The Global Social Mint Index1. THE GLOBAL SOCIAL MINT INDEX 2012
© Visceral Business 2012. All rights reserved.! 1
2. INTRODUCING THE SOCIAL MINT INDEX
THE AGE OF
There’s no doubt that coins, as artifacts, sum up a
nation’s culture, heritage and identity like no other.
INFLUENCE
They’ve stood the test of time as a primary means of
exchange and trade around the world for millennia.
AS A As the web lowers the cost of transaction and
SOCIAL
introduces the idea of frictionless trading as well as
new technology and media, how are Mints making the
CURRENCY
most of all this? Are they using social media to develop
attention and online influence to maintain and develop
IS UPON US
their business as social leaders?
Ideas that spread, win, and social media offers the
opportunity of amplifying the meaning and collectible
nature of coins like no other media before it. Social
media is potentially a very powerful tool by which
Mints can instill a new appreciation of the
craftsmanship and unique place that coins occupy in
social life by communicating the value and detail of
what they do, bringing their cultural relevance to the
fore and opening up new business opportunities.
So who is the leader in social media amongst Mints?
This is study gives you the answers.
Anne McCrossan, Visceral Business, May 2012
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3. INTRODUCING THE SOCIAL MINT INDEX
Mints around the world have a lot to gain from using
social media. They can use it to reach new, young
, audiences to develop an appreciation of what Mints
WHY WE VE do, they can connect with specialist communities of
interest and grow networks of influence and business
DONE THIS partnership networks worldwide, all at a relatively
low cost. This can help protect the future of Mints as
STUDY well as be used to generate insights that can lead to
new revenue opportunities.
Each Mint in the world competes for attention
among coin collectors. In a connected and socially
networked world, then, it’s vital that each Mint’s
point of difference, culture, heritage and identity is
both well marketed and accessible. To be successful
in social media requires more than developing a
proprietary presence in it. The opportunity on offer is
to develop loyalty and word of mouth
recommendation by being accessible, innovative
and engaging.
This study aims to help Mints by providing perspective
and insights into how each Mint can make the most
of social media for themselves. We hope therefore
that this study will provide you with insights that will
raise the bar, so each and every Mint can benefit.
© Visceral Business 2012. All rights reserved.! 3
4. INTRODUCING THE SOCIAL MINT INDEX
A WORD
We’ve looked at four of the main social media
platforms - Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn -
ABOUT OUR
and assessed the presence and performance of
Mints in each one. We’ve chosen these platforms to
METHODOLOGY
ensure both B2B and B2C networks are represented.
There’s many manifestations of We’ve also looked at online influence, using Kred
social media, including blogging, as our social influence scoring tool, and taken into
apps, trading platforms, proximity account how accessible each Mint is. We’ve done
messaging, QR codes and more. this on the basis of how easy to reach they are via
teach of these platforms.
For this study we’ve kept it
relatively simple to enable some Looking at three factors - reach, popularity and
easy comparisons. perceived level of influence - we’ve developed an
algorithm for ranking each Mint that measures how
each one is developing social media leadership.
The result is our top 20 - the world’s first index of
global social Mints around the world.
It will be interesting to see how Mints develop their
social voice, together with their connected networks.
The age of the distributed network of influence is
upon us.
© Visceral Business 2012. All rights reserved.! 4
5. THE GLOBAL SOCIAL MINT INDEX 2012
Ranking Mint Points Ranking Mint Points
1
Royal
Canadian Mint 108 11 Mint of Finland 46
2
US
Mint 97 12 Italian Mint 41
3
Franklin
Mint 94 13 Casa de Moneda de Mexico 40
British
Royal
4 14
Germany
Mint 91 Berlin Mint 33
5 Perth Mint 88 15 Polish State Mint 28
Monnaie
6 de Paris 83 16 Royal Australian Mint 26
South
African
7 Royal Dutch Mint 61 17 Mint 23
New Zealand
8 Mint 59 18 Portuguese Mint 16
9 Sveriges Riksbank 55 19 Austrian Mint 13
Singapore
10 Mint 52 20 12
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6. THE GLOBAL SOCIAL MINT INDEX 2012
SNAPSHOT OF
Several Mints have a presence on Facebook,
with varying levels of success.
A PLATFORM: Of those Mints actively engaged in it, La
Monnaie de Paris has developed a
commanding lead in terms of popularity, with
more than twice the number of ‘Likes’ at the
time of our study compared to its nearest
competitor, The Royal Canadian Mint.
While quite a few Mints have a presence on
Facebook, not every one of them features the
fact they are on Facebook via their website.
The connected nature of an Mint’s online
presence is the key to its social credibility, so
this can make a big difference to whether or
not a Mint can successfully develop a social
following using social media.
Several Mints are now beginning to recognize
that Facebook offers the opportunity to build
a cultural presence through discussion,
engagement and timeline features and via
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responsive and personable communication.
La Monnaie de Paris has a broad range of
content that it posts on Facebook, providing a
sense of dynamic activity that is easy to ‘like’
and support using this social media platform.
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7. THE GLOBAL SOCIAL MINT INDEX 2012
SNAPSHOT OF
It is only in the last year or so that Mints have
begun to build their profiles on Twitter.
A PLATFORM: Though not directly a Mint itself, @Banxico with
over 44,000 followers, is in a league of its own
compared to, for example, The British Royal
Mint, which tops our Index for Mints on Twitter
with just under 6,000 followers.
What is missing amongst all Mints on this
platform is a sense of networked leadership, i.e.
Mints could be connected to one another on
Twitter, and the platform could be used as a
useful point of curation, establishing the Mint
market through, for example, a greater use of
the list feature and links to other platforms.
Not all Mints are using social media to engage
in conversation. Many are perhaps more
comfortable with indirect consumer relationships
and more broadcast-style one-way marketing
communications. A great number of national
organisations around the world are however
developing new found levels of loyalty and
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support by engaging with users through this
most accessible and immediate medium.
Twitter usage illustrates that factors like brand
identity, tone of voice and personality have yet
to be fully developed amongst Mints. This will
be of great help in developing the potential of
this platform.
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8. THE GLOBAL SOCIAL MINT INDEX 2012
SNAPSHOT OF
Rich media, e.g. imagery and film, is a powerful
way for Mints to tell their story.
A PLATFORM: YouTube is another platform being used by
some Mints with varying levels of success.
The Perth Mint leads the field with nearly
300,000 channel views at the time of writing.
The Royal Canadian Mint is also demonstrating
skill in the use of this medium and has achieved
roughly half that number of channel views.
The story-telling and imagery elements of video
are a chance for Mints to come out of the
shadows and fascinate people. YouTube is a
channel that can offer significant added value
for collectors and help build loyalty and
preference very quickly, but most Mints lack the
skills or the culture in-house to develop
distinctive and engaging video communication.
As YouTube becomes challenged by other,
newer video channels, plus users become more
digitally enabled and able to make their own
TEST TEXT HERE
videos using e.g. phone technology, the
challenge for Mints is to keep pace with the
expectations of their audience by developing
low-cost but effective capabilities in the medium
of video and to e.g. consider more personable
communication by embedding video directly
into their own websites.
© Visceral Business 2012. All rights reserved.! 8
9. THE GLOBAL SOCIAL MINT INDEX 2012
SNAPSHOT OF
Of the four platforms we have studied
regarding social Mint communications, LinkedIn
is the most under-utilised and perhaps the most
A PLATFORM: fundamental.
A well-developed corporate presence on
LinkedIn is the key to becoming more networked
and, increasingly, it can be a great asset in
being able to attract management talent.
Mints will accrue more social reputational value
by being a Mint others want to follow. LinkedIn,
as a network of professionals, offers the scope
to build demonstrable thought leadership,
particularly now that LinkedIn has also acquired
Slideshare.
When looking at who’s innovating in the sector,
LinkedIn is a reliable indicator of how well
networked the organisation is as a whole.
The concept of ‘social currency’ has gained
importance because people are recognizing the
net worth is in the network, and particularly at
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a B2B professional level.
Mints that fully utilize this platform as a means
of developing networked opportunities, trade
credibility and IP, are likely to be the winners in
the future.
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10. THE GLOBAL SOCIAL MINT INDEX 2012
NOTES
We took snapshots of the social media activity of
over 30 Mints in total worldwide during the
period 30 April - 1 May 2012.
Based on their rankings on individual platforms,
plus their adoption of social media overall, we
were able to narrow the list down to 20 Mints
that could be considered to be reasonably
active in developing a profile using social media.
Credit must go to The Perth Mint, The Royal
Canadian Mint, The Franklin Mint, The United
States Mint, Koninklijke Nederlandse Munt, La
Monnaie de Paris and The British Royal Mint for
utilizing all four of these social media networks.
This time next year, a social media profile and
user friendly web-based communications may
become a normal part of ‘business as usual’ for
many more, as Mints seek to develop business
with partners and collectors and build their
social media influence.
Congratulations, too, to The Royal Canadian
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Mint, which leads our Index. Offline and online,
The Royal Canadian Mint has embraced digital
technology and established its credentials as an
undoubted innovator.
We look forward to seeing other Mints around
the world adapt to the new possibilities that the
advent of networked and digital technology is
bringing with it.
© Visceral Business 2012. All rights reserved.! 10
11. INTRODUCING THE SOCIAL MINT INDEX
ABOUT US
Visceral Business is a networked partnership that
specialises in helping organisations adapt to doing
business in a socially networked age.
We support companies around the world with our
expertise in social business design, brand marketing
and change management, helping them to create
smooth and cost effective transition strategies that
bring out the best in the organisation and its people,
that play to their unique strengths to create a social
media advantage, and that can develop competitive
edge and the socially networked skills of their people.
Our advice to companies is ‘don’t outsource your
Thanks to Vanessa Levrat for social voice’. Social business is human business.
compiling some of the data
in this report.
Instead, our mission is to empower organisations. By
To get in touch about this putting a social capability into each company we
study and to talk about how work with, we help them develop powerful strategies
we can help your Mint
and an authentic voice that’s all their own, that’s why
develop its strengths in
doing social business, the middle two words of Visceral Business are ‘is us’.
please contact Anne
McCrossan on Whether it’s business strategy, social brand
anne@visceralbusiness.com,
development, user engagement, data management
on (+44) 203 355 0582, or
find us on Facebook or or training you need help with, talk to us - we can
Twitter at @VisceralBiz. help you.
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