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The shape of brand conversations

Kyle FindlayHead of Data Science & Knowledge CreationThe TNS Global Brand Equity Centre

Winner of the Best Methodological Paper award at the 2015 ESOMAR Congress conference in Dublin, Ireland

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We connect users that interact with each other into a “conversation map”

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We end up with conversation maps that look like this(this is the picture for the market research category on Twitter)

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Hub-and-spoke Spin-off Ecosystem

Centralised De-centralised

We’ve found that the “shapes” of conversation maps tend to sit on a continuum from centralised-decentralised

Brand conversations

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6Source: Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight (Q1 2015)

Sport Center’s account during the Mayweather-Pacquiao is an example of a hub-and-spoke ‘shape’

7Source: Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight (Q1 2015)

Shallow calls to actions like these lead to sharing but not two-way conversation:

8Source: Ford North America footprint (May-June 2015)

The following two week slice of converations around the Ford brand give us a good example of a decentralised brand ecosystem

9Source: Ford North America footprint (June 2015)

Parent brand

EnthusiastsVariant brand

Ford has an organic ecosystem around its brand made up of multiple distinct constituencies

Campaign conversations

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B

A

B

Two competing campaigns; one based on a single influencer (B), the other based on an ecosystem of accounts (A)…

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FootballerB

Musician

Campaign account

Musician Brand account

Music promoterA

B

A

B

It’s easier to understand Campaign A’s strategy if we summarise their ecosystem in diagram form…

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Bud’s “Lost Puppy” ad from Superbowl 2015 received the most retweets out of all the 70+ Superbowl ads

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It is a great example of a centralised, hub-and-spoke shape…

15Source: Super Bowl (Feb 2015)

But if we look at it’s shape, it’s very centralised with little organic conversation around it

NOTE: If Bud’s goal was to simply update existing associations with the brand (i.e. a “maintenance strategy”), it likely succeeded. If the goal was to draw in new users and/or change perceptions, it probably could have done more.

16Source: Super Bowl (Feb 2015)

The ad was very emotive and thus was widely shared but it lacked relevance to beer and so did not encourage much organic conversation

17Source: Oscars (Q1 2015)

+ =

Lego partnered with artists, Nathan Sawayan, to present Oscar winners with trophies made out of Lego

18Source: Oscars (Q1 2015)

The resulting conversation map was very de-centralised, likely due to the campaign’s good mix of novelty, emotion and relevance

In summary

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Hub-and-spoke Spin-off Ecosystem

Centralised De-centralised

Conversation maps sit on a continuum: as the conversation becomes more organic, we move from a centralised broadcasting shape to a more decentralised ecosystem of conversations

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It’s a balance

Centralised messaging controls the conversation BUT also tends to be a bit boring.

One-directional broadcasting might help update brand associations

Can engaged conversations more strongly affect perceptions?

De-centralised creates sustained engagement

…BUT too de-centralised makes it difficult to lead conversation

Centralised De-centralised

Different shapes play different roles…

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Tap into enthusiast communities

Copy in spokespeople where appropriate

How does one create a social ecosystem?

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Strategically @mention influencers & spokespeople to access their communities

Strategic use of hashtags to bind/extend conversations

But, most importantly… [next slide]

@

#

How does one tap into multiple constituencies?

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…spur on two-way conversation

Start real conversations

Rather than just one-way sharing…

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Start real conversations

Any model of virality will tell you that emotion/valence/ affective stimuli gets shared….

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…EBUT emotional + relevant content gets shared and talked about organically!

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Thank youOckert Janse van Rensburg Tanweer Fareed

Acknowledgements