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Welcome to the BPIR blogLatest news:
April 18th, 2010
Goodbye corporate brick wall. See ya later marketing spin doctors.
It's hello to social media - the thing many write off as being "only for the young" - but is now being used by businesses to talk directly with customers. Companies are now also reaping the rewards of engaging in the new media space where others have been criticised for spamming users with marketing guff. And the main ingredient to the success? Humanisation.
"Social media" is a term to describe tools such as Twitter and Facebook that people use to share and discuss information.
Neil Forster, one of around eight regular staff members who tweets from Telecom's Twitter account @TelecomNZ, said customers were often shocked that a "real" person responded to feedback left about the telco. "One of the first comments was 'I didn't think Telecom could do this'," he said. Telecom opened a Twitter account around two years ago as part of a conscious shift in the company's culture. It now has more than 6000 "followers". "It's not a controlled marketing stream. We're an eclectic bunch of people," he said. "We think we have done a really good job."
The team of technology enthusiasts has used Twitter to deal with customers' queries during arguably one of the toughest times the company has faced during the various XT outages. "The really good thing that I saw come out of that event was the increase in improvement of communication," said Mr Forster. "It's a lot more dynamic - there's really powerful value in it. "From a business point of view there's brand benefit, better communication with customers. It's really enhancing that whole cultural change." So while some customers were using the portal of Twitter to "rant", a lot of "positive stuff" was also coming in, he said.
Telecom's success with social media is mirrored at Air New Zealand.
General Manager of marketing, Steve Bayliss, said the company began to get more serious in the social media space around 18 months ago "both as a channel to gain valuable customer feedback and as a channel to share brand messages". Air NZ have dedicated staff working on a social media strategy and execution of its accounts, including @flyairnz (with more than 12,600 followers) and @airpointsfairy (with more than 3400 followers). Mr Bayliss said the Airpoints Fairy - an account set up with a fictional Tinkerbell-like character who "grants wishes" to do with AirNZ products - was set up after a Wednesday morning idea from the internal team and went live by 3pm the same day.
"That's the speed of these new social channels," he said. "The reaction has been terrific. We keep being tempted to expand the Fairy as she has such a strong following, but then taking a breath and reflecting that a broad scale commercialisation would spoil the intrigue." Mr Bayliss said the biggest benefit of social media has been the speed with which you get customer feedback. "It's unfiltered, free form, instant, and brutally honest." He said social media will be a "massive area of growth and change" in the marketing industry over the next 24 months "especially in the way we do customer surveys and gather insights".
Others businesses not only use social media but were actually born out of the communication medium.
Tom Reidy, co-founder of Wellington-based company @Tweet4yourtee, puts it simply by saying his company wouldn't exist without Twitter. The company, which helps people promote their Twitter profile through personalised t-shirts, began in November. The response, says Reidy, has been "awesome". "The sales were a lot more than we expected. We're selling t-shirts globally - that wouldn't have happened without Twitter," he said. Tees are being worn by customers in Australia, Denmark and United States. "It has been a really fast growth. It's been pretty surprising though, especially the speed it's picked up."
Kevin McKenna
BPIR.com
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November 9th, 2009
According to a recent survey by the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC), social media offers an important and growing set of communications tools. These tools are being utilised by organisations worldwide for effective employee engagement. The survey which involved almost 1500 participants specifically addressed the use of internal/external social media tools, see the charted results below. Blogs were used most at 47%, and discussion boards (or internet forums) ranked very high at 65% when planned future use is taken into account. Interestingly the survey revealed that more than half of top executives did not use social media, however 12% did regularly use internal and external social media.
See full survey results on the iabc.com website [pdf link]
Neil Crawford
Senior Researcher
BPIR.com Limited
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August 27th, 2009
By joining the BPIR.com you will be able to network with other experts in your field.
And get on board the trend.
In a recent article found at smartcompany.com.au, Patrick Stafford said that if a business doesn't have a social networking presence, then it is already behind and may be hit hard by being late in jumping on the trend. The article drew on a range of experts who identified the next 15 social networking trends as being:
1. Social networking goes mobile
2. True business networking goes online
3. Social networking search allows advertisers to target
4. Social networking takes on traditional email
5. Advertisers must converse, not just sell
6. Networks get smaller
7. Why businesses will need to find the leaders of a social network
8. Crowd source or else!
9. Get set for the rise of the social entrepreneurs
10. Social networks connect to each other
11. Online retail harnesses the power of social networking
12. Twitter will be sold to Google
13. Online, money can buy you friendship
14. Don't forget the spectators
15. Defend your reputation
The detailed article can be found at:
http://www.smartcompany.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=33750&Itemid=282
Kevin McKenna
Senior Researcher
BPIR.com Limited
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August 13th, 2009
We at BPIR are keeping an eye on the rapid growth of organisational social networking.
Recent research has thrown up a variety of ways in which companies are using social networking such as in recruitment, buyer/vendor networking, wiki sites, communities of practice, etc. It is also of value in training delivery as discussed in a recent BBC business programme presented by Peter Day: GlobalBiz: Learning Curve: Tx: 04 Aug 09. "Companies are discovering that new communications methods are transforming the way they do their training." But, says Peter Day, they could also transform the way the company organises itself … as it moves along the "Learning Curve".
Well worth a listen.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/worldbiz
Kevin McKenna
Senior Researcher
BPIR.com Limited
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July 27th, 2009
Embrace or die! That’s what the choice seems to be for businesses today in terms of online networking. It’s become so much an accepted part of ‘normal’ life for a large and increasing portion of the workforce that they need access to it throughout the day (a 2009 study showed out of 1483 respondents almost 75% used social networking sites for personal use within an organisation). And if it isn’t authorised via the employer’s corporate internet service, well then, there is always the mobile phone evolution that is fast making mobile wireless internet browsing an affordable reality. So, for businesses, it makes sense to encourage participation in online networks that can benefit personal and organisational performance.
What seems a long time ago now I joined Thomas Power’s network Ecademy. This was prior to LinkedIn and Facebook even launched and was, I think, the first ‘social-business network’ to gain popularity. I read up a lot on what could be gained from such an investment in time and browsed many guides on how to best ‘network’. However my first effort to network online flopped; I didn’t invest the time necessary, even though I believed in it. My workload was just too high, I thought. Since then the world has moved on and now social networks play a critical part in the development of young people. Wow! Things change fast! I am amazed every time when I hear researchers and psychologists comment on how online-communications are replacing the need for face-to-face meetings in the context of the development of children – or at least teenagers for now…. Whole friend- and support-networks are being developed online instead of by meeting others and socialising together personally. It seems sad but it’s the way the world is going. What’s even more surprising to me is that a huge proportion of online networkers are aged not in their twenties, but anything up to mid-fifties! A recent study defined most Facebook users as college educated, white-collar workers, and more than 40% at over 35 years old. Another study found half of all blog readers were between the ages of 31 and 50, and 18% were between 51 and 60.
Anyway, I do clearly see the huge advantage that organisations can gain from encouraging participation by employees in online networks, and I know that time spent in such networks is well-spent. But the vast majority of organisations are not capitalising on these networks. Just understanding and acknowledging that employees who use networks are likely to benefit through interacting with many, hopefully, peers by way of ‘organic learning’ is not enough to make a difference. All organisations will be benefiting thus before long and hence the ‘benefit’ will be effectively neutralised. What will define a true learning organisation from others will be the proactive decision to provide access to networks designed to promote the type of learning and contact that affects organisational performance. Well, what a coincidence! For the last 18 months here at BPIR.com we have been feverishly designing and developing a network portal that will allow our members to leverage the growing BPIR membership community, and create ways that we, as administrators, can help encourage the learning potential that exists for all in the network to filter back and translate into increases in organisational performance, and hence, into bottom line profit. Our network is being rolled out as you read this blog. For now the network is available only to members of BPIR and its partners.
Here are a handful of interesting survey snippets about social networks in the business environment.
That’s all for now. Hopefully see you in the network!
Steve
General dog's body, grafter, and MD of BPIR.com Limited
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April 2nd, 2009
In a follow up to my previous blog on Social Networking I came across some new research saying how social networking sites are good for you…
Melbourne University's Dr Brent Coker says workers who surf the internet for leisure, known as `Workplace Internet Leisure Browsing' (WILB), are more productive than those who don't. Read more here…
This means there is now convincing evidence that even using non-work related social networking sites are good for you..  Just think how more productive you will become when BPIR launches its work-related social networking site…
Happy networking
Regards Robin
(Dr Robin Mann, Commercial Director and Part-Owner, BPIR.com Limited).
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November 11th, 2008
Hello all
I thought I would share with you our next phase of development for the BPIR.com and hopefully get some feedback from you.
Currently the BPIR.com is an information resource. It contains one of the largest collections of best practices, benchmarks, self-assessment tools etc on the web.. However, with recent developments in web technology and the growing interest in social networking we are now planning to introduce the 2nd phase of development. This will transform the BPIR into an information and networking resource.
I recently attended the 3rd International Benchmarking Conference in Hungary, www.bestpracticeconference.com. Much of the talk here was to do with how technology can support benchmarking. One of the most interesting presentations was by Aad Streng, Corporate Quality, Philips. Philips found that few people will implement a good idea without first consulting the owner of the idea/best practice. Hence, Aad emphasised that it is at least as important to connect people to people than to connect people to information. Aad then talked about how Philips through its profiling/social networking tools was encouraging its employees to network and learn from each other - with over 130,000 employees worldwide it was essential that knowledge was transferred effectively company-wide and social networking technology had a key role in this.
Moving back to the BPIR… By May 2009 all our members will be able to develop their own personal and organisational profiles, share best practices, benchmarks and information on the tools they use. Members will be able to search and contact others to find information and collaborate on benchmarking projects. We will also be encouraging this sharing through providing a number of best practice awards to those organisations/people that share their best practices with others. All in all we want to make the BPIR the No.1 website for sharing best practices so that if you have a certain problem or issue you can raise it with our membership and obtain good ideas on how to move forward.
For further information on social networking and the use of technology I have provided links to three interesting articles:
Overview on Web 2.0 and social software - This is a short paper written by the Global Benchmarking Network that provides a simple introduction and explanation of Web 2.0 technology. Read full article: Overview of Web 2.0 and Social Software
Social networking sites good for business - Good news for workers addicted to Facebook, Bebo and MySpace, a British think-tank says bosses should not stop their staff using social networking sites because they could actually benefit their firms. The report by Demos said encouraging employees to use networking technologies to build relationships and closer links with colleagues and customers could help businesses rather than damage them. Click here for full article.
Towards NHS 2.0 - This white paper discusses the changes in the UK's National Health Service. It draws parellels between the changes from a Web 1.0 (being fed generic information) to a Web 2.0 (networking and personalised information) environment and a Health 1.0 and Health 2.0 environment. It discusses what this means for patients and clinicians. Read full article: Towards NHS 2.0
So, how can you help the BPIR? Please let me know what functionality you would like in the BPIR from a social networking perspective? How can we best help you to build up your networks and learn from other organisations? What service would help you the most?
Looking forward to hearing from you, Robin
(Dr Robin Mann, Commercial Director and Part-Owner, BPIR.com Limited).
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