February 2012
Focus on Fitness, Communication, and Connections
By Rod Brooks, CMO of PEMCO Insurance and WOMMA's Immediate Past President
Focus Is A Very Good Thing!
Earlier this month, as the new year began, I boldly posted an entry to this blog declaring that I would have "No New Resolutions" in 2012. The reason, simply stated, is that my resolve to accomplish a few specific goals in 2011 needs my continued focus and commitment. To spread myself too thin only deverts my attention from the most important things.
As a PEMCO colleague likes to say "Keep the main thing the main thing."
Within days of my post, Russell Sparkman, the founder of FusionSpark and organizer of the second annual Content Marketing Retreat in Langley, Washington, contacted me with the following question.
"With focus being core to your success, what would you say is the most important area of focus for marketers in the coming year?"
This was my response...
Let me be clear that my declaration of “no new resolutions” as I turned the corner into 2012 is largely personal. I’m working on commitments that I made to myself and want to ensure that I complete them and/or build the desired habits that can only be accomplished with consistent and diligent focus over an extended period of time. For me those include:
- Personal health and fitness
- Writing and sharing
- Developing meaningful connections
As I think more broadly about those commitments, I can see that they are also, at least in part, the answers to your question regarding my suggestions for marketers. I'd like to examine that a bit.
Health and fitness: Marketers must not become comfortable with the shape that they’re in – especially with market conditions being what they are today. When that happens, the chances for bad things to occur increase substantially. Satisfaction, when unexercised, will often lead to complacency. You’ll become less nimble and before long, you’ll find your organization gasping for breath as the market rewards the improved strength of your competitors. Make this the year that you put down the remote, get up off the couch, and move in a less familiar direction. Change something and see what happens. I encourage marketers to make or renew their commitment to professional fitness and to exercise new and overlooked muscles that can strengthen their performance in the market.
For some, the focus will be on mental toughness – a willingness to explore, embrace and apply new concepts and tools. In 2007, I committed to becoming a student of word of mouth marketing. I quickly became aware of how much I didn’t know and how my lack of understanding could hold my company back. As my knowledge and confidence grew, so did our willingness to make new strides into social engagement as a marketing and enterprise-wide commitment. Now, as I look ahead, I recognize the increasingly important role that timely and relevant content plays in our success. Developing the right strategy to drive the desired outcome requires, once again, that we exercise new muscles and build new behaviors.
Bottom line, if you aren’t focused on your professional fitness, you probably aren’t going to be leading the race for long.
Social Data: The New Currency
Excerpts from Bazaarvoice’s Conversation Index, Q3 2011.
Today, social gives consumers a direct link to brands. And brands recognize the huge responsibility that comes with this always-on, first-person input. As consumers convey exactly what they need and want, brands that take action will catapult beyond loyalty to real advocacy.
Social provides a window into your real-world customers. The data comes fast and furious, and capturing, analyzing – and, most important, acting on – these insights drives true, customer-centric change across companies, and even entire industries.
The Conversation Index takes 5.8 million data points – real input from consumers directly to our clients – and uncovers trends that help you get and stay ahead of what consumers really want.
Fully Mobile: Browsing is just the beginning
The percentage of mobile (including tablet) visitors on Bazaarvoice client websites on Black Friday more than doubled in 2011 – users made up 12% of total visitors this year, up from 5% in 2010.
As expected, the percent of mobile visits more than doubled as well – they accounted for 9% of client website visits this year, versus 4% in 2010.
Older Consumers are not Keeping Quiet
Our analysis of user-generated content for financial services firms uncovers another interesting note: Contrary to popular belief, older consumers participate online by writing reviews almost as much as younger generations.
While most of review volume comes from younger clients – 25% of it from ages 25 to 34 – almost as many reviews come from their parents’ generation. 19% of reviews for financial services products come from those ages 66 and older – proving that older folks are still socially savvy.
For the full index, visit Bazaarvoice.
Word of Mouth & Social Media Marketing Legal News
FDA Releases Guidance About Use of Social Media Involving Off-Label Uses
By Tony DiResta, Partner at Winston & Strawn LLP, and WOMMA's General Counsel
Over 2 years ago, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) held hearings on the use of social media for pharmaceutical advertising. WOMMA representatives provided testimony during those hearings. Comments concerning issues presented by those hearings were provided by many industry groups, including WOMMA.
Anticipation has been great, with the expectation that clarity would be provided for pharmaceutical companies desiring to use social media platforms as part of the educational and promotional activities. After years of waiting by the pharmaceutical industry, the FDA quietly released its “Guidance for Industry Responding to Unsolicited Requests for Off-Label Information About Prescription Drugs and Medical Devices” in the Federal Register. Unfortunately, the agency declined to provide detailed instructions and rules.
Instead, the draft guidance addresses how manufacturers and distributors of prescription human and animal drug products and medical devices can respond to unsolicited requests for information about unapproved or uncleared indications or conditions of use related to FDA-approved or -cleared products.
The guidance divides off-label requests for information into two categories: public and nonpublic. If a consumer makes a public request – on a Web site or in a third-party discussion platform – the company should limit its response to providing its contact information so that individuals can follow up independently with the firm to obtain specific information about the off-label use of the product through a nonpublic, one-on-one communication. Yet, when a consumer asks a question in a nonpublic setting, via e-mail or hotline, for example, companies should respond in a private, one-on-one communication.
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