I figured I'd fling a few videos onto this page that make the case for something that touches Social CRM or the customer experience or whatever else I feel like putting up. :-)
#1 First up, a really powerful case for the transformation of communications via social media from John Dodge of PC Pitstop. Its called Socialnomics 09 and it just throws stats at you that makes you think that we're on to something.
#2 Next, a video that make you realize how much impact the use of technology in compelling ways can impact the brand experience with the customer. What Ross Ching did with this video is use the Ken Burns effect (making still shots seem to be moving) in combination with amazingly well done presentation of the lyrics superimposed on the photos/videos and as a result, you get a wow that makes you want to do business with Ross Ching.
Death Cab for Cutie - Little Bribes from Ross Ching on Vimeo.
#3 Finally, Derek Jeter's 2722 hit at Yankee Stadium to surpass Lou Gehrig. The important thing (besides me being the Yankees fan I am) is the crowd's interaction with Jeter. There is a powerful message that gets transmitted here - how the unique confluence of multiple individuals is able to interact as a "hive community" with a single human being. Even though the crowd is a structured but organic social organization it speaks with a single voice and communicates with an individual person in this instance. I'm not sure entirely how to think about this but its powerful when it comes to structuring a customer experience that can affect others. It also means that a "company like me" is a possible concept. It also means that the Yankees are by far the best organization in baseball and the fans are awesome! :-)
As far as Paul Seaman goes, I agree with him that social media "just is" - its a set of tools that are neutral - meaning how you use them is how good or bad they are. Where I differ from him is his perception of the "not revolution." I don't think social media created a revolution - they provided a transmission belt for support of one though. The revolution was a social and cultural one - and it came in how we communicate, not how we do business. It was driven by the easy access to one and many that the social Web provides and by the ubiquity and commoditization of cell phones. We are now able to, via voice or text or online tools, communicate 24X7 in an untethered way with a nearly immediate response expected and, at least from peers, delivered more often than not. THAT is revolutionary because it revolutionizes how we converse and what we expect of all institutions and individuals. There is a fundamental cultural change embedded in that.
Posted by: football customized jerseys | February 11, 2011 at 04:48 AM
Ideas go through the same stages as people during a revolution. Denial is that first stage and we have plenty of that for Social CRM. There is no revolution, it's a not revolution. That's a good sign. It means the establishment feels challenged. Many want to hear the message that it doesn't matter and you can safely ignore it. That is a saleable message, and one we've seen for all the revolutions. But it just sets up the second stage. Anger when some have the temerity to show success while the establishment is still in denial. Anger that people just don't understand that the wool has been pulled over their eyes. I see that happening for Social CRM too.
Bargaining is the third stage, and is an interesting one. Bargaining is all about the constant dialog over whether Social CRM is really new, or just CRM done right with a few cheap pyrotechnics for hype value. Clearly we've got Bargaining already too.
Will we get Depression and then Acceptance?
If Social really is a much lower friction form of communication, it's coming, and it's coming sooner than anyone would expect. 5 years? Sounds too soon. 10 years? Sounds too long. But at some point, companies will start waking up depressed that their competitors did this and stole a march.
Great video series, Paul!
Cheers,
BW
Posted by: Bob Warfield | October 03, 2009 at 11:07 AM
Hi Prem,
Thanks for the responses. I agree with you entirely that $3 million in Dell purchases is hardly a case study. Ultimately, whether for sales, marketing or customer service, Twitter is a channel - and only one - and while it has sex appeal at the moment, won't make or break any company whether the results are good or bad. I also think in general that its a lousy sales channel because not that much is going to be purchased with 140 characters of description or discussion. I also think that while there are exceptional customer service efforts being made using Twitter (Think Frank Eliason and @comcastcares), it is only one part of a set that has to be used to provide great customer service. Its not a surprise that Frank's @comcastcares rankings are huge and great while Comcast as a whole still sits near the bottom of many customer service surveys - though I think that Frank keeps them off the bottom.
As far as Paul Seaman goes, I agree with him that social media "just is" - its a set of tools that are neutral - meaning how you use them is how good or bad they are. Where I differ from him is his perception of the "not revolution." I don't think social media created a revolution - they provided a transmission belt for support of one though. The revolution was a social and cultural one - and it came in how we communicate, not how we do business. It was driven by the easy access to one and many that the social Web provides and by the ubiquity and commoditization of cell phones. We are now able to, via voice or text or online tools, communicate 24X7 in an untethered way with a nearly immediate response expected and, at least from peers, delivered more often than not. THAT is revolutionary because it revolutionizes how we converse and what we expect of all institutions and individuals. There is a fundamental cultural change embedded in that.
So while Paul Seaman is right about social media, I don't think he's right about the not-revolution. Its just a different one from a different place than he thought.
Posted by: Paul G. | October 03, 2009 at 08:04 AM
Great collection Paul. :D For the first video, I would recommend this post as a rider/caveat: http://paulseaman.eu/2009/09/theres-no-social-media-revolution/
And Dell's $3 million via Twitter is, IMHO, not a case study: http://sfh.tumblr.com/post/201095191/dell-makes-0-0025-of-its-revenues-from-twitter
Posted by: Account Deleted | October 03, 2009 at 03:40 AM