1. ECEW 22-23 May 2012
The Future: Listening to
Customers
Professor Alan Wilson
University of Strathclyde
Business School
2. ECEW 22-23 May 2012
• Understanding how social media and the
Internet may be changing services.
Objectives
3. ECEW 22-23 May 2012
Fournier,S. & Lee L. ( 2009) Getting Brand Communities Right, HBR, April, P105-111
Hatch M.J. & Schultz,M. ( 2010) Toward a Theory of Brand Co-creation with Implications
for Brand Governance, Brand Management Vol. 17,8, P590-564
Ramaswamy V. & Gouillart, F. ( 2010) Building the Co-creative Enterprise, HBR, October
P100-109
Barwise, P. & Meehan, S. (2010) The One Thing you Must Get Right When Building a
Brand, HBR, Dec, P80-84
Readings
4. ECEW 22-23 May 2012
Platform Examples
Answers
Blogging
Media Sharing
Microblogging
Online Social Networks
Opinions and Reviews
Social Bookmarking
Wikis
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• Social media enables potential
customers to talk to one another
• Social media enables companies to
talk to potential customers
• Social media enables customers to talk
to companies
Social Media
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Customers can now make their
voice heard far beyond their local
communities
Customer to Customer
7. ECEW 22-23 May 2012
• 77% of online shoppers read consumer product
reviews and ratings before making a purchase
• 40% of all social networkers said they use social
networking sites to learn more about brands or
products they like
• 30% of frequent social networkers trust their
peers’ opinions when making a major purchase
decision, but only 10% trust an advertisement
• Impact of online reviews in terms of awareness
and persuasive effect is stronger for lesser
known brands than for well known brands
Customer to Customer
Jupiter Research
8. ECEW 22-23 May 2012
% agreeing or strongly
agreeing
(base = 518 respondents)
Hotel’s website 76%
A friend’s positive comment on a social networking site 70%
Reviews and ratings on online consumer travel forums
(e.g. tripadviser, epinions etc)
54%
Reviews or recommendations on other travel or hotel
related blogs
52%
Hotel brand 48%
A Stranger’s positive comment on a social networking
site
36%
Guest Feedback published on the hotel’s own website 35%
Customer to Customer:
Factors Affecting Choice of Hotel
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Company to Customer: Rush for
Brand Presence on Social Media
Platforms
KLM responding to
customer issues on
Twitter
Sheraton inviting guests to
post a review
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• Unlike traditional advertising – people choose
to come to your site, read your message or
watch your YouTube video
• Companies have far less control of their
content and the reach, frequency and timing of
their distribution of the message
• If content isn’t interesting or valuable, people
go elsewhere
• People may simply see your site as a place for
discounts or a convenient place to complain.
Brands can be everywhere in
social media and still be ignored!!
11. ECEW 22-23 May 2012
• Value and usefulness (information they want -
mumsnet)
• Information that is important (BA /KLM)
• Identification with other people who use the site
• Giving something away for free ( competitions,
games, widgets or something)
• Young people want to enhance their celebrity
status
Company to Customer: Why
do customers bother to
come?
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But what about all these fans:
Starbucks has 31 Million likes?
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Research has shown:
• Fans are the Heavy Users of the Promoted Brands
• They don’t change their buying behaviour (either
frequency or quantity) after becoming a fan
• Facebook as a stand alone platform does not attract
new buyers to a product
• Placing large efforts on recruiting fans and followers
may be less valuable than trying to recruit new
customers through a variety of other media/ sales
channels.
• A fan base can be a useful marketing touchpoint – but
the budget it receives should be in line with that.
Does a Fan Buy More?
14. ECEW 22-23 May 2012
• They are engaged with the product or
service, or idea
• Easy to interact without much commitment
• Activities to do – like online voting
• There is evidence that someone is listening
• They get a response
• The company is willing to join the
conversation and serve me better
Customer to Company – why
interact?
15. ECEW 22-23 May 2012
• What types of social media, if any, are
appropriate for your market?
• Fan pages do not result in higher brand
loyalty or more sales immediately – be patient
• Engagement is more important than solely
fan page usage – generating traffic data is not
enough, it is about interaction and
engagement
• Valuable content is critical – deliver
interesting, entertaining and innovative
content
Practical Implications
16. ECEW 22-23 May 2012
• If you don’t think Social Media is appropriate for your
business, that is ok but can you justify this?
• If you’re not listening to online commentary about your
business, what information are you missing?
• If you don’t build a brand presence in social media-
are you happy that customers may take control of your
reputation?
• If you have a presence in social media but you’re not
actively managing it, you need to ask yourself: what
does that say about my organisation relative to the
competition?
Decisions:
19. ECEW 22-23 May 2012
• Greater trust if comments were posted by
many people or if pictures were provided to
support the claims made in the review.
• Greater trust was also placed on comments
that were posted by people who came from
the same country as the respondent.
Trust in Review Sites –
Travel
20. ECEW 22-23 May 2012
Likelihood of Posting
Comments
% agreeing or strongly
agreeing with the statement
( base = 506 Swiss
respondents)
I would write comments about
hotel experiences on social
networks
39%
I would publish reviews about
hotels on online consumer forum
sites
37%
I would publish my hotel photos
on social networks
33%
21. ECEW 22-23 May 2012
When I am satisfied with a hotel…. % agreeing or
strongly agreeing with
the statement
(base = 507 Swiss
respondents)
I want to support the hotel by telling others
about it
88%
I want others to have the same positive
experience
86%
I am so excited that I need to talk about it 53%
I feel proud to tell others 45%
Motivations for Posting
Positive Comments
22. ECEW 22-23 May 2012
When I have had a negative experience
with a hotel……
% agreeing or strongly agreeing
with the statement
(base = 507 Swiss respondents)
I tell others to prevent them from
making the same mistake
90%
I want to know if others had similar
experiences
71%
It calms my anger to complain to others 36%
I tell others as a revenge on the hotel 32%
Motivations for Posting
Negative Comments
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TomTom Background
• Launched 1st March 2011
• English, French and German
• 300,000 visits per month
• >50,000 registered users
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Three launch success factors
• Community
structure
5-10 posts per day,
per board
• Promotion
Start BIG, no ‘pilots’
• Manage
participation
The ‘48 hour rule’
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A Typical Superuser on
TomTom
• Registered 1st March 2011
• 4,100 posts
• 672 kudos
• 255 accepted solutions
• 30-70 hours per week
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Building a community of
superusers
• The 1:9:90 rule
• Ranks and rewards
• Develop relationships
• Superuser program
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• Meaningful product feedback
• Cost-effective and scalable support
• 15% reduction in contact centre calls
• Advocacy – voices that other customers trust:
“Amidst all of this negative sentiment, I'd just like to add some encouragement.
HD Traffic and IQ Routes save me between twenty and forty minutes in traffic
almost every single day. I have not been able to find a better, or even remotely
similar solution, at any price, to my daily traffic challenges. So thank you for what
has already been achieved, even if we still always crave ever more!”
The value of superuser
engagement
