the bookmarks - a quarterly review

The Bookmarks 2011A brief review by BrandsEye

1

Upfront Declarations

BrandsEye is a member of the DMMA.

BrandsEye was a sponsor of the social media category for the Bookmarks.

Tim Shier (MD of BrandsEye) is on the DMMA Executive as head of measurement.

This report was done on request from the Bookmarks.

14 August 14 NovemberPutting the timeline in context

Build-up begins

Finalists areannounced

CPT and JHBWorkshops

Awards Ceremony

14 August 1 November 2011The build-up

BrandsEye became the official monitoring partner for the Bookmarks 2011 and tracked the conversation around the brand, the judges and the sponsors.

26 phrases were selected to ensure the full conversation was captured. the Bookmarks social media team was trained on BrandsEye and key objectives were set.

Stacey Rumble (@staceyrumble) assisted the team to ensure that conversations were relevant and useful to them.

CONVERSATION MEASURES

VOLUME OTS AVE

583 1 062 550 R 243 371

MEDIA DISTRIBUTION

CONSUMER ENTERPRISE PRESS

65% 34% 1%

The Build-up [14 August 1 November 2011]

KEY CONTRIBUTORS (excluding enterprise)

@Livingyourbrand @MyCityByNight @Stefanieelliot @IrcMaidon

17 mentions 13 mentions 11 mentions 11 mentions

MAIN THEMES

The Build-up

Start of Conversation Finalists areannounced

The build-up14 August 1 November

The Build-up - Key Dates

23 August 11 mentions:There are 3 months until the award ceremony. The main conversation is driven by the officialmouthpieces of the DMMA and the Bookmarks. During this time Rob Stokes tweets about onemember of the community offering to sponsor in order to be a judge this received a strongresponse from other members of the community.

The Build-up - Some Key Dates

6 to 8 September 27 mentions:The Bookmarks website goes live and the category breakdown becomes available. StephPowell (a key member of the Bookmarks team) initiated some strong conversation with the likesof Clicks2Customers (2010 agency of the year), Stefanie Elliott of Mango-OMC and MartinSlabbert of 94.5 KFM showing support. Volumes begin to increase from this date onwards.


13 and 14 September 18 mentions:There are only two weeks left to the early bird special and the Bookmarks team do a great jobto inform the community. The result is some strong community engagement including the likesof OutClosetRugby (an initiative to promote the donation of old rugby gear) with support for theBookmarks team and Louise Marsland (Editor of Advantage Magazine a media partner).


22 September 15 mentions:The Bookmarks entries finally open to some community excitement (supported by Dj DinoMoran being confirmed for the awards night). Conversation proponents included MyCityByNight(The nightlife guide to Cape Town), Warren Harding (Marketing manager at Bizcommunity amedia partner), This is the largest day to date but volumes decline by 40% the very next day.


26 and 27 September 17 mentions:Its the last week of the early bird special and the Bookmarks remind the community that entriesare open. Some entrants (such as PlatinumSeed) begin to talk about their excitement over theirfirst Bookmark entry. Other contributors include Karen Dempers (DMMA exco head ofmarketing and Marketing Manager for MWEB).

The Build-up - Some Key Dates

5 to 8 October 22 mentions:Ten days to the entry deadline and the daily count down begins. Largely driven by DMMA andthe Bookmarks committee members. The count down was supported by William Price of SouthAfrican Tourism, Tim Bishop of Prezence, Marius Greeff of Habari Media as well as Charmaine(@mndr33) and Lieb (@LiebV) a student at AAA.


14 October 39 mentions:The entry deadline is extended to the 21st (resulting in a collective industry sigh of relief). ThePR campaign kicks off in earnest with articles in BizCommunity and on MarkLives. Some ofthose noticing the the extension include Lieze Langford (Digital head of Media24 WomansMagazines division), Mel Attree (2011 Winner of Best Social Media Marketer).


17 October 27 mentions:The entry deadline is now 5 days away, the Bookmarks start to promote the workshops and iVeri solve the billing problems on the site much to the relief of Jarred Cinman (Chief Inventor at Native). This is also the first time that Jack Kruger (head of digital at Old Mutual and the Bookmarks Jury Chair) joins the online conversation.


19 - 20 October 39 mentions:ZANews write and release the top 10 tips for entering the Bookmarks (promoted by OgilvysPierre Cassuto Geek in Chief for ZANews) receiving some discussion and pass-on. Withthree days to deadline the community are starting to feel the pressure. An interview with RobStokes on The Media Online goes live and receives some broad support.


21 October 61 mentions:Its D-day and the pressure is on. Some of the community are asking for extensions, some aremaking bold remarks about their luck. On this day Antti Kupila (Creative Technologist atinternationally renound Amsterdam based agency Sid Lee) is announced as the internationaljudge. His involvement condenses the community and greatly raises the industry stress levels.


31 October 23 mentions:Now that entries are in, the community are itching to hear who the finalists will be. On this daythe Bookmarks confirm that finalists will be released on the 2nd November. This results in a slewof conversation which largely comprised of Retweets passing the information around.Sentiment in the market is overwhelmed with excitement.

The Build-up Observations

The digital community was very slow to get behind theBookmarks initially. Once various media partners got involvedthis resulted in far more focused and valuable conversationaround the awards.

Consumers engaging early on in the build up almost alwayscontributed a number of times throughout the period.Engaging with these individuals and incentivising them tocontinue to contribute (if only through attention) could havebeen a simple but effective means of consolidating anduniting the community at an early stage around the awards.


Offline media is a key driver of messaging around the brand.As with other South African brands traditional media waseffectively used to set the agenda around which the socialcould exist. This performed very well for the Bookmarks andensured the community was always informed about thevarious awards deadlines.

The conversation tended not to be full representative of allthe major publisher and agency thought leaders. An effortshould be taken in 2012 to engage these individuals early inthe build-up phase and lever their unique positions to growthe online community around the Bookmarks.


Non-traditional PR performed well (as was the case withZANews) and should be considered in the build up for 2012.

Throughout the build up 149 individuals engaging with thehashtag and the Bookmarks twitter account on averageengaging 4.08 times across the reporting period (which is farhigher than what typical SA brands experience). Conversely, the Bookmarks twitter handle contributed 97

times but engaged individuals only 31% of the time (engaginga total of 24 individuals). Increasing this ratio has shown togreatly improve overall buzz and online success which couldbe employed in the 2012 build-up.

2 - 4 November 2011The finalists

After almost three months of build up and an agonising waitfor all entrants the finalists are released.

These three days are important for the awards as its the firstopportunity for the community to disagree and become criticalof the Bookmarks process. How this key stage is handledsets the tone for the remainder of the awards and is a keyindicator on how the market will receive the final decisionsmade by the judges.


VOLUME OTS AVE

427 658 905 R151 456

MEDIA DISTRIBUTION


89% 10% 1%

The Finalists [2 - 4 November 2011]


@Thatyoungblood @Mikesharman @SuStokes @Zk


MAIN THEMES

The Finalists

The finalists2 - 4 November

Pre-release: 10am 1:30pm

VOLUME MENTIONS PER HOUR MARKET SENTIMENT

29 8.2Agony. Entrants are desperate to know how they have done.

MAIN THEMES ANALYSIS

Throughout these three hours entrants were on high alerts. Many of them regularly engaging both @thebookmarks and @nikkicockcroft. Negativity was however playful and the community largely understood the need for thoroughness.


Finalists are released: 1:30pm 5pm


205 58.5 Strong positive sentiment.


Immediately after the finalists are releases volumes skyrocket and the community congratulate each other (and themselves). Interestingly, there was no negativity towards the decision which is a big change from the Bookmarks 2010.


Finalists are released (outside of working hours): 5pm midnight




Almost immediately after the business days officially ends volumes plummet dropping down to just over 5 mentions an hour.

This is behaviour is expected in African social media and no specific the Bookmarks conclusion should be drawn.


Finalists are getting comfortable: 3 November




On the 3rd volumes drop slightly from the 2nd off peak momentum. Conversation on this day is largely unchanged from the previous day although the Bookmarks push around the workshops received good coverage as entrants began to monitor the awards hashtag more regularly.


Finalists are getting (really) comfortable and ticke ts run out: 4 November


42 1.75 Positive sentiment.


Early in the day tickets to the Bookmarks ceremony are sold out. This drives considerable information sharing on Twitter. For the first time we are seeing strong engagement between judges as well as fun show of flattery from Tim Bishop of Prezence to the judges #worthatry.


8th and 9th November 2011The workshops

The workshops are a key component of the Bookmarksprocess. Its an opportunity for the community of entrants toengage the judges, gain insight into how the judging criteriawas interpreted and get a gauge on the required standard.

As part of the workshops judges share additional insightsabout where the South African digital industry is going, how itis getting there and what it means for a longer-term strategyfor our industry.


VOLUME OTS AVE

171 279 660 R64 357

MEDIA DISTRIBUTION SENTIMENT

CONSUMER ENTERPRISE Zero negativity was found towards the workshops.77% 23%

The Workshops [8 and 9 November 2011]

Note: There were 546 online mentions about the Bookmarks on the 8/9 November (which are split betweengeneral conversation, the VIP dinner and the workshops). The conversations captured here talk about theworkshop directly, engage at the correct time of day or engage with people at the workshop. There are likely afew which should be added to this number. In any event, all data has been human reviewed to confirmaccuracy.

The Workshops

Build-up begins The workshops8 & 9 November

The Workshops [8 and 9 November 2011]

Johannesburg - 57 mentions

Total authors 28

Total RTs 36

Biggest contributor @cooklet

Cape Town 114 mentions

Note: Very prominent tags such as the Twitter handle, workshop etc have been removed as they obstruct the detail.

Cape Town 114 mentions

Total authors 69

Total RTs 69

Biggest contributor @stefanieelliott

The Workshops Observations Despite the workshops being an overwhelming success,

there is room for growth with the social media engagement.The interest around the workshops content could be betterchannelled to increase the overall reach and draw otheronline players into the conversation. One such mechanism(however simple) is to include key influencers in theBookmarks tweets to draw them into the conversation anduse their influence to extend the message beyond the currentauthors.

There exists an opportunity to write thought leadershiparticles to addressing each of the themes. This would makefor great follow up pieces from the judges or journalists.

10 and 11 November 2011The Awards

After almost a 3 month build-up, the awards ceremony isupon us and a great platform created through the verysuccessful workshops, the awards are off to a flying start withbroad community support.

Throughout the previous week, the volume of conversationhas skyrocketed and the community, across the board, iseither excited to be attending the awards ceremony orwishing they had a ticket.


VOLUME OTS AVE

2323 3 125 700 R720 390

MEDIA DISTRIBUTION SENTIMENT

CONSUMER ENTERPRISE PRESS Massive positivitywith a touch of mild

negativity.93% 5.5% 1.5%

The Awards [10 and 11 November 2011]

MAIN THEMES


The Awards

The Awards10 & 11 November

THE TOP 6 WINNERS (by volume of awards only)

Company Total awards won

Online conversation

Self-gratification %(i.e. staff/brandcongratulations)

HelloComputer 14 34 14.7%

24.com 8 47 25.5%

Ogilvy Interactive CPT 7 42 33%

Quirk 7 80 36.5%

DStv Online 5 45 33%

Prezence Digital 4 20 20%

AVERAGES NA 45 27%


The Winners Observations

There appear to be two trends appearing from the top 6 winners:1. The larger the business the more volume it received

irrespective of the number of awards it received. Quirk is however an outlier due to them winning Best in Show and Best Agency which dramatically boosted the online conversation about the brand.

2. The more social media centric the business is the higher the self-gratification index. Not all employees for these businesses attended the awards and only the social media advocates are likely to watch it through the #tag.

The Winners Observations

In the most part the community was incredibly supportive of other businesses winning awards (even when they were finalists). As a digital industry we have always been a tight unit and this strongly appears in the online conversation too.

Interestingly, these sentiments are often generated from the individuals behind the brand and not the brand itself. It seems that digital South Africa, while united on an individual/social level, is still a fiercely competitive environment on the business side. This dynamic mix comes through strongly in the social data but equally strongly in the press releases which were published the following day.



Congrats 216 mentions:As previously noted the strong support for fellow industry players comes through strongly in thisdata. The two nice guys who congratulated the rest of the community the most were ZahiraKharsany (of Cerebra) due to her strong personal network and Sean Hidden (of Distell) whoworks with just about all the agency winners.


RT 708 mentions:Sitting at approximately 30% of the total conversation, the RT was used to great effect. TheRTd conversations alone had the opportunity to be seen (OTS) by 1 113 430 individuals at anAVE value of R255 764. RTs were largely focused around general announcement/informationtweets (as is normally the case for other brands).




Team 240 mentions:The use of the word team as a major word represents a broader social media trend. Acrossthe board the word team was used to engage the broader team who werent able to attend.Either it was lead by a senior staff member engaging that team or the community. In any event,social media has clearly blurred the line between personal and professional engagement.



Anele and Simon Dingle 65 mentions combined:Due to their low volumes Anele, Simon or the naked men playing drums didnt receiveconsiderable online coverage (with only 4 mentions 100% female). While all parties did anexcellent job it raises some questions about what the role of an awards MC should be and howthe event should be setup to provide them with the audiences attention.



The hangover (11 th Nov) 9 mentions:This is rather unexpected. In the past the day following awards ceremonies are filled withcomments about hangovers. While this can be seen as a positive there was some negativityaround the access to alcohol during the awards themselves and this may be a contributingfactor. Alternatively, the digital industry may have been saving itself for the cricket the next day.

Author Analysis

On the day of the awards there were a total of 418 individual authors contributing to the conversation online. This results in an average engagement rate of 5.5, which is considered very high for any event (even other digital events).

Of these contributors the vast majority were within the industry. Interestingly, there were 461 authors for the entire 3 months prior to the awards. Notably, only 129 authors contributed to the conversation both before and on the awards day.

Author Analysis Cont.

On the night the top 10 authors collectively drove approximately 10% of the total conversation at 244 mentions. These individuals provide a critical role in the communication of what is happening around the event as the quickly share information and become the knowledge hub.

Author Analysis Cont.

What is alarming about this is that many key industry leaders were noticeably absent from the conversation. While this may be arbitrary it would be worth enquiring with these individuals to understand what was causing them to disengage. Findings should be used as part of the 2012 strategy.

The BrandsEye Quarterly Review

Putting an event together of any size is a intimidating task. The Bookmarks is no different. The results we have seen so far are a clear indication that the market deeply appreciated the time investment of all the members of the organising committee, the judges and (arguably most importantly) the award entrants.

As a result of the successful Bookmark awards the entire industry has gained which is the ultimate intention of the awards and the DMMA.


VOLUME OTS AVE

4337 6 615 250 R1 521 453

MEDIA DISTRIBUTION


85% 12% 3%

Quarterly [14 Aug 14 Nov]


@digitaledge @livingyourbrand @cooklet @chriscaptivate


TOP DOMAINS

Twitter BizCommunity DMMA TheBookmarks Facebook Google+

88% 3% 1% < 1% < 1% < 1%

Quarterly [14 Aug 14 Nov] Word cloud

As has been experienced at every step along the build-up, finalists, workshop and the award ceremony there is a strong competitive streak within the digital industry of South Africa. That said, there is an equally strong camaraderie. The volume of congratulations, well done and references to the various agencies is a good indicator that the industry itself is socially very healthy.

Quarterly [14 Aug 14 Nov] Earned Media

As the momentum towards Bookmarks increased so to did the AVE. Main increase points coincide with the website launch and the entries opening. Following each of these increases we dont see a sustained growth rates which is normal. From the date of the finalists being announced this changed and value climbs dramatically. Total value was approximately R1 500 000 in earned media.

Quarterly [14 Aug 14 Nov] Author Credibility

As is to be expected (although traditionally uncommon) is the high number of credibility 5 and 6 contributors. This has directly impacted the reach of the awards and subsequently its value. Higher credibility authors include: Simon Dingle TimesLive DSTV OgilvyWW Anele SABreakingNews SowetanLive Ruby Gold

Quarterly [14 Aug 14 Nov] Country Breakdown

While the vast majority of the conversation originates from South Africa (as is to be expected) the Bookmarks also drove conversation in Switzerland and UK (1%), Brazil, Canada, Italy, Kenya, Netherlands and Norway (all less than 1%).

Engaging these individuals and providing them with the recognition that they contributed to the conversation may be a strategy to lock them in for future Bookmark awards.

Quarterly Some Ideas

Fragmented community:The Bookmarks community, while large, is fairly

fragmented. Identifying which members of the community joined early in the conversation and then slowly lost interest and understanding their reasoning is a powerful insight into planning for 2012. Efforts should be taken upfront to build relations with key thought leaders in an effort to use their existing networks to drive awareness for the Bookmarks.


Stronger media profile:While the Bookmarks has an active profile in social media

there is an opportunity to massively enhance the experience.

At present the handle tends to be a little stiff and a careful review of the brand personality as it translates into digital is key to resolving this.


Use non-traditional mechanisms:While social media and traditional PR were successful

there is significant examples where a non-traditional approach to offline PR has been successful (see ZANews).

Using key influencers (as was done with Rob Stokes) and using them in the traditional space provides the opportunity to setup the Bookmarks as an aspirational brand while profiling the previous winners and integrating them into the community. Interviews should include all individual winners and key category winners.


Do it next year:The community have spoken and the overwhelming

verdict was that the Bookmarks 2011 was a complete success. Best you do it again!

Nikki, Steph, Theresa and all the organising committee Wed like to be so bold as to thank you on behalf of your community for a fantastic awards ceremony.

Looking forward to 2012!

For more information or to get access to the data contact the team on:

Twitter: @brandseyeEmail: [email protected]: (021) 467 5960

Appendix

Definitions The online space or online community:

Refers to the environment in which any relevant brandedconversation occurs online. These may come from socialmedia networks, forums, blogging platforms, presscoverage, websites belonging to companies, influentialconsumers and any other open domain content.

Definitions Opportunities-To-See (OTS):

OTS reflect a measure of the number of people who had theopportunity to see a mention. A tweet from a user with 8 000followers would account for 8 000 in the total OTS of theconversation. This does not account for the possibility thatthe mention may not have been seen by the user in theirTwitter feed or may have been noticed multiple times.

Definitions Advert Value Equivalent (AVE):

AVE offers a monetary value of the earned conversation.The aim behind the AVE measure is to capture what acompany would have paid to expose their brand tothe number of people reached by the conversation.

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the bookmarks - a quarterly review

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