social media for the confectionery industry
DESCRIPTION
How candy companies can use social media to build business, from New Product Development to retail merchandising. Presented at the 65th annual PCMA Industry Conference, April 2011.TRANSCRIPT
Pete Healy, VP Account PlanningGyroHSR Cincinnati
PMCA 65th Annual Conference | Apr 2011
Using Social Media To Sweeten Confectionery Industry Growth
The Tour1. The Value Of Social Media for Confectionery
Manufacturers2. The Current Social Media Landscape3. Opportunities for Confectionery Product
Development4. Implications for Consumer-Driven Brand
Engagement5. Leveraging Social Media From Concept To Cash
Register6. Integration Into Business Strategies7. ROI Considerations8. Summary
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Social Media: Why It Matters
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Presentation Notes
The best businesses in any industry focus tirelessly on the ultimate driver of their success: the customer. The confectionery industry has important channel partners—distributors, wholesalers, retailers—who are, of course, valued customers.
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Social Media: Why It Matters
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But the ultimate arbiter of our success is the customer we call a “consumer,” because this is the person who decides whether our tea-infused chocolate, our carbonated chewing gum, or our guacamole-flavored jelly bean is worth the money in his or her pocket today, and whether it will still be worth the price tomorrow.
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Social Media: Why It Matters
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Understanding customers—and thereby gaining their business—depends largely, of course, on listening. Even when a customer isn’t yet sure what he or she wants, that very uncertainty can provide us insights that lead to new opportunities to meet that customer’s needs—and very possibly the same or similar needs of friends, family, or colleagues. This is true whether we sell candy, computers, or carpeting.
The Social Media Landscape
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In just the last five years our ability to listen to and understand customers—or consumers specifically—has grown unimaginably through the advent of social media. By now social network sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn have become familiar; but these are just a part of the millions of online conversations that take place around the clock on blogs, forums, and platforms such as Twitter. Millions of additional pieces of what has come to be known as consumer-generated content—photos shared on Flickr, videos uploaded to YouTube and the like—are posted daily. If our ability to capture consumer conversations five years ago was akin to overhearing occasional snatches of water-cooler conversation, it now seems that we’ve been transported into the middle of cacophonous crowds in Times Square on New Year’s Eve.
The Social Media Landscape
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And, frankly, the quality of the conversations varies as broadly as the range of topics, from the mundane to the philosophical, from politics to potato chips. After all, we’re just plain people before we’re consumers—but there lies the payoff. We’re social animals, and most of us enjoy being “in the know” and influencing others. “How good is that new restaurant? Which 4G cell phone is the best? Is that new dark chocolate candy bar as good as it looks?”
The Social Media Landscape
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Like it or not, people—consumers, in commercial terms—are using social media to talk about our products and our brands. This is human nature—but now vastly amplified through a new media universe that’s here to stay. Do we want to listen? Do we want to learn? Do we want to converse with people who clearly are engaged enough to share their raves, complaints, suggestions, and desires? Social media offers the confectionery industry an unprecedented opportunity to leverage the voice of the consumer in developing and delivering products—and an overall brand experience—that will secure and retain loyal customers in a competitive, impulse-driven category.
The Social Media Landscape
http://www.briansolis.com/2009/03/conversation-prism-v20/
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In 2008, Brian Solis, a highly-regarded new media thought leader based in San Francisco, mapped the universe of social media sites as something like a color wheel, with a spectrum that ranged from mainstream and niche social network sites (Facebook, LinkedIn) to video and music sites (YouTube, Pandora) to blog and conversation platforms (Blogger, Tumblr, Twitter). Solis entitled this map “The Conversation Prism,” and it’s an insightful snapshot of a very young universe. No question that sites will come and go over time; but the point is that people have signed on to social media at an accelerating rate, even if it’s only to see (or share) photos of their grandchildren on Facebook.
The Social Media Landscape
Four key sites: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn
295 million users (US only)
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In fact, Americans have embraced several social network sites with fervor (with one exception: MySpace, now in decline). To summarize key attributes of the current mainstream social media sites:
Social Media Landscape: Facebook
• 525MM+ users worldwide• 135MM+ US• 18-24yrs = 25%; 25-34yrs = 25%; 35-
44yrs = 20%• Avg user on 25min per day
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Social Media Landscape: Twitter
•190MM worldwide•90MM in US (up from 12MM in 2009)•45% of users >35yrs (avg 39yrs)•HH income: 30% >$100k, 58% >$60k
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Social Media Landscape: Youtube
•2 billion views per day•30% (600 MM) in US•Facebook users watch 46.2yrs of
YouTube video per day•Auto-share tweet 7 new
YouTube user sessions
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Social Media Landscape: Linkedin
•95MM+ users worldwide•45MM+ users in US•Avg user age: 41•Avg HH income: $110k/yr•64% male
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Social Media Landscape: MySpace
•45MM+ users in US (down from 65MM in 2009)
•56% F; 44% 18-34yrs•46% < $60k/yr HH income
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Social Media Landscape: Ning
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www.Ning.com
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The social media landscape extends beyond those network sites. The Ning platform or meta-site is a virtual gated community of thousands of niche-interest groups ranging from accountants to rock-climbers to devotees of Renaissance music. The site invites visitors to create their own social networks under the Ning umbrella for a monthly fee.
Social Media Landscape: Flickr
>4.5 billion images
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Flickr is perhaps the best-known photo-sharing site, containing an estimated 4.5 billion images uploaded by members into galleries of all types.
Social Media Landscape: Blogs
•Estimated 80,000 blogs created every day
•>110MM blogs now online
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Approximately 80,000 blogs are launched each day, with the total now numbering in excess of 110 million.
Social Media Landscape: Forums
Online forums self-select inquisitive, engaged people.
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Thousands of forums are maintained by people sharing interests in everything from car seats to carpentry to celiac disease.
www.fiskateers.com
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Fiskars is one company that has revitalized its brand of scissors by creating a forum run by passionate scrapbook hobbyists (www.fiskateers.com).
Social Media Landscape
Josh Bernoff & Charlene Li, Forrester, Jan 2010http://forrester.typepad.com/groundswell/2010/01/conversationalists-get-onto-the-ladder.html
Conversationalists:• 56% Female (more
than any other group)• 70% F are >30yrs (but
still among youngest groups)
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Of course, not everyone participates equally. In 2007 Josh Bernoff and Charlene Li of Forrester Research introduced a “Social Technographics Ladder” to represent the range of activity. “Inactives” do not participate in social media, although they use the internet to shop or for email. One step up, “Spectators” contribute no content, but read customer ratings and reviews; even at this lowest rung of participation, social media is influencing purchase decisions on a scale far beyond traditional word-of-mouth. Bernoff and Li recognized the amplification of influence when they added “Conversationalists” to their model in 2010: these participants don’t generally post original content, but they foster discussions on blogs, forums, and opinion sites. At the top of the ladder are the Critics and Creators, who regularly post product reviews, author blog entries, and upload photos and videos. (Note that videos and annotated photos are the medium for many product reviews.)
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But why?Remember bowling leagues?…
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So why have millions of people gotten so involved in social media? It’s actually very simple…
Social Media Principle #1
We want to belong.
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First is the core fact that, as we’ve noted, human beings are inherently social animals. We want to belong. Beyond our obvious survival needs, we want to voice our thoughts, exchange ideas, and learn from others.
Social Media Principle #2
We increasingly connect to brands through and with other people.
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Second, the development of a consumerist culture and mass communications during the 20th century fostered our tendency to connect to brands—to choose Ford over Chevy, for example—through our relationships with other people. Describing the merits of the new Lexus around the water cooler, debating who makes the best golf clubs with friends at a barbecue, or the sight of teens at the mall all wearing Abercrombie & Fitch outfits: moments like these represent the role brands play in our self-identity, self-expression, and peer affinity.
Social Media Principle #3
We look to the best brandsmuch like friends.
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In fact, these emotional drivers create what we can call the “Brand/Friend Blur”: that is, the fact that we rely on brands for comfort, excitement, or other emotional boosts—much as we might expect from friends. Coffee shops were coffee shops until Starbucks came along, elevating the consumption of coffee to a new level that generates remarkable and enduring brand loyalty. The coffeehouse chain remains a friend of sorts to countless millions around the world.
Social Media Principle #4
Each of us is a brand champion—sometimes in unexpected ways.
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Fourth and last, social networks and media enable each of us to be a “brand champion” on a vast new scale; we can recommend a product, service, or brand to a far larger and widespread audience than our traditional circles of family, friends, and colleagues. Of course, the same audience is available if we act as a “brand detractor”; but either way, social media provides individuals a scope of influence unimaginable even 10 years ago.
Social Media Amplification
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But that’s not all, as some TV ads proclaim. Another wave of amplification is hitting us as we speak: the rapid diffusion of 3G and 4G smartphones. The internet marketing research company comScore reports that one in four cell phone owners in the U.S. now uses a smartphone, clear indication that we’re increasingly online while on the move.
Social Media Amplification
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In fact, 40% of smartphone owners now use internet browser functions to access news and information online, and nearly 25% use their smartphones to access social network sites. This means that online conversations have even greater reach.
Opportunities
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Sociology and changes in the media landscape are well and good, but why do they matter for confectionery industry professionals working in Product Development or Production? The answer lies in how social media both amplifies and accelerates conversation among consumers, and between consumers and businesses. Consider the consumer who feels she received an unhelpful response from your Customer Service department to her question about a possible allergen in your product.
Opportunities
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In the past she may have told a few others about her dissatisfaction. Today, she can use her blog or a social network to share her discontent with hundreds or thousands of others instantly, some of whom may share her message with others in their own networks. The ripple effect can be astonishingly fast; and while it may dissipate just as quickly, it may also gain force as it spreads, provoking attention from reporters in mainstream media.
Challenges
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Consider a broader issue, such as the criticisms expressed by some health advocates over the use of high fructose corn syrup in food and beverage products, including confectionery. Your company may have received no complaints so far; but the way in which social media broadcasts discussion may at some point draw your business into the fray. “Why do you use high fructose corn syrup in your products? Why don’t you label it more clearly on your packaging? When do you plan to stop using it?” Consider the risk to your company’s reputation and brand image.
Challenges
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Corporate executives may rightfully object to unjustified attacks or ill-informed accusations from vocal activists online. Marketing managers may fear that they will “lose control of their brand” if they venture into social media. But it’s likely that consumers are already talking about your brand or your business online. You can remain silent; or you can present your own point of view. When mom-bloggers were offended by an online ad campaign for Motrin in 2008, they quickly voiced their anger on blogs and through Twitter. McNeil Consumer Healthcare, the maker of Motrin, was criticized for being slow and insincere in its apology. Once the apology was made, however, some mom bloggers called upon others to let the issue go, showing that a sense of fairness can prevail in social media, just as in offline communities.
Back To Opportunities
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Returning to a positive scenario, consumers may be delighted with your new tea-infused chocolate truffles. You may discover that several prominent bloggers are generating many positive responses to their reviews of your product. In fact, someone has set up a Facebook page where nearly a thousand fans are already sharing their ideas for new flavors; seaweed-infused truffles are winning at the moment. Several aspects of these scenarios—for example, package design or new flavor ideas—traditionally fall within Marketing or Customer Service. Here again, though, the rules are changing. Social media not only amplifies and accelerates; it provides even the R&D or Production professional the chance to access the voice of the consumer almost immediately, in real time, and with little effort. In short, online conversations offer a tremendous wealth of information and insights.
Intel
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http://www.ehomeupgrade.com/2010/09/08/intel-seeks-your-ideas-for-the-ultimate-home-communication-device/
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In summer 2010, the semiconductor manufacturer Intel decided to ask consumers for new product ideas. The company launched a Facebook page for consumers to submit their own ideas or comment on those submitted by others. The winner of this promotion would be named “Vice President of R&D” for a day, with the chance to work with Intel engineers at the company’s product development center. The results of the 10-week event were remarkable: 53,000 participants who generated 5,000 unique ideas; 200,000 views of those ideas; 8,000 comments and 110,000 ratings; and a total of 420,000 engagements between consumers and the Intel brand.
Starbucks Ideastorm
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Perhaps more relevant to Food industry professionals is the example of My Starbucks Idea, an online social community the coffeehouse chain launched in 2008. The premise was simple: Starbucks told visitors to the site, “You know better than anyone else what you want from Starbucks. So tell us.” So far consumers have submitted more than 44,000 ideas for food and beverage items, including flavors, blends, and formulations; 21,000 ideas for merchandise other than food and beverages; and thousands of suggestions related to the customer experience inside Starbucks stores.
Starbucks Ideastorm
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While Starbucks has the advantages of a global brand and thousands of its own storefronts, it achieved that status only by listening to its customers. Social media has given the company even more opportunities to expand and deepen the brand loyalty of its fans.
SM + Consumer Brand Engagement
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If consumers see their favorite brands as part of their self-identity, a platform for peer connections, and even as vehicles for self-expression, social media provides new ways to project those emotions.
SM + Consumer Brand Engagement
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Yes, that may be true for cars or clothing, one might say; but can you really ascribe the same dynamics to a roll of mints or a bag of candy corn?
SM + Consumer Brand Engagement
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Most marketers would agree that we can, since the physical product—as important as it is—is just the starting point for creating a brand experience that can grow over time.
SM + Consumer Brand Engagement
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When the consumer’s emotional attachment is validated by positive reactions from others in his network, his engagement with the brand deepens, raising the odds that he’ll continue to purchase that brand or product. The relevance of product categories varies for each of us depending on our needs and desires; but confectionery has the advantage of being a fun, low-cost category from a consumer standpoint.
SM + Consumer Brand Engagement
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The low-cost, low-risk attributes of confectionery make it an easy product to talk about. It’s usually simple and cheap to try a candy or gum based on someone’s recommendation. And in the flat world of social media, nothing more is required to post a review. (In fact, even product trial is optional, if one chooses to dismiss an item outright as too weird, unhealthy, or otherwise undesirable.)
SM + Consumer Brand Engagement
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In broader social terms, confectionery is an easy conversation starter. Just like wandering into a neighborhood block party, the first-time visitor to Twitter or another social network site may use the topic to break the ice, project some personality, and create new acquaintances.
SM + Consumer Brand Engagement
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So if I like salted licorice and you like sweet, we share a starting point from which to explore.
SM + Consumer Brand Engagement
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But if I like Darrell Lea licorice and you prefer Panda, then we move from category to brands, adding another dimension to the conversation. Confectionery is inherently fun, and evokes childhood memories and other pleasant associations. But we can talk only so long about a product type or category in general. Brands provide a springboard to do more, to project our personalities, to express ourselves, and to share interests.
SM + Consumer Brand Engagement
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This shows up in actions that range from the simple—for example, the habitual use of a tagline from a TV ad—to the elaborate, as when friends gather to drop chewy mints into bottles of soda, releasing foamy geysers and provoking boisterous amusement.
Ruiz Foods
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In 2009 Ruiz Foods gave fans of their Tornados hot snacks a new way to share their enthusiasm for the brand. Without a large marketing budget, the company chose Facebook to launch a series of monthly contests centered on sharing and rating consumer-generated content, including fan videos and flavor ideas.
Ruiz Foods
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Visitors to the Tornados Facebook page could download coupons and win points for Tornados-branded merchandise—and even a family trip to a NASCAR race—by commenting on other visitors’ content. When the Facebook page reached 100,000 fans, Ruiz Foods committed to 100,000 free boxes of Tornados through downloadable e-coupons.
Ruiz Foods
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By the end of the campaign, the company had racked up more than two million consumer brand engagements online and well over 150,000 new Facebook fans.
Ruiz Foods
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By any measure, Ruiz Foods successfully boosted the Tornados brand by combining social media with tried-and-true promotional activities. The picture is clear. Consumers use social media to amplify their engagement with brands; their posts accelerate imitation and engagement by others; and marketers can access these engagements, however large or small, more easily and broadly than ever before.
From Concept To Cash Register
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So how do we turn brand engagement through social media into sales? In a number of ways, from product concept to cash register, and tailored to the goals and resources of any manufacturer.
Corazonas Snacks
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Corazonas Foods, a manufacturer of snack foods based in Los Angeles, is a good example. Driven by the death of her father from heart disease, CEO Ramona Cappello started the company in 2005 with the goal of creating tortilla chips and other snacks that both taste good and can actually lower cholesterol. The company’s products contain plant sterols that have been clinically shown to provide this benefit, and product packaging includes the FDA-approved health claim.
Corazonas Snacks
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Corazonas Foods is another company that has chosen Facebook as their key social media platform to create and retain fans and customers. Much like Ruiz Foods, Corazonas offers coupons, but also features a direct “Prove It” challenge. A visitor can register her name and email, then have her cholesterol tested before and after eating Corazonas snacks over a four-week period. If her cholesterol doesn’t drop, she’ll receive a refund.
Corazonas Snacks
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The company extends the brand experience, including social media elements, all the way to the Point of Purchase, where shoppers can receive cholesterol screenings near Corazonas displays.
Corazonas Snacks
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Corazonas Snacks also uses Twitter to announce screening schedules and itineraries for interested consumers.
SM Leverage: Product Innovation
• Google Alerts to scan trends in analogous categories
• LinkedIn Groups to track technical discussions (globally)
• Facebook to solicit consumer ideas or feedback (similar to Starbucks)
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In general, then, manufacturers can leverage social media and digital tools in a number of ways to differentiate and strengthen their brands: Product Concepts/Product Innovation: Google Alerts and similar tools to scan blogs and forums for trend-focused conversations on analogous categories such as flavored beverages, baked goods, or cross-cultural fusion foods LinkedIn Groups to track conversations on technical issues, particularly in international contexts Facebook to invite consumer ideas and feedback
SM Leverage: Marketing
• Facebook to engage consumers
• Twitter to promote & report real-time
• Flickr to share & invite CGC
• YouTube to share & invite CGC
• Google Analytics to track
• Mobile apps to personalize & deliver
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Marketing: Facebook to engage consumers in conversation about your brands and products Twitter and Facebook to promote and report real-time on sponsored events, roadshows, in-store demos Flickr to share event photos, or to invite consumers to post their own photos related to their experience of your brands or products YouTube to share event or roadshow video, or to invite consumer-generated content related to a contest or promotion Google Analytics to understand visitor traffic to and on your brand or company website, and to integrate website and social media consumer/brand touchpoints more effectively Mobile applications to deliver incentives and personalized content to opt-in consumers (may be triggered by shopper scans of QR codes at point of sale)
SM Leverage: Sales & Trade Support
• LinkedIn to deliver added-value info to channel partners or customers
• Twitter for real-time updates on store demos or other promo events
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Sales/Trade Support: LinkedIn Company or Group page(s) to distribute value-added information to channel partners or retail trade customers Twitter for real-time updates on in-store demos or other promotional events
SM Leverage: Customer Service
• Addictomatic to scan consumer sentiment or response to events
• Twitter or Facebook to engage, resolve, project
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Customer Service/Consumer Affairs: Addictomatic or similar low-cost tools to scan consumer sentiment or response to specific events Twitter or Facebook to engage consumers, handle complaints, project a positive image for the company
Social Media + Business Integration
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By its nature, social media is open and accessible. Conversation and collaboration replace the one-way “push” communications of traditional advertising and Web 1.0 corporate websites. Social media therefore challenges companies to attain higher levels of collaboration across corporate functions in order to compete more effectively. In fact, companies that integrate social media into their culture and operations will strengthen alignment of their business and brand strategies, in turn strengthening brand equity and brand loyalty among consumers.
Social Media + Business Integration
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• Engage consumers openly and authentically• Recognize and reward fans• Optimize opportunities to support and/or promote
retail trade customers• Inform those interested about the company’s
community-focused programs or events• Represent the best of the industry
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Confectionery manufacturers can integrate social media into their operations in various ways, depending on business goals, resources, and internal culture. But the foundation must be a commitment by senior management to: Engage consumers openly and authentically about the company’s products and brands Recognize and reward fans of the company’s brands Optimize opportunities to support and/or promote retail trade customers Inform those interested about the company’s community-focused programs or events Represent the industry of which the company is part
Social Media + Business Integration
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Senior management in each functional area should evaluate and propose ways to leverage social media, and toward what objectives. Planning, implementation, and periodic measurement can be spearheaded by a cross-functional team trained in social media practices. (For those wondering why this would matter to accounting or HR managers, note that professionals in those fields are very active on social network sites such as LinkedIn and Ning.)
Social Media + Business Integration
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Keep in mind that the goal is to use social media to gain customer insights, to innovate, to build brand loyalty that drives sales, and to improve operations while reducing internal functional silos. For that reason, social media team members should never be isolated in a separate “department” of whatever sort, called upon only when a manager wants a “funny viral video.”
ROI Considerations
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That’s all great, one may ask, but what’s the bottom line? What’s the ROI—the Return on Investment—of social media for a candy company? In these early days of this new media landscape, there’s no single, simple answer. The good news is that tools of measurement abound; the big questions are what to measure, and why.
Table Stakes
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Some successful businesspeople see social media as an investment in learning more about customers, or as a way to anticipate and leverage trends sooner and more effectively. What’s the ROI on equipping your sales force with cell phones? What was the point of creating a company website 10 years ago? As more companies begin to use social media, what may have been a competitive edge two years ago is fast becoming table stakes. But as we know, ultimately there is a cost, and therefore a net value, to any business activity.
No Sleight Of Hand, Please
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The debate over the ROI of social media reflects the tension between opportunity and risk in a new marketing landscape. But it has been intensified by attempts (often by social media proponents) to apply financial terminology to non-financial measures: the number of hits on a company website, the number of fans on a Facebook brand page, the number of views of a company’s YouTube video, and the like. These can be meaningful indicators, but they clearly are not financial measures.
A New Look to the Funnel
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At this point the Sales Funnel model comes to mind. Can we pinpoint social media-related indicators that might lead toward conversion? Can we connect one consumer/brand touchpoint to another, and track the progression to quantifiable sales points? For example, could we launch interactive digital ads that lead viewers to our microsite, where they receive incentives to share with friends via Twitter or Facebook, ultimately driving new sales at nearby retailers?
Add Mobility to the Mix
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As mobile applications multiply, 4G cell phones with geo-location become commonplace, and QR codes provide manufacturers with new ways to incentivize consumers all the way to the retail aisle, a social media-driven Sales Funnel becomes increasingly feasible. For Corazonas Foods and its cholesterol-lowering snack products, social media has enabled them to increase their share up to 40% in key markets, a remarkable achievement for a small company in a very competitive category. But in all cases, regardless of tactics or technology, the essential nature of social media is a partnership and ongoing dialogue of the consumer with the brand marketer.
The Result: Social Media Marketing
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The spread of social media in hardly more than five years has transformed the relationship consumers have with brands and with the companies that produce those brands. The one-way “push” of traditional advertising is now joined by conversations moving all directions. In a rapidly changing landscape, marketers fear “losing control” of their brands, and CEOs wonder how social media can help their business.
Social Media Marketing
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Even so, we’ve learned that the millions of conversations on social media can teach us more about our customers, including how they influence each other, and why they purchase—or bypass—our products. We can explore the new social media landscape one step at a time, learning as we go, if we’re committed in that effort. This includes the understanding that fans on Facebook don’t equal register rings, but that more fans can mean more sales, more often if we set the right goals and measures.
Social Media Marketing
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People are talking about our brands; that is the simple reality. The question is whether we believe we can grow our businesses by ignoring or by engaging in those conversations. As new as social media still is, smart companies already know the answer.
Thank you!
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Pete Healy, VP Account PlanningGyroHSR Cincinnati
PMCA 65th Annual Conference | Apr 2011
Using Social Media To Sweeten Confectionery Industry Growth
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Supplemental Information
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Twitter Users Are Strong Networkers
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http://socialmediatoday.com/dirktherabbit/166377/why-should-brands-bother-twitter-table-says-why
Social Media Statistics: 2010
Nielsen, Jan 2010http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/global/led-by-facebook-twitter-global-time-spent-on-social-media-sites-up-82-year-over-year/
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India Business Blog, 2/01/10http://trak.in/tags/business/2010/02/01/social-media-statistics-facebook-twitter-flickr-linkedin/
Social Media Statistics: 2010
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Resource Shelf (UK), Feb 2010http://www.resourceshelf.com/2010/02/11/a-collection-of-new-statistics-about-social-networking-mobile-and-internet-traffic/
Social Media Statistics: 2010
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Resource Shelf (UK), Feb 2010http://www.resourceshelf.com/2010/02/11/a-collection-of-new-statistics-about-social-networking-mobile-and-internet-traffic/
Social Media Statistics: 2010
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