CorpComms Magazine

A year ago it is possible that this article would be about whether or not social media actually mattered or if it was just a passing fad; today we cannot deny that it has hit mainstream consciousness. Facebook recently announced that it now has over 200 million registered users, Twitter has gone from geek play thing to one of the top 50 visited sites in the UK, receiving more traffic than the Daily Mail or DirectGov sites. The question the smart corporate communicator should today be asking is not if or why they should integrate digital elements into their campaign, but how?

To get the best from using digital channels, which includes the various flavours of social media, they can't live in isolation; they need to be tightly integrated with more traditional channels. Too frequently it seems that social media it is treated as a bolt-on activity, completely ignored or just done for the sake of doing it. We should also be very clear at this point that blogging, creating a Facebook page or posting videos on YouTube is social messaging and not engagement. In order to have a successful integrated campaign there are just three elements you need to consider; the real world, the traditional media and digital media. The objective and target audience for the campaign should determine what role each element will play but all three are required in order to successfully build an integrated campaign, where each piece feeds off and into the next.

Obviously digital is currently the most attractive of the trio and it has many strengths. Turnaround times can be rapid; its connected nature makes it easier for your message to be spread far and wide while creating a fully searchable permanent record. Feedback, both good and bad, is almost instantaneous which means brands that are fleet of foot can tailor their approach mid campaign, something very difficult, if not impossible, to do previously.

EVERLASTING

The weaknesses of social media mirror its strengths. Any faux pas will live online for a very long time, while, as a result of its current popularity with brands, the space is increasingly cluttered. The ability to spread your message far and wide also means that there is less control over where and how it appears. Perhaps the most important aspect of working online to remember is that websites are not terribly media-genic and hence make poor visual photo stories and we should all be aware by now of how strong visuals can help a campaign fly.

In the current craze for online, it is easy to overlook that while some social sites have vast amounts of traffic, it is the traditional media that still has the widest reach; digital channels are still very reliant on the content produced by mainstream media. The stories that break on blogs also require traditional media to hit the big time. When one of the UK's most well-known political bloggers, Guido Fawkes, had a scoop on potentially libellous private emails being exchanged by Labour party workers, he sold the story to the Daily Telegraph instead of publishing it himself. He knew that he would gain financially, retain the credit and reap a significant rise in traffic if he worked with a media partner rather than issuing to his loyal, but significantly smaller, blog readership.

But the weaknesses of the mainstream remain as they ever were. It takes a strong story to make it into print or on to the air, while there is always the risk of it being spiked due to some unforeseen event taking over the news agenda.

Finally, the real world, possibly the most crucial and overlooked element of the communication triangle. Without the crux of the campaign having a base in the real world, there will be little or no valuable content with which to feed the mainstream or digital media. Events that happen in the real world are more difficult to organise but that difficulty is reflected in the value people place upon them.

MR Z LIVES

The integration of each element needs to be considered for every potential campaign, no matter the size or audience. One of our most recent campaigns 'Mr Z' was developed by our communications agency Porter Novelli, and is a perfect example of a very targeted piece of communication that is being brought to life through integrating real life, digital and traditional media, with each element enhancing the impact of the others.

HP recently launched Z-series, new powerful, stylish and reliable workstation computers that are perfect for digital creation agencies who demand potent processing powering and durability from their machines.

Traditionally, HP would arrange for the new products to be reviewed by the mainstream press and rely upon potential customers seeking out information there. However, we now know that most people use Google to find review information and recommendations and therefore needed to make the reviews programme live online in a meaningful way. So, we created Mr Z, a design super hero and identified suitable agencies that were also active online influencers. We challenged 12 of them to each create a chapter of a story capturing A Day in the Life of Mr Z. Each agency has been provided with a top of the range Z-series workstation, and asked to review the products as they are used.

There is a central site on HP.com/uk where we will link to the various reviews as they appear and as well as a Mr Z YouTube channel where the final films will be published. The winner, who will be decided by a panel of judges, will receive a Z-Series workstation as a prize. The content produced, including the reviews, will be seeded within technology and design media who benefit from being able to give their readers access to real-life reviews. This in turn will drive more traffic to both Mr Z's HP.com home page and the YouTube channel and blogs of the agencies taking part.

All of which forms a good example of how the three elements - digital, real life and mainstream media - can be successfully integrated to make a communication platform that is stronger than its component parts. It also illustrates how we will increasingly see social media being used by communicators in the future. 

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