John Shewell's presentation on Reshaping strategy at Social Media in a Corporate Context, London 2011

1. Social Media in a Corporate Context Thursday, 2 June 2011

2. Is Social Media a Fad? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxwpMZg0Yqs

3. Who are we? Local Government organisation Annual budget of £750m Employ 8,000 staff Deliver over 800 services every day Handle everything from major international events to making sure children cross the roads safely Promote the city as an international visitor destination - over 8m visitors every year = £7-8m to the local economy First Green Party led council in the UK

4. Brighton & Hove

5. A bit about our place Population of Brighton & Hove approx 256,300 Predicted to increase to 269,000 by 2020, a 5% increase, compared to a national increase of 7.4% Unusual age distributionwith a bulge of residents aged 20-44 years and relatively high numbers of residents aged 85 years or more.

6. Culture & Leisure 8m visitors each year Tourist £ = £732,328,000 Second highest number of museum visits outside of London 60% of residents attended a local theatre or concert within last 6 months in 2008, almost double England level of 32% Hosts around 60 festivals & largest Pride & open arts festivals, the Fringe, in UK

10. Good News

12. But

14. It’s your reputation, stupid! Yawning gap between satisfaction with services and overall satisfaction with the council Disconnect!

15. Public perception…

16. Part 1: Research Customer Insight & Findings How our residents feel

18. Conversations reflect the needs of our customers

19. Online communities have online community leaders

21. Kevin Meredith

22. Insight…

23. About connecting and conversing

24. Recap…

25. The problem!

26. The Challenge… Our ultimate goal is to close this gap

27. Closing the Gap Clear consistent brand & experience Increased message penetration Greater Value for Money Shift in audience perception Recognition for service delivery Improved reputation

28. But how? Win hearts & minds Board Members Politicians Senior Officers/Key stakeholders Burning Platform Financial pressures (£50m in savings in 3yrs) Changing demographics Environmental concerns eg OPL Reputation issues

29. Traditional v Emerging Hierarchical & silo Top-down/command & control Financial pressures “driven to bottom line” Impacts on citizens – “get done to” Ordered Flatter & joined up (council & partners) Matrix model Co-production Citizen/stakeholder involvement in service design & delivery Chaotic

30. Part 2: “A Council the City Deserves” Let go of control Empower staff Redesign our entire business model (TOM) A new model that can flex to adapt to changing environment

31. Networked Council Created a new target operating model (‘TOM’) Focus on becoming a “Sociable Council” Give the council a “human face” Shift from “talking at” to “conversing with” Co-production model in which staff, stakeholders and citizens involved in design and delivery of services Requires deeper and more meaningful relationships if it’s to work successfully

32. Comms “TOM” Shift focus from central “command and control unit” to curators of content Devolved communications but within a “brand framework” Co-opt staff as “brand advocates” Comms role is to manage reputation & drive strategy Note: not decentralised comms!

33. In practical terms… Hired social media officer – first local authority in UK to do so Rolled out social media training Created media brand hierarchy/ framework Deployed the tools of SocMed eg “Foursquare Day” for council services to drive up usage Using social media to connect with citizens & develop better relationships

34. ROI: one service area alone… Reduced call volume by 30% Abandoned calls dropped from 40% to 1% Email and letter response time dropped from nine days to two days Webpage views increased by 50% Online reporting increased by 50%.

35. The Numbers Add Up!

37. Part 3: Next Steps ROI across whole organisation Continuing roll-out of social media across council Set-up “Social Media Innovation Group” “CityCamp Btn” OpenData Semantic Web development Hyper-local communities Exploring data-visualisation techniques to tell stories Yammer…internal social media platform

38. Impact This work paved the way for a new model of working at the council Breaking down silos – joining up work across departments and partner organisations Creating a “networked council”: Devolving leadership and responsibility so that even our front-line staff are empowered to take decisions on the spot where customer satisfaction is at its most potent.

39. A message from our sponsor “Councils must demonstrate their relevance by adapting to the changing environment and constantly innovate. We need to adopt a Google-like mentality in which innovation becomes ingrained in our DNA, and achieved through collaboration and co-creation. “The question is how do we connect the three interrelated parts of the council, the community and innovation? “First, we’ve got to relinquish power and hand control to the community. Second, we’ve got to involve them more in the design and delivery of services. Finally, we’ve got to complete the triangulation of council-citizen-innovation in order to become truly relevant.” John Barradell, CEx of Brighton & Hove City Council

40. Role of Communications Strategists to alchemists Curators of content = ideas and resources Connect vision with reality and turn to delivery Command attention of the entire Board and other key stakeholders CEx most trusted advisor and Lieutenant Chief Operating Officer (COO) role

41. “Social Media in a Corporate Context” Social media in itself is not a strategy – it is a tactic designed to change behaviour AND improve an organisation’s reputation But it is a powerful tactic that needs careful planning based on evidence and aligned to the organisation’s overall business strategy and operating model Answer the question: how will it improve my business? Then quantify it!

42. Reputation & Relationships Core communications business Social media plays a key role in this endeavour Align with organisation’s business strategy and model

43. Shift Happens! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emx92kBKads&feature=related

44. Questions? John Shewell Head of Communications Brighton & Hove City Council E: john.shewell@brighton-hove.gov.uk T: www.twitter.com/johnshewell Ph: 01273 291039