Most Companies Still Not Measuring Social Media ROI

I find the continued unwillingness of some business executives to embrace social media to be, in the words of young Alice in Wonderland, “curiouser and curiouser.” Could it be a reluctance to go down what they perceive to be a “rabbit hole?”

Although a new study conducted seems to indicate that more and more corporate leaders do believe in the importance of social media platforms  from a business perspective, with more than half stating they expect to increase their social media budget in the future, the percentages take a nosedive once survey questions focused on strategy and implementation.  That’s surprising, especially considering rising customer expectations of corporate social media responsiveness and other research demonstrating how businesses can use social media platforms to improve their bottom lines.

With more than 400 responses from management personnel at the director or above level, each of whom stated they were social media decision-makers or influencers in their companies, the findings from this study were indeed a mixed bag.  On the plus side: 

Facebook And Twitter Are No Longer Leading The Innovation Pack—So What’s Taking Their Place?

Each year, the business and technology-focused publication Fast Company releases a Most Innovative Companies list. The ratings approach the notion of innovation from a variety of different perspectives and angles, but all the companies on the list have one thing in common: They’re making tangible, visionary moves to step into the future, maybe even changing their industries –or the world –while they’re at it.

Some organizations are transforming their internal structures to create efficiencies and better serve their markets. Others are expanding on their offerings to respond to fresh demands no one else is addressing. Some are solving a clear problem in a unique and unanticipated way or solving a problem their users didn’t know they had until they were told … only to become addicted to the solution.

In the midst of all this inspiring innovation, however, there were two glaring omissions this year.

Coke’s New Anti-Obesity Ad Campaign

Let’s be honest. Health and fitness are not the first things that come to mind when most of us think about Coca-Cola.

However, The Coca-Cola Company is hoping a new ad campaign will change all that. As revealed in a recent press release, “The Coca-Cola Company is reinforcing its efforts to work together with American communities, business and government leaders to find meaningful solutions to the complex challenge of obesity.”

In other words, Coca-Cola wants to be seen as a partner in combating obesity, which the CDC now calls a national epidemic and a major contributor to some of the leading causes of death in the US, including heart disease, stroke, diabetes and some types of cancer.

Of course, in the past, Coca-Cola –along with other sugar-sweetened beverage producers –has been widely seen as just the opposite. In fact, studies like this one in The New England Journal of Medicine have contributed to a growing body of evidence showing a direct correlation between consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks and obesity.

All of which begs the question:

Can a company that may be contributing to a “national epidemic” successfully re-brand itself as a company that’s helping to find “meaningful solutions” to that same epidemic?

I suppose only time will tell. But over the past few weeks, criticism of Coca-Cola has been swift . . . and harsh.
The centerpiece of the campaign is a two-minute video, “Coming Together,” which debuted in mid-January. Again, from the Coca-Cola Company’s press release:

Gen Xers Connect Online As Often As They Socialize In Person

I’ve written before about digital natives, who have no memory of a world without the internet, and how tethered they are to their mobile devices.

Now, a new University of Michigan study has found that many adults in their late thirties are just as likely to engage with family, friends and the people they work with via social media and other forms of virtual communication as they do face-to-face.

As a matter of fact, Generation X adults feel that both their online and offline connections play essential roles in their lives, personally and professionally —a concept sometimes referred to as “social capital.”

The difference between this age group and those in Generations Y and Z, however, is that Gen Xers still feel it’s important to balance their virtual and real world lives.

“This is the first generation of Americans to reach adulthood at the beginning of the Electronic Era,” said Jon D. Miller, who authored this study. “So it’s understandable that they should show a substantial mix of traditional and electronic networking as they build and maintain the social capital that will help to carry them through their lives.”

The survey of more than 3,000 Gen Xers also revealed that: 

Taylor Swift And Keds: A Match Made In Heaven?

If you live on the moon, there’s some chance you don’t know about Taylor Swift.

But if there’s a ten-year-old girl on the moon with you, you’re no doubt well-acquainted with America’s (and the world’s) latest sweetheart.

At least, that’s what Keds—a classic sneaker brand launched in 1916—is betting on. Swift is the new face of their latest campaign, an effort to target tween- and teen-aged girls with one of their most beloved idols.

The hub of the campaign is at Bravehearts.com, but social media platforms from Pinterest to Facebook to Twitter host much of the content. On Twitter, for instance, fans can commune with the hashtag, “#bravemoment” (a switch, by the way, from the initial “#braveheart”—still showing up in Google—which tangled participants up in conversation about Mel Gibson’s kilt-clad warrior movie).

The Bravehearts site offers a host of content suggestions and conversation starters for each of the different platforms, inviting “brave girls” to share their stories and hopes and challenges with one another—all under the doe-eyed watchful gaze of Swift herself.

The pairing makes sense on many different levels: