Archive Page 2
Just read about employee advocates in a report (Do Your Employees Advocate for Your Company?) from Forrester. I am a big believer in understanding how to get employees onboard as advocates. I think it is where future success truly lies. How to do it is another story.
The survey (which I believe is only available to subscribers) was among 5, 519 technology end users in Canada, France, Germany, the UK and the US. They used the well-known NPS (Net Promoter Score developed at Bain) to ask employees how likely they would be to recommend their employer’s products/services to a friend or relative and how likely they would be to recommend their company as an employer? Without a doubt, employee advocates are critical to spreading positive word of mouth, attracting the best talent and building reputation. The headline about the results say it all, “The Sorry State of Employee Advocacy.” Here are a few nuggets:
- Employees in North America and Europe scored-23% on the employee advocacy index developed for recommending their company’s products and services. Particularly interesting to me was that detractors or what we at Weber Shandwick call “badvocates” made up 49% of the respondents on this question, 24% were neutral and 27% were advocates or promoters. Essentially, the badvocates were nearly twice as prominent in their answers compared to advocates.
- For the second NPS question about recommending the company as a good place to work to a friend or family member, the employee advocacy score was -16%, with 43% detractors, 29% neutrals and 27% advocates. Badvocates still overwhelm the discussion about one’s company as an employer. That is alot of conversation to compensate for.
These findings do not speak well of employees’ endorsement of the companies they work for and the goods they produce. Of course, this is not a representative sample because they are information workers. However, I suspect that if the research was conducted among a broader population, the results could be as bad or even worse. The economy certainly is a factor but in truth, greater attention needs to be paid internally for advocacy to take root. This is a good starting point for understanding employee advocacy however.
An article in the LATimes described super fans of brands or what we at Weber Shandwick identified as high intensity advocates. They are those people who will take action on behalf of a brand, company or cause. They will tell friends, wear a logo in support or join a group devoted to their advocacy passion. The article referred to those overzealous fans who wait on line for days for the opening of a store such as a new Krispy Kreme, Ikea or Trader Joe’s. Paco Underhill, author and often-quoted president of shopping research company Envirosell, said that suburban loneliness has created this growing segment of super fans. “One of the byproducts of this suburbanization of America is a sense of loneliness. If we live in a suburb and particularly if we work on a corporate campus, we have no way for chance to affect our lives…. In that loneliness, we as a culture are looking for other communities.” I tend to think that community is the most important word here. Finding people like oneself with similar passions is a driving force that has only accelerated with the penetration of social media.
There is such a thing as a true advocate, according to Bobert Passikoff of Brand Keys, a consulting firm in New York. “We call it the rule of six. A true advocate — you’re basically talking about your top 20% of customers — are six times more likely to buy things from you. They’re six times more likely to recommend you. They’re six times more likely to invest in you if you’re a publicly traded company. And they’re six times more likely to rebuff competitive offers, especially if they’re only based on price.”
The rule of six jives with our global research on Advocacy. Take a look. Super Advocates are a company’s best customers.
Tags: Advocacy, fans, Super Advocates, Weber Shandwick
In The New York Times yesterday, an article on the 2010 campaign in the US spoke about voter disengagement and how most people say it is because of the high unemployment rate, government spending, the deficit and our disaffection with politicians. However Matt Bai says that is not the whole story and after talking to some marketing consultants who spoke with independent voters, different issues are factoring into the mindset of Americans facing electoral choices.
“The dominant theme of the discussion, in which jobs and taxes came up only in passing, seemed to be the larger breakdown of civil society — the disappearance of common courtesy, the relentless stream of data from digital devices, the proliferation of lawsuits and the insidious influence of media on their children. One woman described a food fight at the middle school that left a mess school employees were obliged to clean up, presumably because the children couldn’t be subjected to physical labor. A man complained about drivers who had grown increasingly hostile and inconsiderate on the roads, which drew nods of assent all around. Another described the Internet as just plain ‘bad.’”
I bring this up because the breakdown in civil society was the topic of our in-depth investigation into Civility in America that we undertook several months ago with Powell Tate and KRC Research. We found that an overwhelming majority of Americans view the erosion of civility in human interaction today as a major problem. Among the many signs pointing to this steady decline were the daily occurrences of cyber bullying, online “flaming” and nasty blog comments, the venomous bickering taking place on some reality TV shows and between TV news personalities and their guests, and the mean-spirited mudslinging among politicians and their loyal supporters. Weber Shandwick Chairman Jack Leslie said, “Freedom of expression is the bedrock of our society. Conflicting points of view are always welcome but too much incivility in the public square can turn people away from voicing their opinions.”
The tone of civility is clearly causing Americans to tune out from the most fundamental elements of our democracy — government and politics, news coverage and reporting, and opinion pieces and editorials in newspapers and magazines. We have the facts to back this up. Sadly, the top reason for what people can do about this growing uncivil nations was for parents should teach their children the importance of civility from an early age. This made me think of the young people who have recently made news after taking their lives over cyberbullying or reputation-crushing events.
Weber Shandwick provides several strategies that can be taken to combat the the rise of incivility that is causing people to tune out. Take a look. We saw it coming. Advocates for a more civil society need to speak up and make changes. Here is one place to start – CiviliNation.
Tags: Advocacy, CiviliNation, civility, Weber Shandwick
Crowdsourcing has become common today. Wikipedia is a great example of compiling the world’s information into an online encyclopedia by way of volunteers coming together. So it was probably not too long til crowdfunding came along where people can help fund activities and organizations that need the dollars. One such advocacy-related sourcing site online is Kickstarter which I highly recommend you visit. Visitors can choose projects such as books, mini-films, graphic novels, theatre and art productions to fund. We are talking about small to larger amounts of money but doable one person at a time. Apparently nearly 1,600 projects have been funded by “micropatrons” since July of this year. Today you can help fund a graphic novel called Virtuoso which is set in Africa or an exhibition of local artists who can make paper out of anything, from banana peels to dryer lint. Or you could fund a film, gluten-free ice cream sandwiches or a children’s book. Advocates of all stripes should invest and support the creative process. Spending made worthwhile.
The summer has been distracting with vacations and glorious hot days. Our postings have not been as frequent but we still muse about advocacy all the time. Thanks for your patience and followship.
Thinking about advocates, in an article in the recent McKinsey Quarterly on leading business and technology trends, advocacy of course came up. In the article, they mention that 70% of executives said that their comapnies created value through Web communities, the ultimate advocacy network.
One example given was from Intuit which is worth mentioning here. Intuit hosts customer support groups for its financial and tax return products where more experienced customers provide advice and support to those in need of help. These Intuit advocates build their reputation credibility by noting the number of questions they answer and the number of thank yous they get from those they help.
Thought this was a great way of using advocates to help build loyalty to products and generate good vibes. McKinsey has the numbers to prove it. They found that when customer communities of advocates handle an issue, the per-contact cost can be as low as 10% of the cost to resolve the issue through traditional call centers. That’s a good ROI for advocacy.
Worth mentioning here on the advocacy blog.
Tags: Advocacy, advocates, communities, Intuit, McKinsey
I read a really interesting idea in an article on digital diplomacy in The New York Times magazine section one week ago. The article was about Jared Cohen and Alec Ross, two State department employees who are taking digital to new horizons. The former is the youngest member of the State Department’s policy planning staff and the latter is the first senior adivser for innovation to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Twitter is a mainstay of their assault on diplomacy red tape and I was surprised by the remarkable amount of freedom they have to change public affairs through social networking. Kudos to Hillary Clinton for letting their digital diplomacy flow. They are truly advocates for the next generation of politics.
The article mentioned their “techdels” which are technology delegations that they lead in various countries. As the article points out, they invite software engineers, entrepreneurs and tech CEOs to come together and think of innovative ways to support democracy and spread the word about freedom. One example they give is figuring out how to crowd source an end to human trafficking in Russia.
The article mentioned one idea that came up in a meeting with billionnaire Carlos Slim. The techdel was musing about how people in Mexico City all have cell phones and text all the time, no matter how poor they are. Someone suggested the idea of having a short text code to report a crime. The SMS would strip out all personal information but the reported crime would show up in a database that the police could monitor and the public could see mapped online. The idea is that these advocate crime reporters would be anonymous but crime around the world would be more transparent and possibly stoppable. As an advocacy idea, this is a good one. Thought it was worth mentioning here.
Tags: advocates online, Mexico City, state department, techdel
There is a group in France called La Barbe or “The Beard” that advocates for more women on boards in that country. Apparently the women show up in disguise (yes, wearing beards!) at annual meetings to let these female-few companies hear a piece of their minds. The women wear the beards for fear of retribution and being found out. French lawmakers are giving some thought to requiring at least 40% of boards to be made up of women within six years. A similar law exists in Norway where quotas exist. In France, 9 1/2 percent of boards have women compared to 12.2% in the US and 34% in Norway. Learned about this in Bloomberg BusinessWeek.
Interesting way to advocate for greater gender equality in the board room or should I say beard room. Advocacy exists in all places and for all kinds of causes. Advocacy is genderless.
Tags: Advocacy, board members, La Barbe
We just completed a survey on civility in America. The survey was conducted with Weber Shandwick and Powell Tate and KRC Research. We decided to dig deep into the tone and level of discourse in this country and surveyed 1,000 Americans online. I’d like to share with you some of the findings which point to an erosion in how people communicate with each other and with our public institutions. Since being informed is so fundamental to our democracy, our research might make people think twice before cancelling out other people’s opinions online and offline. You might also want to take a look at how Politico framed our research and underscored our point even further. As advocates for strong public discourse and hearing both sides of an issue, here are a few select findings: [For more information, please go to this link for the press release and here for the executive summary.]
- Two-out-of-three Americans consider a general lack of civility to be a major problem for the nation and 72 percent think that poor behavior has gotten worse in recent years.While the American people believe their friends, family and places of worship are bucking the trend toward incivility, a majority of the public sees uncivil behavior throughout society – especially in politics and high schools; on talk radio and our nation’s highways; in Hollywood and professional sports.
- Seventy-two percent of Americans view the political world and government as uncivil – the highest percentage recorded in the poll – and the absence of civility appears to be having an impact on participation and interest in the political process among broad swaths of the public.
- Nearly half the American people (49%) are tuning out government and politics, and almost two-thirds of those people (63%) cite the general tone and level of civility as a major factor in their decision. Forty-six percent of the people are tuning out opinion pieces and editorials in the media, and 45 percent cite incivility as a major factor. Thirty-eight percent are tuning out news coverage and reporting and half of them (50%) attribute their actions to the lack of civility.
- Each major political party gives the other low marks on civility. Seventy-one percent of Democrats view Republicans as uncivil, and 74 percent of Republicans view Democrats as uncivil. Political independents regard Congressional Republicans more uncivil than Congressional Democrats, although they rate both parties more uncivil than civil (58 and 50 percent, respectively).“Our research provides hard evidence that constituents and consumers alike are fed up with the polarization of our political system and the uncivil tone of our country as a whole,” said Jack Leslie, Chairman of Weber Shandwick. “As a result, Americans are tuning out and turning away from news, information and informed opinions that make up the very foundation of American democracy.”
Tags: advocates, civility, discourse, government, KRC Research, politics, Powell Tate, Weber Shandwick
Have you heard of the Giving Pledge? I had not heard of it and there is good reason–I am not wealthy. The Giving Pledge is a new organization whereby wealthy (uber-wealthy) Americans pledge to donate 50% or more of their fortune to philantrophy. Warren Buffet just signed his pledge to donate his wealth and others are being encouraged to join this noteworthy movement of advocates for philanthrocates (a new word I just made up). There will even be a “Great Givers” annual meeting where the wealthy will gather to discuss how to best make use of their wealth giving. A very worthwhile cause to aid the world solve some of the most intractable problems and help people in greater need. Thank goodness there are people with a head on their shoulders. Here is how it is explained on the website.
The Giving Pledge is an effort to invite the wealthiest individuals and families in America to commit to giving the majority of their wealth to the philanthropic causes and charitable organizations of their choice either during their lifetime or after their death.
Each person who chooses to pledge will make this statement publicly, along with a letter explaining their decision to pledge. At an annual event, those who take the pledge will come together to share ideas and learn from each other.
The Pledge is a moral commitment to give, not a legal contract. It does not involve pooling money or supporting a particular set of causes or organizations.
While the Giving Pledge is specifically focused on billionaires, the idea takes its inspiration from efforts in the past and at present that encourage and recognize givers of all financial means and backgrounds. We are inspired by the example set by millions of Americans who give generously (and often at great personal sacrifice) to make the world a better place.
Tags: philantrophy, the Giving Pledge, Warren Buffet
I came across a survey conducted among Americans who have a leadership role in their communities. You might call them engaged advocates. The survey was about philantrophic organizations which we all know something about but obviously not much as you will soon read. The survey by the Packard Foundation with Harris Interactive found that foundations are largely invisible, even among those who should know better. Only 43% of these engaged Americans were able to name a foundation on their first try. Whereas 13% consider themselves to be very or extremely informed about foundations, 60% feel somewhat or not at all informed about them. The results are just plain scary — only 15% can cite an example of how a foundation has impacted their community. The survey results add up to one plain fact which is that foundations need to communicate better to their best customers, community advocates, because they are the ones who are most likely to spread the word and keep their good work front and center in the public domain. Greater communications are clearly in order here.
