Time 14:22

Slowly retailers are understanding that in a world of Free Speech and Equal Access (via the Internet), consumers and employees are talking about them. Many retailers are reluctant to jump into the social media world for an assortment of fears, some real, most perceived.

Adam Cohen, author of the Thousand Cuts blog, a regular read of mine, led a study of retailers using Facebook pages. Cohen’s firm, Rosetta, monitored uses of Fan pages by major retailers overtime from May to September of 2008. A highlight from the piece;

“A September 2008 study by Rosetta (formerly Brulant) that focused on the top 100 online retailers in the US found that 59 had a fan page on Facebook, up from 30 in May 2008. Among the 29 who added Facebook pages since that time were Best Buy, Toys “R” Us, Kohl’s and Wal-Mart.” The report is available for a limited time on eMarketer.

Adam and I discuss in this Marketing Edge podcast how, in some cases, employees or customers may have already created a Fan page on Facebook without the permission of HQ or the Brand Manager. You’ll have to blame James Madison and Thomas Jefferson for their wacky free speech idea in part for this behavior. However, as you have seen with Barack Obama’s campaign the ultimate in retail, when consumers are energetic about your brand, it’s best to watch the energy and not shut the lights off.

For a little background on my perspective on retailers and how they can assemble a comprehensive online strategy, dial back into the archives of the Marketing Edge blog to January 3, 2008 and the potential social media play for REI.

The Classic Question?

Is it best to dip your toe in the social media pool with a more conservative approach with a bit more corporate style like Target (nice grouping of more than 100,000 Fans)

Or a bit less structure like this page produced by fans of Jeep Wrangler

What are your criteria for how retailers can participate in social media?
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An excellent panel sponsored by the Minnesota Interactive Marketing Association was convened last night, great crowd and questions. The central question of the night however, seemed to be elusive. The panel was billed as Who Controls Social Media in the Enterprise, and it didn’t seem to me that there was a clear answer. Wonderful anecdotes and ways to test social media internally and externally, but no clear answer to the central question, which for me also answers the question.

In general, the conversation about social media among these companies’ and their commentary on social media in the majority of larger companies led me to the following observations:

1) Social media is viewed at best as a tactic to be tested and at worse a side show.

2) Social media is about relationships and those take time, time large companies don’t have given our culture of immediate results. A supporting example of this are loyalty programs that provide a discount for customer, but only if they buy within a certain window. I see how that attempts to accomplish a minor win for the customer and a revenue increase before the end of the quarter for the company, but there is nothing social about that. A catch ‘em, clean ‘em, filet ‘em repeat approach.

3) Social media just doesn’t have the numbers for companies that play in the middle income bracket. Companies on modest and shrinking profit margins are not seeing enough dollars move through their coffers as a direct result of social media. Sure it’s nice to have raving fans embracing your brand, lots of balloons and cake for internal office recognition, but for most senior execs the $ needle isn’t moving far enough in those areas that are directly attributable to social media efforts.

4) Lastly, social media is not viewed as a comprehensive communications platform. So while a retailer may have thousands of loyal fans on Facebook in a program inspired by customer relations, that same understanding about social networks is not shared by say the PR department that dismisses a bloggers inquiry. There is a disconnect in either understanding or appreciation for social media across these large enterprises. When this happens, the cultural tendency is to dig your heels in about your current perspective and not open your mind up to a holistic vision of social media’s implementation throughout the enterprise. There will be more on this topic in a future Marketing Edge podcast with Robert Scoble to be posted June 2.

Panel Members

· Jim Cuene, Director, Interactive, General Mills 
· Brad Smith,  VP of eCommerce & Digital Marketing, Fingerhut Direct Marketing
· Gary Koelling, Creative Director, Social Technology, Best Buy
· Jason Kleckner, Manager, Information Architecture, Target Corporation
· Moderator: Michael Kraabel, Group Creative Director, Gage

Yes I copied this from the MIMA Events page. Thanks

Hat Tips

Gary Koelling – Most candid answers award, he is Twitter gold for any live writer

Jason Kleckner – Best answer of tough question with grace and insight award. Nice job

Here’s a podcast of the MIMA panel Who Controls Social Media in the Enterpriseevent – however, this was an abbreviated file when I downloaded. I’m going to leave the link up just in case it is fixed. Minor gripe here to the Minnesota Interactive Marketing Association, why isn’t there an audio player on the page for this podcast? There must be a good reason, standing by. If you fix it, I’ll come back and amend this post.

OK, here’s the picture, literally: This is the picture from a billboard ad from the Target Corporation.

Some people, namely Flickr user Bennett4Senate, suggested that this image is suggestive. I won’t touch that issue with a 10-foot pole in this blog post. I direct any who wish to dwell on this to Justice Stewart Potter and his definition of obscenity. This post is about corporate public relations and understanding bloggers.

In that context, let’s say that this image is a tiny, tiny ember in a campfire…

One of those people who believes this image is suggestive is also a blogger, Amy Jussel. Amy asked the Target PR department for “an explanation” regarding the billboard. Target’s response?

Good Morning Amy,

Thank you for contacting Target; unfortunately we are unable to respond to your inquiry because Target does not participate with non-traditional media outlets. This practice is in place to allow us to focus on publications that reach our core guest.

Once again thank you for your interest, and have a nice day.

For the purposes of this post, let’s just call this statement “highly combustible material,” kind of like a tank full of gas vapors.

Remember our tiny little ember, the concern over the content of the ad? Well, now Target has thrown its highly combustible material all over our gently burning little ember with this PR policy (or was it an ad hoc decision?).

To many corporate PR types, and unfortunately some of their PR agencies, the blogosphere is seen as some kind of enclosed place, sprinkled with a few nutjobs and corporate saboteurs, where stuff doesn’t get out much.

If this were an actual, real-world highly combustible material, here are the steps Target would follow:

Removal of explosive or combustible gas or vapors from tanks and other enclosed spaces: “Highly combustible or explosive materials must be placed carefully into a rotary kiln or other type of combustible disposal equipment because of the likelihood of explosion or blow back when the material reaches the heat.” (Courtesy of http://www.freepatentsonline.com)

This scenario is not as easy as disposing of physical highly combustible material. This a much less predictable scenario involving people, advocates with agendas, emotions, subjectivity, their children, and a large corporation – not to mention the other fuels in the blogosphere, like gaining traffic, stimulating conversation and acquiring links.

To the Target PR agencies and staff: A train-load full of gas vapor looks tame in comparison to the volatile mix that you are faced with in this scenario. By responding to concern about the billboard with that statement, the issue shifted from a tiny ember (concern over the image) to a burning torch (a blogger scorned). Result: explosion and blow back, as bloggers rallied around a community member, perhaps even seeing a suggestive picture when there is none.

After spending a couple of decades in communications and dealing with political issues, here are some suggestions for when you’re faced with questions from bloggers in the future:

1) Bloggers can also be customers, parents, investors… Don’t dismiss them as not your “core guest” or “target market.” At the very least, answer the question. You might not give the answer they want, but at least you’ll have answered.

2) Before answering the question, get a lay of the land: Examine whether people are talking about this issue online. Ask your own call center and customer service departments if they have received calls on the issue. Consult with them on how they would handle this type of call. While you might view this as one quirky inquiry, it may be a smoldering campfire in the middle of the dry season.

3) Take the medium of blogging seriously. Every PR person worth his or her salt has had to deal with an issue advocate in the industry. Every industry has them, whether it’s some writer in mainstream media who has it out for you or a blogger with a clear agenda. Stonewalling is no way to make that individual go away.

4) The blogosphere gives advantage to first movers. It can ignite on a rumor and sifts out the truth over time. Jeremy Pepper’s beautiful post is an essential read on blogosphere truth vs. real truth. It’s just like in politics: 99.5 percent of the time, the advantage is to the accuser. For the same reason negative campaigning is effective, a single blogger that can get two twigs to burn can potentially to build a fire. If the premise that started those twigs to burn was wrong, as a company, you need to make sure you pour plenty of water on it early. This tactic holds even more weight when an issue is not a rumor or based on the subjective view of a prolific few, but based on fact.

5) Separate the influencer from the influencing idea. Sure, you might have a blogger that is after you like white on rice. However, be on the look out for that one issue on which they may be right. Kryptonite lock is the classic example. When a blogger pointed out that the locks could be picked with a Bic pen, the company faced a serious issue. It reacted quickly and communicated to its core audiences, explaining the steps the company would take to make things right.

One last point: I have said on this blog several times how social media is making politics-style communication skills necessary at the highest levels of corporate communications and PR departments.

This issue – the tiny ember, you’ll remember – was about a Target billboard ad that contained a picture of woman (in winter attire, wearing a scarf, hat, mittens and boots) on a Target logo (a bull’s-eye). Those who pointed the ad out discussed how women are depicted in society, characterized by the blogger who inquired to Target about “the universal issue is sexualized ad slop, and how we need to just freakin’ STOP it.” It wasn’t about some defective product, store cleanliness or a warranty issue. At its roots, this was a political issue. Target then misjudged the grassroots potential of the issue itself and the medium through which it is communicated.

To social media types, the lesson here for the blogosphere might be this: The perception that can come from situations that started with that first tiny, tiny ember is that the blogosphere can, at times, look like a young, self-important child in a big family, throwing a tantrum when it doesn’t get noticed.