2014 Social Media winners and losers

Mashable have pulled together 12 of this year’s most notable social media campaigns from around the world – some good and some bad, but there are some fascinating lessons to be learned.

CAUTIONARY WARNING – please note that the Mashable article does contain some examples which some readers might find offensive.

http://mashable.com/2014/11/18/brand-wins-fails-2014/

On the positive side, a common thread that runs through all of the most successful campaigns is that whilst they are impactful, they have also been well thought through – people clearly want to share good content and these are either entertaining, informative or thought-provoking.

Here is an example of some great content:

When you look at the example of negative impact, the most significant thing you notice is that it only takes one small error (even if it’s based on good intentions) to create a whole world of headache – this is most effectively demonstrated by the BuildABear rebuke. And although it’s not featured on the Mashable article, the KLM debacle after Holland beat Mexico is another memorable example.

So, how is this useful?

Well, it is another reminder, if one was needed, that once a message is posted anywhere, it is out there for the world to see – if it’s good ‘spreadable media’ as David Spitz called it, then great, you will hopefully generate more people who want to engage with you, many of whom will be ‘multipliers’.

But if you rush a message or don’t fully consider the impact of, not just what you say, but also how you say it, then you may find a great many more people see your message but the consequences may be damaging.

So, a great trick is it put yourself into the shoes of your digital audience and ask yourself “Is what I am saying interesting, helpful or thought-provoking?” If the answer is ‘no’ then maybe it’s worth just holding back and perhaps re-evaluating the message.

This is why both Branding Strategy and Social Media workshops form major parts of our new and innovative Focus7 programme – this is a great opportunity for sharing best practice (and perhaps avoiding the mistakes of others!)

HOPE YOU ENJOY THE MASHABLE ARTICLE

It’s not rocket science, is it?

Two great stories this week with a really important message!

Firstly, we landed a spacecraft on a comet. Just saying it seems so ‘sci-fi’ and yet, it’s when you hear the numbers involved that you realise quite how extraordinary this story is. The 67P Churyumov-Gerasimenko comet has travelled at speeds of up to 135,000 km per hour, is currently travelling at nearly 67,000 kph and Rosetta has travelled a cumulative distance of 6.4 billion kilometres to get to and land on a comet that is only 4 milometres wide!

The secondly very interesting story is that Australia and China have just signed a ground-breaking Declaration of Intent that, from 2015, there will be a new trade agreement between the two nations giving unrestricted access to each others markets.

What is fascinating about both of these stories, is that they have both been the result of a long term view with a clear goal.

The comet landing has been 25 years in the planning and the Rosetta mission launched just over 10 years ago. The Australia / China deal has been in negotiation for over a decade!

All too often, when we are under pressure, our focus becomes very short term and our goals become very small scale. This is not saying that we should ignore short term issues, but we seem to reduce our expectations and our timescales at the very time when we should be looking for a bigger vision – how many companies have a 10 year business plan with a clear, major objective?

Also, try and imagine that first conversation when one scientist said to another “How about we try and land an object on a 40,000 miles per hour comet in 25 years time!!”

Clearly a great deal can change in a 10 year timescale and there are always going to be short term priorities, but it is important to remember that choosing a ‘big’ objective and then planning how to get there, will often achieve a much greater result than looking at this year and adding a bit for next years objective.

The risk with short term planning is that we end up focused on ‘urgent’ issues and neglect the ‘important’ issues.

This is one of the key drivers of our unique, new Focus7 programme – helping businesses to take a longer term view, setting clear and challenging goals and then planning how to achieve them.

But like the China / Australia deal and the Rosetta mission, Focus7 is a journey, with analysis and review along the way, constantly adapt to the changing circumstances – but always helping you to move closer to your goal – after all, it’s not rocket science – or is it?

Top Featured Image and animation courtesy of European Space Agency