Paul Blunden

Two items caught my eye in NMA (1st July 2010). The first was Ilana Fox’s about social media and whether companies have a moral obligation to their customers once they build up a relationship. Fox opens proclaiming that social media is “the new, inexpensive way to increase brand awareness and boost sales....” and it was this statement that sparked my interest.

Later in NMA Will Cooper reports on the court’s decision to let Google off the hook over infringing Viacom’s Copywrite which relates also to the question of how much time and effort organisations are going to need to invest in the future to engage with, research and manage their social media presence. I don’t believe “Social Media” is inexpensive unless it is “done” poorly.

Social Media is a collective term that describes a range of interactions between brands and their prospects, customers, ex-customers and others that they have no control of but can participate in. It is inexpensive in monetary terms for the individual to participate with the major investment being time and energy. Organisations however pay for their time, or that of agencies and so it is as expensive as the investment they are prepared to make.

Relating this to an old fashioned offline social networking situation by way of illustration, consider people who belong to a camera club. They meet regularly in their own time to discuss their area of interest and because they are social animals they no doubt occasionally go off-piste and discuss football or politics.

If I am Canon, I have a number of ways of engaging with these people. I can advertise in editorials they read, I can attend events and demonstrate my equipment and love of photography and I can even send one of my people along to join the camera club and participate directly. I could promote products or even pick up product complaints and customer service issues at the meeting and integrate this physical capture in to a ticketing system. All of this would take a tremendous investment in time and effort not only in making it happen but also in the processes and systems to connect this activity with the company.

Just because it is relatively easy to initially participate in the social network does not mean it is low cost. Anyone can stick half a dozen Facebook-savvy students in a room and ask them to participate but how does this really relate back to the business and the brand. If it is not properly thought through the reputation of the organisation is put at serious risk because in the social network word spreads – fast!

Fox asks what a brand should do if an organisation develops a relationship with a customer who then threatens suicide and whether they have a moral obligation to act. Offline, if someone threatened suicide in Tesco or in my corner shop I am pretty sure that some sort of action, probably involving the police or another emergency service would take place. The difference is whatever that action was would not spread like wild fire. Online it will, particularly now when social media is in the spot light.

I can relate this argument to any aspect of Social Media from poorly executed and delivered “listening” engagements (isn’t this just research and shouldn’t it follow the same rigorous approach) to poorly executed sales campaigns. The social network offers organisations huge opportunity but so does the Chinese market. Neither should be entered without proper planning, capabilities and commitment.

About the author

Paul Blunden is CEO at Foviance. See more: http://www.foviance.com/who-we-are/foviance-consultants/paul-blunden-ceo/ .

About the company

Foviance is a leading cross-channel customer experience consultancy that helps some of the world’s best known global brands to deliver better customer experiences that drive improvements in customer satisfaction for increased customer loyalty and better financial performance.

Founded in 2000 and with a heritage in usability research and data analytics, Foviance delivers research and analytics-based consultancy to its clients about the effectiveness of their individual channels, such as mobile, web and call centre and how they combine in a cross-channel environment. For many clients, insight is provided not only in their home market, but also internationally through Foviance extensive alliance network.

Foviance engages with its customers wherever they are in their product lifecycle, and provides insight so they understand how to improve, create and deliver excellent customer experiences. Foviance boasts 43 of the UK FTSE 100 companies among its client roster, including Barclays, BSkyB, and Sainsbury’s. In addition Foviance works with International brands such as AstraZeneca, Dell and Nokia. Foviance has offices in London and Shanghai. For further information please visit: www.foviance.com.