the shape of brand conversations
TRANSCRIPT
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The shape of brand conversations
Kyle FindlayHead of Data Science & Knowledge CreationThe TNS Global Brand Equity Centre
Winner of the Best Methodological Paper award at the 2015 ESOMAR Congress conference in Dublin, Ireland
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We connect users that interact with each other into a “conversation map”
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We end up with conversation maps that look like this(this is the picture for the market research category on Twitter)
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Hub-and-spoke Spin-off Ecosystem
Centralised De-centralised
We’ve found that the “shapes” of conversation maps tend to sit on a continuum from centralised-decentralised
Brand conversations
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6Source: Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight (Q1 2015)
Sport Center’s account during the Mayweather-Pacquiao is an example of a hub-and-spoke ‘shape’
7Source: Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight (Q1 2015)
Shallow calls to actions like these lead to sharing but not two-way conversation:
8Source: Ford North America footprint (May-June 2015)
The following two week slice of converations around the Ford brand give us a good example of a decentralised brand ecosystem
9Source: Ford North America footprint (June 2015)
Parent brand
EnthusiastsVariant brand
Ford has an organic ecosystem around its brand made up of multiple distinct constituencies
Campaign conversations
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B
A
B
Two competing campaigns; one based on a single influencer (B), the other based on an ecosystem of accounts (A)…
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FootballerB
Musician
Campaign account
Musician Brand account
Music promoterA
B
A
B
It’s easier to understand Campaign A’s strategy if we summarise their ecosystem in diagram form…
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Bud’s “Lost Puppy” ad from Superbowl 2015 received the most retweets out of all the 70+ Superbowl ads
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It is a great example of a centralised, hub-and-spoke shape…
15Source: Super Bowl (Feb 2015)
But if we look at it’s shape, it’s very centralised with little organic conversation around it
NOTE: If Bud’s goal was to simply update existing associations with the brand (i.e. a “maintenance strategy”), it likely succeeded. If the goal was to draw in new users and/or change perceptions, it probably could have done more.
16Source: Super Bowl (Feb 2015)
The ad was very emotive and thus was widely shared but it lacked relevance to beer and so did not encourage much organic conversation
17Source: Oscars (Q1 2015)
+ =
Lego partnered with artists, Nathan Sawayan, to present Oscar winners with trophies made out of Lego
18Source: Oscars (Q1 2015)
The resulting conversation map was very de-centralised, likely due to the campaign’s good mix of novelty, emotion and relevance
In summary
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Hub-and-spoke Spin-off Ecosystem
Centralised De-centralised
Conversation maps sit on a continuum: as the conversation becomes more organic, we move from a centralised broadcasting shape to a more decentralised ecosystem of conversations
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It’s a balance
Centralised messaging controls the conversation BUT also tends to be a bit boring.
One-directional broadcasting might help update brand associations
Can engaged conversations more strongly affect perceptions?
De-centralised creates sustained engagement
…BUT too de-centralised makes it difficult to lead conversation
Centralised De-centralised
Different shapes play different roles…
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Tap into enthusiast communities
Copy in spokespeople where appropriate
How does one create a social ecosystem?
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Strategically @mention influencers & spokespeople to access their communities
Strategic use of hashtags to bind/extend conversations
But, most importantly… [next slide]
@
#
How does one tap into multiple constituencies?
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…spur on two-way conversation
Start real conversations
Rather than just one-way sharing…
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Start real conversations
Any model of virality will tell you that emotion/valence/ affective stimuli gets shared….
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…EBUT emotional + relevant content gets shared and talked about organically!
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Thank youOckert Janse van Rensburg Tanweer Fareed
Acknowledgements