eoc/ai 100 years of Oreo: How the iconic cooi(ie brand is using social media By Amy Jacques Oreo,"Milks Favorite Cookie," cele- brates its Centennial year this spring. In honor ofthe occasion and for the New York portion of the Social Media Week conference, Kraft and 360i Foods present- ed a discussion dded,"How Oreo Is Using Social to Celebrate 100 Years of Brand Love," on Feb. 14 at 360i headquarters. The session discussed how Oreo is connecting with people via social media and buuding a loyal community of fans and followers in online spaces. Beth Reüly, digital marketing lead, Kraft, and Sarah Hoßtetter, president, 360i Foods, provided a case study on how to use social to "baud brand love." "Oreo is not so much about snacking as it is about sharing childlike moments of delight," said Hofstetter. "These are social moments inherendy, special to audiences and customers." The Oreo case study focused on the "Oreo Moments" gallery, the Guinness World Record and its 100th Birthday in March, and explained how the storied cookie brand stays relevant in social media. Oreo aimed to empower cus- tomen to communicate moments, put consumers at the heart of marketing and invite them to share in the magic. Hofitetter said that 360i and Kraft had to find out how to bring the cam- paign to center stage as people were eat- ing Oreos across the world but in differ- ent social settings. "Brands today need to act as media companies and invite people to share content," she said, adding that after this revelation, Oreo's Facebook communi- ty grewfiiom2 million to 60 miUion fans. Oreo realized that sharing across platforms was key. "Don't treat them as matching lu^age; all people and plat- forms are different," Hofitetter said. "Social media is a conversation, not a one-night stand." The company hosted a Guinness World Record event last February that united fans fiom across the globe and aimed to get the most Likes on a Facebook post in 24 hours. They promoted this through their social media platforms and the Oreo website. Various online media oudets and local press soon picked up on the story too. "The marketir^ becomes the 111 essaging,' ' Hofstetter said, as Oreo earned 15 million media impres- sions. Adaptability is key in these situ- ations because a twist brin^ attention to an effort. The Guinness event catapulted Oreo into the spotlight — it received 25,000 Likes in thefirst60 seconds oflaunching publicly and achieved a total of 56,615 to win the Guinness World Record. Social listening opportunities For Kraft,"The single bi^est oppor- tunity is in social — fostering different languages and cultures," ReiUy said."We have more than 24 miUion fans talking about Oreo in 100 countries." Kraft and similar companies must keep tabs on Pinterest and other burgeon- ing social networks because ofthe conver- sations about food, ReiUy added. As for existing social mediums, "Twitter is about relevancy. It's for conver- sations and news and customer service, but not as much about a community as Facebook is," Hofstetter said, adding that it is important how the customer discovers you and experiences your brand online. "Listening is key — you are looking for opportunities to join cultural relevance." Hoßtetter noted that personal rela- tionships are an integral part of the Oreo brand. Ifyou give Oreos to five different kids, then they wul eat them in different ways, she said. It's something that parents experienced when they were younger and can now share with their children. O Amy Jacqu6S is the news editor of Tactia. She holds a master's in arts journalism fiom Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. Email: [email protected]. Going giobai with Hyatt: How the hotel chain checics in with social brand management By Amy Jacques Hyatt Hotels Corporation has a con- sistent global brand presence with 112 Facebook pages. As major worldwide consumer brands expand their marketing strategies to integrate a wider social pres- ence, Hyatt hotels faces the complexities ofsocial global brand management. The company had to learn how to collaborate socially with each branch and centralize the company message while also ensuring a consistent brand and enabling the right local content and con- tributions. During a Social Media Week session at Big Fuel Headquarters in NewYork on Feb. 14, Ellen Hahn, vice president, brand communication and advertising, Hyatt, discussed the challenges and best practices for maintaining a global social presence that is locally relevant and engaging. "Our goal is to inspire travelers to get the best out of their experience," Hahn said. Hyatt has found success by reaching April 2012 TACTICS facebook out to guests and consumers through Facebook. On June 30,2011, the hotel chain had 290,899 fans, and by Dec. 31, 201 l,it had 863,086 fans. It had to decide how many pages to have and who wul manage the content on each. The hotel chain also has several Twitter handles for PR, customer service and social media purposes. Corporate traditionally wants local properties to own their particular pages. However, corporate also distributes social media campaigns to each property. In addition, she said that the local general managers should be looking at other out- lets each day to see what else is happenir^. Making people happy Communicators must also keep an engaged, passionate voice and respond to fans in a human way, she said. "It's an oppor- tunity to make people happy," Hahn said. She also said to post quick and engaging questions to con- sumers that get people involved and help them adjust to their properties (such as "What do you forget on a trip?"). Hahn recommended using Social Media Suite for monitoring and Foursquare at a local level, and that there are a lot of location-based services that are popular overseas for Hyatt. She admitted that there are many challenges for communicators to continu- ously connect with consumers online. "Social media is a lot to manage with just a few people," she said."Have data in place to figure out what you don't want. We're stiU struggling with globalizing our content and being able to localize it." Ultimately, she said, you have to decide where you want to be present, mentioning other social media platforms Pinterest and Googje-I-. Social media should positively impact the brand."How do we give and get more and share more? How do we get people to share experiences?" she asked. Ifsomeone is a fan of the hotel, then your goal is for them to say that they had a great time and recommend it to fi-iends. Hahn also said that when managing social media for a global brand, it's impor- tant for everyone to "post back and forth and keep conversation open. Make sure you ask more questions. Err on the side of under-communication — and then over- communicate." O Amy Jacques is the news editor of Tactics. She holds a master's in arts journalismfrom Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. Email: [email protected].