1) The document discusses how social media has changed communication and marketing by allowing information to spread more widely and quickly through networks like Facebook and Twitter. 2) It notes that while companies used to control messaging, they have lost control as customers now share opinions online, influencing each other. 3) Peer recommendations on social media and reviews now strongly influence purchasing decisions, so companies must actively engage online to understand customer sentiment.

1. Why we’re getting social... Michelle Monck 17 February 2010

2. “ We always overestimate the change that will occur in the next two years and underestimate the change that will occur in the next ten. Don't let yourself be lulled into inaction.” Bill Gates, c1999 How true is this quote?

3. Let’s go forward, before we go back... Using the internet to help people save for their dreams

4. Let’s go back, before we go forward...

8. Food Health Housing Insurance Mutuality was about building communities to share the burden of big responsibilities: The first social network?

9. A quick history lesson First building society formed Birmingham - the first social network? 1774 Permanent building societies where the society continued on a rolling basis 1830 Act passed in Parliament allowing societies to demutualise in order to compete with banks 1986 Tim Berners-Lee ‘invents’ the internet 1989 Facebook is born 2004 and everything changes...

12. AOL Got People onto the Internet A look back - how the internet evolved... Yahoo organised it Google made it searchable Facebook made it social

13. How Facebook evolved... Facebook launches as network site for Harvard Business School Students Feb 2004 Facebook used by 3.5m US students in 800 colleges Dec 2005 30,000 educational institutions in US, Canada and other English speaking countries. 8m users May 2006 21 million users May 2007 ??? Today Source: BBC Source: KTBX.com

15. Facebook today If these were High Streets – Where would you put a branch? Footfall but the right footfall Source: facebook.com 25 mins per day 2 visits per day

16. Not just a youth audience 47% fall into the 25–44 year old bracket Whose using Facebook? Source: facebook.com

17. The growth of micro blogging (Twitter) UK Twitter users Feb 08 - 100,000 UK Twitter users Feb 09 - 1,780,000 News consumption News generation Source: BBC Source: Alexa

20. It hits the fan for HSBC in August 2007... Source: BBC Source: The Guardian Source: Facebook “ Over the past few weeks it has exploded, with more than 2,500 graduates signed up and dozens more joining every day”.

23. An ‘explosion’ in 2009 in citizen journalism Sources: Facebook and Youtube 20,000 photo uploads 220,000 per hour relating to Iran Election 495,000 views 50,000 Fans in 10 days

24. And it goes on...

26. Source: comscore Watching video over the web is booming Source: Vnuemedia.com Source: Mashable! Loads of new ‘tools’ that enable video sharing

28. The ‘influence economy’... Some things don’t change – the most powerful form of marketing is personal recommendation.

29. Peer to peer trust has huge influence on the purchase decision Source: Vnuemedia.com Source: BazaarVoice Supporting word-of-mouth is no longer a nice-to-have – 77% of consumers seek out reviews before buying – 70% of UK consumers say reviews are the most important information

31. “ The internet is becoming the town square for the global village of tomorrow.” Bill Gates How true is this quote?

32. Let’s all go down to the ‘virtual pub’ and see what people are saying... Presentation written by Saffron Building Society and Brand Experience Contact Julian Steedman, Managing Director, Brand Experience. 01603 612792. www.brandex.co.uk