The basement of the Harvard University Faculty Club was a curious choice for the Gravity Summit gathering of social media luminaries. Going downstairs to the event, I was unsure whether we were all part of an old boy social media network like the faculty club itself, or revolutionaries in an underground plot to overthrow the way corporate America operates today. It turns out that the event was a mixture of both the establishment and the new order.
It opened with Beverly Macy and Rodney Rumford, who have been building up the summits over the course of a year, and then transitioned to a presentation by Troy Kelley, the EVP and Chief Digital Officer at Arnold Worldwide. Troy was effective at providing a historical overview of advertising, how it has evolved from Don Draper-style Advertising 1.0 to Advertising 3.0 where brands are defined by consumers, rather than smooth talking Mad Men. Along the way, Troy showcased the work Arnold has done for McDonald’s (the filet-o-fish), Oceanspray (the cranberry club), and Choice Hotels.
Arnold employs a five-step process for social branding: awareness assessment; consumer assessment; brand strategy and idea; brand experience plan; and analytics. They also employ a “client operational rules of engagement” (CORE) to establish ground rules. While Troy’s presentation was full of energy and enthusiasm, it didn’t go as deep into the measurement of ROI as I would have preferred. The buzz word BINGO of social media was well represented, and I did count many references to “listening first” as well as “authenticity” and providing “added value.” Sadly, I didn’t win the Flip Mino HD camcorder that was raffled off.
I thoroughly enjoyed the presentation from Todd Defren that provided a similar “Social Media 101” vibe but ended with an apt analogy that social media is a lot like fishing. First, don’t try to use every shiny lure. Second, swim with the fish and not against them. Third, don’t bore the fish. Fourth, don’t over feed the fish. Fifth, don’t bring a lawyer into the rowboat.
The last tip elicited lots of laughs. But the issues concerning how to activate social media with corporations that have legal concerns are real, and it was apparent that no one quite knew the secret to getting companies to adapt to the changing realities of a consumer-dominated landscape. Still, Eric Forst of Visible Technologies came closest with his statement that marketers need to control the conversation by telling people [CEOs, clients] that they no longer control the conversation.
In my next post about the summit, I will report on what I learned from Andy Mitchell of CNN, Ramon De Leon of Dominos, MC Hammer, Gary Vaynerchuk, and “Dunkin’ Dave” Puner during my Harvard education.
Read more about the event by searching #gravsum.
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