Is Social Networking Something
Advertisers Can Ignore ?
... Or Is It The Next “Hype” ?
BMMA – 24th January 2008

What are your 2008 Business Challenge ?
Harvard Business
• The Network as Platform
• Eco Business Opportunities
• New Geopolitics
• Volatile Markets
• Dollar Decline
• Soft Skills
• Social Networking
– Learn to effectively utilize social networking tools both inside
and outside the companies to keep up with what the younger
workers grew up with — fast and furious communication
tools like texting, facebook, My Space, You Tube, etc. that
spread the word now.
– Not in the next quarter, next month, next week or even next
day, but NOW.”

3 Questions …
• Social Network Definition & Reality in Belgium ?
• Hype ?
• Integration in the Communication Mix ?

Some (Good Old) Theories
about Social Network
• Émile Durkheim and Ferdinand
Tönnies (Late 1800’s)
– Gemeinschaft & Gesellschaft
• John A. DunBar (1956)
– Rule of 150
• Stanley Milgram (1967)
– Little World Experiment
– 6 Degrees of Separation
• Social Network
– Social structure made of nodes
(which are generally individuals)
that are tied by one or more
specific types of
interdependency, such as
values, visions, idea, friends,
conflict, trade, web links,
disease transmission, etc

1999 – the Cluetrain Manifesto
Market are conversations !
• 95 Theses
• These # 6 : The
Internet is enabling
conversations
among human
beings that were
simply not possible
in the era of mass
media
The Cluetrain Manifesto: The End of Business as Usual:
Rick Levine, Christopher Locke, Doc Searls, David Weinberger; Perseus Books ©2000

Social Network Services
• Social media describes the online technologies and practices
that people use to share opinions, insights, experiences, and
perspectives with each other.
Communication Self Expression
Social
Network
Services
Personnal Collective
Broadcasting Intelligence
Content Production
6

Social Network Services
Communication Self Expression
Personnal Collective
Media Intelligence
Content
Production

Concretelly …

Hype ?
The Gartner Graph !
• Extreme promotion of a person, idea, or product
• To give something more attention that it deserves or to try
to make it seem more important than it really is

Hype Estimation – Google Trends
(Belgium – 2007)
Second Facebook Google
Life Earth

Hype – Gartner Graph
Rough Belgian Market Exercise

Belgium
Fastest Growth Ever ? (+224% in 15 days)
Facebook Statistics 2008 : New Members Figures
Source: www.adscriptor.com

Facebook Boom !
Social Services Reach
(Source: Comscore)
6
5
4
3
Reach (%)
Google Earth
Facebook.com
2
Linkedin.com
1
0

Belgian Blogs Intensive Competition
Reach (Source: Comscore)
Windows Live Spaces Skynetblogs.be
40
Netlog.com Myspace.com
Skyrock Blogs
35
30
25
Reach (%)
20
15
10
5
0

Stickyness ? Days x Time Spent
(Source: Comscore)
26,0
21,0
Average minute per visits
16,0
11,0
6,0
1,0
1,0 3,0 5,0 7,0 9,0 11,0 13,0 15,0
Average Usage Days per Visitor

“Web 2.0” as an incumbator ...
Harnessing the collective intelligence
Lightweight programming models (Mash Up,...)
Unique, hard-to-recreate data sources
Above the level of single device
The web as platform
Leveraging the long tail through customer self-service
… of the Social Network Services

Long Tail & Social Services
Portal / Dailies
Homepages
Reach
Participative Services – Blog – Social Services
Volume of Content

From 15 Minutes of Fame to “Microcelebrity…”
Everyone is a Little Brad Pitt...
The phenomenon of
being extremely
well known
not to millions but to a
small group — a
thousand people, or
maybe only a few
dozen
Source: Clive Thompson, 27th Nov 07, in http://www.wired.com

Any Time, Any Place, Any Device !
-> Single Source – Pluri Device

Lightweight programming models
(Remixability – Mash Up – Widgets – ...)

Power of The Social Network Services

Brand in the social channels world:
(Remember) Market are conversations !
Social
Communication
Channels
Channels
Natural Habits Loss Control Source of
Knowledge
Brands Conversation
How to make the conversation more interesting ?

In Other Words ...
Brand
Receive Transmit
Mass
Media
Customer
Transmit Receive
Social
Media

The New Influencers – 1 % Rule
100
If you get a group of people online
1
then will create content,
10 will quot;interactquot; with it
(commenting or offering improvements)
89
and the other will just view it
Source: The Guardian Unlimited

Empower The Conversation !
www.skyblog.fr

Tailored Advertising Solution

Develp your own community !
Example: Map + Pictures + Comments + …

Live Targeting
Mass Customerization

Threat ? Too Obvious !
Beacon = Enable your customers to share the
actions they take on your website with their
Facebook friends.

Mass & Social - UG Media Moneytization

Hype – Gartner Graph
Belgian Communication Channels
Viral
Social
Network
Direct
Mass Media
email
Blog PR
SEO
Citizen
Journalism IDTV

As a conclusion ...
• Social Networking (and especially Facebook) is
definitively ―THE Hype‖ of 2007 winter
– When will it reach is plateau of Productivity ?
– Privacy ?
• Social Networking need & empower the web applications
development
• Social Networking marketing is about communicating, not
advertising
– We have to act appropriately following the social rules of the
network
• Mass & Social Media are equal part of the conversation.
The art will be, as usual, in the mix !

Hugues Rey
hugues.rey@be.initiative.com
Mobile : +32 496 26 06 88
Fixed Line : +32 2 464 93 61
Messenger : hugues@live.be
Skype : Yugsxiii
Second Life avatar :
Yugs Bournemouth
Thanks for listening !