - based on how it addresses the new challenges of communicating with its customers online. Keep in mind, this is a brand that has a history dating back to Walt himself of controlling every single item of what has been published about its global company and image, so getting used to giving up some of that message control is definitely a bit scary. Look for more good things from the folks at Disney this year.

Mike Spataro

I’m a big fan of the Web and new media as there is, but sometimes you have to take your hat off to great television programming, what little of it seems to be left these days. Two programs I would strongly suggest you see or get your hands on copies of are the documentary series Pioneers of Television on PBS, which showcases the greats of variety TV, late night, game shows and sitcoms. What a terrific series regardless of which era you grew up in.

The other is HBO’s Mr. Warmth, the story of comedian Don Rickles, directed by John Landis. You don’t even have to like Don Rickles to like this outstanding documentary. You will die laughing - guaranteed.

Mike Spataro

The good people over at PRWeek provided me with an opportunity to discuss the 2008 social media landscape in a piece published this week called “Social Media’s Impact Still Growing.” (subscription required). Full text below, and comments are always welcomed.

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This is shaping up to be another banner year for social media and a good time for everyone in marketing and PR to pay a lot closer attention to this fast evolving medium - if you aren’t already. Social media, loosely defined as consumers creating and sharing content and information online, exploded in 2007. If you’ve been waiting for this trend to go away, you’re going to have a very long wait.

Social media is now appearing in every aspect of society and form of media we consume today. Flip on the TV to the latest presidential debate and networked voters on YouTube ask questions along with Wolf Blitzer and instantaneously share their opinions across the Web. Click onto USAToday.com and reader reactions to breaking news are displayed in the header with as much prominence as stories written by veteran journalists.

There is little question anymore that social media impacts the news industry. A recent Brodeur study found that 75% of journalists say blogs and other forms of social media help shape editorial coverage. Mainstream media organizations are redefining the way they provide value in this fragmented media landscape by smartly combining citizen perspectives with their trusted brand of journalism.

Social media also permeates every corner of the Internet - not just in the well-known communities of Facebook and MySpace, where a combined 500,000 people join those two sites alone each day. A recent study concluded that 70% of Americans 15-34 are actively involved in some form of social networks. When you consider that only one-sixth of the world’s population is online today, it’s easy to see that social media is really in its infancy.

This global trend has not escaped the attention of forward-thinking companies, many of which are now listening and learning from people around the world. Over the past year, more brands began shifting some of their marketing communications and research priorities to focus on this area. It’s not just lip service.

“The rise of social media is causing companies to rethink how they allocate marketing dollars,” says Jeff Zabin, research fellow at Aberdeen Group, who also predicts that social media is quickly moving from the “fringe to the center.” Consumers are freely providing brands with an endless source of insights about their products, customer service, and competitors. Savvy marketers are identifying where customers and influencers intersect on the Web and are quickly improving their ability to listen, learn and participate. Richard Feinberg, director of the Center for Customer-Driven Quality at Purdue University hit the nail on the head when he recently stated, “Businesses that don’t participate are going to be left behind.”

The quickest way to keep pace is to be part of the communities that mean the most to your brand or clients. The PR industry’s heritage in earning coverage instead of paying for placements give it a leg up in winning the trust of a new generation of influencers.

The time is more than right to make social media a strategic priority in 2008 by elevating its importance within your organization, listening a lot closer to what’s going on and what’s being said, educating your employees, and measuring the impact of social media on your brand.

Mike Spataro

By now you’ve probably heard about the KFC Super Bowl “Chicken Dance” promotion. I sure did — on local TV newscasts in three different cities on three different days. I can only imagine how many other stations and papers carried the story, which probably cost KFC almost nothing to create and most likely reaped them millions of dollars in “free” editorial coverage.

In case you did miss it, the fast food chain announced that it would donate $260,000 to charity in the name of the first member of the New England Patriots or New York Giants who performs the chicken dance after scoring a touchdown at this year’s Super Bowl. Knowing that news organizations are dying for anything remotely interesting to say about the game, KFC wisely announced the promotion one week in advance of the game before the real media blitz kicked in.

It’s no secret they also knew the NFL would not react kindly to the promotion since KFC isn’t an official sponsor of the Super Bowl, ensuring the story would live for more than one day. On top of that, NFL player agents are now contacting the company about the proposed offer. Sounds like a few smart chickens over at KFC.
On the flip side, I’ve noticed here in Boston what appears to be another new form of advertising that I haven’t seen in other parts of the country just yet. I don’t know if this has been going on where you live, but the appearance of advertising on my dry cleaning seems like another desperate attempt by an industry scrambling for new ways to reach (and apparently annoy) consumers. Even the ad’s tagline, “Dry Humor, Clean Fun,” for the TBS Bill Engvall makes me wince. I doubt I’ll be tuning in to watch just because they’ve plastered an intrusive message on the side of a plastic bag. I’m curious to know if others have seen this form of advertising in their neck of the woods.

Mike Spataro