New Media: Time to tame it by Vineet Madhukar

The Twentieth century is responsible for a lot of things. That part evil, part awesome thing called globalization has given us a lot to chew upon…Literally.

Now take for example the Web 2.0: a tiny word with a massive world behind it. There is no limit to the scope the virtual world offers us. A plethora of information and knowledge with capacity to store even more! There is no better way to reach out to the target audience and connect with various stakeholders unless we take over their dreams.

But most of us neither understand the significance of New Media nor do we realise its tremendous power. Like the rest of the newbies, this medium too is a child of the Twentieth century. Broadly termed ‘New Media’ or the ‘Digital Media’ in PR parlance, to distinguish it from other forms of media; it has since its inception, turned the world on its head. To put it simply: New Media is the perfect blend of Print and Broadcast media with the added advantage of its global reach, much longer shelf-life and on-the spot –feedback from the viewers

One feature that distinguishes New Media from other forms of journalism or media is its ability to constantly update itself. Unlike the world of the printed paper where words once printed, cannot be changed and unlike the world of television and broadcast which can only showcase moving pictures; New Media has no such hassles. In case you still haven’t got what I’m trying to point out: it has the elements of traditional media forms like videos, films, still images, music and the written word along with the added advantage of the communications technology of a computer.

Take the example of micro-blogging sites like Twitter, Digg, Facebook or MySpace. Now skeptics might scoff at what on first glance seem like networking sites for the every young or the very bored…wrong on both counts. The ‘Pink Chaddi’ campaign is proof that if you have publicized right, you have campaigned right.

Unlike in other streams, through the internet you reach out to even those audiences that traditional marketing misses. Even if you are only connected to a group of close friends on a blog or a networking site, through them you are also connected to hundreds of potential target audience. You never know who might ‘share a link’ or ‘social bookmark’ your blog post ultimately creating that new clientele base you had hoped for. Add to this the one-to-one interaction with end user through their comments which in turn gives you the opportunity to improve your products and services as per public demand and it seems like sunshine on the desktop!

But beware! Social media marketing is more demanding than any high maintenance socialite you could think of. The content needs to be supervised constantly, correctly and updated as demands change. You need to be on the top of your game because your Public Relations strategy is there for all to see...or steal. It will also invoke criticism from rivals and critics alike. The Web 2.0 in other words is no docile Indian house-wife. She is demanding, fast, ever-changing and extremely moody. High time we learnt to tame it. 

Case study: Marketing with a Cause

Each year, the Cause Marketing Forum recognizes one business and one non profit organization for their leadership and outstanding efforts in the pursuit of doing well by doing good. For the year 2009,the winner for the Best Health Campaign was Subway, which raised more than $1.5 million in 2008. How? Subway integrated the American Heart Association AHA Start! logo and messages into all its communications materials about healthy eating and introduced the Fresh Fit Meal for kids.

“In this new era of social responsibility, what you don't do can cost you. "Cause marketing" is now the norm, and customers who visit your website and see your advertising want to know that you share their desire to make the world a better place by supporting an important cause.If your business or brand doesn't stand for a cause, consumers may turn to your competitors.- www.entrepreneur.com”

Once you choose your cause, marketing it is equally important as well. Success in cause marketing often means motivating an audience to take action, such as making a donation or participating in an event. Using a dedicated marketing campaign, you can reach and persuade the target group while also raising awareness for your business and its commitment to social responsibility. A growing number of businesses and nonprofits have discovered that online technology can “turbo-charge” their cause-related marketing partnerships

They can greatly expand their reach and create a community via  personalized websites and  sending solicitation emails to friends and family.

A great example of this is Trip Advisor. As per the Cause Marketing Forum, the Best Use of Social Media campaign went to Trip Advisor  which invited consumers to vote on how it should allocate a $1 million donation between  previously selected five nonprofits. Using social media, TripAdvisor generated more than 1 million votes, 1.4 million views of a video on YouTube and numerous posts, resulting in  an improved impression of TripAdvisor by 56 percent of members surveyed. The biggest donation went to Doctors Without Borders $392,000 as voted by the consumers.

The need for Online Reputation Management

As it turns out, nothing can kill your prospects for fast growth  than a few unkind words posted by an alienated employee, “wronged” customer,  competitor or even a prankster. And its ease for anyone to do that given the ease and the anonymity of online communication. What’s more, if the comments are in  interactive communities , you can have a crisis in your hands.

 Most companies and executives don’t have any level of online reputation monitoring.

Yet, one simple thing that a company can do which will enable them to take corrective measures and a prevent a crisis: monitoring online reputation.

Put in place an online reputation monitoring system. For starters one can go to Google Alerts now, set up an account for free and put some keyword phrases  like the company name, products/services, and top executives.

That’s at least a start to getting your new online reputation protection program underway and can prove to be exceedingly valuable information.We will be talking more about online PR in the blogs to come.....