360DigitalInfluence

We are a company of communicators. We embraced social media years ago as a new way to communicate for ourselves and, also, for our clients to push their business forward in new ways.We have always had a socila media policy to help our staff use social media productively.

The recent decision by Forrester to restrict their analyst/bloggers to publishing within the Forrester blog domain (vs. allowing them to publish personal blogs outside of Forrester and grow their personal brands that way), has kicked up a dust storm of opinions.  

I particularly like Shel Holtz’s thorough summary of some of these opinions and the issues. We are a client of Forrester’s and I understand what they are trying to do. Still, I am grateful that we have chosen another path. We sell IP and POV and, yes, we mostly sell client solutions to marketing and communications problems. We have different business needs. Their business is more narrow. I would summarize the two key questions about their approach:

• Will this help Forrester drive up or maintain the value of their IP by exerting more control over where it is found and how it can be accessed/purchased?
• Will this help Forrester retain valuable analysts talent by avoiding a real or perceived “personal brand brain drain?”

We Benefit

For us, we want our communicators out their sharing their POV. Ogilvy benefits from Rohit Bhargava and Thomas Crampton developing their personal brands. Can they fly off and parlay the value they have accrued via their work at Ogilvy to benefit only themselves? Sure. But I am not going to solve that problem by trying to lock them down or, more likely, hiring folks who are not driven to build their personal brand.

I am not completely at peace over this issue. I grew up at a time when this much snow (big snowstorm this week in DC) was normal (”it snowed up to my head and I walked three miles to school,” he boasted) and loyalty to the organization was a virtue. Still I don’t expect as much from others today. I have seen some personal brand pundits who clearly put themselves in front of their clients or the companies they work for. I am not in favor of that.  Inside our organization, there seems to be plenty of room for compleimentary personal brands.

Social Media “Guardrails”

We have given all of our staff the guardrails they need today to use social media well. It is forever a work-in-progress. In fact, I am sharing a new draft - not even “final” - of our policy (see below). We will refine it (e.g. “should staff check-in via FourSquare when they reach their client’s offices?” I think I’m gonna suggest “no” on that one - goes against our posting on clients restrictions).

I actually don’t think Forrester’s move will hurt the personal brands of their analysts. If anything, they will likely all benefit from a well-promoted space and it will likely launch some new personal brands. Still, it is a tough decision to try and restrain the natural self promotion of the most prolific “personal brands’ out there. For us, we learn form these guys and gals. Some of the lessons of personal brands apply to our business and we have learned that some do not. Still, we are a company of communicators and prefer to be hip-deep in social media everyday.

Ogilvy On… Social Media

Ogilvy PR Global Social Media Guidelines 2010: DRAFT

 Social media brings us new opportunities to connect and communicate with our global community. As dedicated communications practitioners who are committed to driving the evolution of our industry, we openly embrace social media and seek to inform and inspire our associates to engage in online conversations. Here’s what is driving us: 

• Insatiable Curiosity: The unrelenting devotion to pursue new angles, new methods and new platforms;
• Global Citizenship: Collaborating with a worldwide network of thought leaders and industry luminaries;
• Complete Candor: Dedication to integrity in everything we do;
• Excellence: Recognizing that nothing less than our best will suffice; and
• Continuous Learning: Always learning and teaching each other in a world that is in perpetual beta

 While we expect all Ogilvy staff to utilize common sense in all interactions, both online and offline, these guidelines endeavor to guide our participation in social media both personally and professionally.

 Overview of Social Media Tools

 These guidelines cover all social media platforms - technologies that enable social interaction. These include, but are not limited to: 

• Social networking sites (Facebook, MySpace, Foursquare, LinkedIn)
• Video and photo sharing websites (Flickr, YouTube)
• Micro-blogging sites (Twitter)
• Blogs (including corporate or personal blogs as well as comments)
• Forums and discussion boards (e.g., local discussion boards, Whirlpool, Yahoo! Groups or Google Groups)
• Online encyclopedias (e.g., Wikipedia, Sidewiki)

Ogilvy PR Social Media Guidelines 

Personal Usage: Connecting and networking with friends and colleagues 

• Be Responsive: If someone responds to something you’ve said, be responsive and follow-up quickly (e.g., 24 hours). You should, therefore, monitor for mentions of yourself to avoid any issues. If you say something in error, never take down the post - simply go back and update it with the correct information. 
• Clients and Our Business Are Confidential: Don’t post about clients or potential clients without explicit permission from your client and manager. Our client relationships matter more than anything and we must protect their business. 
• Be Yourself: Never assume a “fake” identify in social media and always be transparent about who you are and who you represent. 
• Build a Following: Promote yourself by finding and sharing information that will be interesting to your friends and followers and useful for them to share. We also encourage you to connect with other Ogilvy PR employees and affiliates online. 
• Know You’re Always “On”: You must assume that your social media usage is visible to clients, managers and prospects. Unless you go to extraordinary lengths to keep your online content private, be sure to manage what and with whom you are sharing. As a reminder, while we all have the occasional work frustration, Facebook and Twitter are not the best venues in which to air them as those comments are available to your clients and coworkers. 
• Be Civil and Human: You can have an edge without being obscene, defamatory, threatening, harassing, overtly sexual, discriminatory or hateful to another person or organization - including Ogilvy PR, its vendors, partners, competitors and/or other related people or organizations. 
• Fully Disclose…Always: Never talk about a product or organization in social media in exchange for cash. If you receive a product or service to review for free, you must disclose it in your post or review. We firmly ascribe to WOMMA’s Guide to Social Media Disclosure (in review now) and Ogilvy’s guide to the new FTC Guidelines (summarized here). 
• Always Give Proper Credit:It’s OK to quote or re-Tweet others, but never attempt to pass off someone else’s language, photography, or other information as your own. All copyright, privacy, and other laws that apply offline apply online as well. Be sure to credit your sources when posting a link or information gathered from another source.  
• Give Respect: Always demonstrate respect for others’ points of view, even when they’re not offering the same in return. Never pick fights and always take the high road. If you are sharing a negative customer service experience or commenting on a brand or individual, please consider doing so in a constructive way.

 Company Guidelines: Talking about Ogilvy PR and its affiliates 

• About You: If you have permission and plan to discuss Ogilvy PR-related information across your social properties, you should disclose on your “About” page or bio that you are an Ogilvy PR employee and be clear about which business unit you represent and what your responsibilities include. Please also indicate that your opinions do not represent official positions of Ogilvy PR. 
• Speaking for Ogilvy: Remember that you are not an official “spokesperson” for Ogilvy PR and there are many cases when we must leave speaking for Ogilvy up to them. Contact Rachel Foltz with any questions.  
• Using Social Media at Work: While we encourage the use of social media during office hours, your time at work should be focused on your primary responsibilities. 
• Ogilvy Experts: If you are positioning yourself as an Ogilvy expert on a personal social media account (e.g., not the Ogilvy PR Blog), please seek prior approval from your manager. 
• Ogilvy Confidentiality: Only disclose publicly-available information. Don’t use your blog to break news about clients or Ogilvy. 
• Discussing Ogilvy People: We ask you to remember that sharing personal information about co-workers may affect them inside and outside of the office. All standard HR policies apply to interactions between colleagues across the social Web.

 Client Social Media Etiquette: Representing and Talking about Ogilvy PR clients, partners and contacts 

• Client Transparency: If you have permission to share what a client is doing publicly (e.g., launching a Web site or running a contest), you must be transparent and disclose your relationship. For personal blogs this may include a few sentences fully explaining your relationship. For micro-blogs, like Twitter, this is generally done by adding a (disc: client) or (cl) when space is limited.

 Common sense should always rule, but please do not hesitate to ask for clarification. For questions, concerns or comments please contact Virginia Miracle or John Bell.