CeBIT 2.010 – Always mobile, always social, always on

Als mobile Devices (altdeutsch = Handys) erfunden wurden, dienten sie dem Sinn, im Notfall in Echtzeit Informationen auszutauschen. Das mag zwar heute immernoch so sein. Dennoch hat die CeBIT 2.010 die soziale Erweiterung des Nutzungsbeweggrundes sowie die damit einhergehende Bedeutung für Sales und Marketing den Massen eindringlich verdeutlicht.

Tippte man früher umständlich die notwendige Nummer ein, um schnellstmöglich die Polizei, den Krankenwagen oder Abschleppdienst zu einem Unfallort zur Hilfe zu holen und den Verkehrsfluß wieder zu gewährleisten. So wird heute mit dem Handy ein Film (Bild ist schon fast uncool) vom Unfall gemacht. Dieses Video wird dann in einem sozialen Netzwerk hochgeladen und die Freunde auf die verkehrstechnische Umfahrung des Unfallortes per Twitter in Echtzeit aufmerksam gemacht.

Die Tastatur des Handys spielt dabei zukünftig immer unerheblicher. Gilt es doch, wertvolle Zeit zu sparen. Schließlich wissen Usability Experten um die Wichtigkeit eines der Moderne entsprechenden kundenfreundlichen Bedienungskonzeptes. Ja ok, und auch der Notwendigkeit keine Zeit bei einem Unfall zu verlieren. Richtig.

Ergo, die App revolutioniert nicht nur das (mobile) Internet, sondern auch den Markt der mobilen Endgeräte und deren Grundausstattung. Und wer denkt, daß gelte nur für das Handy irrt sich. Auch das Auto der Zukunft greift vermutlich per Touchscreen nur noch auf Apps zu, wie die T-Systems wunderbar offline auf der CeBIT illustrierte.

Man mag sich gar nicht ausmalen, wenn man auf das Auto Screenplay noch die Apps von Facebook und Twitter hochladen kann, wie es Ford erst kürzlich in Aussicht gestellt hat. Dank Google Streetview können sich die Netzwerk Freunde dann den Ort des Geschehens zukünftig aus der sicheren Ferne ins Gedächtnis rufen. Und das Ganze sogar im Vorzeit-Webzustand – in Echtzeit schafft wohl selbst Google den aktuellen Straßenüberblick nicht. Auf der Cebit konnte man die Autos bewundern, die diese Strassen-Bilder zukünftig für uns machen – von Künstlern in liebevoller Kleinstarbeit verziert.

Ob die Künstler sich wohl danach erstmal bei studiVZ auf der Couch ausgeruht haben? So ganz unmobil, aber natürlich sozial und im “always on” Modus? Vermutlich nicht. Man musste schon ein Auto vor die Couch fahren, um irgendwie darauf zu kommen. Vielleicht haben sie aber auch nur ein Bild mit der erhöhten Kamera-Perspektive gemacht, um es dann vom Auto aus in ein soziales Netzwerk hochzuladen.

Offline gibt es den Menschen 2.010 anscheinend nicht mehr. Aber vielleicht braucht er gerade deswegen bald wieder die Ursprungsfunktion des Handys, wenn es nämlich vor lauter Onlinezeit dann in der Offlinewelt ständig kracht, weil gerade mal wieder umstrittene Location-Based Services gecheckt wurden nach den neusten Promotions und Angeboten in der Umgebung ums Auto.

Spot on!
Ach ja. Zur Deutschen Telekom gibt es auch noch ein paar Worte zu sagen. Man frägt sich, ob der Konzern Re-Branding -Weltmeister werden will. Mit jeder neuen Business-Strategie würfelt man anscheinend auch gleich ein neues Branding in den Markt. Egal ob die dann Webstrategie 2.0 heißt oder nicht und man mit Kundengeschenken wirbt, die vom Obama 2.0 Leitspruch abgeleitet sind. So wird aus “Yes, we can” einfach mal schnell “U Can” (mit dem Claim ‘The power to transform’). Und ebenso schnell wandelt man T-Online, T-Com, T-Mobile oder T-Home um. Jetzt geht der Konzern mit T auf Kundenfang. Mit weiterhin einem Punkt davor, 3 dahinter und gleichem Audio-Logo? Der PR Twitter Account darf nicht fehlen und auch Facebook wird offensichtlich bald kommen, wenn man mal genau sucht.

Ob und wie diese zahlreichen Brandingwechsel die Markenführungs-Experten auslegen, bleibt spannend und abzuwarten. Sachdienliche Hinweise bitte an die Branding-Unfall-Notaufnahme MMG bei The Strategy Web. Danke im voraus!

PS: Geschrieben auf dem Flug von Hannover nach München, auf dem iPhone – aber offline im Flugmodus…

Neurological study: Bad websites causing ‘web-stress’

Bad designed websites and slow loading times are causing ‘web stress’ for internet users. This is the result of a new neurological study by CA in cooperation one of the leading customer experience and consultancy consulting firms Foviance. The study even shows that bad websites have a negative effect on the users health.

During the study, which was conducted at the Glasgow Caledonian University, volunteers (eight women and five men between the age of 25 and 42 years) were wired up to sophisticated neurological and physiological testing equipment (incl. an Electroencephalography cap) which was used to monitor brain wave activity. The volunteers carried out a series of everyday online tasks such as finding and buying a laptop PC and travel insurance. During the test the internet connection was slowed down to increase the stress factor.

With the generated data, CA and Foviance found the two most stressful points of the online sales cycle which caused a high level of ‘web-stress’: search and checkout. Although the volunteers completed the purchase, more than three quarters of customers will abandon the site in reality. And it took the volunteers up to a minute to recover from that ‘web stress’.

This result corresponds with CAs Web Stress Index study. In 2009 CA interviewed 2500 consumers. The key finding was that slow loading websites were a frustrating experience for 92% of the repondents. No wonder that volunteers in the experiment were leaving bad websites, or wanted to call the company’s hotline

“The results of this study sends out a clear message – businesses need to reduce ‘web stress’ and improve the online experience of their customers if they’re going to maximise returns from their web channel” (…) It’s not just about website design or internet connection speeds – the performance of a website is dependent on the performance of the web applications that support it. Businesses need an Application Performance Management (APM)** solution which not only provides real insight into how customers are experiencing their web applications, but will proactively manage the performance and availability of these applications. This translates into better customer service, improved brand loyalty and increased sales.”
Kobi Korsah, Director, EMEA Product Marketing, CA

And Foviance adds…

“Consumers have very high expectations of web applications and web sites – to be always available and instantly responsive. This experiment simulated the experience of underperforming web applications for our volunteers. The results show that when online expectations aren’t met, people quickly become agitated, confused and have to concentrate 50% more than normal. All these problems can be detected and prevented as long as businesses take a proactive approach to measuring the customer’s experience of web applications.”
Catriona Campbell, Director and Founder, Foviance and leading behavioural psychologist

Spot On!
In the summer of 2009, Akamai already revealed that 2 seconds is the new threshold of acceptability for eCommerce websites response times. The study showed that 40% of consumers won’t wait more than 3 seconds for a web page to load before leaving the site. This study by CA and Foviance makes this clear again: Corporations should have a close testing eye on the essential features (loading time for search and checkout) in order not to affect online shopping revenues. Especially if you bear in mind that online retail is predicted to grow to 320 billion EUR in 2011. More information can be found in this video on the CA study.

News Update – Best of the Day

“Markets are conversations” tells us the Cluetrain Manifesto. Let’s check some Facebook fan pages from well-known watch brands. The engagement of the audience is interesting to compare. While some manufaturers seem to have a PR channel like Tissot with less conversation happening, Omega gets the tone right and can really pick up a lot of ideas and thoughts for their marketing. And Baume & Mercier speaks in a French marketing language to their audience – a reason why not many people are talking to each other?

UK SMB companies obviously don’t embrace Twitter for their business strategy. A new study suggests that only 26% have a Twitter presence.

The old becomes new? Funny commercial from a brand that is associated with an old generation in my eyes – Old Spice.

Augmented Reality – the future of customer service?

The customer service world around us is changing with the social web, new technologies, and especially mobile apps. The question is how much this is effecting our perspective of the real offline world around us. A new technology is evolving that is beginning to connect the offline and the virtual world from a customer perspective as it will offer some new form of customer service. The term is Augmented Reality (AR).

It is a technology that brings your visual experience and information from the web or networks together, and by doing this enriches daily situations with relevant data from the web – and in more and more cases the information provided will come from the user.

The competition for users and companies has already begun. We have augmented reality browsers like Layar, explaining us instantly which famous buildings are surrounding us. Or, another AR browser named Wikitude that starts to become one of the most-wanted AR browser apps (not only for iPhone users) and gets nominated for one award after another. With wikitude.me shops and service providers of all sorts can already use this cool service to make themselves visible in the offline world by geo-tagging their office or location with simple online entries. If somebody is new in a city, this person can find a laundry or the next wine shop much easier in the future – just by using an AR browser app.

There are products like T-shirts projecting interactive games with AR. Digital cosmetic mirrors where women in cosmetic shops can see in real-time what a new eye-liner or make-up is looking good at them without testing it in reality. Adidas will launch a series of shoes, each printed with an AR code on the tongue which give you access to an interactive game that changes on a montly basis. Is this the customer service of the future?

Now, just imagine what this technology could do for customer service in the future. Wouldn’t it be a positive effect when we get immediate feedback on health information about the food and drinks we consume?

The following short film, called Augmented (Hyper)Reality, shows us a world some time ahead, where augmented reality is part of our daily offline life. We see what the actor sees, from his own perspective, and get to know the oppotunities that AR might offer to our daily life. OK, if we agree to getting networked completely…

The interesting acknowledgement for companies will be the advertising part of the film – although in some way it might be shocking…

Spot On!
The complete overkill seems to be the massive sea of logos flooding our sight in the beginning. Although the above examples might seem an exaggerated view of a futuristic branding scenario, it gives some idea on how the world might change customer care in the future. And you never know if this will be really happening, or not. Today, this all might sound strange to us but just think about how common the use of artifical medical help is for us, or how often we use the navigation system in cars today.

And then, think about the options when combining location based advertising with augmented reality. This opens a complete new world of customer care…

Don’t you think?

News Update – Best of the Day

This news update reads like: Back to the Roots.

Skittles changes their website strategy. Not even a year ago, Skittles has chosen to set up a social media hub website against a traditional website. Last week, the Skittles site has been relaunched and ends their extreme social media outfit – just the small social network logos on top indicate their social media engagement. Nevertheless, the PR effect was and is massive for them. Just the right time to use it for the launch of their new Twitter page…

The iPad drives the media in the world crazy and has ruled the news in the last weeks. Now, a recent study (poll) shows the customer’s buying desire for an Apple tablet both pre- and post iPad keynote. The results show that before the speech there were 26% saying they DON’T want to buy an iPad and after it, the numbers has increased to 52%!

The super bowl season 2010 is over. The winner is the team from the New Orleans Saints – Congrats guys – well done! After the final the first question is: Which TV commercial was the best (see a selection on The Strategy Web YouTube channel). My vote goes to Volkswagen. It’s about a funny game (Every time you see a VW drive by, you punch a friend.), it’s carries cool characters, creates suspense and the company advertizes with the German claim: Das Auto – and not ‘the car’ or ‘the auto’. Isn’t that authentic? Back to the rootes! So, take care when I am standing next to you next time…

Moms access point for engagement? – Social Networks!

If your company sells children (car) seats, diapers, baby buggies or lipstick, when it comes to engaging at-home moms you may think about social networks. At least two recent reports from the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association (RAMA) conducted by BIGresearch as well as another one conducted by Lucid Marketing and analyst Lisa Finn in the US make clear that moms are more likely to be on Facebook, MySpace or Twitter than other moms.

Moms log on almost daily
And moms are using social networks quite often. A Lucid Marketing study states that 80% of Facebooking moms log in at least daily. Even more, 30% of the responding moms login more than five times each day. Also mobile logins are quite popular: About 40% login from smartphones and computers.

The future seems to belong to Facebook. 90% of the moms say the Facebook benefit is that its easy contacting friends/family. 26% mention they like the apps (games and quizzes).

Social web for at-home moms important
- 60% more likely to use Facebook
- 42% more likely to use MySpace
- 16% more likely to use Twitter
- 15% maintain their own blogs

“Retailers who aren’t engaging customers through social media could be missing the boat” (…) “Twitter, Facebook and blogs are becoming increasingly popular with moms as they search for coupons or deals and keep in touch with loved ones. The web provides efficient, convenient ways for brands to stay in front of their most loyal shoppers and attract new ones.”
Mike Gatti, Executive Director, RAMA

Spot on!
Now, the most interesting part for marketers: 64% like ads (or feeling neutral about) on Facebook, says the Lucid Marketing study. Meaning, Facebooking moms are apparently open to get in touch with brands and marketers – if they take their wants and needs into account. The ’social moms’ are getting engaged when they search for exclusive deals (i.e. coupons and discounts). Apart from that, these studies indicate that companies addressing moms could replace old loyalty programs. I am sure, this is a great opportunity. But don’t forget to provide sustainable conversation – moms hate it not to be taken serious in their job at-home.

News Update – Best of the Day

Is the marketers attitude towards traditional advertising changing as all marketers are looking for engagement? PepsiCo is challenging social media efforts big time this year and will not invest in an expensive super bowl campaign. A budget of 20 mio. USD will be invested into a social media campaign. Mashable has all the facts…

If you are in the wine business (or a wine ‘geek’) and looking how to improve your business ideas just listen to a nice case study and see what the social web can do for you. Joe Roberts, certified specialist of wine, shares some good information and show the challenges for big brands with social media.

The world is talking just about one new technology product: the iPad. But did you know that there is already a home-made commercial on YouTube for it? How do you like the idea of the dancing fingers?

Can corporate social media engagement replace customer loyalty cards?

We all have our purse full of plastic cards for customer loyaly programs. These won’t make us rich. They make us save money, or get kickbacks from companies and brands if we want. And the philosophy of these programs is clever. Companies have the feeling of being in touch with their clients on a regular basis, making sure customers stay informed about their product offerings.

The customers bottleneck is, well yes, we have to carry multiple plastic cards in a credit card format with us. So, why not leaving these cards behind after 20 years and just make customers fans on Facebook and/or followers on Twitter of brands?

Imagine you go into a store and you’ll see a “Follow us on Facebook or Twitter or on our iPhone app” sign taped to the cash mashine instead of receiving print and plastic to carry home?! – Why not save the trees and oil resources!?

Companies install reward program cards to make us buy more of their products, or more frequently. And companies get more feedback on our buying habits. So, for companies these cards are an essential part of their customer loyalty strategy.

And customers with a big purse are happy. Others don’t want to have all these cards. Thus, these customers are not lsitening to what’s the latest promotion. Now, who of the male world is happy with all these plastic cards making our trouser pockets look like fat kangaroo pouches?

In most cases, these loyalty cards are addressing and being used by an old-economy’s vanity (IMHO), or women. “Look how much companies are interested in having me as their customer”, I heard a woman say the other day.

A recent study by the CMO Council “The Leaders in Loyalty: Feeling the Love from the Loyalty Club” shows the trouble of loyalty programs. 54% of consumers mention that irrelevant messages, low value rewards, and impersonal engagements may decrease their loyalty for brands and their services, and with that their loyalty programs.

And yes, we can understand this fact when our online and offline mailboxes are full of non-personalized, unexhiting and unintersting promotions from company’s so called loyalty programs. Talking of me, these loyalty programs get one chance and I cut those cards into pieces straight away when the company loyalty program fails.

Now, what does this means for loyalty programs when we match these results with the latest survey by MarketingSherpa. The new web generation and prosumers love following brands as they expect savings, learning about specials and sales as the top motivation to friend and/or follow a brand online. If companies are aware of this fact and learn from it, why not replacing the old loyalty card concept then?

The benefit of the fan and follower systemtic is quite obvious…
- You become a fan and/or follower when a brand becomes of interest for YOU as a customer
- You become a fan and/or follower of your favorite brand when YOU are in a purchase process
- You can check status updates on sales, discounts and promotions when YOU need them (not when the company wants to sell more products)

OK, thinking of business intelligence and data mining sales cycle topics, it might become difficult for companies to track purchase processes as good as now. But, isn’t the customer king with the rise of social media? And companies could save money for print mailings and their plastic card production, right?

Spot On!
Some weeks ago, I have thought about Twitter as a sales tool and with this post, I am trying to take this idea a bit further. It shall illustrate how much a company’s sales and customer service strategy gets influenced by a new social web strategy where the customer holds the power of interest in promotions.

So, let us know what you think about the idea that Facebook fan pages, Twitter company accounts or corporate LinkedIn groups could replace loyalty programs in the future? A dream, a vision or a stupid idea?

B2B vs. B2C: Wofür sich Social Media eignet?

Egal ob Veranstaltung, Webinar oder Kundengespräch – viele meiner leitenden Ansprechpartner oder Kunden fragen mich, ob Social Media nun (mehr) für B2B oder B2C tauglich ist. Die Frage klingt ein wenig so wie vor 15 Jahren, als man mich fragte, ob das Internet für das Business, die Umsätze und die Lead Generierung wirklich wichtig wird.

Grundsätzlich ist Social Media mal für beides einsetzbar – aber selbstverständlich unter unterschiedlichen Vorzeichen. Und: Ja, man kann Social Media sehr gut für die B2B PR-, Marketing- und Saleskommunikation einsetzen (siehe hierzu auch Erkenntnisse der Studie der wob AG). In meinen Augen ist das Social Web für B2B sogar effizienter und mit oft schwerwiegenderer Wirkung nachhaltig als im B2C Umfeld.

Vor jedem Social Media Engagement sollte dennoch geklärt sein, warum das Unternehmen überhaupt ’sozial’ werden will, wo die Stärken und Schwächen der Produkte und Dienstleistungen sind und wen das Unternehmen mit dem sozialen Web-Engagement adressiert.

Entsprechend empfehle ich Unternehmen nachfolgende drei Denkansätze vor jeder Wahl eines Plattform-Engagements zu untersuchen und analysieren – denn die Vorzeichen sind in diesem Fall für B2B wie für B2C gültig.

Analysieren Sie…
Stellen Sie sich als verantwortlicher Manager nachfolgende Fragen. Es würde mich wundern, wenn Sie danach nicht wissen, ob der Einsatz von Social Media eine Relevanz für ihr Unternehmen hat.

- Wer meiner Kunden ist bereits im Social Web unterwegs? Firma, Jobtitel und Branche sind dabei getrennt be(tr)achten!
- Was schreiben meine Kunden auf sozialen Netzwerken?
- Wann sind meine Kunden in diesen Plattformen aktiv?
- Wo schreiben die Kunden Status Updates, Kommentare oder Posts?
- Warum engagieren die Kunden sich mit (hohem) zeitlich Aufwand im Social Web?

Diese Analyse läßt sich im übrigen gleichermaßen bei der Mitbewerbsanalyse durchführen. Es läßt ähnliche Schlüsse auf potentielle Kundschaft für ihr Unternehmen im sozialen Web zu.

Ein einfacher erster Schritt ist, mal testweise Facebook, Twitter, YouTube oder Business-Netzwerke wie LinkedIn oder XING nach Mitarbeitereinträgen und Unternehmenspräsenzen der Kundschaft durchzusehen.

Social Networking Profile agieren oft wie Hubs der im Social Web aktiven Firmen. Die persönlichen und unternehmerischen Profile vernetzen sich, verdeutlichen welches Engagement man im Social Web betreibt und wen man in seinem sozialen Netzwerk Wert schätzt.

Das ist übrigens kein “Social Media Stalking”, sondern reine Business-Recherche der Neuzeit 2.0. Diese taktische Massnahme nutzen auf meinen Businessprofilen bei XING und LinkedIn tagtäglich zahlreiche Menschen (Kunden, Mitbewerber, Partner, Personaler, usw.). Warum also nicht Sie?

Rechnen Sie…
Bei sozialer B2B Kommunikation geht es nicht um erkaufte Reichweite (Page Impressions oder Clicks), die sie erzielen, sondern um taktische Intensitätstiefe in der Kundenkommunikation (Konversation, Transparenz und Offenheit), die ihre sozialen Auftritte offerieren. Es geht um das Angebot an den Kunden, sich zu zeigen und ihr Business anzusprechen, zu loben oder zu kritisieren.

Wie wir alle wissen, ist jeder Kunde eine Referenz. Kommt dieser im ‘öffentlichen’ Gespräch transparent zu Wort, hat das Gewicht und zeigt, daß diese Person nicht ein traditionell vom Unternehmen gelistetes Testimonial ist. Und stellen Sie sich mal vor, aus so einem offenen Web-Gespräch über ihr Blog wird ein Kunde – den sie wieder zu einer Referenz machen können?

Vor allem im B2B Geschäft macht sich das umsatztechnisch mehr bemerkbar denn im B2C Geschäft. Man stelle sich nur mal vor, eine Firma verkauft dank einer Empfehlung mal eben im Produktionsbereich eine Maschine für 20.000 EUR im Vergleich zu einem Kopfhörer für 25 EUR. Wer es also schafft, seine Kunden in sogenannte “Brand-vangelists”, sprich ‘indirekte Marken-Fürsprecher’ zu wandeln, kann gerade im B2B Geschäft mit ordentlichen Umsatzzuwächsen dank Empfehlungsmultiplikation rechnen.

Bedenken Sie…
Die B2B Geschäfte beruhen auf einem zeitlich längeren Entscheidungs- und Einkaufsprozess. Die Preismodelle sind meistens bedeutend höher und die Kundenbasis ist kleiner als im B2C Geschäft. Nachhaltigkeit ist eine Grundvoraussetzung für erfolgreiche Business-Kundenbeziehungen. Man kommuniziert, diskutiert und argumentiert eben lange mit einem Kunden bis er ein Produkt oder eine Dienstleistung im Einkaufsprozess in Betracht zieht. Diese nachhaltige Kommunikationsbereitschaft mit Kunden sollte sich in der Content Strategie im Social Web wiederfinden. Oder machen Sie das derzeit auf ihrer Unternehmenswebseite?

Ist es da nicht gut, immer wieder einen kommunikativen Impuls abseits einer PR-Meldung oder Marketingaktion zu setzen? Teilen Sie die Bedenken, die ihre Kunden haben mit potentiellen Kunden, die sie noch gar nicht kennen. FAQs sind nett, aber schauen Sie sich genau an, wie oft die noch jemand liest.

B2B Kundenkommunikation über Web 2.0 Tools wie Blogs und soziale Netzwerke (siehe auch diese Studie hierzu) kann man wunderbar spiegeln und vernetzen, damit noch mehr potentielle Kunden von grundsätzlichen FAQs um Produkte, Lösungen und Services zeitnah erfahren. Das Engagement der Kunden ist aufgrund der Investmenthöhe intensiver im B2B höher als im B2C Business. Hat man den Kunden gewonnen, ist der Faktor der Mundpropaganda alles entscheidend – und den bietet Social Media in höchstem Masse… (Referenzseiten werden nebensächlich).

Warum also das Social Web nicht aus webstrategischen Aspekten für die B2B Aktivitäten nutzen?

Spot On!
Entscheidend ist: Business geschieht zwischen Menschen, die Beziehungen zueinander haben und deshalb Geschäfte abschließen, weil sie sich vertrauen. Das Social Web vermenschlicht – auch Unternehmen. Das ist eine große Chance für Unternehmen dem Anstrich eines Fabrikwesens zu entweichen. Ja, es gibt Unterschiede im taktischen Einsatz von B2B und B2C. Nein, aus strategischer Sicht gibt es keine Unterschiede. Das strategische Ziel des Social Media Einsatzes eines Unternehmens, ob hier oder da, sollte demselben Erhebungsprozess folgen und den gleichen Fokus haben: Die Unternehmensvision Wirklichkeit werden zu lassen.

Oder wie sehen/seht Sie/Ihr den Unterschied zwischen B2B und B2C im Social Web?

PS: Brian Solis hat hierzu übrigens kürzlich zahlreiche Fakten zum Status von B2B in Social Media aus der 2009 B2B Social Media Benchmarking Study präsentiert.

Social Web: “When you decide to jump in, resist the temptation to sell, sell, sell.” – Interviewing Scott Monty

At the Detroit motor show 2010 Ford executives from around the world spent one entire day engaging with Ford Fans and online influencers on social web platforms like Twitter, Facebook, BlogTalkRadio, CoverItLive, and more.

TheStrategyWeb was given the chance to exchange some questions with Scott Monty, head of social media at FORD Motor Company, about the company’s digital tactics, the social web and their web-strategy.

Q: Scott, FORD has launched the new Ford Focus. How much was the design and product development influenced by the “One Ford” strategy and your social media activities?

Scott Monty The design and development process was very much a One Ford process. German-based Gunnar Hermann has been the lead for the new global C-car platform. He worked with a team of global engineers, including people such as Jens Ludmann and Jim Hughes, who are the Focus lead engineers in Europe and North America, respectively. While we’ve seen a steady stream of customers in the U.S. showing interest in the current generation of the Focus in Europe, the process for developing a global car was well underway before we implemented our social media strategy.

Q: In which way is the One Ford strategy influenced by your team’s social web activities, or vice versa?

Scott Monty When Alan Mulally joined Ford in September 2006, he set the company on a course of brand consolidation and product planning that incorporated the One Ford vision. Our business plan and communications goals were set, and our social media strategy was developed to support both.

Picture above: FORD CEO Alan Mullaly and Social Media Scott Monty at Detroit motor show C-level social media jam.

Q: What were the biggest challenges when the Ford top-management decided to implement a social web-strategy?

Scott Monty Surprisingly few. There has been no resistance to change, and indeed, there’s been an incredible interest in this developing field by a wide range of our most senior executives. While we’ve enjoyed success in our social media activities over the last year (especially in the U.S.), the challenge ahead of us is how we effectively scale the operations and how we roll it out regionally.

Q: How important is it for companies to have all employees understanding and living the social web engagement of the company?

Scott Monty To the extent that a company is involved in social media and invites a culture of participation and transparency, it’s vitally important. But more than just understanding the tools and platforms; what we’re talking about is cultural change and a transformation in the way we do business. If we can help employees to understand that, we’ll be successful regardless of what social network our strategy is executed on.

Q: How important is web-strategy for the Ford business today?

Scott Monty It is vitally important, as that’s where our customers are. It’s where they do their research and it’s increasingly where they’re having conversations about our brand. We’ve dedicated 25% of our marketing budget to digital and social media – more than twice the rate of others in our industry. And when you consider that consumers trust people like themselves more than companies, it’s vital for us to open up ourselves to them and have them experience our vehicles and tell their networks about us.

Q: Why should companies have a (social) web-strategy in place in the upcoming decade?

Scott Monty The web – particularly the mobile web – is increasingly where people are spending their time. When they first stop to research your product is Google, everything you and your customers do on the web is trackable. And it’s where your company’s reputation is being built, every day.

Q: What advice would you give to companies that think about setting up their social web-strategy?

Scott Monty Listen first. Take time to discover what people are saying about your business and to understand the unwritten rules of the online communities in which your customers participate. Become a member of those sites or networks and spend time looking around. And when you decide it’s time to jump in, resist the temptation to sell, sell, sell. People are on these sites to talk with each other, not to be marketed to. Try to provide value. Be helpful. Ask for feedback. Give them unique and interesting material they can’t get elsewhere. Doing all of this over time will build trust and a deeper relationship with your customer base.

THX Scott for the time and your interesting insights!

About Scott Monty
Scott is head of social media for FORD Company. Or do you want his official title, then here you go: Global Digital & Multimedia Communications Manager. And he is a blogger. As a marketing and communications professional he has worked for a number of industries (healthcare, pharma, biotech, travel, automotive, tech, and communications), and numerous clients, from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies. Today, he is a strategic advisor on all social media activities for FORD.

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