ESPN senior director of digital marketing says social media is the new brand management
At the Digital Strategy Innovation Summit in NYC, senior director of digital marketing at ESPN Justin Hergianto discussed the role of social media at the sports broadcaster.
Panelists
“I really believe that social media is the new brand management. It’s the first point of contact with the consumer,” he said. “Where we get in trouble is when our talent responds to comments.”
For example, earlier this month, ESPN columnist Bill Simmons criticized ESPN show 'First Take' on Twitter, sending out three tweets calling a recent segment featuring Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman “embarrassing” and advising viewers not to watch.
Deadspin later reported that the company suspended Simmons from Twitter for three days for violating its social media guidelines.
Yet when it comes to fans, Hergianto added that companies can use their advocates as ambassadors for what they are ultimately trying to do on social.
“For sports fans, it’s about passion. There is true emotion behind those comments. A post may get only 1,000 shares or likes, but how do we get that fan story and amplify that?” he said.
Other panelists included Sam Sova, director of global social media at Johnson Controls, and Chris Boyer, vice president of digital for health system company North Shore LIJ.
Sova said that when it comes to hiring employees to work on social media responsibilities, it’s important to look beyond social.
“The talent that we’ve found has been really high because we’re giving them the opportunity to do more than social,” he said, adding that for one employee, about 25 per cent of their time is spent on a branding project.
Within the communications and marketing teams at Johnson Controls, he said that social has been embedded into everything they do.
“Instead of finding out about the news and tweeting it out and blasting out, we find out ways to create unique content ahead of time and then target it to our channels,” he said.
In the healthcare space, Boyer said the real value of social is when doctors and nurses are willing to have conversations with customers over channels.
“We get more engagement when the doctors and nurses speak. We find more value when physicians create something than having digital content producers” he explained, adding that it’s important to train these “subject matter experts” on social media best practices.
In terms of personal healthcare conversations, Boyer said the company had to be careful about what it can and cannot say on social media.
“When it comes to sensitive complaints, we have to take those offline,” he said, saying that for example on Twitter an employee could direct message a customer and give them a phone number to call.
The panel was moderated by Edward Perry, senior director of revenue optimization at World Hotels.