By Rebecca Canan

Over the last year or so, we at CEC have seen social media participation become far more common among member companies.  That said, we’ve also noticed a tendency of communicators to jump on social media opportunities without applying much strategic discipline—that is, they weren’t matching up social media’s unique capabilities with their business needs, audience behaviors, and industry dynamics.  In response, CEC developed a social media diagnostic that helps members pinpoint their best opportunities for social media use.

As part of this diagnostic, we ask a few benchmarking questions of participants: for example, how many people work on social media at your company?  What channels are you using?  How confident are you in the value of your efforts?   We’re pleased to share the top-line data from our 60+ participants thus far:

I was surprised by a few things in this data set: Read More »

Among the few things I remember from Philosophy 201 is the quote from the French philosopher Michel de Montaigne: “It is good to rub and polish one’s brain against those of others.”

But for most of us grown-ups (personally, despite my advanced age I still feel compelled to add italics when thinking of myself that way), our days are spent in a mode of relentless multi-tasking—constantly putting out three fires at once, but hardly ever thinking.  How sad is it to be absent-mindedly checking your Blackberry while another person is standing there in the room trying to talk to you?  But we’ve all done it.

OK, constant distraction probably won’t kill you (smashing into a tree “texting while driving” being one notable exception), but to lead a truly satisfying life, it’s important for all of us to occasionally slow down and make the time to THINK.  To have a “spa day” to polish your brain.

That’s why this is one of our favorite times of the year at CEC—because we’ve just now opened up registration for our 2010 executive meeting series, Influencing Stakeholders in a Networked Environment. Read More »

By Evelyn Ostrovsky 

What do cupcakes, the American Red Cross, and best practices have in common? Clever ways to encourage participation, of course.

A few weeks ago, we were lucky to have Wendy Harman, the Red Cross’s Social Media Manager, join a CEC webinar on innovative approaches to social media. At the event, Wendy shared some great stories about how the organization overcame a “crippling fear” of social media and learned to motivate supporters to spread the Red Cross’s message through their personal social networks.

(At this point, you might be asking, “So where do cupcakes figure in to this equation?” Well, they were our small way of saying thanks to the lovely Wendy—and perhaps of motivating other communicators to participate in a future CEC panel!  Ahem.)

Admittedly, there are (allegedly) better ways than the “cupcake method” to motivate people to support your company.  The Red Cross provides a great example of these techniques, which I think are highly transferable across all types of organizations. Read More »

By Lisa Schievelbein

Deep down, every communicator is a voyeur.

 How do I know?  For the last few months, Kayleigh and I have been analyzing the organizational design of CEC member teams, and let me tell you—communicators just love peeking at org charts. They have different reasons for this, but I think one is particularly powerful: a hope that some formula for success can be found in the neat boxes and lines on a PowerPoint slide.  (As you can imagine, the let-down factor is inevitable.)
Read More »

By Lisa Schievelbein

For many communicators, Legal is a slayer of dreams.

I’ve heard this (paraphrased) complaint countless times across six years of CEC member conversations. The source of the conflict varies, but the storyline is usually the same: Legal vetoes communication ideas that depart from a “command and control” approach to corporate communication. It probably goes without saying, then, that social media has been a virtual Celebrity Deathmatch between the functions.

That said, we’re seeing some promising signs of a relationship thaw. Exhibit A: last week, CEC members joined their Legal and Marketing brethren at a panel discussion about cross-functional collaboration in social media. The 90-minute session was co-hosted by two of CEC’s sister programs (GCR and MLC) and headlined by Wal-Mart, Allstate, and Coca-Cola. Despite some differences of opinion, the overall consensus was clear: these three functions need to work together to manage the legal landmines of social media WHILE aggressively using it to the company’s advantage in engaging stakeholders. Here are 4 tips specifically for Comms in negotiating this balance with Legal: Read More »

By Evelyn Ostrovsky 

If two weeks ago you didn’t know about the American Red Cross’s social media use, you do now. The Red Cross’s innovative fundraising efforts for Haiti relief show that a little social media can go a long way in rallying global support for a common cause.

Given this success, it’s ironic that the Red Cross’s social media manager, Wendy Harman, was initially hired 4 years ago to “make the internet stop.” Red Cross executives were concerned about the volume of negative comments about the organization after Hurricane Katrina, and they wanted to somehow make the criticism go away. (Now, all good communicators out there realize that this is impossible, but can certainly relate to the sentiment.) Instead of staying in combat mode, however, Wendy saw an opportunity to enable advocates to rally around the Red Cross cause. Her journey from “make it stop” to empowering supporters took a few rogue experiments, some excellent listening skills, and the know-how to rein in overzealous business partners.

We’re thrilled to have Wendy share her story at a CEC webinar next Tuesday (February 9 at 11 EST). CEC members can register now for this event; if you’re reading this after the fact, you can check out the event replay here.

Now, let’s hear from you. What did you notice about social media’s role in fundraising for Haiti? What takeaways do you find transferable to the corporate setting?

One of the best parts of my job is getting out to visit our members in person.  What’s especially fun about live events is the chance to see members’ eyes light up when they discover a new way to look at a particular challenge that makes it easier for them to address it.

I traveled recently to a cool and rainy Amsterdam to talk about social media with a number of our European members.  (CEC members can check out the meeting materials here.) The 20ish participants, graciously hosted by Delta Lloyd, shared their experiences with the social media tools—such as blogs, Yammer, Facebook, and Twitter—used by many large corporations today.  The best discussion, though, was focused on the social media questions that lack easy answers. Here are a few that we talked about:

• How can we convince internal skeptics (especially Legal) to permit more social media use?
• When should we respond to what is being said about the company on social media platforms?
• Who should be allowed to speak for the company on social media platforms, and within what guidelines? Read More »

By Rebecca Canan

One of my favorite parts of work is getting the non-obvious, top-secret scoop about what communicators are doing. With social media as my specialty, I especially like getting the behind-the-scenes tour of their social media platforms. Who manages their blog? What’s being censored (if anything)? How does the company get value from the site? I recently asked these questions of Nick Caplin, Corporate PR Manager for Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. Check out what he had to say here:

Read More »

Welcome to the CEC Insider—the official blog of the Communications Executive Council (CEC). We’re an insight-based research shop that exists to give a professional edge to the world’s best network of corporate communicators.

Now, if you’re visiting this blog (and aren’t thinking, “where’s my latest celebrity gossip?”), you’re likely a sharp thinker about the world of Corporate Communications.  So are we!  So, let’s start a conversation—an insider’s circle, if you will—about the communication topics that we all care about.

Here are a few ways that you can get involved on the CEC Insider:

• React to the newest ideas from our research lab
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One parting note: our posts will often contain links to the CEC website for the sole benefit of members—aka, the ultimate Insiders. If you’d like to learn more about membership, contact us at any time.