The Drum Awards for Marketing - Extended Deadline

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Mondelez

Social Buzz judge Jerry Daykin from Mondelez International: 'There's real power in having a direct conversation with a brand'

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By Ishbel Macleod, PR and social media consultant

August 14, 2013 | 3 min read

The Social Buzz Awards, in association with iomart Group and sponsored by Meltwater, closes for entries on Friday, 16 August. We catch up with Jerry Daykin, European social media marketing manager for Mondelez International and a judge for the awards, to discuss engagement, brand loyalty and what he will be looking for from entries.

How can brands build loyalty via social communities?

Social channels are a way of being a regular part of people’s lives all year round. That’s a big opportunity, but a big challenge too – you’re literally appearing alongside their everyday emotional moments so to build loyalty you need to offer something that positively fits around that, not something that tries to take people away from what they’re there for. There’s also real power in having a direct conversation with a brand which can step change your perception… if they reply of course!

How can brands use social engagement to create the same level of impact or brand awareness as traditional advertising?

If you’re serious about creating the same level of impact you have to seriously consider the scale you’re operating at too; if you only bought one billboard you couldn’t expect to impact your sales or awareness nationwide. At Mondelez we sell hundreds of millions of our products to tens of millions of people every year in the UK alone, so any marketing channel has to act on that scale. We’ve seen social channels drive media cost efficiencies & disproportionate shifts in brand consideration, but you’ve got to spend a measurable amount to begin seeing that return.

What will you be looking for during Social Buzz judging?

I love a rich creative story, deep user engagement or cutting edge use of a new API as much as the next man, but I’d want to see them linked to clear objectives based on real business insights. If you’ve managed to do something fantastic with a small group of people that’s a great start, but have you made sure enough of the right people have heard about it? Social media has grown up and can’t be judged based on tricks & gimmicks anymore, it needs the same level of scrutiny that any other marketing channel would get. Of course campaigns aren’t always about selling to millions of people…

What has been the biggest change in social media so far this year?

Is it too cliché to say mobile? Consumers are well ahead of marketers on this one, with many of us just waking up to the fact that established social platforms have long since given us a presence in people’s pockets. The eye opening part is how a simple app download, perhaps just a recommendation from a friend at a party, can sign you up to what is in effect a whole new social network. These usually serve specific purposes, from crowd sourcing traffic to sharing photos with your friends, but whilst they might let consumers log in with familiar account details they can each represent new fractured challenges to marketers.

Jerry Daykin is one of the judges set to speak at The Drum's Social Buzz event: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, during Social Media Week.

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