1. Barbarians at the Gates: Social Networks
a ba a s at t e Gates Soc a et o s
as Disruptive Media
Global Business Summit
May 18, 2010
John Deighton
John Deighton
Harvard Business School

2. Kaiser Family Foundation study
Kaiser Family Foundation study
Children under age 18:
Spend 7.5 hours a day using media.
Up from 6.5 hours a day last year.
In those 7.5 hours they consume
11 hours of media content,
half of it social.

3. Obama versus Clinton: Fundraising: Q1 2007
Obama versus Clinton Fundraising Q1 2007
Total Contributions from % from % from
Candidate Receipts Individuals contributions of contributions of
($millions) ($millions) $1,000 or more $200 or less
Clinton
Cli t 36.1
36 1 25.8
25 8 86% 9%
Obama 25.7 25.2 68% 22%
Edwards 14.0 14.0 77% 15%

4. Obama versus Clinton
versus Clinton
They each competed by vigorously deploying social media:
1. Found pockets of consumer passion.
2. Linked them to pockets of producer passion.
3. Employed social media to propagate the enthusiasm.

5. Obama versus Clinton
versus Clinton
Campaign launch advertising
Campaign launch advertising

6. Obama versus Clinton
versus Clinton
The difference lay in their styles.
Clinton sought to propagate the power of the heir
apparent.
Obama was the insurgent. And the Internet favors
was the insurgent. And the Internet favors
underdogs It is intrinsically a guerilla medium,
exploiting the rigidities of the market leader, using
exploiting the rigidities of the market leader, using
soft power to defeat superior resources.

7. Obama versus Clinton
versus Clinton
Obama was “uniquely unqualified.” He
did not win the election because of the
internet, but he could not have won
without it.
Garrett Graff

8. Obama versus Clinton
versus Clinton
His unique selling proposition was this: He
was answering the voter s call. He was not
was answering the voter’s call. He was not
running a marketing campaign but
responding to a voter movement.
responding to a voter movement.
Social media showed the movement in
action. He lacked qualifications, but the
movement made clear that qualifications
were not being asked for.
The movement legitimized the
Th t l iti i d th
candidate.

9. Manchester United and
owner Malcolm Glazer versus
l l l
the Green and Gold
Movement

10. United Breaks Guitars
U it d B k G it

11. July 6, 10:00 PM the video is posted to YouTube
July 7, noon, United employee Robin Urbanski reads on
July 7 noon United employee Robin Urbanski reads on
Twitter: “psssst...@UnitedAirlines breaks guitars! And they
don t even care!
don't even care!”
Minutes later, Urbanski calls Rob Bradford, United’s
Managing Director of customer solutions, “We need to call
Carroll.”
The call was made but Carroll was not available until the
next morning.
g
So at 2:00 PM Urbanski tweets, “This has struck a chord
w/ us and we've contacted him directly to make it right.”

12. At 1:02pm from a member of the public: “Check the
@unitedairlines account. They've apologized and
accepted responsibility. Cool stuff.”
At 2 28
2:28pm ffrom one of Cf Carroll’s t
ll’ team: “
“word h it
d has
@UnitedAirlines isn't trying to make it right, they are
just tweeting is that way ”
way...
At 2:31pm from United Airlines: “The word you hear is
wrong. We have called him and the person who
answered his phone scheduled a call for tomorrow
morning.”
i ”

13. 1:46 PM Jul 7: Why'd you guys have to go and break his
g
guitar? http://bit.ly/rI2ef Stop being a bully and fess
p // y/ p g y
up!
3:40 PM Jul 7: Learn from the United Breaks Guitars
song that its NOT ok to treat any customer bad.
9:50 PM Jul 7: You can say creatively that this has
struck a chord with you but lets be real how do you
y y
plan on changing?
9:53 PM Jul 7: You realize that Dave Carroll is one of
many people burned by your "Airline" ~ how'd you
plan to make things right 4them?
9:55 PM Jul 7: And since I'm on a roll, shame on you
, y
for taking over a year to bother.... too much truth in
your bad PR?

14. At 3:00pm on July 8 from Ryan Moore: “i posted a video
p y f y p
for a client of mine monday night and it's like the biggest
vid on youtube canada now. http://bit.ly.”
At 3:39pm on July 8 United Airlines replied: “Love your
client s video.
client's video Not all r as honest as he That is why
he.
policy asks for claims w/in 24 hours. No excuse; we're
y
sorry.”
At 4:56pm on July 8 from a Twitter member: “I love this
song about
b @unitedAirlines
d l Check
h k it out!!
http://bit.ly/8RDMI”
At 5:02pm on July 8 from United Airlines: “It is excellent
and that is why we would like to use it for training
y g
purposes so everyone receives better service from us.”

15. United Breaks Guitars
U it d B k G it
9
Milioni
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
06‐lug 25‐ago 14‐ott 03‐dic 22‐gen 13‐mar 02‐mag

16. Hitler Learns United Broke his Guitar
Hitl L U it d B k hi G it

17. Danone Fi ht B k i A
D Fights Back in Argentina
ti

18. Danone Fi ht B k i A
D Fights Back in Argentina
ti
Danone encountered viral slurs against Actimel
encountered viral slurs against Actimel
yoghurt brand. ‐ Emails claimed product is addictive,
harms children.
Danone first responded with television advertising.
Later Danone built a website for visitors to make
rumors about their friends and send them to their
friends, followed by the message: "Don't believe
everything you see on the internet. I'll show you how
easy it is to spread a rumor about you."

19. Slanket
Sl k t versus Snuggie
S i

20. Marketing when the
communication media are social
communication media are social
When the tools of marketing change,
the strategy of the craft changes.

21. Marketing when the
communication media are social
communication media are social
from attrition to maneuver.

22. Marketing when the
communication media are social
communication media are social
from attrition to maneuver.
from exploiting incumbency
to deploying insurgency.
to deploying insurgency

23. Marketing when the
communication media are social
communication media are social
from attrition to maneuver.
from exploiting incumbency
to deploying insurgency.
to deploying insurgency
from planning for value creation
from planning for value creation
to protecting against value destruction.

24. We used to use mass media to show
We used to use mass media to show
the power of incumbency ‐
Ubiquitous, omnipotent, dominant:
Budweiser the King of Beers.
Budweiser the King of Beers
Visa – It’s Everywhere you Want to Be.
Verizon We Never Stop Working for You.
Verizon – We Never Stop Working for You.
McDonalds – Billions and Billions Served
Citi – The Whole World in One Bank

25. Now social media let us deploy the power of
Now social media let us deploy the power of
insurgency ‐
Like Snapple to Coke in the old world,
pp ,
Obama to Clinton in the new.
Snuggie to Slanket
Dave Carroll to United Airlines

26. What Could United have Done Differently?
Retreat
Meet
Beat

27. What Others Have Done
Nestle censors its Facebook Fan page.
p g
North Face sues the South Butt.
Retreat Toyota ignores the YouTube parodies
Slanket leverages the Snuggie success
Meet Danone fights fire with fire
Beat Dove looks for an incumbent larger than itself.
Miracle Whip – ‘Don’t be so Mayo.’

28. How Does the Future Look?
With few exceptions, insurgency in the
new media environment is hard to defeat.
new media environment is hard to defeat
Containment is a more prudent policy.
Meanwhile today, in politics, print
journalism, recorded music, book
publishing, television, travel reservation
services, auto retailing, education,
religion, banking, and many other
li i b ki d th
industries, it is more fun to be an
insurgent than an incumbent.
insurgent th i b t