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Archive for the ‘Insights’ Category

Blog, Insights, Planning, Pulsar, Social Data, Social Media

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Small Networks Trump Influencers

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With all the talk about online influencers over the past few years, you’d think they were the holy grail of online marketing. Klout has made a business of it and many bloggers use sponsored posts to help pay the bills. But, the funny thing is, if you want to get the word out about your brand, product, or cause, influencers aren’t actually where you should be focusing your efforts. Let me explain.

Yes, influencers do help – I’m not going to deny that. Get Lady Gaga to tweet about your charity or fashion statement, and tons of fans will go out to investigate it. Want mothers to start using your diapers? Yes, try to get the mommy bloggers to write something up about them. But that tactic will only do so much. It leads to a spike in sales, but not a long-term trend. As a word-of-mouth marketing strategy, it’s limited.

Oprah Winfrey

This has been known in the publishing industry for quite some time as an effect of book clubs. An initial spike is launched by one large book club, like Oprah’s book club (she’d be your influencer), but the long-term trend continues as smaller book clubs pick up the torch and then those readers pass on the good book to their friends in turn.

This phenomenon becomes traceable as a long tail. It’s not just about the niche topic, it’s about the niche communities, of which there may be several for each topic.

We did a joint study with our sister agency Blonde not too long ago that illustrates this nicely. This study was actually where we developed the concept for the content tracking feature of Pulsar TRAC, our recently launched advanced social intelligence platform that pushes social media research beyond keyword tracking.

Meet Irn-Bru

Irn Bru

Irn-Bru is a soft drink that’s spectacularly popular in Scotland. So much so you wouldn’t be far off calling it the national Scottish drink. In fact it is one of the rare carbonated beverages to outsell Coca-Cola in any market.

Coming from such a position of strength in its main market, the marketers at Blonde decided to do something a little different when launching a recent commercial. This allowed us to demonstrate the power of small groups in spreading something – and even compare this with the power of influencers.

Releasing a Commercial

Blonde released this commercial by giving it to just one person: a regular young woman on Twitter who had won a competition. Rachel Orr (@larachie on Twitter) started out with just 153 Twitter followers – bang on average. Irn-Bru promoted her account and managed to increase her follower count to 329 – still not exactly Lady Gaga levels – before they gave her the link to the YouTube commercial.

But a few of those followers were “influencers”. Blonde encouraged some of Scottland’s top tweeters to follow @larachie with the incentive that they’d use this as a way to measure their influence. Some of these people included @AndrewBurnett, Head of Social at Yard Digital, and the band Bleed from Within (@bleedfromwithin).

After @larachie tweeted the initial YouTube link, the video reached 100,000 views in one day, led by her but amplified by these influencers.

Small groups trump influencers (at sustaining growth)

So, we have learned that influencers are really awesome at jump-starting an ad campaign. Likewise looking back to my book club example, influencers jumpstart sales. (Thank you, Oprah!)

But how do you keep those sales growing? This is where small groups trump influencers. Small groups, not big influencers, are the Holy Grail of word-of-mouth marketing. Sticking with our book club example, these key groups are the smaller book clubs, the ones that hear about a book from the big influencers and then bring it to people in their community, who then carry the book to another gathering or tell a friend who is part of another book circle, and so on. This is how something goes from an initial spike to a burgeoning trend.

We can see this play out online. In the microcosm that is Twitter, that Irn-Bru commercial continued to grow even after the influencers had played their initial role. Over the next 21 days, the commercial’s YouTube stats increased from 100,000 to 650,000 views. That’s about 26,000 people per day. This coincided with the commercial being passed around smaller, interconnected groups.

The visualization above  depicts not the number of shares or mentions, but the number of connections each account has with other accounts that have also mentioned the YouTube video. As you can see, quite a few are really small – those would be the small groups. Those are the ones that are apparently behind the growth in views for the next three weeks after @larachie launched the commercial.

Yes, the influencers were really helpful. Yes, they probably jump-started the whole thing. But the ones who kept it going, who probably got the video mentioned on the Poke’s Viral of the Day three days after the launch, were the small groups.

Here’s the difference:

  • Influencers: Contribute a big spike, good for a jump start and initial push
  • Small Groups: Contribute more sustained engagement and spread, good for the long term

Find content small groups can get behind

This commercial managed to appeal to many small groups because it was funny, original, and took creative risks. And, of course, because it was Irn-Bru and in Scotland.

This won’t always be the winning content recipe (especially if you’re not Irn-Bru and in Scotland). You need to find content that appeals not just to your audience, but which appeals to specific niches and communities within your audience – the more the better.

Once you do that, your content has a higher chance of spreading naturally – virally. You may still want to include some influencers in your release strategy, of course – It’s not an either/or situation. But if your content isn’t something small groups can get behind, it won’t travel.

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In May we’re releasing a substantial new study into the dynamics of viral video. Sign up for our mailing list here to be one of the first to know.

Advertising, Insights, Social Media, Trends

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Limits to Linkbait? Margaret Thatcher & 6 Brand Bandwagon Jumpers

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Augmented Research, Blog, Innovation, Insights

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“Ideas are worthless” – Why you should be building

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First things first, that quote does not come from me. That came from an extremely inspirational man called Ken Levine on stage at BAFTA (look him up if you’re interested) – and second things second, I don’t agree with him. Of course ideas are worth something – but they’re worth a lot more if you can do something with them.

We all know this – we call it ‘actionability’. But somewhere along the line that word has lost a lot of its meaning, in the same way that you find people talking about ‘strategic’ insights, when you’re working on a tactical project. I think part of the problem here is that it’s very difficult to know if something is actionable unless you actually try to ‘action’ it. Strategic guidelines for products are all well and good – but will they work for distribution? Co-creation output can give you great ideas for social media comms, but can you actually create a content and engagement plan?

You learn a huge amount more when you start to build things – ideas have to remain true to their core while being refined to become usable; which is where things often go wrong. First of all – and this might sound like a bit of a sell – it’s odd that researchers aren’t involved during this process. We’re usually the closest to the data that drives the idea; so can play a pivotal role in keeping ideas anchored to consumer truth as they go through the process of being re-worked to become usable. But there is also a fundamental issue; trying things out can be impractical and expensive. Building – especially if it goes no-where – is hard to justify as a learning exercise. But wait, we already have a solution; the concept. Great! We love using concepts as a way to make sure results are actionable – and much of the work we do involves creating and using concepts to move research forward. But sometimes, a concept isn’t the right approach – sometimes we need to go further.

I’m talking about prototyping. At Face, we’ve been doing more and more of this – finding fast and economical ways to make things and learn from the process of building. Critically, prototyping can be carried out quicker and at a lower cost than many of our clients expect; from paper prototypes and storyboards, to interactive web based prototypes and packaging work ups. As we make these things, we – and our clients – learn more about the core idea. Often this is about finding where it breaks, but also it’s about finding where an idea takes off – for example where an advertising idea creates not just a TVC, but also an idea for print, for social; even for pack and activations. With the right prototyping approach, we don’t just create actionable findings – we action the findings – keeping them close to the core consumer truth and learning along the way. Ultimately what we’re talking about here is about turning insight into reality, demonstrating the credibility of findings and giving you the confidence and knowledge to take the next steps; transforming thinking into commercial value.

So to rephrase our opening quote; why not build your idea and find out what it’s worth.

If you’d like to hear more about our recent work creating prototypes, please get in touch with Riki.Neill@facegroup.co.uk (@Riki_Neill)

Blog, Emerging markets, Face Asia, Insights, Planning, Social Media

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How 3 Western Businesses Are Succeeding in China

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Looking at our past couple of blog posts, you might think we’re a little excited to be opening our new Asian offices in Singapore and Hong Kong, and you’d be right. There’s plenty to be excited about. As I discussed in a previous blog post, The Rise of the Chinese Social Consumer, Western businesses cannot afford to ignore the potential in Asia, and China in particular.

And many brands aren’t. Brands like Starbucks, McDonald’s, and Burberry are tackling the Chinese market, and in many ways winning with innovative strategies and an understanding of the culture in which they’re playing. Let’s take a look to see what they’re doing right.

Neighborly Neighborhood Starbucks

When Starbucks entered China, plenty of people forecasted failure, and for a seemingly good reason: The Chinese love their tea. Starbucks didn’t try to change that. Rather, as Helen Wang discussed in Forbes, they adapted to the local environment, using tea ingredients in their beverages. Even after they had accustomed their consumers to drinking coffee, they still didn’t take a global, or even national, approach. They went hyper-local, allowing each store to choose its menu from a beverage portfolio.

A Chinese Starbucks

Image by Flickr user NH53

But perhaps “local” is the wrong word. It’s not about being geographically focused; it’s about being neighborly. This is what Starbucks is doing with its social media and digital marketing.

On Sina Weibo, the Chinese version of a suped up Twitter, Starbucks shared not only coupons and deals, but questions, creating a friendly, two-way relationship with followers, as this Ad Age article describes. That friendly attitude is visible in one of their more recent campaigns from last October, too, to promote their new Refreshas beverages. Consumers would use their mobiles to scan a QR code in stores and friend Starbucks using the WeChat (Weixin in China) group messaging app. Then they’d text Starbucks an emoticon to represent how they’re feeling. Starbucks would reply back with a song specifically chosen to lift the consumer’s mood. Sales went up and they earned 9% more Sina Webo followers. All from being neighborly.

Not only is Starbucks friendly, but it is also smart – using local partners who understand the digital ecosystem, such as the close interplay between mobile and microblogging. They partnered with a local mobile advertiser Guohe Ad for their 2011 Christmas campaign, which combined both mobile and microblogging in a Sina Weibo app that allowed users to check-in to the Starbucks stores to get a free size upgrade on their drinks.

McDonald’s and Good Parenting

McDonald’s has also been rather successful in China. According to Seeking Alpha, it’s still opening new stores in order to reach 2,000 by 2013. And at least part of their success is due to good positioning.

Ronald in a parade

Image by Flickr user MoonSoleil

McDonald’s in the US has always been geared at least partly toward children with Play Places and Happy Meals. Chinese mothers tend to be very goal oriented, wanting their children to succeed scholastically, but at the same time, there is a trend towards letting their children have fun and not pushing too hard. To fit into this excellence-oriented parenting world the McDonald’s website promotes learning with multiplication “Happy Courses” taught by Professor Ronald. McDonald’s becomes, then, not just a treat, but a treat that promotes “stealthy learning,” or learning that masquerades as fun, as Tom Doctoroff, the North Asia Area Director of JWT, discusses. It’s a place to hide away from the stress of constant high performance, providing mothers a way to feel less guilty about pushing their children so hard.

This association with high achievement doesn’t end with the Happy Meal, however. Take a look at this recent ad for McDonald’s new Chinese Black and White burger combination as part of their new China Youth campaign. It’s all about encouraging young people to go out and accomplish what they set their minds on. Only now, it’s not Mom who is doing the encouraging.

Burberry’s Shareable Luxury

One of the key elements of the Chinese luxury market online, according to this luxury market report from GroupM China and CIC, is “shai” or the showing off of a product. This fits into an ecosystem of product trading and is also a way for consumers to learn about what is available and what’s good. But it also means, as Saurabh Sharma from OgilvyDo says:

“Digital content for luxury brands needs to offer something that’s worth sharing. Imagine things like first-hand account of space tourism or the experience of climbing virgin peaks across various continents. Such stories and experiences have immense talk value and give valuable social currency to people who can access it.”

Burberry accomplishes that, by sharing live fashion events on Sina Weibo, like it’s Burberry Beijing Show on April 13, 2011. It wasn’t just live-Tweeting as we know it in the West. Sina Weibo has different functions than Twitter, including threaded conversations, private groups, a small blogging platform, and embedded photo and video sharing. Burberry made this live-sharing special by having two Chinese celebrities do the “Tweeting” and a Burberry designer answering fan questions. According to the GroupM China and CIC report, this helped Burberry to capture the top spot of the surveyed luxury brands for the most account engagement. As Gallie Ng from Sina Weibo put it, brands can use Sina Weibo to “share instant updates and joy with users who cannot attend [the events].”

Burberry is also on the right channels, like Youku. Youku is similar to YouTube, but unlike YouTube it targets young, affluent urbanites, otherwise known as Burberry’s Chinese demographic. Beyond just posting videos, Burberry has been known to live-stream events on the platform.

Digital marketing for luxury goods is difficult by nature because it is impersonal and can be perceived as less exclusive, but Burberry is tackling the challenge well by understanding how the Chinese consumers engage with luxury goods content online.

All three of these brands, Starbucks, McDonald’s and Burberry, are using the unique tools available to them in China and combining them with an understanding of Chinese culture. Starbucks is taking advantage of the regional differences, McDonald’s of the different parenting styles and approaches to success, and Burberry of the way people relate to luxury goods. If you want your business to succeed in China, too, you’ll have to approach consumers in a similar fashion – understanding their particular media ecosystem and culture.

Blog, Emerging markets, Face Asia, Insights, Social Media, Trends

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The Rise of the Chinese Social Consumer

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China’s Great Fire Wall has blocked out the Western social networks to a greater or lesser degree. But even without the West’s direct influence in the social networking scene, social networking in China has expanded, becoming an intrinsic part of many people’s lives. As Yin Mei said on Mashable, “Connections mean ‘power’ in China. This is why social networks have become part of the relationship-building fabric of Chinese society.”

Here are five specific reasons why brands should be participating in China’s social networking scene.

Person accessing Weibo on his phone

1. 300 million consumers using social media

China’s size makes it impossible to ignore. China has over 300 million social network users and that’s around only 58% of total internet users in the country. Given that the country’s total population is 1.34 billion, there is huge growth potential here. But of course, what people are doing on social networks is what makes this important.

You can accomplish a lot when you get a bunch of people together. One of China’s largest social networks, YY.com, has a virtual currency system that allows users to earn real money, perhaps even make a living off their skills. This could through be performing a virtual karaoke concert or giving college class tutorials.

2. Chinese social consumers are highly active

Chinese social networking users return to their social networks of choice much more frequently than those from any other country. According to a McKinsey survey, 91% of Chinese social network users claimed they had visited a social networking site in the last six months. Compare that to other Asian countries such as the ever-connected Japan at 30% or South Korea at 70%. Even in the US, the birthplace of Facebook and Twitter, only 67% of users said they had visited a social networking site in the past six months.

These consumers are online discussing and engaging with brands. Indeed on Sina Weibo, 27.5% of users reported searching for brand content. Not all of this content is good, though. Just like with Twitter, a single post can light up a firestorm of controversy. In late September a Starbucks opened by the Lingyin Temple in Hangzhou to the roar of controversy. The news was shared at least 4,000 times on Sina Weibo as people weighed in on how they felt about the juxtaposition of traditional Chinese culture and a symbol of foreign cultures.

3. They are spending online

Ecommerce is booming in China. China has 193 million online shoppers. That’s more than the US’s 170 million, and five times that of the UK, according to the Boston Consulting Group. But it’s still only 14% of the population. By 2015, China is expected to be the largest ecommerce economy with a projected size of $2.83 trillion spent by 300 million online consumers.

But we’re not looking at e-commerce business as usual. Homegrown players are innovating the space. Taobao is a leading consumer-to-consumer auction site like Ebay, but that’s where the similarity seems to end. Unlike Ebay, Taobao doesn’t make its money by charging sellers for listings and sales. Rather, it sells search rankings and personalized storefronts to sellers. Taobao also has a more community feel than Ebay in the US, with fashion and entertainment news as well as practical shopping tips. It’s a new kind of e-commerce.

4. They listen to social recommendations

Chinese consumers observe what others are doing very closely. They are more likely to consider a purchase if the product has been mentioned on a social media site. Around 60% claim that friends and family are a major source of product information. The basic logic is that if more people are using a product, the more likely it will work, not break, and not embarrass the user. Link this use of social media with the growing ecommerce market, and it’s not hard to see the opportunity.

To capitalize on this, Taobao lists products by popularity as a default. This provides users with the assurance that other people have tried out the product and that it works, encouraging sales. Due no doubt in part to this and other innovations, Taobao has a 90.3% stake in the consumer-to-consumer market.

5. Social consumers are not just urbanites

China’s native social networks are targeting more than just the affluent members of the urban elite (though they have their own network, too: P1.cn is invite only and just for the top 10% of earners). Tencent, a large social networking company, has three platforms that focus on people living in rural and second tier cities (those with more than 1 million residents but are not Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen – 1st tier cities).

These sites are huge, too. Qzone, which targets teens and rural users, has 597 million users. QQ, the instant messaging social network, has 784 million users and targets the same demographic. Social networking in China offers a wide range of audiences. Brands can pick which audiences they need to reach and move from there.

What these five points illustrate is that out of sight shouldn’t mean out of mind – Chinese people may be using different social networks to people in the West, but online media and retail are just as important in China as they are anywhere else – if not more so. Separated from the competition from Facebook and Twitter,  Chinese social networks have developed innovative new ways of approaching their consumers – ways that other companies could learn from.

In a follow-up post, we’ll explore a few Western brands and individuals who’ve done exactly that and made headway in the Chinese social sphere. Stay tuned!

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