Why were getting social

By Charles DarleyBrand Experience

We always overestimate thechange that will occur in the nexttwo years and underestimate thechange that will occur in the nextten.

Don't let yourself be lulledinto inaction.

Bill Gates, c1999

How true is this quote?

Food Health Housing Insurance

Mutuality was aboutbuilding communities toshare the burden of bigresponsibilities:

The firstsocialnetwork?

A quick history lesson

First buildingsociety formedBirmingham -the first socialnetwork?

1774

Permanentbuildingsocieties wherethe societycontinued on arolling basis

1830

Act passed inParliamentallowingsocieties todemutualise inorder tocompete withbanks

1986

Tim Berners-Lee inventsthe internet

1989

Facebook isborn

And everythingchanges

2004

We invest 000s in our brand, our branches,web site, literature, marketing

We train our staff to be brand advocates

We have mission statements, policies, customerservice guides, complaints processes

Up until 2004 we could control all this

We just lost control...big style

Our brands are under threat

Weve gone from oneperson telling five peopleabout a bad experience

To one person broadcasting to anaudience of billionsSocial networks like Facebook andTwitter make this happenThis can also have a positive effect ifpositive things are said

A look back - How the internet evolved...

Yahooorganised the

Internet

Google made itsearchable

Facebookmade it social

Facebooklaunches asnetwork site forHarvardBusinessSchoolStudents

Feb 2004

How Facebook evolved...

Facebook usedin 800 colleges

3.5m USstudents

Dec 2005

21 millionusers

May 2007

30,000educationalinstitutions inUS, Canada &other Englishspeakingcountries

8m users

May 2006

500 millionusers

Today

Facebook today

17 million people in the UK use Facebook ....everyday

Improved search facilities and precisetargeting are really challenging Google interms of information gathering and advertising

Source: facebook.comSource: businessinsider.com

Bigger than Google forthe first time ever...

Christmas Day 2009

Not just a youth audience61% fall into the 2544 year old bracket

Who is using Facebook?

Source: facebook.com

The growth of micro blogging (Twitter)

News consumptionNews generation1 out of 350 website visits comes from Twitter

Source: Alexa

Who uses Twitter?

Numbers a little harder to get hold of

Heavy users tend to be younger males

All these figures are indexed against US

Source: brandbuilder.com

Who uses Twitter?

Numbers a little harder to get hold of

Heavy users tend to be younger males

All these figures are indexed against US

First explosion!

Going social with Facebook

It hits the fan for HSBC in August 2007...

Source: BBC

Source: The Guardian

Source: Facebook

Over the past few weeks it hasexploded, with morethan 2,500 graduates signed upand dozens more joining everyday.

How the networks interact

Integration of differentsocial networks is easier

Users engage with anumber of differentnetworks e.g. SharingYouTube videos viaFacebook

The Iran Election is a goodreflection of thisinteraction...

Second explosion!

Citizen journalism

An explosion in 2009 in citizen journalism

20,000 photouploads

220,000 per hour relatingto Iran Election

495,000 views

50,000 Fans in10 days

Sources: Facebook and Youtube

And it goes on...

Once the realm of the nerd, blogging is becoming morecommon

Search results now include content fromFacebook, Twitter and Blogs

You can no longer control what people seewhen they search for your brand.

Searchers can find out what people aresaying about the brand (peer to peer) rightnow and use this information to informtheir purchase decision

Bloggers opinions are trusted

Source: Universal McCann

56% - Blogging is a good way toexpress yourself

36% - I think more positively aboutcompanies that have blogs

33% - I have a favourite blog that Iread regularly

32% - I trust bloggers opinions onproducts and services

31% Blogging is an important way tosocialise with friends

The influence economy...

Some things dont change the most powerful form ofmarketing is personalrecommendation.

Peer to peer trust has huge influence on the purchasedecision

Supporting word-of-mouth is nolonger a nice-to-have

77% of consumers seek outreviews before buying

UK consumers say reviews are themost important information

Source: BazaarVoice

So what are we doing?

Were going to the pub

If you were in the pub and people were talking, or worse,complaining about the service from your building society

What would you do?Ye OldeWorldWidePub

Listen and then join in the conversation

But youve got to be in the pub in the first place...

Thats what were doingin social media

But how do you get started?

Saffron Building Society: A social media example

Saffron Building Society: A social media example

Source: Fresh Networks

The Chief Executive, Andy Golding, writes his own blog offering his views on Saffron news and theindustry as a whole, as well as communicating with Saffrons members and staff, in order to develop alevel of transparency.

Yes, Saffron is a relatively small institution, but perhaps Goldings activity is what is needed in order forfinancial services brands to retain and acquire new customers and investors in the future.

Saffron Building Society: So whos listening?

Engagement through entertainment: Canterbury of New Zealand

Engagement through entertainment: Canterbury of New Zealand

Engagement through entertainment: Canterbury of New Zealand

Be careful - Leek didnt even know about this!

Commission agency to listen to current conversations Audit measuring mentions, sentiment, audience & competitor activity by social

channel

Launch social media presence based on above findings & set up guidelines Set targets (mentions, sentiment, no. of users, transactions, etc) Ensure all activity is trackable through adserving

Invite existing savers & borrowers to meet on social media

Cross-promote of social media channels through website, emails and offlinemeans

Review activity on a continuous basis and track outcomes regularly

Next steps

Thank you!

Any questions?

Charles Darley

Strategy and Planning Director, Brand ExperienceTel.: 01603 612792Email: charles.darley@brandex.co.uk