Keynote address at the 4th Latin American Retail Conference (CLAV'11), Sao Paulo, Brazil, October 27, 2011

1. IT’S NOT ABOUT BEING ON SOCIAL
IT’S ABOUT BEING SOCIAL
4th Latin American Retail
Conference (CLAV’11)
Keynote Address
São Paulo, Brazil
October 2011
Prof. Chris Dellarocas
Boston University
www.dellarocas.com

2. A revolution is underway
But it’s not about the technology

3. It’s about a
parenthesis in human history
that’s coming to an end

4. Not so long ago… all business was social

5. Consumers and merchants would engage in
candid public conversations

6. Others would weigh in

7. The entire community would sometimes
become very engaged in the matter

8. Then business starting scaling
Then business started scaling

9. But social could not scale
so it disappeared from business

10. Corporations started to develop
some really bad habits
Targeting
people
Segmenting
people
“Campaigning”

11. It‘s like companies are at war
with customers

12. Then came Social media

13. And because humans are hardwired to be social
Social re-entered business and commerce with a splash

14. So to understand how to do business in a
world of social media
You do not need to deeply understand You are better off understanding
the technologies humans – not as consumers, but as
social creatures

15. People need a sense of purpose
and have an innate desire to be
helpful to others

16. People value fairness and are
willing to spend a lot of effort to
punish unfair treatment
United breaks guitars

17. People like to do what others do
Iphone 4 debut, Paris
Ipad 2 debut, Beijing

18. Some people love status more than money

19. Oh, and there is one more thing

20. 76% of people think advertisers LIE

21. Homo economicus is dead
Long live homo sociologicus
People want a sense of purpose
People want to help and be helped
People want to be treated fairly
People want to do what others do
People crave for recognition and status

22. So, to survive and thrive in the world of social media,
you need to…
Accept that consumers are now
(re)empowered to act as social beings
So, you need to…
Transform your business processes
into social processes

23. A social process is NOT…
Running
traditional
programs using
social media
platforms

24. A social process is NOT…
PR using
fake blogs
run by
corporate

25. A social process is NOT…
Generating
leads by
spamming
hashtags on
Twitter

26. A social process IS…
 Engaging human passion, sense of purpose, reciprocity
and fairness to get others, whose “job” it isn’t to do so,
to help you achieve your business goals
 For example…

32. How to design a social process?
Find your tribes
Both inside and outside the org
And get them to help one another
Across functional areas

33. Find your tribes
Both inside and outside the org
And get them to help one another
Across functional areas

34. How to find your tribes
Identify passions, lifestyles or needs that
people form groups (tribes) around and
where your products can play a useful role

35. The product

36. The tribe

37. The store

38. The tribe

39. The company

40. The tribe

41. Find your tribes
Both inside and outside the org
And get them to help one another
Across functional areas

44. Find your tribes
Both inside and outside the org
And get them to help one another
Across functional areas

45. Provide
proper
incentives
And get them to help one another
Identify
genuine
needs

49. Incentive design framework
Design Design Design
intrinsic status material
incentives incentives incentives
“Love” “Glory” “Money”
Feeling of purpose
Competitions
Reciprocity
Points and ratings
Monetary rewards
Fairness
Membership levels
Virtual currencies
Relationships
Honor badges
Perks and privileges
Sheer Fun
Leaderboards and
rankings
Manage interactions among incentive features

50. Gamification and badges

51. The SAP Developer Network
Original Incentive System:
Point system leading to
personal rewards
Results:
Bullying behavior in the
community
New Incentive System:
Point system leading to
donation to charity
Results:
No more bullying
Source: Francois Gossieaux

52. Find your tribes
Both inside and outside the org
And get them to help one another
Across functional areas

53. Social media is not
just about marketing

54. Is this marketing?
Is this customer support?
Is this knowledge management?
Is this recruiting?

55. Social media are blurring the lines across many
previously distinct functions
Marketing
Public Relations
Sales
Customer Service
Product Development
Consumer Research
Recruiting
Knowledge Management
…

56. Your operations is your new marketing
United breaks guitars

57. And yet…
Source: Tribalization of business study, (Beeline Labs, Deloitte et al. 2009)

58. Find your tribes
Both inside and outside the org
And get them to help one another
Across functional areas

59. Designing social processes
requires a leap of faith for most
organizations

60. Segment
Customer
Channel
Hierarchy

61. Segment Community
Customer Partner
Channel Network
Hierarchy Crowd

62. Where do you start from?

63. My suggested social pilot project approach
 Step 1: Get to know your tribes (not your segments) their passions
and their needs
 Step 2: Think how you can help them (not sell to them, not get them
to do something you think is worthwhile, even if it’s charity)
 Step 3: Figure out how you can best offer this help through online
communities, twitter, facebook, youtube etc.
 Step 4: Assign joint responsibility for this project across departments
(marketing and customer support is a good start)

64. Remember
It’s not about being on social
It’s about being social

65. Inspiration – Further Reading