BRANDS & SOCIAL: WHAT TO KNOW

INTRODUCTION

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Social Media can be a confusing and overwhelming medium for marketers. New platforms burst onto the scene and rise (like Snapchat) or fall (like Meerkat, and Ello). Priorities change- engagement was once the gospel of social, now

platforms are preaching reach.

This document sets out to cut through the clutter, giving a set of pointers and considerations for how brands can best succeed on social media.

CONTENT

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UNDERSTANDING THE SOCIAL MEDIA LANDSCAPE p.5-12#1 SOCIAL MEDIA ISN’T FREE#2 THE INDUSTRY ISN’T LISTENING#3 FROM THE CONVERTED FEW TO THE PASSIVE MASS#4 REACH DRIVES REVENUE

CONTENT p.13-18#5 SHORT TERM WINS CAN CREATE LONG TERM PROBLEMS#6 CONTENT VALUE PROPOSITION#7 CHALLENGE:NOT EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE YOUR ‘FRIEND’ #8 BORROWING REACH. THE TROJAN HORSE: INFLUENCERS AND PARTNERSHIPS

PLATFORM CONSIDERATIONS p.19-27#9 DON’T BE A MAGPIE. YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE ON EVERY CHANNEL#10 BE WHERE YOUR AUDIENCE ARE#11 MULTI-NETWORKING. SOCIAL PLATFORMS HAVE DIFFERENT AUDIENCE USES#12 SOCIAL PLATFORMS HAVE DEFINED STRENGTHS/WEAKNESSES#13 GIVING BRAND ROLES FOR PLATFORMS#14 BASIC CREATIVE PLATFORM RULES TO FOLLOW

CREATIVE p.28-30#15 CREATIVE INSPIRATION

SUMMARY#16 KEY TAKE-OUTS p.31APPENDIX#17 WHY THE FUTURE OF SOCIAL WAS 2012

SOME CONTEXT

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• There are 2.3 billion active social media users• 91% of retail brands use 2 or more social media channels• Social media users have risen by 176 million in the last year• 1 million new active mobile social users are added every day. That’s 12 each second• Facebook remains the largest and most active social network, with more than a billion daily active users• The average user spends 40 minutes or more per day on Facebook• A full 91% of the millennial demographic use Facebook in some capacity, many actively • Facebook now drives 25% all Internet traffic• Facebook posts earn 340% more shares than each of the other four major social networks—except for food content, which does

better on Pinterest• Traffic to YouTube is global, with 80% of views from outside the US, spanning across 76 different countries• YouTube now reaches more 18–49-year-olds than any network — broadcast or cable• More than 1 billion users visit YouTube each month• Instagram clocks up 3.5 billion likes every day• On an average day, 80 million Instagram photos are shared• 49% of brands are on Instagram. By 2017, this is predicted to rise to 71%• The top 100 brands in the world, 90% have an Instagram account• 96% of US fashion brands are on Instagram• Over a third of Instagram users have used their mobile to purchase a product online– making them 70% more likely to do so than

non-users• Unlike many networks, Twitter users tend to be active at multiple points through the day, and 29% report checking their account

multiple times a day• A full 66% of Pinterest users save things that they describe as “inspiring“, making Pinterest the most inspirational of the social

networks

Source:http://bit.ly/2dpVgmN

THE SOCIAL MEDIA LANDSCAPE

THE SCALE IS HUGE, BUT SOCIAL MEDIA ISN’T FREE. IT REQUIRES INVESTMENT

THE GATEKEEPERS:FROM POTENTIAL MASS ORGANIC EXPOSURE TO REACHING THE SELECTED FEWAlgorithms create an environment where mass reach can only be achieved by advertising • Posts are no longer served to everyone

who follow the account• Reach is instead determined by relevancy

to the audience

FACEBOOK USERS:32.6m

TWITTER USERS:18.8m

INSTAGRAM USERS:14.1m

REACH OF SOCIAL MEDIA LIMITING ANY ORGANIC REACH

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SNAPCHAT USERS:9.1m

Figures represent UK Active Monthly Users . Source GWI

KEY TAKEOUT: The potential scale is huge, but algorithms prevent any sizable organic reach for brands on social media

PLATFORMS HAVE ALGORITHMS

Source: Ofcom MarketReport 2016

PINTEREST USERS:9.7m

LINKEDIN USERS:11m

Near universal reach for 16-24 & significant across age groups including 55-64 (51%)

Social is an entertainment hub, it’s not just about communication

STAGE ONE STAGE TWO STAGE THREE

BUT NOT EVERY BRAND IS LISTENING

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MEC study discovered 81% of FACEBOOK posts are organic*

14%20% 23%

14%17%

26%

14%6%

13%18%

42%

86%80% 77%

86%83%

74%

86%94%

87%82%

58%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Beauty UK Beverages UK Retail food UK HouseholdGoods UK

Alcohol UK Fmcg food UK Airlines UK EntertainmentUK

Retail UK Auto UK Telecom UK

% Facebook Promoted Posts vs. Organic Posts by Industry**

Promoted Posts Organic Posts

**Socialbakers (Jan15-Aug16) KEY TAKEOUT: Most industries continue to post organically

KEY TAKEOUT: Posting organically means a brand page is only reaching a tiny fraction of their follower base

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Per Organic Post*

Total Post Reach: 8,801 people

Comments:7

Likes:38

Shares: 2

Brand loyalists (fans)

An organic post serves content to only a brand’s follower base- and even then it’s only a fraction of the audience

ORGANIC POSTS ONLY REACH THE CONVERTED FEW

a post is only reaching 2-10% of the

follower base**

Byron Sharp argues media strategy that reaches more people is more effective than reaching fewer people more often; continuous advertising is more effective than intermittent bursts, because it counteracts memory decay.

REACHING THE FEW

**Source: Locowise

9.62%

7.47%

2.27%

0.00%

2.00%

4.00%

6.00%

8.00%

10.00%

12.00%

Between 50,000-100,000 fans Between 500,000-999,999 fans More than 1,000,000 fans

% Fans reachedFacebook organic posts

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Per Organic Post:

Total Post Reach: 8,801 people

Comments: 7

Likes: 38

Shares: 2

Mass passive (potential buyers of the category )

Per Promoted Post:

Total Post Reach: 998,588 people

Comments: 124

Likes: 940

Shares: 95

Brand loyalists (fans)

+11,246% +1,671%

+2,373% +4,650%

PROMOTED POSTS REACH THE PASSIVE MASSA Facebook page with no Fans can drive greater visibility with $500 of investment than a page can achieve organically with 90 Million+ Fans

Wes Finley, Coca-Cola

TO REACHING THE MASSREACHING THE FEW

KEY TAKEOUT: Promoting a post enables a brand to move beyond their fans (the already converted) on social media to the passive mass of potential buyers

FROM ORGANIC POSTING TO THE CONVERTED, TO REACHING THE MASSES

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1k views22 likes

FROM POSTING TO THE FEW TO REACHING THE MASSES

2.1m Reached957k views2k shares

629 comments5.1k likes

KEY TAKEOUT: Investing in the creative, but not promoting it will result in limited impact (because of the algorithms on social media).

Organic Post Promoted Post

REACH DRIVES REVENUE

http://www.socialmediatoday.com/marketing/

Campaigns that maximised reach

have on average a 70% higher return-

on-investment

More than 90% of offline sales “come

from people who don’t interact with ads

during the campaign”*

KEY TAKEOUT: fan interactions (shares/ engaged users) can be a barometer of creative success, but sales are driven not by engagement, but reach

Facebook and Datalogix StudySource:

BUT THE BEST BRANDS UNDERSTAND THAT THERE’S NO POINT INVESTING IN REACH IF YOU’VE NOT GOT THE CREATIVE TO MATCH

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Adidas

INVEST IN CREATIVITY INVEST IN IT TO BE SEEN

Valuable and Entertaining

Defining ourselves to others

Source: SocialBakers

65%

60% 61%

35%

40% 39%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Nike Oreo Chanel

Promoted Posts Organic Posts

% Facebook Promoted Posts vs. Organic Posts

CONTENT PROPOSITIONS

A CONTENT PROPOSITION THAT FOCUSES ON SHORT TERM WINS CAN CREATE LONG TERM PROBLEMS

STAGE ONE: RT AND FOLLOW STAGE TWO: HIJAKED BY ‘COMPERS’ STAGE THREE: IMPACT

Gillette the best a man can get. Half of their followers are women, a result of social posts that force people to follow them through giveaways, rather than offering a reason to follow through creative

2,492 rts

KEY TAKEOUT: chasing fan numbers and vanity metrics through simple competition/giveaway mechanisms can create false success

Cost-effective/ achieves high brand traction (shares, retweets, follows)Questionable impact if there’s a low barrier to entry. Metrics can be driven by ‘compers’. An audience who are only on social

media to enter competitions

Impact +886 New Fans

“Entertaining/Interesting”Value proposition: Audience interested in behind

the scenes/partnership. EE use it to halo their tech expertise & brand credentials via capture cam

FINDING YOUR CUSTOMER CONTENT VALUE PROPOSITION. THINK LONG-TERM Be distinct. Be unique. New fans can be a result of a rewarding simple content value proposition

0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0%

To enter a competition / prize draw

To receive promotional offers / discounts /deals

I love the brand want to support them

They produce entertaining/interesting updates/ content

To support their work in causes I believe in

To support brands which define my lifestyle

To be alerted about special / exclusive events

To be kept informed about their latest news /developments

So my social networking contacts can see thebrands I like

Just for fun

65+ 55-64 45-54 35-44 25-34 16-24

Focus on the emotional triggers

Not incentives that can’t build brand

distinctiveness

Not incentives that do

*Source: Future Foundation

EE: Tech experts HSBC:CSR

Support their work in causes

KEY TAKEOUT: Develop a distinct content value proposition that aligns with brand messaging.

“Defines my lifestyle”

“Entertaining/Interesting”

Impact Total 49m Fans

Long term successRedBull have built its proposition by

associating their product with a lifestyle –extreme sports & music- to its core audience

Reasons to follow a brand on social media*

The best you. Rich content aligning with brand messaging to reach potential customers makes business sense/ builds a fan base interested in what a brand is doing, not the incentives being offered

Requires investment

“Causes I believe in”Value proposition: HSBC use Jamal Edwards

inspiring story and #isPossible to align the bank on the side of young entrepreneurs

THE CONTENT MIX: ORGANIC CONTENT & PROMOTED CONTENT

KEY TAKEOUT: Promoted content should focus on building a content value proposition/ meeting brand objectives. If choosing to post organically (business as usual content) produce creative relevant to the brand passion of core fans, maximising what little organic reach there is, within the content proposition theme

ORGANIC CONTENT PROMOTED CONTENT

THE PRODUCT/CAMPAIGN AWARENESS

Overarching content proposition:Engineering excellence

Feeds into Jaguar fans’ nostalgia for older models; used as a hook to

halo engineering credentials

CONTENT THAT APPEALS TO THE BRAND PASSION FOR FANS

Overarching content proposition:Fashion to inspire

Creative that matches fans interest in clothes; ASOS positions itself as

fashion experts

Overarching content proposition:Making travel better

TfL using entertainment to reveal the lighter side of travelling

ASOS fashion inspiration theme follows through to

retargeting

• Content value proposition as fashion experts leveraged to retarget people who have visited their website/app, but haven’t yet purchased items

• Mechanism: A carousel ad of the items looked at, alongside personalised copy enticing purchase

TfL extends content theme of making travel better to promote

awareness of ‘Report to Stop it’, a campaign to report unwanted

sexual behaviour

• Multiple images to pique interest

• Link to website

Engineering excellence is used to promote new

models

• Emotive video/copy• Link to website

A WIDER CHALLENGE: MOST PEOPLE DON’T WANT TO BE YOUR ‘FRIEND’ AND SOME IGNORE BRANDS ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Only 23% of the consumers said they have a

relationship with a brand. In the typical consumer’s view of the world, relationships

are reserved for friends, family and colleagues

One in four people are 'actively

ignoring' brands on social media

Source: Harvard Business Review

96% of the people that discuss brands online do not follow those brands’

owned profiles

Most customers don’t care enough about brands to want to be followers, friends or fans.It’s just a brand, not a member of my family.

KEY TAKEOUT: Most people will never become a fan of a brand’s social media account. A proportion will also ignore any brand activity on social

Source: Kantar Source: Brandwatch

SOLUTION: BORROWING REACH. USING THE TROJAN HORSE OF INFLUENCERS AND PARTNERSHIPS

Trying to ape vlogger

BRAND CHANNELS TRYING TO BE VLOGGERS INFLUENCERS & PARTNERSHIPS

63%* of 18-24 year olds who follow a social media influencer agree that they inspire them to try new things

Trying to copy vlogger channels for brands can be

expensive:• Cost of distribution

(without organic audience interest)

• Cost of regularly updating channel with

video content

Reach and authenticity of influencers to target an audience on mass in a

format native to them

KEY TAKEOUT: Vloggers and partnerships offer an alternative (potentially more authentic ) route to reach an audience on mass that can’t be replicated

Reach via a medium authentic to the audienceContent is not owned by brand/lack of creative control can impact messaging and/

or brand awareness

Partnerships: Most watched media on socialproperties

PLATFORMS

KEY TAKEOUT: Don’t join a social network if it doesn’t add value, isn’t manageable, or can’t measure impact

DON’T BE A MAGPIE. YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE ON EVERY CHANNEL• Meaningful: Is the channel you’ve selected meaningful to your audience? Is the content you’ll create for that channel meaningful? Identify the

channel’s strengths and major audience segments, and determine if those align with your brand. If they don’t align, your presence and content there will ring false, both internally and with your target audience.

• Manageable: Are you already juggling too many channels? It’s a bad marketing move to announce your presence on a new channel and then disappear because you don’t have a team to manage it. When evaluating whether or not a channel is appropriate for you, investigate whether you’d need to create entirely new content for it and if you can handle that, or if you already have content that is adaptable to the channel.

• Measurable: Is the value of that channel measurable? Can you determine impact*

Meaningful?Measurable?

Manageable? Meaningful?

http://www.socialmediatoday.com/marketing/

*Source: http://bit.ly/2d3IJ66

BE WHERE THE AUDIENCE ARE

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

16 to 24 25 to 34 35 to 44 45 to 54 55 to 64

UK Active Users*

Facebook Instagram Pinterest Snapchat Twitter YouTube

EVERYONE 16-44 16-34

16-34 16-2416-24

*Source: GWI KEY TAKEOUT: A social media presence should be matched to where the target audience is active

BEST AGES FOR…

SOCIAL PLATFORMS HAVE DIFFERENT AUDIENCE USES

• Fun, creative ephemeral network to keep in frequent contact with close friends

• Watching ‘Live Stories’ friends/celebrities/ events

• Keeping updated on wider friendship network via newsfeed

• Posting life updates• Sharing content

ContentDiscovery

Real-Time Information

Entertain & InformVisual Inspiration Visual search-engineEphemeral creativity

• Following real-time news and event reaction

• Following celebrities/interests

• Customer service

Social NetworksOpen

• Capturing and sharing personal moments

• Projecting stylised lifestyle/best version

• Follow celebrities

• Watching short and long-form entertainment

• ‘How to’ information

• Searching for inspiration/ideas, from fashion, food, to holidays

Rise of multi-networking: people have an average of nearly 6 social media accounts in the UK*

*Source: GWI KEY TAKEOUT: People use multiple social networks for different reasons

Influencer uses

• Fun • Frequent updates to fans • Engage

• link to content

Used a platform

• Content Sharing • Entertain/’How to’

• No large home-grown talent • Currently wooing influencers from other channels• Used as a platform for celebrities to live-stream, or

influencers on other channels to direct fans to site

• Stylised inspiration • Tips/Recipes/Ideas

Closed

DIFFERENT BRAND STRENGTHS

• Hugely popular among Gen Z

• Vertical video offering (with sound on) a natural format to consume content on mobile phones

• Sponsored filters/lens provide a fun, authentic medium with which to reach the audience/makes the audience the star

• Ads within ‘Stories’ provide an opportunity to reach audience on mass

• The widest reach of all the platforms

• Newsfeed can drive quick and largescale awareness via promoted content appearing in newsfeeds, or organically through friends engaging/ sharing a post

• The most sophisticated ad offering and targeting ability of the networks- from macro level (e.g. age) to micro (e.g. post code)

Mass reach Customer Service‘Quality’ viewsVisual Inspiration CommerceCreative Fun

• Real time tweeting to amplify campaigns

• A link to send people to other channels

• An opportunity to join the global conversation/ trending conversation

• Customer service (CS), 80% of customer service requests on social happen on Twitter/ an open social network leveraged by influencers, where tweets can be retweeted, traditionally it has more influence in making CS problems visible and newsworthy

• Visual storytelling/glossy format

• Similar ad capabilities to Facebook (Facebook owned)

• Second most popular platform (after Facebook)

• Second biggest search engine/boost SEO

• 3.6x longer average viewing time than Facebook for branded video advertising campaigns *

• The longer a video the more time people are likely to spend watching it, even watching two or more minutes of the video. Facebook users are unlikely to spend more than 30 seconds watching content of any length*

• Since search powers Pinterest, content has evergreen value

• 87% of Pinners have purchased a product because of Pinterest**

• Second largest traffic referrer behind Facebook,

• 66%*** of Pinners say they use the service to save and collect things that inspire them

*Source: visible measures**Source: Millward Brown*** Source: Pinterest

AND WEAKNESSES

• Limited age range • Hard for a brand to build

an organic presence. Not encouraged and little visibility to help people find the channel

• Can’t deep link to content (for now)

• Requires customised content; video ads must be displayed vertically in portrait mode

• Despite reductions, advertising can be expensive: $450,000 for a sponsored lens, $50,000 for Discover

• (53% never use the Discover function* impact visibility of ads served there)

• A network where parents and even grandparents are active; might be used for its group functionality, but teens are increasingly favouring Snapchat, Instagram and messaging apps for peer communication

• Effective for a sudden, burst in mass awareness, but concern over video view duration and the 3 second view as a metric

Uncool StagnantNo networkUnsuitable ScaleVisibility

• Growth has stagnated and despite numerous initiatives e.g. Moments, the platform hasn’t been able to grow beyond current base. People just don’t seem to ‘get it’

• Limitations of targeted ad offering compared to Facebook

• Apart from leveraging for Live events, or customer service, its difficult for some brands to establish a clear channel role

• Glossy/stylised format effective for some industries e.g. fashion, cosmetics, automotive, food, however it also makes it prohibitive for other brands to produce a consistent creative output appropriate for the platform, or to define a clear channel role

• Crowded and difficult for content discovery

• Hasn’t got a newsfeed/timeline like other platforms with which to seed content, limiting its ability to help users discover new videos and have them spread

• Required ongoing investment to generate views has resulted in brands to instead treat it as just a hub for their videos, opting instead for Facebook to distribute content

• Doesn’t excel in active users for any age group

• Hasn’t got a wide demographic reach , only 33%** of males are users, limiting its relevancy for some brands

• Posting themed boards of images not relevant for all brands

*Source: GWI

THINKING ABOUT PLATFORM STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES CAN HELP TO DEFINE BRAND

ROLES

KEY TAKEOUT: Look at the strengths and weaknesses of each network, how they fit with brand objectives, to determine channel roles and an effective social ec0-system.

Channel Roles

Social Eco-System

*

Source: SocialBakers

FOLLOW THE BASIC CREATIVE PLATFORM RULESVIDEO IMAGES

Catch people’s attention within the first 3 seconds:Unlike other platforms, videos on Facebook/Twitter appear within the users’ feed- as they scroll through the video will auto-play. In order to capture audience attention and convince them to watch a brand should:• Make sure the first frame is already geared towards piquing

someone’s interest• Use a compelling lead-in title

Use subtitles:Facebook/Twitter videos auto-play without any sound-76% of people watch videos without sound on Facebook. To help sustain user attention add subtitles to the video

95% of a brand’s social content is interacted with the newsfeed vs. a brand’s own Facebook page; filters, colors, borders, fonts and image styles all contribute to online branding. Keeping these consistent will help make a brand more recognsiable to the audience.

Be distinct with the image

Integrate brand colours: it’s consistency of colours that helps viewers recognise the company, Cadbury’s social media content, for example, has purple in every single image they post.

Consider using a logo: the logo should never overpower your design, but it’s also important that it isn’t too small.Keep the positioning of the logo consistent for the majority of graphics—the best rule of thumb is to put it in the bottom right corner. This ensures that the logo isn’t too distracting but still associates the post with the brand.

KEY TAKEOUT: to maximise impact of content take into account how people are viewing the post.

AND REMEMBER THE BEST BRANDS ON SOCIAL…

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Adidas

INVEST IN CREATIVITY INVEST IN IT TO BE SEEN

Nike Facebook post average 8,897 shares post average 33 SharesChanel post average 3,789/ average 40 Facebook Shares Sainsbury’s

Valuable and Entertaining

65%

60% 61%

35%

40% 39%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Nike Oreo Chanel

Promoted Posts Organic Posts

Defining ourselves to others

% Facebook Promoted Posts vs. Organic Posts

CREATIVE INSPIRATION

CREATIVE INSPIRATION: PART ONE

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REAL-TIME TACTICAL

Adidas

CreativeAdidas needed to build brand interest and conversations in a crowded World Cup social-media space, owning social conversation and stimulating product sales. A content bible was built with thousands of images to react to that symbolised #allin brand messaging , becoming the foundations of Adidas's seamless World Cup storytelling; reactive content was live on social within seconds, and in digital and out of home within minutesThe campaign also shifted perception of the World Cup ball by giving @Brazuca a personality on Twitter that resonated with fans globally.Separately Adidas live-streamed a daily YouTube show, created in partnership with KickTV featuring interviews with Adidas assets e.g. David Beckham

Impact: six million new fans across its global social channels. Adidas was the most talked about brand at the World Cup and stated its confidence in reaching its target of €2 billion (£1.6 billion) of football sales in 2014 for the first time.Channels used: Twitter and YouTube focus; OOH

Entertaining

CreativeTapping into fan passion and to build excitement for the new season of OITNB Netflix released a video of the cast performing a song first created by fans of the show on social media

Impact: 5.3m views on YouTube, 14m views on Facebook (158k shares), covered by entertainment publications e.g ENews

Channels used: Facebook & YouTube

CreativeCited as an example of a new advertising era, Adidas announced the arrival of Paul Pogba from Juventus to Manchester United on their social channels through a one-off rap video by Stormzy at midnight. Football and music influencers collaborating, to reach a younger, lifestyle-oriented audience

Adidas used the reach of its asset (Stormzy) to organically amplify the video, after first creating audience anticipation via a Stormzy tweet of the video that was subsequently deleted

Impact: widespread backpage news, 13k rts, 3.9m views

Channels used: Twitter and Facebook

Lifestyle

Entertaining

Defining ourselves

Defining ourselves

CREATIVE INSPIRATION: PART TWO

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CreativeLand Rover’s #Hibernot campaign stemmed from the insight of hibernating and negativity surrounding winter; #Hibernot turned this on its head, haloing the theme, and the people, who don’t let dark days and the grey winter weather stop them from doing what they want. By tapping into people’s natural desire to document an adventure, the campaign empowered its community to share. In doing so it strengthened the brand’s adventure credentials against Chelsea tractor criticism. Channels used:Launched as a TV advert and leveraged across social channels (and a microsite), #Hibernot UGC amplified the advert and developed brand meaning.

ATL INTEGRATED

Creative#LidlSuprises is based on the insight that people have an automatic negative perception of the brand. #LidlSuprises used this perception to surprise people to the quality of its products

Launched as a TVC , subsequent tweets from customers using the hashtag appeared in press and in-store- promoting peer endorsement and helping support the perception that Lidl’s quality was a best kept secret & Lidl customers were in the know .

SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGNS

CreativeHalifax found that people organically discussed being confused about banking products, or about being skint on social channels, despite banks being a low-interest category. Their solution was to show via social content how Halifax made money easy to understand, tailoring content to the way customers used each social channel

Won Warc Social Strategy PrizePercentage of people considering Halifax rose from 42% to 55% for savings Channels used: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Microsite hub

Informative

CreativeAirbnb wanted to create a world where there are no strangers- aligning with overarching brand messaging: where people can Belong Anywhere. Brian Chesky, Airbnb's CEO, gifted one million dollars in the form of ten dollars into the accounts of 100,000 people in the Airbnb community. He urged them to put this donation towards committing one act of hospitality for a stranger, document it, and upload that to social media with the hashtag #OneLessStranger.Airbnb then urged the world to join.

Over 3m+ engagements after just 3 weeks. User generated social content was integrated into a dedicated micro site to maximise impact.

Channels used: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Microsite hub

Defining ourselves

Informative

Defining ourselves

Defining ourselves

Social Cause

Ignoring the impact of social media algorithms on reach Understanding the organic era is over for all social networks

Reaching the few To reaching the masses

Indistinct content Investing in creative that is distinct and unique and tailored to the channel

Chasing fans (short-terms wins) To fans being a by-product of great content (long-term customer value proposition)

Trying to copy vloggers To trusting vloggers/partnerships

Jumping on the new, hyped platform Looking at where the audience is most active

Having no distinct roles for social platforms Creating a clear social eco-system based on the strengths & weaknesses’ of social platforms

Posting TV adverts To following the basic creative rules for platforms to optimise content

KEY TAKE-OUTS

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FROM TO

APPENDIX: WHY THE FUTURE OF SOCIAL WAS 2012

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• As early as 2012 Red Bull Stratos pointed the way to the future of social media. It’s just that many agencies and brands, two years later, chose to see Oreo’s “Dunk in the dark” Super Bowl moment as the future instead. The appeal was understandable. Agencies and brands saw with “Dunk in the dark” instant success and a quick cost effective win. Perceived widespread awareness for nothing more than a tweet and no media spend.

• The result was social media was leveraged as a reactive force, instead of being proactive. Brands felt that they could piggyback on the national conversation on social to get their messaging out for free. Except that they couldn’t. For every “Dunk in the Dark” success there’s been millions of brand posts that got nothing more than a trickle of shares, or retweets and negligible reach. The public, in the main, weren’t interested in retweeting, or sharing something that had little relevance to them. They didn’t want the brand to be a friend to them. With more than 27 millions pieces of social content published everyday competing for audience attention, it was the rich content that rose to the top.

• 4 years on from Stratos we’ve gone full circle, or we should be: Social media as a proactive force, investing in rich content (and promoting it) ,aligning with brand messaging and built from a simple content proposition that hits the audience sweet spot. Setting the agenda, instead of trying to react to it.

2016

APPENDIX: WHY THE FUTURE OF SOCIAL WAS 2012

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Stratos was a unique campaign, but it set a template and learnings that can be used in everyday social comms for 2016• Rich content aligned to campaign messaging. Entertaining, but with a clear brand

agenda. Social channels used to develop a meaningful narrative, with content tailored to platform

• A clear eco-system. Content on social channels were used to drive people to the website (the content hub)

• Video driven. Developments on social networks have made video the format of choice for social. Cisco claims 82% of Internet traffic will be video by 2019

• Live streaming. The brand as a broadcaster. Red Bull used YouTube, four years later Facebook Live and Twitter are helping drive the concept as the brand as the broadcaster. Brands from Airbnb to GE have used it to live stream live event content including #Droneweek, or performing Q&A’s , while Adidas produce a weekly football YouTube show Gameday Plus

Proactive

Key learnings

There’s nothing wrong with reactive content- tactical posts – when done well (like the Oreo post), unfortunately in most cases they’re not. • Much of this content isn’t even brand relevant/or its forced relevancy. A

consequence, in the drive to get some organic impressions, of piggybacking on events

• It’s a short-sightedness that ignores the reality that there’s not the legitimacy to enter the conversation. People don’t want brands to be friends with them

• With 27 million pieces of content being posted everyday, it’s only the most optimistic marketer who thinks a reactive post, without a rich hook, can channel any sort of reach

• What worked then doesn’t work now: social networks have evolved to become powerful media platforms, offering brands the potential for scale, reach and more sophisticated targeting, to put the right content in front of the right audiences

Key learnings

2012

Reactive

Aidias GamedayPlus

GE#Droneweek

2012

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