Danny Brown - Latest Comments in Who Owns Social Media? No-one Does

Re: Who Owns Social Media? No-one Does

Michael Schechter — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 04:15:50 -0000

Totally agree with everything you are saying, but I think Rachel makes an essential point that while everyone needs to be involved and have ownership. Someone or a small team to coordinate the efforts.

The other problem is smaller organizations where those departments don&#39t even want to be a part of the SM efforts, none the less own it.

Re: Who Owns Social Media? No-one Does

MSchechter — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 23:15:50 -0000

The other problem is smaller organizations where those departments don't even want to be a part of the SM efforts, none the less own it.

Re: Who Owns Social Media? No-one Does

John Haydon — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 23:03:22 -0000

Got it.

Re: Who Owns Social Media? No-one Does

Rachel Levy — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 22:13:37 -0000

Possibly. It will depend on how the company is run. When I worked at Kraft,
Sales and Customer Service basically had a dotted line into Marketing, as
Marketing was considered the brand owner. Not every company is like that
though.

Re: Who Owns Social Media? No-one Does

Danny Brown — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 22:03:58 -0000

Definitely John, and that&#39s one of the first things to make sure you get right - be a people strategist company first and foremost and then start from there.

Re: Who Owns Social Media? No-one Does

Danny Brown — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 22:02:17 -0000

For sure, Rachel - there definitely needs to be some form of guidance otherwise it could soon fall into the crazy pit! ;-)

Having said that, if it&#39s down to the "outward facing reputation of the company", you could point at external sales, or customer service, who&#39re both visible to the incoming consumer. Marketing and PR are strong contenders, but I&#39m not sure either should be leading the process - an amalgamation of core reputation faces/sectors instead, perhaps?

Re: Who Owns Social Media? No-one Does

Rachel Levy — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 21:38:30 -0000

I agree completely. As long as we don&#39t confuse "own" with "lead." I do think someone has to LEAD social media. And, being that it concerns the outward facing reputation of the company, I do think the Marketing or PR would be best to lead the process. You?

Re: Who Owns Social Media? No-one Does

John Haydon — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:03:22 -0000

Got it.

Re: Who Owns Social Media? No-one Does

Rachel Levy — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:13:37 -0000

Re: Who Owns Social Media? No-one Does

Danny Brown — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:03:58 -0000

Definitely John, and that's one of the first things to make sure you get right - be a people strategist company first and foremost and then start from there.

Re: Who Owns Social Media? No-one Does

Danny Brown — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:02:17 -0000

For sure, Rachel - there definitely needs to be some form of guidance otherwise it could soon fall into the crazy pit! ;-)

Having said that, if it's down to the "outward facing reputation of the company", you could point at external sales, or customer service, who're both visible to the incoming consumer. Marketing and PR are strong contenders, but I'm not sure either should be leading the process - an amalgamation of core reputation faces/sectors instead, perhaps?

Re: Who Owns Social Media? No-one Does

Rachel Levy — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:38:30 -0000

I agree completely. As long as we don't confuse "own" with "lead." I do think someone has to LEAD social media. And, being that it concerns the outward facing reputation of the company, I do think the Marketing or PR would be best to lead the process. You?

Re: Who Owns Social Media? No-one Does

John Haydon — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:21:45 -0000

Danny - Human Resources owns a part of social media as well. If create an environment that produces happy, empowered employees (like at Zappos or Netflix), they&#39ll be saying good things about the company on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Re: Who Owns Social Media? No-one Does

Danny Brown — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:58:28 -0000

Hey there Joe,

Nice analogy between politics and social media - I guess when any platform becomes "mainstream" there are going to be those who feel it&#39s "their baby". Which seems to go against the whole "being social" mantra... ;-)

Initializing a social policy is one of the key areas that so many businesses fail on (and, to be fair, a few consultants seem to skip over...). Sure, the platform is ope (and don&#39t try and restrict it), but there still needs to be a proactive uniformed message along with the open one.

Re: Who Owns Social Media? No-one Does

Joe Hafner — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:52:49 -0000

Hey Danny - good post and an interesting discussion.

Your post headline caught my attention from a different angle. It seems like there has been an increase in the whining from social media elitists about how the social space is developing. Some very well respected social media practitioners seem to be getting overly worked up about the snake-oil peddlers attracted to the "social media guru" title. To me, that is akin to whining about corruption in politics.

More on topic with your post, I believe that governance is key to un-owning the message. Companies should provide employees with fences around the use of social tools. This allows each silo or dept to interact with the messaging as appropriate for their specific discipline. This is the approach that one of my clients is currently taking and it seems to be working. There are tweeks along the way, but to date it is coming together nicely.

Re: Who Owns Social Media? No-one Does

Jamie Favreau — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:13:54 -0000

I have to agree. Social Media goes over multiple platforms and some should have the part they are best at doing.

Re: Who Owns Social Media? No-one Does

Danny Brown — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 14:34:36 -0000

Ah, now this is why I love blog comments over a Twitter convo - you can really open up on some great views and let it roll :)

Possibly a misnomer, and I agree where you&#39re coming from (though if something is owned, you control how it&#39s presented so maybe a mix of both?).

I&#39ve often wondered about the single department - or, more specifically, single team. But it needs a key person from each sector - so, customer service, finance, legal, PR, marketing, creative, advertising, HR, etc. Each person would be a senior employee from that sector and know all the ins and outs of how that department works, so can make judgment calls on social media feasibility per project. Then, go back to their respective departments, crack out the strategy, and regroup and move on from there.

But is that too simple or in danger of becoming convoluted then?

Re: Who Owns Social Media? No-one Does

Danny Brown — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 14:23:39 -0000

Great question Matt. At Maritz Canada, part of my role in socializing the company is "educating" the VP&#39s, the ELT&#39s and other executives as to the true benefits and metrics of social. Showing where it&#39s needed, where it can be more effective, how it can work with existing business plans, how to "re-sell" to clients, etc.

To spread the message more, we need to involve the company story and its employees - we&#39ll only get the sea change if the mindset changes, and to do that it all needs to relate. Real-life examples, how the company can offer the same but on their "terms", achievable goals and time-scales.

I believe companies genuinely want to get into this space - we just need to make sure we&#39re holding their hands properly and showing them how the path is tread, not why it needs to be journeyed.

Re: Who Owns Social Media? No-one Does

Danny Brown — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 14:18:24 -0000

Hey there Steve,

Ha, I was going to use a similar image for my post - spooky ;-)

Agreed - wherever the organization needs to be is who ultimately has "control" of social media. Work alongside a robust social policy and you&#39re pretty much good to go and leading the way - just don&#39t get caught up in politics about who owns cross-culture social media. Instead, make it happen and make it collaborative.

I&#39m not sure if I&#39d agree on the "PR have the edge on others" thought - I come across plenty PR owners and agencies where that&#39s anything but the case. There are obviously exceptions to the rule, but I often find that much of PR is reactionary as opposed to pro-action. It is changing, mind you, so maybe in six months time I&#39ll be looking at it differently. :)

Cheers!

Re: Who Owns Social Media? No-one Does

Jenn Mattern — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 14:12:09 -0000

"The way you use the channel (to achieve what business goals) should determine &#39ownership&#39. Social media channels shouldn&#39t float in a company without direction. Someone proactively needs to take responsibility."

I&#39d say the ultimate goal would be to educate management enough on SM issues to make them capable of taking responsibility -- delegating appropriate tasks and uses of social media channels to appropriate departments throughout an organization.

Re: Who Owns Social Media? No-one Does

Danny Brown — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 14:11:25 -0000

Ha, great minds indeed Tac ;-)

Spot-on post and if anyone does "own/control" social media for businesses, it&#39s the consumers that define how you act in the space.

Re: Who Owns Social Media? No-one Does

Jayme Soulati — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 13:45:34 -0000

So great to get your view, Danny. Have been tweeting this very question of late as it&#39s been posed in ad trades and elsewhere on social media platforms. As a PR pro, it&#39s shades of the integrated marcom fiasco of the late &#3980s/&#3990s when the intent was golden and the reality never saw the light of day. Considered, usually, the ugly step child in the mix, PR is a critical quotient to this question. There&#39s enough of a piece for us all. ~Jayme Soulati (http://www.soulati.com)

Re: Who Owns Social Media? No-one Does

Justin Parks — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 12:52:07 -0000

I cant remember ever buying the rights to social media... damn, I missed the boat on that one.

"Owned" is possibly a misnomer on this occasion Danny. Controlled might be a better description, and the issue most companies are facing is this exact lack of control and consequently , lack of responsibility when engaging in social media.

As you mentioned, what Mark Van Baale said about TV, radio and print not being owned is interesting as actually, they are under a strict control regime, whether its legal, company policy or the broadcasters policy, someone somewhere in those organisations has the final say on the words and message that are broadcast so I would disagree and say it is owned, just not by us.

Social media is not the same. If you want to write it you can, tell your friends and associates about something, you can, make a video and send it out there, go right ahead and its this that companies are seriously struggling to comprehend. Lack of consistent and maintained control and regulation.

They can either address it and understand it, hence they can adapt and work alongside it, or they can ignore it, stick their heads in the sand, brush it of as a fad and on their own heads be it.

No single department can control the use of social media, its up to business to take a fresh look at what&#39s going on and basically, get smart about it, first and foremost before anyone can start claiming rights to utilising it internally.

God almighty I can go on, can&#39t I. :)

Re: Who Owns Social Media? No-one Does

Matt Batt — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 12:44:07 -0000

Love this topic as it is one that I hear with every organization I work with. You&#39ve hit it on the head by saying many departments should own a piece of it. When ever I&#39ve been asked that question I typically say...your advocates or quoting Seth Godin your Tribe. But technically speaking internal responsibility absolutely should be spread throughout your organization.

Here is my follow-up question...are we doing a good enough job advocating and educating the general business world about the value of social media or this new & powerful word of mouth approach? Yes, all of us communications, PR and marketing folks are figuring it all out but as usual we sit in our silos and advocate. No offense but more than not thats often what we do in our industry. Personally, I think its time we did some advocating with the c-suite, the VP of sales, the director of HR, etc.

If no one owns social media within the organization...what can we do to make sure everyone outside of "marketing" understands and embraces its power?

Re: Who Owns Social Media? No-one Does

SteveSeager — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 12:39:41 -0000

Nice post Danny...and great comment from Jenn too. Just blogged on the very same topic after a client conversation yesterday. http://tiny.cc/KsEO1

I totally agree. But there are two separate issues.

1. The &#39rules of engagement&#39 in social media. I do think PR have the edge on others in the understanding of what it means to be &#39social&#39.

However,

2. The way you use the channel (to achieve what business goals) should determine &#39ownership&#39. Social media channels shouldn&#39t float in a company without direction. Someone proactively needs to take responsibility.

I j