Hallmark’s Journey into Social Media Experiences and Learnings
Jan 28, 2015
Hallmark’s Journey into Social Media
Experiences and Learnings
LISTENING
J.C. Hall
(1891 - 1982)
Social Media Listening
2000 - launched first consumer community for the purpose of research.
2005 – pilot w/ Umbria to understand the Hallmark brand in the social space.
2007 - pilot with Spiral 16 to understand Influential Bloggers.
2009 - major RFP with 8 vendors – find partner for research and marketing.
2010 - consulted with Ben Smithee; contracted with Collective Intellect for a look into holidays, ornaments.
1 Hard Question“Is there a framework we can use to understand social media data?”
3 “Simple” Questions1. “Can we use social media sources to get
new product ideas?”
2. “Can we use social media data to create marketing interventions ‘in season?’”
3. “Could we use social media data to help understand people and their lives?”
Hard Question“Is there a framework we can use to
understand social media data?”
Discovery
Monitoring
Specific Topic
Open Search
“Ocean” of Data
Small “pond” of data
Ways of approaching the data
Wha
t you
’re tr
ying
to a
ccom
plis
hBrand Reputation
KPI’s
Understanding peopleUncovering white
space
Topics + dashboard
Social Media Analysis Space?
Source: Hallmark CU&I, 2010
Hallmark Social Media “Listening” Activities
Focus
We Lead
Consumer Leads
Breadth of Learning
Single Stakeholder
Multiple Stakeholders
Listening audit showed that activities are many and varied
Hallmark Initiated Conversation
Consumer Initiated Conversation
Breadth of Learning
Single Stakeholder Multiple Stakeholders
Focus of Conversation
9
Dimensions of listeningFeedback is more about the brand and rational
Discovery is more about the consumer and emotional
Source: CEB
Listening activities tend to fall towards feedback and tactical
Source: CEB
Research Landscape
Qualitative Quantitative
Structured Data – it is what we made it
Unstructured Data – it is what it is
FocusGroups
CommunitiesEthnographyObservation
PA’sMultivariateTrackers……
Social Media
Where does social media data play in the research landscape?
3 “Simple” Questions1. “Can we use social media sources to
get new product ideas?”
2. “Can we use social media data to create marketing interventions ‘in season?’”
3. “Can we use social media data to help understand people and their lives?”
What Did We Conclude?
• Getting “New” Product ideas is very hard!
• If you do lots of traditional research and ideation, chances are you’ve heard of thought of everything you will uncover through social media.
Some Thoughts on In-Season Marketing
• Twitter promotional sweepstakes generated major spikes in Hallmark Ornament Mentions
• Hallmark Gold Crown store visits emerged as a conversational theme - how could that be leveraged?
• Emotional connection to Hallmark brand ornaments vs. those bought in Wal-Mart or Target – how could that be leveraged?
• Focus on connecting the troops and their families – what would that look like?
What Did We Conclude?
• Beware of making any marketing suggestions without having Marketing in the design and analysis discussions!
• Research in social media begins to “rub up against” Marketing and can create friction!
Thoughts Going Forward
What Have We Learned About Social Media?
• There are new vendors emerging daily in the social media listening space.
• Most vendors provide the same capabilities – it is hard to find differentiation.
What Have We Learned About Social Media?
• Social media data is messy (spam, advertising, porn, context) and requires significant validation and cleaning – suppliers are getting better and better at this, but it is still an issue.
• Text analysis capabilities vary from vendor to vendor – you have to know what questions to ask to know what you’re getting.
• Sentiment analysis is about 75-85% accurate (based on external research) and everybody does it at some level. It is of limited value.
• It is difficult to classify individual contributors – but not impossible, and it costs more. This capability is still emerging.
What Have We Learned About Social Media?
• Clear and specific listening objectives are essential to getting meaningful data and information from listening efforts.
• Social media conversations can be very rich and could support many different aspects of our business.
• Getting meaningful learnings and insights is very time and labor intensive, despite the software tools. There is a learning curve!
Social Media Data is…
- Self-selecting/Opt-in – - Participants who create social media content
must opt-in or choose to participate. - They may or may not represent your target
consumer. - They do not necessarily constitute a “probability
sample” of the population. - The researcher is not establishing the topic and
controlling the conversation, but rather listening to whatever is posted.
Social Media Data is…
+ Not recall-based – – Recall data is known to be the least reliable
source of data. – Recall is usually the result of some stimulus
(question, prototype) that can affect what the respondent recalls (due to priming).
• Social media data is less subject to recall biases and errors, as it usually represents comments and observations made “in the moment” or shortly thereafter.
Social Media Data is…
+ Longitudinal and Instance-based – – Tradtional MR is usually instance-based
feedback/insights, social media research can represent “flow of life.”
– There is a constant stream, or flow, of social media data continually being created.
Social Media Data is…
+ Self-recording/Archival – – Conversations, both public and private, within
the social media environment are archived and available for others to consume at will.
– Conversations with people in traditional research methods are recorded, but are generally only available to permission-based viewers/listeners.
– This creates an interesting blend of liability and value to researchers and brands.
• Data Transparency – • Data Ownership –
• Blurring Boundaries between Research and Other Divisions –
Paradigm Shifts for the World of Market Research
• Control of the Environment –
• Blurring of Qualitative and Quantitative –
• Re-thinking Sampling –
• Disproportionate Influence of Respondents
Paradigm Shifts for the World of Market Research
• Shrinking space between brands and people. Social media has “leveled” the playing
field for both consumers and brands.
• Relationships are the Ultimate Sources of
Insights within Social Media –
Paradigm Shifts for the World of Market Research
Food for Thought
Just as Technology is NOT an Idea, so Social Media Listening is NOT an Idea! Both are means to achieving whatever it is we want to achieve!
Spectrum of Desired Outcomes
Protect the Brand
Understand People’s Lives
Grow Revenue This Quarter
Resources: People, Time, & Money
Food for Thought
http://www.slideshare.net/CuratingPixels/utilizing-social-media-to-understand-people
http://bit.ly/UnderstandingPeople
Social Media Research White Paper