1. The
social
opportunity
-­‐
how
the
evolu4on
of
media
from
mass
to
social
changes
everything
February
2012
Nick
Blunden
|
Global
Managing
Director
&
Publisher
|
Economist.com
E:
nickblunden@economist.com
|
M:
+44
7968
838933
|
T:
@nickblunden

2. It
is
a
par4cularly
appropriate
4me
to
be
talking
about
the
impact
of
social
media
“There
are
reasons
to
bet
Facebook
will
jus5fy
the
hype,
for
it
has
found
a
way
to
harness
a
prehistoric
ins5nct.
People
love
to
socialise,
and
Facebook
makes
it
easier.”
The
Economist
(Feb
2012)
Source:
The
Economist

3. On
September
3rd
1833
Benjamin
Day
changed
the
course
of
history
The
Sun
New
York
Mix
of
crime
reports
and
human
interest
The
first
‘penny’
press,
the
first
mass
media
Circula4on
of
15,000
Picture
credit:
h3p://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sun_(New_York)

4. Mass
media
has
gone
on
to
shape
almost
every
aspect
of
the
modern
world
Mass
produced
products,
marketed
to
mass
consumers,
through
mass
media
Picture
credit:
h3p://www.flickr.com/photos/pinA1/5336450223

5. During
the
dotcom
boom
the
web
threatened
to
turn
both
media
and
marke4ng
upside
down
“This
is
a
historic
moment
in
which
new
media
has
truly
come
of
age.”
Steve
Case,
co-­‐founder
of
AOL
Source:
h3p://www.nyAmes.com/2010/01/11/business/media/11merger.html

6. However,
at
least
ini4ally
the
web
turned
out
to
be
mostly
just
another
media
channel
“The
web
we
know
now,
which
loads
into
a
browser
window
in
essen5ally
sta5c
screenfuls,
is
only
an
embryo
of
the
web
to
come.”
Darcy
DiNucci
(1999)
Picture
credit:
h3p://www.flickr.com/photos/francescomincioM/3199438397/

7. But
the
rise
of
social
media
has
finally
ini4ated
the
profound
change
we
were
promised
“It’s
a
story
about
community
and
collabora5on
on
a
scale
never
seen
before...It’s
about
wrestling
power
from
the
few
and
helping
one
another
for
nothing
and
how
that
will
not
only
change
the
world
but
also
change
the
way
the
world
changes.”
Time
Magazine
(Dec,
2006)
Picture
credit:
h3p://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=469716398919

8. This
social
revolu4on
is
clearly
not
just
a
passing
fad,
it
is
a
global
phenomenon
Fastest
growing
social
networks
1.
Google+
2.
Sina
Weibo
(+181%)
3.
Tumblr
(+172%)
Picture
credit:
h3p://www.burson-­‐marsteller.com/InnovaAon_and_insights/Thought_Leadership/default_view.aspx?ID=44

9. Social
media
is
enabling
the
crea4on
of
‘media’
on
an
unprecedented
scale
“The
gap
is
between
doing
anything
and
doing
nothing.
And
someone
who
makes
a
LOLcat
has
already
crossed
over
that
gap.”
Clay
Shirky,
Cogni4ve
Surplus
Picture
credit:
h3p://icanhascheezburger.com/2007/01/24/trashcat-­‐is-­‐not-­‐amused/

10. The
par4cipa4on
inherent
in
social
media
has
the
poten4al
to
revolu4onise
everything
“A
revolu5on
doesn’t
happen
when
society
adopts
new
tools,
it
happens
when
society
adopts
new
behaviours”
Clay
Shirky,
Here
Comes
Everybody
Picture
credit:
h3p://blogs.lse.ac.uk/polis/2011/09/16/social-­‐media-­‐why-­‐its-­‐useless-­‐for-­‐democraAc-­‐poliAcs-­‐usipblogs-­‐arabspring/

11. Social
media
has
already
revolu4onised
the
news
and
current
affairs
business
Top
Twiger
hashtags
of
2011
1.
#egypt
2.
#4gerblood
3.
#threewordstoliveby
4.
#idontunderstandwhy
5.
#japan
6.
improudtosay
7.
#superbowl
8.
#jan25
Picture
credit:
h3p://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2011/dec/13/guardian-­‐weekly-­‐news-­‐review-­‐2011

12. This
social
par4cipa4on
in
media
has
forced
us
to
rethink
the
way
we
create
our
content
“They
[readers]
don’t
just
consume
news,
they
share
it,
develop
it,
add
to
it
-­‐
it’s
a
very
dynamic
rela5onship
with
news”
Arianna
Huffington,
Founder
Huffington
Post
Picture
credit:
www.economist.com

13. Social
par4cipa4on
in
media
is
also
changing
the
way
we
think
about
content
distribu4on
“If
searching
for
news
was
the
most
important
development
of
the
past
decade,
sharing
news
may
be
among
the
most
important
of
the
next”
Pew
Research
Centre’s
Project
for
Excellence
in
Journalism
Picture
credit:
www.twi3er.com/TheEconomist

14. Perhaps
most
importantly
social
par4cipa4on
in
media
is
changing
the
role
of
our
journalists
“The
role
of
journalists
in
this
new
world
is
to
add
value
to
the
conversa5on
by
providing
repor5ng,
context,
analysis,
verifica5on
and
debunking,
and
by
making
available
tools
and
plaKorms
that
allow
people
to
par5cipate”
Jeff
Jarvis,
What
Would
Google
Do?
Picture
credit:
www.economist.com

15. Fundamentally
social
media
is
not
undermining
The
Economist
business
it
is
turbo-­‐charging
it
The
world’s
most
valuable
community
for
intelligent
analysis,
discussion
and
debate
Picture
credit:
The
Economist

16. But
social
won’t
just
revolu4onise
media,
it
will
fundamentally
transform
marke4ng
too
“We’re
going
through
a
revolu5on
a
whole
lot
like
the
Industrial
Revolu5on.
The
change
is
that
profound.”
John
Hayes,
CMO,
American
Express
Source:
h3ps://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/How_we_see_it_Three_senior_execuAves_on_the_future_of_markeAng_2835

17. To
harness
the
true
poten4al
of
this
profound
social
shim
we
need
to
think
differently
“Say
goodbye
to
posi5oning,
preemp5on
and
unique
selling
posi5on.
This
is
about
turning
everything
you
understood
about
marke5ng
upside
down
so
that
you
can
land
right
side
up.”
Bob
Garfield
and
Doug
Levy,
Ad
Age
Source:
h3p://adage.com/arAcle/news/dawn-­‐relaAonship-­‐era-­‐markeAng/231792/

18. We
should
start
by
adop4ng
a
more
sophis4cated
social
model
of
human
behaviour
“We
are
not
a
species
of
independent,
self-­‐
determining
individuals,
whatever
our
brains
and
our
culture
tell
us
…
Most
of
our
behaviour
is…the
result
of
our
interac5on
with
other
people
because
we
are
a
super
social
species.
A
herd
animal,
if
you
like.
We
do
what
we
do
because
of
those
around
us.”
Mark
Earls,
Herd
Picture
credit:
Castle
Rock
Entertainment

19. “The
first
follower
is
actually
an
underes5mated
form
of
leadership
in
itself.
It
takes
guts
to
stand
out
like
that.
The
first
follower
is
what
transforms
a
lone
nut
into
a
leader.”
Derek
Sivers
Video:
h3p://www.ted.com/talks/derek_sivers_how_to_start_a_movement.html

20. We
need
to
recognise
the
cri4cal
role
that
certain
groups
of
people
play
in
influencing
others
1:1.
The
leaders
The Leaders 9:9.
The
advocates
The Influencers 90: The mass
90.
The
Masses
“Luckily,
while
the
digital
revolu5on
was
undermining
Mass
it
was
also
supercharging
human
nature.”
Bob
Garfield
and
Doug
Levy,
Ad
Age
Source:
www.profero.com

21. We
need
to
accept
that
in
an
‘always
on’
world
conversa4ons
are
beger
than
campaigns
“Conversa5ons
among
the
members
of
your
marketplace
happen
whether
you
like
it
or
not.
Good
marke5ng
encourages
the
right
sort
of
conversa5ons.”
Seth
Godin,
Permission
Marke4ng
Picture
credit:
www.economist.com

22. We
need
to
value
par4cipa4on
and
collabora4on
even
when
it
means
risking
some
control
“Consumer
engagement
with
our
brands
is
ul5mately
what
we're
striving
to
achieve.
Awareness
is
fine,
but
advocacy
will
take
your
business
to
the
next
level”
Joe
Tripodi,
CMO,
Coca-­‐Cola
Picture
credit:
www.energyville.com

23. We
need
to
focus
more
on
engaging
specific
communi4es
and
less
on
reaching
‘consumers’
“Social
Media
have
taken
the
solid,
dependable
old
tortoise
-­‐
word
of
mouth
-­‐
and
transformed
it
into
countless
hares,
mul5plying
like,
well
hares”
Bob
Garfield
and
Doug
Levy,
Ad
Age
Picture
credit:
h3p://slice.co.uk/our-­‐work/nike-­‐human-­‐race

24. We
need
to
think
about
crea4ng
value
exchange
rather
than
just
disposable
adver4sing
“You
can’t
just
buy
aVen5on
anymore.
Having
a
huge
budget
doesn’t
mean
anything
in
social
media…The
old
paradigm
was
pay
to
play.
Now
you
get
back
what
you
authen5cally
put
in.
You’ve
got
to
be
willing
to
play
to
play.”
Alex
Bogusky,
Founder
CPB
Picture
credit:
www.economist.com

25. And
recognise
that
in
a
hyper
connected
world
ideas
are
much
more
contagious
than
insights
“It’s
not
the
consumer’s
job
to
know
what
he
wants”
Steve
Jobs,
Apple
Picture
credit:
Apple
Inc

26. “Thinking
really
is
connec5ng.
It’s
connec5ng
ideas
together
into
a
network.
So
that’s
why
it’s
so
fun
that
we
live
in
the
age
of
networks.”
Richard
Ogle,
Smart
World
Video:
available
from
The
Economist
on
request

27. The
social
revolu4on
is
a
once
in
a
life4me
opportunity
that
is
much
too
good
to
be
wasted
“Awareness,
opinion,
considera5on,
preference
and
purchase
have
been
supplemented
by
loyalty
and
advocacy"
David
Rogers,
Execu4ve
Director
of
Columbia
Business
School
Centre
of
Global
Brand
Leadership
Picture
credit:
h3p://www.flickr.com/photos/lanier67/2291158373/

28. The
social
opportunity
-­‐
how
the
evolu4on
of
media
from
mass
to
social
changes
everything
February
2012
Nick
Blunden
|
Global
Managing
Director
&
Publisher
|
Economist.com
E:
nickblunden@economist.com
|
M:
+44
7968
838933
|
T:
@nickblunden