Welcome to the newest members of the Social Media Business Council

Posted by on July 3, 2009

We’d like to publicly welcome our newest members of the Social Media Business Council:

• Abbott
• Alticor
• Johnson & Johnson

They’re joining the likes of Dell, Walmart, Nokia, SAP, GM and Coke – and more than 40 other fantastic, global brands – as members of the Social Media Business Council collaborating every day on how to create successful, scalable, and sustainable social media programs at large organizations.

If you’re leading social media at a major enterprise, we’d love to have you join our family. Click here to learn more.

Upcoming SMBC events

Posted by on July 3, 2009

7/9 Microsoft: How we listen in the social media era. (Public call) Click here

7/11 Microsoft: What Bing means to social search. (Member-only call) Click here

7/13 CNN: How we use social media for collaboration. (Public call) Click here

7/29 Shel Israel: A sneak peek at Twitterville. (Member-only call) Click here

8/13 BlogWell Minneapolis: Walmart, McDonald’s, CME Group, H&R Block, Mayo Clinic, Progressive and General Mills share case studies in corporate social media. You’ll learn how to get started, get past roadblocks, and make your social media program phenomenal. (Public event) Click here

Microsoft: What Bing means to social search (Member call); July 7, 11 AM (EST)

Posted by on July 2, 2009

Microsoft’s Betsy Aoki (Community Program Manager), Michael Schechter (Lead Program Manager for Bing), and Stefan Weitz (Director) will lead a members-only conference call, “Why Bing Matters to You.”

Microsoft’s new search engine is designed to raise the search engine stakes not just for typical web surfers, but for top-tier companies likes yours, with better attention to social media tools like Facebook and Twitter and fuller sharing capabilities and metrics.

Betsy Aoki, Michael Schechter, and Stefan Weitz join us to explain the thought process behind building this ’search decision experience,’ the tools it provides, the social media marketing behind it all, and the insights they’ve gained post-launch.

Private member call | July 7, 11 AM (EST) | Members log-in for details

Quiznos turns to their fans for advertising

Posted by on July 2, 2009

Corporate Social Media Case Study: Quiznos

Sandwich chain Quiznos recently launched a contest to promote their new Toasty Torpedo sandwich. The contest, hosted on ToastyTorpedo.com, invites fans of the chain to submit photos or videos of them eating the sub “in an unusual place or while doing an unexpected activity.”

In a statement, Trey Hall, Quiznos marketing chief, said, “We believe social media and interacting with our consumers in this way is really important to our brand and is in many ways, the wave of the future.”

Learn More

Blog Council becomes the Social Media Business Council, moves to SocialMedia.org

Posted by on June 30, 2009

Big news from all of us here at GasPedal and the newly renamed Blog Council: Our community for social media leaders at large companies has officially changed its name to the Social Media Business Council and has moved from BlogCouncil.org to SocialMedia.org. Here’s the press release with more details:

Chicago, IL — The Blog Council, a community of social media leaders at large companies, has officially changed its name to the Social Media Business Council and will call SocialMedia.org its new online home.

“Every day, our members share advice on how to build successful, scalable and self-sufficient social media programs,” said Andy Sernovitz, CEO of the Social Media Business Council and its parent company, GasPedal. “This new name and domain better reflect the wide range of issues our community focuses on.”

The name change was a collaborative effort, with members sharing dozens of name suggestions before selecting Social Media Business Council through a vote at Member Meeting 4 in New York City.

“We’ve got a great group of active members,” said Sernovitz. “It’s fantastic to see how much pride they take in the Council and how willing they are to collaborate — not only on social media issues — but also in advancing the group itself.”

Social Media Business Council members represent the heads of social media at the world’s largest brands, including: Abbott Laboratories, AccuQuote, Allstate, Amway, Analog Devices, Ariba, Avery Dennison, Chevron, Cisco Systems, CME Group, The Coca-Cola Company, Community Medical Centers, ConAgra Foods, Dell, Duke Energy, First Data, Ford Motor Company, General Electric, General Mills, General Motors, H&R Block, Hewlett-Packard, Home Depot, IDG, Intel, Intuit, Johnson & Johnson, Kaiser Permanente, Kraft, Mayo Clinic, McDonald’s, Microsoft, Molson Canada, Nestle Purina PetCare, Newell Rubbermaid, Nokia, Novartis, Orange Business Services, PepsiCo, Petro-Canada, Pfizer, Pitney Bowes, Procter & Gamble, Progressive Insurance, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Salesforce.com, SAP, Sara Lee, Starbucks, SunGard, SWIFT, Symantec, Turner Broadcasting System, Tyson Foods, U.S. Coast Guard, UPS, USAA, Walmart, and Wells Fargo.

About the Social Media Business Council:

The Social Media Business Council, formerly the Blog Council, is a brands-only community that helps large organizations build successful social media programs. Members gain instant access and advice from the heads of social media at the world’s largest brands and collaborate with one another in a friendly, productive, and private environment.

The Social Media Business Council is a GasPedal project. We teach word of mouth marketing and social media to companies of all sizes.

Learn more about the Social Media Business Council: http://socialmedia.org

Learn more about GasPedal: http://gaspedal.com

Walmart live blogs videogame demos

Posted by on June 30, 2009

Corporate Social Media Case Study: Walmart

Walmart employees were invited to the Activision studios during the videogame expo, E3. Activision unveiled new games and technology to these employees in a sneak-preview of what will soon be available in stores.

At the demo, Eric Bright, a representative of Walmart, live-blogged the event so that customers can get a look at games being released in the coming months. The live blogging included reactions to gameplay, announcements on new games in development, and enthusiasm about what the Walmart stores will soon be carrying.

Learn More.

Disclosure: Walmart is a Blog Council member (and an awesome one at that!), but even if they weren’t, we’d write about them anyway.

Tweets from BlogWell San Francisco

Posted by on June 29, 2009

BlogWell: How Big Brands Use Social Media in San Francisco on June 23 was a fantastic success. A big thanks to all the folks that helped share the event via Twitter. If you missed it, here’s a few of the great tweets we saw:

Tweets from Lionel Menchaca of Dell’s presentation: “Blending Community and E-Commerce”

Kirasw: make content flexible and modular to make it easy to share/embed/syndicate says @lionelatdell #BlogWell

bobduffy: Dell: We need web standards for SSO & profiles for branded communities as well as connecting with 3rd party social networks #blogwell

kelbyj: Dell’s Lionel Menchaca singing the praises of @jowyang and his contribution to the social graph #blogwell

finnern: http://twitpic.com/88esd - Man behind dell social media success: lionel menchaca #blogwell

mawkus: “Most customers don’t know difference between a blog, forum and wiki. They shouldn’t need to” #Dell #Blogwell

Tweets from Josh Karpf of Pepsi’s presentation: “Connecting On and Offline Using Social Media”

seangib: Pepsi posts online video to nine different channels for syndication #blogwell

joemescher: Guerilla Growth: #blogwell Pepsi uses the embassy strategy - create groups everywhere. via @serena

ccarfi: “blogher is huge for us” says @jkarpf #blogwell

rachelpolish: Josh Karpf from PepsiCo - need to shift idea from impressions to connections and go where they are. YES! #BlogWell

serena: #blogwell pepsi is up. How do you move from impressions to connections? No one off projects, created an editorial calendar

Tweets from Kira Wampler of Intuit’s presentation: “Customers First: TurboTax in Social Media”

serena: By engaging in socmed, turbo tax unleashed their fans who wanted to be brand evangelists! Corp handles haters, fans do the rest #blogwell

markevans99: Intuit: Started their blogger program with 5 folks very cautiously, now they have hundreds… #blogwell

chiprodgers: Good question from @artmarco. Is Intuit using SM to help teach small biz how to start ans succeed with SM. Answer: Yes! #blogwell

mheiligman: ‘Social Media: Learn a new culture – what is the language, what are the mores, be a good corporate citizen.’ - Kira Wampler #blogwell

hkremer: Intuit: Started their blogger program with 5 folks very cautiously, now they have hundreds… #blogwell (via… http://ff.im/-4qszA

Tweets from Hilary Weber of Kaiser Permanente’s presentation: “Harvesting the Low-Hanging Fruit of Internal Social Media Channels”

aewheeler: Mulling over the notion that a social networking site will someday replace email for internal company communication… #blogwell

tmarklein: Kaiser created “IdeaBook” network internally, uses it like a “town square” — wikis used as a “tool shed” for teams #blogwell

NewMediAroused: #BlogWell Kaiser Permanente on anonymity among employees in internal social media: No Way. I agree: http://tinyurl.com/n68f5d

kristiewells: Kaiser uses wikis + Jive Software to help internal teams collaborate. Reminds employees: while ’social’, it is ‘business social’. #blogwell

overtone: #kaiser has done a great job using social media tools (wiki) to develop an internal network. #blogwell #gaspedal #blogcouncil

Tweets from David Witt of General Mills’ presentation: “Yoplait Kids Connects with Moms Online”

deanna24: RT @bobpearson1845: #blogwell “it’s all about the consumer” David Witt, General Mills. I could not agree more.

williamu: Great line by David Witt of Gen. Mills: You can judge how great your idea is by how many lawyers are at the mtg to discuss it. #blogwell

ederdn: David Witt–GenMills–online coupon redemption 2-3x FSI. 100MM impressions (no multiplier) from Yoplait Kids initiative. #blogwell

theMetz: This team really knows how to show ROI (Yoplait) #blogwell Impressive.

texasleaguer: “67% of moms rely on user blogs to make purchasing decisions” #blogwell

Tweets from Andy Sernovitz of GasPedal’s presentation: Honesty is the Best Policy: Best Practices for Disclosure in Social Media

bricksofwine: Three big questions behind disclosure: Who are you? Were you paid? Is it your real opinion? #blogwell (via @mattsingley)

deanna24: Besides ethical, it’s easier to be honest and transparent #blogwell

goonth: Biggest risk: failure to train. Agencies and contractors must be clear on ethics guidelines with corporate internal groups. #blogwell

mattsingley: Very few companies set out to do something sleazy in social media, failure to train staff usually ends in trouble #blogwell

clarknwark: RT @brianbernard: I work for ____ and this is my personal opinion. #blogwell It’s all about proper disclosure.

frogdesign: “The difference between honesty and sleazery is disclosure” Sound advice when building trust in social media #blogwell

Tweets from Joel Nathanson of Wells Fargo’s presentation: “Social Media Engagement During a Financial Crisis”

markevans99: Wells Fargo: consumer comm in fin services is “not without risk” lots of disclosures necessary #blogwell

finnern: @joeliospeaks WF: Err on the business side of business casual when engaging in social media. - Especially when you are a bank #blogwell

clarknwark: Joel Nathanson WellsFargo talks about sm engagement during financial crisis #blogwell if ur not participating info vacuums develop.

stuntdubl: ask your Wells Fargo questions - @ask_wellsfargo #blogwell @gaspedal

NewMediAroused: #BlogWell Wells Fargo on employee blogging: create list of trigger words that must be accompanied by Legal disclosure if used

Tweets from Mark Yolton of SAP’s presentation: “Vibrant Communities Fuel SAP’s Customer-Focused Ecosystem”

amandamarvel: SAP- six years of testing out social media and growing. Less time than Google has been around. Have to remember how new this is! #blogwell

kelbyj: Good advice from SAP’s Mark Yolton - look at SM as an art vs. just a tool/plumbing #blogwell

WalkerinSF: @markyolton from SAP discuss 1-9-90 rule. SAP community = 1.6M strong. 1% highly active, 9% somewhat. Most just want to consume #blogwell

matt_yorke: #blogwell… Points & privileges reward sap community users.. Not cash.. Reputation counts

mmarfise: SAP speaking at #blogwell about communities , stats : 1.7M individuals ,200 countries, 20K new members /mth , 600K unique visitors/mth

Tweets from Jeanette Gibson of Cisco’s presentation: “How Cisco Engages Customers, Partners, and Press with Social Media”

cziems: RT @chiprodgers: http://twitpic.com/87xyi - Key Takeaways from Cisco Jeanette Gibson #blogwell

DeannaLawrence: @LionelatDell Jeanette Gibson from Cisco says part of what she does is “Chief Distruptor.” #blogwell - My new Hero!

LionelatDell: Cisco uses Google Analytics across all their external blogs. Allows blog owners to compare their metrics to other Cisco blogs. #blogwell

overtone: #cisco “it is not the cost of the blog… it is the resource of it” #blogwell

bobduffy: Cisco says employees own their own brand and followers on Twitter… I so agree #blogwell

LPGA encourages the use of social media during gameplay

Posted by on June 29, 2009

Corporate Social Media Case Study: LPGA

The commissioner of the LPGA, Carolyn Bivens, recently encouraged players to use social media during competetive rounds of golf. Said Bivens in an interview, “The new media is very important to the growth of golf and we view it as a positive, and a tool to be used.”

Updating sites such as Twitter and Facebook in the middle of the round would be mostly for the benefit of the younger fans of the sport who aren’t necessarily waiting for golf broadcasts on television, explained Bivens, who believes they want to know what’s going on in the middle of a round.

Learn More

Shel Israel: A sneak peek at Twitterville (Member call); July 29, 1 PM (EST)

Posted by on June 28, 2009

Shel Israel, noted social media blogger and author, will lead a private member call, “A Sneak Peek at Twitterville.”

Shel will soon launch his new book, Twitterville: How Business Can Thrive in the New Global Neighborhoods. Before the book hits the stores, we’ll get insight and case studies on why Twitter is such an enormous resource for companies, forcing everyone to embrace a more conversational and neighborly way of doing business. Shel will explain not only why now is an important time for big business to adapt to this intimate form of communication, but how the power of relationships will shape the future of business overall.

Private member call | July 29, 1 PM (EST) | Members log-in for details

Upcoming Blog Council events

Posted by on June 26, 2009

6/30 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: Social media for nonprofits. (Public call) Click here

7/1 Show & Tell: Preview of the 2009 Tribalization of Business Study. (Member call) Click here

7/9 Microsoft: How we listen in the social media era. (Public call) Click here

7/13 CNN: How we use social media for collaboration. (Public call) Click here