This week I participated in a Social Media Week New York panel “Putting the Social in CSR” along with Bonin Bough from Pepsico, Deb Berman from Just Means, and Chrysi Philalithes from (RED).  Its an extremely timely topic and one we have been thinking a lot about  from a number of different angles.  The great news?  Social media provides the media for corporations to leverage their Corporate Social Responsibility investments to yield greater fruit for both the customer and the beneficiary.

The time-worn model of CSR of “Purchase X and we’ll contribute to Y up to $Z amount” can leave all parties feeling a little empty.  Consumers know the company has already earmarked the money for the cause and is now trying to blackmail us into unlocking it by picking their brand over the equivalent.  That similarly does little for the cause beyond the actual money donated - there’s little room on a package to tell the charity’s story and there’s no way for the consumer to choose to become more involved.  To paraphrase John & Yoko, “EMPTY CSR IS OVER if you want it”.

Social media allows for the type of participation that can provide better return on CSR investments to all.  Just a few:

• Connecting Customer and Cause - Activating around a CSR commitment in social spaces allows the customer to choose to go a step beyond just the purchase for token donation to donating themselves, connecting to the cause’s social space or promoting the cause to there social nets.
• Inspiring Meaningful Involvement - Social media allows companies to set up infrastructure for their customers to be the connection that makes the biggest difference.  For example, Time Warner Cable (Disclosure: Ogilvy client, but we are not responsible for CSR), who has made a 5-year $100MM commitment to Science, Technology, Engineering and Math through their Connect a Million Minds initiative. They are measuring success not with number of $$ donated, but number of minds connected – a function not of their donation, but the number of people they have inspired & empowered to take advantage of the infrastructure they have created.
• Platform for Awareness & Promotion The much publicized Pepsi Refresh Project is taking a huge step in CSR - providing $20 million in grants to individuals and small organizations with good ideas to improve their local communities.  Pepsi provides a platform to tell your story, promote your idea, and is doling out 32 grants per month to the democratically selected winners.  The impact for these causes will go far beyond a microscopic logo on a box.

To reference Ann Charles’ Mashable piece on CSR 2.0, the new way to look at CSR is the “triple bottom line of people, planet and profit”.  Maybe social media adds a fourth P – participation - that could be a goal in itself.  Participation benefits the brand, beneficiary, and consumer alike and will fuel the type of CSR that will hopefully increase the efforts and investments of corporations in some of society’s most serious challenges.

Social media continues to evolve, shaping not just our thoughts on connectivity and information consumption online, but how it applies to our everyday lives.

This is not breaking news. Still, there are many people, brands and companies that are still dipping their toes in the social media pool, trying to gauge the value of social media platforms and leveraging these sites to connect with their key audiences. As a digital strategist with a traditional public relations background, I can see the value in both online and offline media, but note the increased convergence between the two mediums. Yet many companies still grapple with social media and are tasked with demonstrating “the value” more than ever. What if these same organizations knew that mainstream media reporters were conducting a good deal of their research on social media websites, such as blogs, Twitter or Wikipedia?

Last week, our team came across a recent study by George Washington University and Cision titled “2009 Social Media & Online Usage Study” on how mainstream media and web-based journalists use social media sites in their daily work. The subhead of the press release announcing the study states, “Poll Finds 89% Use Blogs, 65% Use Social Networking Sites, and 52% Use Microblogging Sites — but Reliability is a Major Concern,” which piqued our interest. As a result, my colleague Rachel Polish and I decided to conduct our own mini-study of both mainstream media and bloggers to see if our results corroborated with the Cision study. Additionally, we wanted to know if there were major differences in how mainstream media and bloggers leveraged social media tools.

Here are some of the questions we posed and responses we received from our friends in the media:

What social media tools are you using to publish, promote and distribute what you write?

From a high-circulation, mainstream magazine reporter:

• Blogs: Wish I had better connections here, would love to do better cross-syndication of information.
• Twitter: Lots of promotion throughout official channel, not very much through my personal one.
• LinkedIn: I’d very much like to increase my reach here. Seems like a nice way to be personal and professional.
• Facebook: Facebook is my private place. No public promotion here, save a “fan” group with like 20 people.
• Flickr: None.
• YouTube: We’re starting to post videos here, though unofficially.
• Review sites: None.
• Other: Email!

From Eliane Fiolet, Publisher and Editor of the blog Ubergizmo (www.ubergizmo.com):

We use LinkedIn, Facebook, Friendfeed, Twitter, and YouTube to re-publish the content (mostly article title + link to the blog post) that we post on Ubergizmo.com, sometimes Flickr, but not too much. Other blogs re-publish our content; some do a total copy/paste with a link to our original article, and some use the information and write their own post and link to our original article. When we have access to exclusive events, like the Apple press conference, we authorize other blogs who do not have this access to use our live blogging pictures (three or more updates per minute) in exchange for a mention and a link, and our logo is watermarked in the pictures.

How do you measure the impact and/or traction of your stories published on the Internet/Social Media sites?

From Brian Stelter, the New York Times (www.nytimes.com):

I sometimes notice when a story is retweeted especially often. I sometimes view the comments on articles, especially when I’m writing other stories about the subject.

From Cheri Loughlin, the blog, The Intoxicologist (www.intoxicologist.net):

I don’t worry so much whether an individual post or cocktail receives comments, or what reader views happen to be on any given day.  My focus revolves around what readers are interested in over the long haul.  I look for trends in what my readers search for in key words that brings them to specific articles.  Readers will also tell you what they want if you build respect and trust.  Rather than use The Intoxicologist Facebook fan page as a tool for just placing article links, I try to engage my readers in conversation for feedback so I can bring them more of what they want.  I also learn a great deal from my readers, which is a great experience for me.

From Jane Maynard, the blog, This Week for Dinner (www.thisweekfordinner.com):

I consider the number of website visitors, number of comments or views, number of Twitter followers, and number of inbound links, although I feel like traffic to my blog and number of comments are my most accurate gauge.

Which search engines/sites/sources do you use most when doing online research or distribute what you write?

From Robert Selna, Reporter, San Francisco Chronicle (www.sfgate.com):

I use Google in nearly every instance in which I need quick contact information for a company, non-profit group or government agency. I rely on Lexis-Nexis for harder to find contact information and for news stories related to the topics I’m covering.

With the changing media landscape, it is clear that both mainstream as well as web media are increasing leveraging social platforms to conduct research and locate sources for their stories. Additionally, it is evident that there is a growing value placed on engagement and what topics trend to have the most traction.

What social tools do you find you use the most to communicate your messages? How do you measure the impact of your work or posts on the social web? While it’s clear both public relations practitioners and the media are leveraging more social tools and platforms, there is still an evolution taking place in terms of how these tools are perceived and how trustworthy the content is. We’d be interested in learning what resources and tools are most effective for you.

This week, Facebook Friday will look at six of Facebook’s top news stories and how they affect brands. As a bonus- a link to a bit of Facebook psychology.

1. Facebook recently introduced per-post analytics for Facebook pages- these show up only for authenticated pages (see below). For each link, video, wall post, or other content a page administrator posts you’ll be able to see the number of impressions it has gotten along with a feedback percentage (formula: comments or likes/impressions). Facebook provides some good explanation of each number means on their blog.
2. Does anyone have more information on authenticated pages? I’ve made it my personal message to figure out what it actually means since it could affect brands and brand representatives (like PR firms) who are brand page administrators. All I’ve tracked down so far is a message board of people being confused and a mention of authentication in the blog post above where it says, “Once a Page reaches 10,000 fans, the administrator is provided instructions on how to authenticate the Page.” But I am the administrator of a page that large and haven’t heard anything…
3. Doppelganger week? Huh? No one knows. Just go with it.
4. Facebook requires third party advertisers on applications (those banner ads you see on application pages) to agree to new terms. Pretty standard, just make sure if you use one of these providers that they are certified.
5. Facebook introduced new home page navigation and it looks pretty awesome. The only issue I’ve ID-ed is that the new photo upload plug-in I installed is broken so I can’t upload any new pictures yet. This doesn’t alter brand pages but it does raise the profile of applications and games from brands and developers, something discussed here last week.
6. Happy 6th Birthday Facebook!

Briefly noted: Facebook profiles capture our true personality, according to new psychology research.

National Wear Red Day at Ogilvy PR

If you haven’t realized it by now - RED is one of our favorite colors here at Ogilvy. Not only does it represent our brand and our company mentality, but it also stands for a cause close to our hearts (no pun intended).

Heart disease is the #1 Killer of Women - It is the goal of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s (NHLBI) Heart Truth campaign and Ogilvy to build awareness and provide resources for individuals, especially women who are less aware of their top health risk, to help reduce their risk of heart disease. (disclosure:  The Heart Truth® is an Ogilvy PR client).

While this is a year long issue, we make it a point to call out the importance of heart disease awareness every February, during American Heart Month (think of it as the friendly reminder you need to keep your healthy habits going after the hype of New Year’s resolutions dies down…), starting with National Wear Red Day®.

So for Friday, February 5th (yes, that’s tomorrow) we have a call out to the digital nation - show up in  red tomorrow & show your support of heart disease awareness.

And as Virginia Miracle puts it,  we’re “not just talking to the ladies”.  Men, women, children and even pets - wear red.

Publicize your participation digitally. Post videos/pictures of your fashionable attire, your company’s BIG RED photo opp, Tweet about it, and join in the online conversation around heart disease awareness on National Wear Red Day.

And if you’re free tomorrow afternoon, join us in NHLBI’s first ever National Wear Red Day Twitter Party from 3-4 PM EST.  RSVP here.

Here are a few key things to remember:

Universal campaign hashtag is #hearttruth - please use this in all your Tweets/posts/image and video tags

Tag for Flickr photos is  “NationalWearRedDay.”

Handle for Twitter is @thehearttruth, follow for heart healthy tips and resources, new research and statistics, and live coverage of the The Heart Truth’s Red Dress Collection Fashion Show.

Lastly, don’t forget to join the campaign Facebook Fan Page to learn about new events in your area, get first hand updates on the 2010 Red Dress Fashion Show and share how you are taking action to reduce your risk of heart disease. (You can post your National Wear Red Day pictures here, too).

2009, defined by the deep recession, forced consumer brands to do more with much less.  However, this stressful environment drove  marketers to try non-traditional and less expensive channels, fostering the development of some unique engagement programs in social media.  In this series of posts, I’ll revisit a few of the more interesting campaigns from the past year and explain how these programs can guide our 2010 engagement strategies.

Social media can be used in a variety of capacities; so instead of your standard Top Ten list, I’ll look at campaigns based on their strategic approach. Some of these initiatives could fit into multiple buckets, but for the sake of this blog post, I’ll only focus on specific components of an overall program.

Empowering Brand Advocates Through Social Media

One could argue the easiest method to earn digital relevance and recognition is to take advantage of a brand’s advocates that are already active in social media and give these people a more influential voice.  As Nielsen  reports that consumers trust their friends’ opinions over corporate marketing messages, countless brands are attempting to corral their top fans and focus their enthusiasm towards potential consumers.  One component of this strategy is to leverage the strong connection these fans share with the brand’s personality and the community on whole. In 2009, two companies did this particularly well in completely different ways.

Boxee, 2009 International CES Team Member Contest
…or how to excite your fans in 72 hours or less.

Background

All the way back in October 2008, Boxee was a small start-up that just won a free entry to the 2009 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) for producing the world’s first “social” media center. Without getting into too much detail, Boxee is a cross-platform software application (and now hardware component) that allows you to link media hubs, such as your computer, Hulu, and NetFlix account to your television; you can then share those viewing experiences across a social network.

Similar to other innovative start-ups, Boxee has a very passionate and cult-like fan base. The company blog receives over 50,000 unique monthly visitors and blog posts can easily generate 100, if not 200 comments. Boxee advocates are very vocal and love sharing their opinions with others.

But, again, similar to most start-ups, the company only employs a handful of people and certainly not enough to man two booths at one of the largest electronics trade shows in the world. Boxee needed a quick way to increase their presence at CES and generate excitement within their community.

Strategy and Execution

On a Thursday afternoon just one week before the start of the conference, Boxee CEO, Avner Ronen, posted on the company blog that Boxee is only able to send a few of their employees to CES and they’ll need some help from fans. Mr. Ronen asked people to take some time during the weekend to shoot and submit a one-minute video of themselves explaining the software as if they were at CES. After a vote, the winners would be flown out to Las Vegas and join the Boxee crew.

Over the course of Friday and Saturday, fans from across the country presented their best Boxee pitches to both the company and community in hopes of securing a spot on the team.

On Sunday morning at 8am, Boxee posted 20 finalists, and by the afternoon, Boxee fans tallied over 750 votes. The next day, Boxee announced four winners and on Wednesday, the four were on their way to the conference.

In less than seven days, a campaign critical to the brand’s reputation was launched, executed, wrapped-up, and its results implemented.

Impact

At the conference, the Boxee booth was one of the most popular of the entire show. Visitors appreciated hearing directly from the knowledgeable Boxee fans, which freed up time for the developers to speak with their many media engagements.   The team took home plenty of awards including CEA iStage Winner, G4’s Best of the Best, and CNet’s Editor’s Pick.

On their own, the four contest winners actively shared their experience in Las Vegas with the Boxee community through Twitter, videos, and photos.  One advocate is now even featured in the main video on the Boxee homepage.

Why It Worked

Through this advocate activation campaign, Boxee connected their last-minute need for additional help on the conference floor to the desires of a highly engaged community. It didn’t hurt that the top prize was any Boxee fan’s ultimate dream: share a product they love at a key industry event, as part of a team they admire. Boxee’s community loves engaging directly with the brand, and the entire process kept not just the winners, but everyone involved from the start, whether it was creating content, judging other members, or hearing directly from the Boxee fans at CES. This campaign built on the link between the advocates’ personal interests and the brand, which in turn generated excitement within their base community in addition to creating positive exposure to potential consumers.

Now as simple as the Boxee example seems, it only will work for certain styles of brands. Sometimes a brand’s personality requires a more exclusive and intimate experience.

Enter Marmite.

Marmite, The First Circle of the Marmarati
…or how to use preferential treatment and exclusivity to target advocates.

Background

Since the late 19th century, this sticky, dark brown vegan spread has been known to stir up heated passions. People seem to either love this product or completely hate it. There are multiple Facebook groups representing both sides, the largest of which claims nearly 250,000 fans. In 2009, Marmite invited their biggest advocates to decide the newest flavor. This campaign certainly isn’t the first to crowd-source a new product, but this social media strategy uniquely activates Marmite advocates by intimately connecting them with the brand’s English/Victorian personality.

Strategy and Execution

Marmite asked people to describe why they love the spread in 12 words or less. Roughly 700 entries were uploaded in the form of Facebook status updates, Tweets, and audio and video clips. 40 fans received a phone call from “William Fotherington-Smythe,” a fictional character with a distinct elitist accent and he invited them to join the First Circle of the Marmarati. The new members were then brought to the secret society’s inaugural event at a posh restaurant in downtown London.

Upon arrival, the 40 Marmarati were provided champagne and briefly allowed to mingle with the “elders” including Marmite’s CEO who portrayed “Lord Marmarati,” in full costume. Soon enough, a master of ceremonies swept back a curtain to reveal an elegant banquet table. After a brief history of Marmite, he made each of the Marmarati recite a secret oath and blindfolded them before they could taste the three different flavors.

After the tasting, the fans sipped Marmite-flavored cocktails while the master of ceremonies told them about a “secret” Facebook page and instructed them all to wait for further instructions.

Impact

The Marmarati returned to their everyday lives, blogging about their mysterious experience and shortly, food blogs and pop-culture sites in the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States picked up the story and shared this clever campaign with their readers.

Within a few weeks, the Marmarati members were contacted to recruit others for the Second Circle of the Marmarati, which is now scaled up to include 160 new members. As of this writing, the Second Circle members were just announced and the new Marmite flavor, “XO” is said to hit shelves in March 2010.

Why It Worked

Compared to Boxee’s advocate activation campaign, the Marmarati campaign required a great deal of planning and execution. However, this strategy of a secret society and luxurious experience fits perfectly with the brand’s image, passionate following, and English/Victorian history.

What Does This Mean?

Both these campaigns highlight a key point that is essential to advocate outreach: strategy must fit brand personality.

Whether you are marketing a cutting edge technology or a delicatessen spread, your tactics may be different, but your initial approach to advocate activation should be the same. Your brand’s biggest fans identify with your brand’s image; they relate their interests to the brand’s personality. Our job as social media marketers is to leverage and expand on this existing link between the advocate and the brand. The stronger you build the bond, the more likely your advocates will share their brand experiences with potential consumers.

[This is the first post in a series revisiting some of the more unique social media campaigns by consumer brands in 2009 and how these programs can guide our 2010 engagement strategies. Click here to read the full series.]

The Coop Marena is a typical resort hotel in the Dominican Republic. However, blogger José Rafael Sosa notes that what sets this hotel apart is that it is a cooperative [es], and does not belong to a corporation or single individual.

~/zaboka reports on conditions in the Haitian tent cities, which sprung up as a result of the homelessness caused by the devastating January 12 earthquake: “I was amazed by how clean it was and how they had separated the camp in different sectors and assigned people in charge to make sure that it’s always clean. I have never seen Haiti as peaceful and the people as hopeful.”

The blog Voces Lojanas [es] writes about the creation of the Colambo Yacuri National Park located in the region of Loja, Ecuador.

Cricket icon Brian Lara's house is burgled and tickets to the upcoming Beyoncé concert stolen, prompting Trinidad and Tobago girls, politics, sports, technology, carnival, and lifestyle to comment: “Brian Lara's company, Lay Management, was controversially awarded the contract to construct the massive stage for the concert, but the question on citizen's lips is what is he doing with 100 tickets in a safe?”

At Paramaribo SPAN, Chris Cozier considers the work of a tattoo artist “using skin as another canvas”, which “coincides with the painted decorations on Paramaribo minibuses, reaching out to a larger contemporary public and extending the dialogue about visual production.”

Dominica Weekly puts forward its take on the issue of censorship, commenting: “Dominican authorities must pay close attention to other lyrics which glorify guns, drugs, violence or deviant behaviour. Calypso, as a art form [has] tremendous influence on the behaviour of youth…and governments have a responsibility to ensure that the values of society are respected and maintained.”