Quite a number of changes have evolved in my life since my last post. I left MSL Singapore in December 2010 after a good 16 months with the company. I have to say that this was far-by the most enjoyable and intriguing work  experience I’ve had in a long time. I was blessed to work alongside some of the best PR folks in Singapore and most exciting clients in the world.MSLGroup is a network with wonderful career opportunities and lies great potential in its vision, I must say my decision to leave the team was a hard one. But I guess I have my selfish reasons to justify for. Nonetheless, I would like to publicly express my gratitude to my immediate boss, Yvonne Koh, whom has remained understanding, supportive and open to all my opinions and suggestions while I was with the company. My senior manager, Amy Kong, who has been very patient with any ignorance I might have about the PR scope of work. The sparks from the clashes and chemistry with my fellow team-mate, Audrey Tang whom I’ve worked closely with on Discovery & P&G Whisper’s project. And to all the great people like Dawn Wong, Nicole Campbell, Joan Liew, Marie Loh, Shelina, Ying etc… who has helped me in every other way or so. Lastly, also many heartfelt thanks to my big bosses,Glenn Osaki and Josh Shapiro, whom I’ve had a great time bouncing ideas off and working briefly with.

Aside from social media, I continue to stay active in the event scene, rendering my services to Festival Square Circle (FSC), a premium event & festival agency with more than 20 years of experience, as a contracted Senior Account Manager. FSC was my ex-employer and my on-going interest in events just made it natural for us to continue this relationship on a project-basis. I like to look at how events can be reinvented and most importantly integrated with new technologies or applied in trans-media.Life is a novel made of of many different chapters, one ending leads to another beginning. Apart from the courses at Singapore Media Academy, which I will be taking on my 4th run tomorrow (16 March 2011), my portfolio has also expanded to wider grounds. Once a social media gal, always a social media gal. I’m currently an independent social media consultant and trainer. I strongly believe in the integration and application of social media across multiple business and marketing functions. Being independent means I no longer restrict to the scope or type of work I can explore and is able to better counsel my clients towards a more integrated and long-term approach versus tactical or solely campaign-driven implementation. I’ve just returned from Shanghai, giving a talk on social media to an internal board meeting of an MNC client. Such flexibility also diminishes my need to be grounded or region-restricted.

Life is a novel made of of many different chapters, one ending leads to another beginning. Apart from the courses at Singapore Media Academy, which I will be taking on my 4th run tomorrow (16 March 2011), my portfolio has also expanded to wider grounds. Once a social media gal, always a social media gal. I’m currently an independent social media consultant and trainer. I strongly believe in the integration and application of social media across multiple business and marketing functions. Being independent means I no longer restrict to the scope or type of work I can explore and is able to better counsel my clients towards a more integrated and long-term approach versus tactical or solely campaign-driven implementation. I’ve just returned from Shanghai, giving a talk on social media to an internal board meeting of an MNC client. Such flexibility also diminishes my need to be grounded or region-restricted.

Aside from social media, I continue to stay active in the event scene, rendering my services to Festival Square Circle (FSC), a premium event & festival agency with more than 20 years of experience, as a contracted Senior Account Manager. FSC was my ex-employer and my on-going interest in events just made it natural for us to continue this relationship on a project-basis. I like to look at how events can be reinvented and most importantly integrated with new technologies or applied in trans-media.

WSQ, or otherwise known as the Singapore Workforce Skills Qualifications system is a government initiative by WDA to help the workforce in facilitating upgrading programs that can help them advance their careers.

The coursework is co-developed together with the founder of social media start-up, Adrian Teo of PepperConn, who has contributed greatly in putting the framework together. I am highly recommending this course to marketers in organisations who are looking to explore social media and integrate it not only as part of your communications plan but as an even more integral part of your business strategy.

A quick peek at the content of the training:

As part of the WSQ certification, learners are not only expected to listen but hands-on interactive tasks will be given. There will be an assessment to test your understanding at the end of the course, which helps you put your learnings into practical application.

These are the primary topics which I will be covering as part of the course:

• Introduction to Social Media
• Landscape Analysis
• Impact of Influencer Relationships
• Planning for a Social Media Strategy
• Measuring the Success of your Strategy
• Social Media Policies & Rules of Engagement
• Best & Worst Practices

The sign-ups for the first training is already closed, but the 2nd session is now open for 26th to 28th Oct. I would be happy to answer any queries you may have on the course. Or you can contact SMA (tel: +65 6435 6000) for course or payment related questions.

If your company is looking for a one-day or half-day training for your internal office or for speaking opportunities, please contact me directly at my email instead to discuss further.

There is often confusion in the “strategy” and the “plan”. Let’s think of it this way, do you remember the “forest theory” as stated in the book, Seven habits of highly effective people? Don’t fail to see the forest because of the trees. More often than not, we are so engrossed in trying to “cut down the trees” that we don’t realise we have been bulldozing in the wrong forest all these while. So think of the strategy as “the forest” and plan as “the tree”. Hence, a move such as creating a facebook page is not a strategy, it is an execution that is part of the plan. So each time you are excite by an execution, take a step back and review what is your strategy. We know that in business, we are often restricted by budgets and resources. So keeping tabs and checking back regularly will ensure that these resources and money are put into best use and not in clearing a wrong forest at the end of the day.

So once you have your strategy in place, you start drawing out your plans, which may include building of properties, content etc. While you are eagerly trying to grow your fans and having fun with the social media hype, please pause and make sure you have done the following :

• Study your consumer behaviours… not solely on your site/page but on your competitors’ as well. Who are your target audience? When are they logging on? What are they interested in? If you have a social media consultant, please seek his/her advice. If you have engaged him/her based on their experience/capabilities, trust that they may have a few good advice for you.
• What, when, where?… On a day-to-day basis, your brand may be filled with an wide array of products, events and promotions and you want everything to be on your social platforms – all at once. Well, think again. Look back at your strategy, think about your objectives and target audience. In the end, you don’t want your page to look like another bazaar in a flea market. So don’t rush to have everything dumped into your social platforms. Decide what, when and where.

The reason I have entitled this blog post “Pace your social media strategy” is because I have observed some “spamming” from some brands. Not literally but rightfully so in the eyes of the consumer. Pacing is VERY important and the steps above will help you understand how you should pace your strategy. Let me cite you an example…

Brand A wants to build a sustainable community on Facebook, and to use it as a platform to promote the USPs of their premium product targeted at 24 – 35. However, aside from that they also have many overlapping campaigns with different objectives running at the same time. So while they are sharing resources and lifestyle topics around the primary product focus, they are also flooding the page with a brand campaign, a sponsorship campaign, as well as a hip event targeted at the youths between 14 to 21. As the bulk of the work is aplenty, there are multiple agencies handling the different pieces and posting at their own pace. Unfortunately, it caused an influx of Youtube video posts on the event over a weekend that takes the fan page by storm without warning or build-up towards it. And on the conversational side, another agency is trying to talk about World Cup. And in between those event posts, there’s news about their sponsorship efforts which targets at a very different group of users.

Now think… if you are a fan on the page. Would you continue to “like” it?

A question may be appearing in your mind at this time, “But then… shouldn’t a sustainable strategy means that I do not separate my brand into multiple pages?” Yes indeed that should be the ideal. Then, how can you make the efforts seem more receptive to your audience while you are trying to promote different things at the same time?

1. Objective > Strategy > Plan: You may not be able to do everything on the same platform. But really, WHAT are you trying to do? Build fans? Build brand equity? Build product awareness? What is it? With that mind, you will know how to pick and choose from the bulk of your content.
2. Pace it, time it: Different group of audience may have different usage behaviours. By posting relevant content to relevant audience at a time where you can maximise eyeballs, you are likely to see better success for your efforts. At the same time, analyse the trends of your fans consumption for content, do you start losing them when you post more often or less often? What is their tipping point?
3. What they like and not what you like: Many of us can be disillusioned in the type of content that will appeal to our community. Listen and observe when they tend to reply more often, what kind of content gets better traction. Test waters and ask for feedback.

It is common for brands to start flooding their fan pages with everything when the strategy is not clear. There is no direction on what the content should be building towards or where the end destination should be. There is also no way to plot a content strategy out of all the information on the table. My experience working with some clients are that many a times, they are more concerned with themselves than their target audience. They are concerned if they are posting it quick enough or accurately enough and not if their target audience are reading it or are interested to read it. And in this instance, the momentum is inconsistent which is likely to grow into a broadcasting platform for them to rave about themselves.

As the saying goes, more haste less speed. To create a sustainable community for long-term brand benefits, pause for a moment and think about where you are heading. Pace your footsteps as you would as you embark on a marathon, so that you can complete this long and tough race to reach the finishing line in victory.

以下是接受《我报》采访时所提供的原文。因为觉得其中有一些内容对于某些读者或许会有所用处于是便全文上载于此供诸位分享。

问：许多新加坡企业都在Facebook和Twitter上，但他们不宜顶了解如何测量其有效性或者如何正确地管理这些账户。您对此有何见解？

答：我首要问这些企业的问题是，“你们为何选择上Facebook或Twitter?”许多企业在踊跃响应社群媒体风潮的号召时都未先设立商业意向或可持续性发展战略。这往往都是注定失败的前兆。若你不先设定目的地，你又怎么会知道应往哪个方向前进呢？社群媒体虽然对大多数企业来说都是一个不错的平台，但是Facebook或Twitter并非是最适合你公司或品牌的最佳平台。在莽撞地投入社群媒体之前，企业都应先采取一些基本的数码景观分析 (digital landscape analysis)，制定一套包括了商业意向的营销方案，列出一些意图达成的关键绩效指标才开始进行执行。

问：为什么评估有效性和投资回报率对于在社群媒体上的企业如此重要？

答：基本上，效用与回报率对于任何商业的投资都是重要的评估指标。社群媒体自然也不例外。若企业已经决定要将人力物力投资在这个领域上，那么无论投资的大小，便自然需要相当的回报才能取得利益上的平衡。

问：一间公司应如何评估自己的社群媒体投资回报率？您是否可以针对Facebook和Twitter对此给于更深入的解释？

答：我认为回报必须分为短期和长期来设定。社群媒体真正有价值的并非在于直销，而更多的是在建立与扩展品牌资产上。但是我们必须从短期的观察去不断调整策略才能取得长期的回报。 短期的关键绩效指标可能包括：消费者心理分析 (consumer sentiments)、流量(traffic)、曝光率(impressions)、所获报道(earned coverage)、外来连接(back-links)、跟随者或粉丝数量的增长(increase in followers or fans)、潜在顾客开发流程(lead generation) 等。 长期投资回报率则可以从：品牌资产、销售、整体消费者心理的增长、竞争对手的分析等方面去断定策略的成功与否。企业可在总体的营销时间表上加入以社群媒体所执行的各项活动，讨论的话题或重要事项然后再与同期的销售成绩作个对照，从而了解如何取得真正的有效性。 Facebook在本地来说目前是最受欢迎的社群平台。建立了Fan Page之后，所有的管理员都可以检查由Facebook所提供的Insights。当中会提供你一些基本资料，比如每日的粉丝增长率，媒体资源下载率，地里统计等。它可提供你一些有用的数据，帮助你监察与调整策略的持续性。 而Twitter来说，培养高质量的跟随者相当重要。你的直接影响力，间接影响力与发言的曝光率将是主宰效用的重要指标。 但是无论如何，在社群媒体上最珍贵的并非数据。许多企业都埋头于利用数据统计来决定社群媒体的有效率。其实那不是最准确的。社群媒体更应立志的是将每个消费者都培养成自己的品牌代言人。于是有品质的会话，有影响力的拥护者，积极乐观的消费者心理才是社群媒体真正的魅力。

问：你可以提出3 – 5项企业在探索社群媒体的途中常见的失误吗？

答：

I also took this opportunity to speak with Steve Walker, Head of Global Product Marketing for Sony Ericsson to get some of his ideas on their social media strategy for the region. Although I hadn’t managed to dig any deep insights from him in the short 10 minute conversation (together with 2 other media), the interview might provide you with some idea on Sony Ericsson’s direction in the digital arena. Some of Sony Ericsson’s global digital success includes a viral video to market the X1, the W595 Darkside campaign, the Extra Man campaign for 2010 Fifa World Cup, and the C95 Online Photographic Competition, just to name a few.

Sony Ericsson has taken some very interesting plunge into social media as a global effort. With Sony Ericsson’s re-brand to align with Sony’s global tagline ofmake.believe, there is a lot of potential to expand on this and create new interesting campaigns & outreach. I for one, love the limitless possibilities of this tagline concept (See Jayden’s blog as an example on their blogger approach. Less the fact that they actually advocate PAYING for coverage of course). I’m definitely looking forward to more localised campaigns that will excite the local online community.

Before we touched further on the SE event, I would first like to make a comment on the venue. Marina Bay Sands so does not live up to its name. Not only the venue is hardly ready to be opened, the premium proposition of Sands Vegas is totally not felt in this location. We may be looking at something less than a white elephant, but rather, one which we are likely to refer as the empty vessel. The management will have a lot of work to do to up its standards.

(APAC Overview by Hirokazu Ishizuka, Corporate Vice President and Head of APAC region)

(left to right : Mike Foong, Chester Chen & Joe Teh)

It was all in all a simple affair, there was a surprisingly good turn-out from the invited bloggers. My best guess is many of them have lined up activities for CommunicAsia on the same day so they do not have to apply for too many days of leave away from work. It was good to meet familiar faces like @MikeFoong, @JamCanSing, @DK, @amsie and also finally met @JoeTeh, @triplez82 for the first time.

(left to right : Amelia Wong, ME & DK)

The event was to launch a entire series of new phones from the Xperia series, new walkman phones and an eco-friendly no-frills handset. You can read more about the phone’s specifications from Justin Lee’s coverage here.

(Above, brand new X8)

(Thanks to Justin on the clarification on the correct model names) The Xperia X8 was the highlight of the evening, the more affordable and smaller twin of the X10, the X8 comes in a number of colourful gradient casings to choose from. But the one that really impressed me was the Xperia10 Mini, which is a very smart design, targeted to fill the missing link between a small and handy but smart phone. This design should suit ladies very well, the light-weight and sleek looking design is also perfect as an accessory to be hung from the neck. Mobile social networking is fast moving towards the mass market and is no longer a gadget for the geek. However, not everyone is ready to carry around a bulky phone and the Xperia10 Mini may just be the solution for this group of people.

Best entertainment phone or not, I do not know. But it is certainly the stylish phone that Sony Ericsson has always positioned their products to be, making it the most accessible phone for the new kid on the block. I was initially unconvinced by the way the interface works and how it connects with the contacts on the phone. However, after an introduction and demo by Justin, I changed my mind and may just consider the X10 Mini if I ever need a smaller smart phone. The only challenge is that I’ve never used Sony Ericsson before and am skeptical about the brand & product.

]]> http://belindaang.com/2010/06/nosing-at-the-sony-ericsson-media-event/feed/ 3 http://belindaang.com/2010/06/interview-communicasia-2010-social-media-its-place/ http://belindaang.com/2010/06/interview-communicasia-2010-social-media-its-place/#comments Wed, 16 Jun 2010 17:14:48 +0000 Belinda Ang http://belindaang.com/?p=636

I was touring CommunicAsia together with @skribe and managed to meet up with a few new found friends from Twitter, some who are exhibiting at this grand annual information technology event. We were caught by @stsanto from Getit Comms, who invited us for an interview with @B2Bento, to share some of our take on social media and marketing on virtual worlds. Here are the full recording of our interviews.

What is YOUR opinion of the potential of Mobile Marketing in this region? Share some of your thoughts with me so I can bring some talking points back.