Social Media Helps SAP Outperform Expectations in the Downturn
April 22, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Addressing the Society for New Communications Research (SNCR) and the Social Media in Marketing & Advertising, Don Bulmer, VP, Industry & Influencer Relations, Global Communications, SAP explains how Social Media has contributed to both the top line and the bottom line
- improving the scale of customer relations at lower costs through greater streaming content and interactivity.
- minimizing event and travel costs through virtualization.
- replacing more expensive advertising campaigns with more effective integrated marketing services that consists of listening, engagement, partnership programs, and social applications.
Our thanks to Rich Reader for providing SNCR with this video excerpt.
Steady Progress in Social Media at Intel
April 22, 2009 | Leave a Comment
By way of introducing his role to a discussion panel at a joint colloquium of the Society for New Communications Research and the Social Media in Marketing and Adverting meetup group on March 25, 2009, Ken Kaplan (Broadcast and New Media Manager at Intel Corporation) spoke about priorities for social media at Intel. Since 2005, educating Intel employees about how to improve their job performance through the adoption of social media tools and practices has been a corporate policy, and that policy is gaining in strength. In the face of declining operating budgets, social media has become more highly relied upon than ever to listen to customers and to participate in their concerns. Similarly, virtual and interactive launches are on the rise, and gaining customer appreciation.
Education, Collaboration, & Innovation @ Intel using Social Media
April 22, 2009 | Leave a Comment
By Rich Reader
At a general meeting of the Society for New Communications Research, Jen McClure asks the panelists to give a view into education, collaboration, and innovation.
Ken E. Kaplan says that the silos remain present & visible, but that SM facilitates cross-pollenation. Individual pioneers and experts transport early stage thought between groups. The desire to contact and invite staff to events in different groups spurs further innovation.
The “Center of Excellence” manages the traffic for education in the proper use of Intel blogs, which are branded content. Over 500 people have taken classes in the “Digital IQ” curriculum.
Intel’s official “Guidelines for Social Media” were first published in December 2008 ( http://www.intel.com/sites/sitewide/en_US/social-media.htm ).
Education is mandated for bloggers who publish from Intel to the outside world. Ken describes the curriculum as it has been segmented across different levels of expertise, similar to university course enumeration.
Fortune 500 Corporate Blog Adoption Slow and Steady According to Society for New Communications Research Chair Dr. Nora Ganim Barnes and Eric Mattson of Financial Insite
April 21, 2009 | 7 Comments
Palo Alto, Calif., – April 22, 2009 – The Fortune 500 are farther along in their adoption of public-facing corporate blogs than previous data has suggested. This was the key finding of a new research study, “The Fortune 500 and Blogging: Slow and Steady” conducted by Dr. Nora Ganim Barnes, Ph.D., Senior Fellow and Research Chair of the Society for New Communications Research and Chancellor Professor of Marketing at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and Eric Mattson, CEO of Financial Insite Inc., a Seattle-based research firm.
The new report is the outcome of a statistically-sound study of public-facing blogs among the Fortune 500. The study examined the 2008 Fortune 500 list in an attempt to quantify the adoption of social media by identifying those with public-facing blogs. Barnes has conducted similar studies on the Inc. 500, US colleges and universities, and Fortune magazine’s list of the 200 largest charities. The report conclusively shows that while the Fortune 500 companies are adopting social media at a slower rate than other leading businesses, universities and charities, many more of them are blogging than has been previously reported.
Key Findings include:
• 81 of the Fortune 500 or 16% currently have public-facing blogs.
• This compares with 39 percent of the Inc. 500; 41 percent of the higher education sector and 57 percent of the nation’s Top 200 Charities.
• 28 percent of the Fortune 500’s blogs link to Twitter accounts. (Other Fortune 500 companies have Twitter accounts, but they are not linked to their blogs)
• Five of the top ten companies have public blogs: Wal-Mart, Chevron, General Motors, Ford, and Bank of America.
• 90 percent of the Fortune 500’s blogs have the comments feature enabled.
• The computer software/hardware technology industry has the most blogs, followed by the food and drug industry, financial services, Internet services, semi-conductors, retail and automotive respectively.
• Ten percent of the Fortune 500’s blogs link to podcasts; 21 percent incorporate video
“It appears that those companies that have made the decision to blog have utilized the tool well. There is frequent posting, ongoing discussion and the ability to follow the conversation easily through RSS or subscriptions,” stated Barnes. “Those F500 companies that have taken the leap into the blogosphere represent all the things that make social media great. They’re diverse in both size and industry, thereby adding a range of new perspectives to the online conversation. They’re enabling their readers to better control and participate in that conversation. And they’re exploring other ways – like videoblogging and podcasting – to communicate with their community.”
“As social media becomes more integral to the business function, we should see evidence of it in the use of blogs, podcasts, Twitter or other tools,” added Mattson. “Given that the Fortune 500 stand as a model for business success, it is interesting to examine their involvement in the social media arena.”
A full copy of the new research report can be downloaded here:
http://www.umassd.edu/cmr/studiesresearch/fortune500.cfm
In addition, Dr. Barnes will publish a paper based on the findings in the upcoming issue of the Society for New Communications Research’s Journal of New Communications Research and will present the findings via a web-based briefing and at the Society for New Communications Research’s annual conference.
About the Center for Marketing Research at the University of Massachusetts – Dartmouth
To facilitate the economic development of the region by providing an affordable, high-quality economic alternative to meeting business needs for research, training, and consulting in any and all aspects of Marketing. The Center for Marketing Research is associated with and maintains a close relationship with the Chambers of Commerce within southeastern Massachusetts. This unique relationship provides the Center with an effective business networking capability. For more information, visit http://www.umassd.edu/cmr/.
About the Society for New Communications Research (SNCR)
The Society for New Communications Research is a global nonprofit 501(c)(3) research and education foundation and think tank focused on the advanced study of the latest developments in new media and communications, and their effect on traditional media and business models, communications, culture and society. SNCR is dedicated to creating a bridge between the academic and theoretical pursuit of these topics and the pragmatic implementation of new media and communications tools and methodologies. The Society’s Fellows include a leading group of futurists, scholars, business leaders, professional communicators, members of the media and technologists from around the globe – all collaborating together on research initiatives, educational offerings, and the establishment of standards and best practices. For more information, visit http://sncr.org.
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