Not long ago, PepsiCo discovered that 70% of online conversations about Gatorade had absolutely nothing to do with its marketing focus, sports nutrition. Following the launch of a 2010 Gatorade TV ad, Internet chatter became fixated on an annoying voiceover. And if the buzz was to be believed, Gatorade was well positioned – as a hangover cure (story continues after Institute POV).
Brands have learned the value of being able to read, in real time, what consumers are discussing on multiple online platforms. The basic way brands monitor social media is by searching select Internet entities (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, blogs, forums) for specific keywords. They are able to read what targeted audiences are saying and also produce analyses and reports.
Social media monitoring provides a means of gathering information that can aid in the design of a product or the planning of a campaign. And after launch, monitoring or "listening" can confirm or determine a need to alter the direction of a campaign.
"Engagement is becoming more and more important to brands [and] especially retailers, who want to be able to provide the same great customer service that they do in person, on the telephone or by e-mail," says Rob Begg, senior director for product marketing at social media monitoring agency Radian6, Fredericton, New Brunswick.
The new tools out there to monitor social media are already invaluable, says Meg Way, director of digital strategy and planning at Kimberly-Clark:
"What's important to us is that we can get real-time data at our fingertips and have the pulse of what's going on so that we are not behind in anything. We are taking advantage of opportunities, managing risk, inserting ourselves in the right conversations. We know that the majority of word of mouth still happens offline, but 'recommended' brands win, and brands who are talked about win more."
PepsiCo on a 'Mission'
Radian6 has 3,000 clients in North America, and its website claims that half the Fortune 100 use it to "listen" to social media. But Radian6 and its competitors, such as Toronto-based Sysomos, don't just help companies listen; they provide platforms to dialogue with consumers in real time as well.
"The ability to respond back on Twitter, on a posting forum, on a blog post, on a YouTube video, and do it in a way that ties into the listening platform, is super important," says Begg. "Maybe they want to talk to you on Twitter, maybe they want to talk to you via a blog. They are not talking on your terms anymore. Being able to engage with them from a platform where they actually can find a post is critical for businesses that are making that step beyond listening."
At its headquarters in Chicago, Gatorade operates "Mission Control," a room with large screens containing Radian6 feeds and dashboards that are monitored by a staff of five. StruckAxiom, Salt Lake City, designed data visualizations that pull in the feeds and help explain the results for reporting; other agencies assisting include Gatorade's lead digital agency, VML, Kansas City, Mo.; social media and communications partner Fleishman-Hillard, New York; and media strategy agency OMD, New York.
"It's really about using the data from social to drive 'real-time' action from the brand," says Josh Karpf, digital and social media manager at PepsiCo. "Before we began this concerted effort around engagement, about 70% of online conversations referencing Gatorade were irrelevant to the brand's focus on sports nutrition: for example, Gatorade as a 'hangover cure.' Since we've implemented this real-time engagement and analytics hub, we've seen a shift in conversations. Now 60% of Gatorade mentions are relevant and focused on sports nutrition and performance."
Karpf says Gatorade is focused on engaging with its "athlete" consumers, those customers who are very serious about fitness and competition. Discussions include diet and training regimens as well as performance. Gatorade also uses Mission Control as a podium for special social media events. Last summer, in the days before the U.S. women's soccer team played in the Women's World Cup final, U.S. player Abby Wambach sat in Mission Control for a "Twitter Takeover." Karpf says the event generated record-high participation on Gatorade's digital channels.
Sometimes, however, the conversation is simply distracted. In late 2010, Gatorade launched an ad campaign with a voiceover that not only generated negative sentiment but also became the focus of 90% of the online chatter.
"Mission Control quickly identified the consumer sentiment and addressed the feedback to rework the ad," Karpf says. "As a result, an almost immediate shift in conversations was tracked as audiences began responding favorably to the spot online. We have also taken this approach in how we create media plans. Based on feedback provided via interactions and social media conversations, media buys are constantly evaluated and adjusted to optimize media dollars in response to consumers. If something isn't working, the team can quickly assess how to better allocate the dollars."
ConAgra Counts Calories
In 2010, a ConAgra Foods social audit discovered that many consumers of its Egg Beaters product were concerned with calories. What's more, the conversations took place not on Twitter or Facebook but on a Weight Watchers forum. Egg Beaters advertising focused on other health messages, like cholesterol.
"What we were able to do, by monitoring, by listening, by identifying this information, was to put in place a strategy to communicate to consumers around low calories through a partnership with Weight Watchers," says Stephanie Moritz, senior director public relations and social media, ConAgra. That included a sponsorship page on the Weight Watchers website.
"'Do a live focus group' is not the default anymore," says Brett Groom, senior vice president of content integration and activation at ConAgra. "Broader social monitoring might very well raise new issues, particularly if you're [only] doing a focus group with 12 people. It might never have come up, or you never would have appreciated the significance of 10 people out of 12 talking about calories.
"When we [listen to] 10,000 conversations and realize that 800 people are talking about calories, and then we follow that thread and see that 30% of calorie conversations are talking about Egg Beaters, all of a sudden you strike gold in these broader social monitoring things. You'd never find that in a focus group."
Confirming K-C's Direction
Kimberly-Clark used social media monitoring in 2010 to gauge reaction to the launch of Huggies Jeans Diapers.
"We were really interested to see how consumers reacted to a fashion diaper – everything from specific reactions to our media, to the general concept," says Way. "We pre-launched some stuff to YouTube and Facebook to get some reaction. We continued to watch how the community discussed the innovation, and used that as input to how we managed that program, both during that campaign, and for the duration."
K-C's monitoring team includes agency partners OgilvyOne, New York; Organic Inc., San Francisco; Studiocomm, Atlanta; and Biggs Gilmore, Kalamazoo, Mich. As a result, Kimberly-Clark decided to run almost the same TV spot for Huggies Jeans Diapers in 2011.
"The TV commercial that aired in 2010 was extremely successful, very well received by consumers," says Marc Rosenstock, director of consumer relationship marketing for Kimberly-Clark. "Because the consumer feedback was so positive, we didn't feel the need to reinvent the wheel on that."
Beyond Keyword Monitoring
With approximately 5,500 stores in the United States and 7,500 worldwide, General Nutrition Centers (GNC) is understandably interested in location-based monitoring (e.g., searching Foursquare, Gowalla or Yelp). GNC has a mobile site, an iPhone app, and a strong Foursquare presence to go with its Facebook and Twitter activity.
According to director of social media Chris James, the company is committed to a stronger digital and social integration, having hired former Dick's Sporting Goods chief marketing officer Jeff Hennion to that same post. Both started at GNC in the past year, and have increased GNC content on Facebook and Twitter.
In partnership with Radian6 and Pittsburgh-based Branding Brand, GNC used social media monitoring to help launch six new flavors of a coconut water product.
Over the course of 90 days last spring, GNC monitored what flavors were talked about most, how much was positive or negative, and whether the marketing message was getting through. One insight among many stood out: GNC learned that yogis are coconut water fans, so they should be targeted as influencers.
"We learned a lot really quickly, certainly a lot more than we would have if the product was on the shelves for six months and then done surveys," James says. "We said, 'Whoa, this has got some pretty interesting impacts,' and so we took that learning and we're going back to the drawing board and looking at how we can refresh that product. That's kind of exciting."
Getting Started
Companies must figure out how to divide the monitoring work. Some buy a license and hand it to an agency; some have several agencies for different duties, such as monitoring, engaging and analysis; others do as much in-house as possible.
"The pro for a corporation taking it in-house is that they then own it," says Nygel Weishar, social media and community relations specialist for Sysomos, Radian6's largest competitor. "They have internal staff that actually understands what's going on, as opposed to before, when you'd just look at a social media report and say, 'So? What does this mean?'
"Now that we have the actual stakeholders understanding it, they know what they're looking for," says Weishar. "I definitely see a positive in that, and I think it makes the agencies on top of that strive for a higher standard. We're at the point now where a lot of our agencies are calling [us] to get more in-depth training sessions to make them all experts on the tool, as opposed to just having one or two stakeholders."
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