At a recent ANA conference I was interviewing Brian Wallace VP of Digital Marketing and Media for RIM when I heard him say “2 years from now- if I still have a Director of Social Media – I should be fired!” and after thinking about that I can’t help but agree with him.
The theory here is as CMO’s appoint a head of social media in their organizations, it fosters silo-like behavior and departmentalizes social which by definition runs counter to the behavior within the organization you are trying to instill!
As the “lightning rod” for all things social at Avaya – I have tried not to accept the mantle of being the head of social media and instead be more of a caretaker of social activity across the company. I agree you need someone to know what is going on across the company socially but you should not confine social to just a few select people.
My social media team has grown from 7 people at the start to now over 75 people as part of a “virtual cross discipline team” that meets weekly about social activity. And I often wonder how will I push the barriers of that team out – to be more like 15,000 people acting socially in a coordinated, passionate way about our brand. Said differently how do we make social part of the very DNA of the firm?
Ideally, I think you need to treat the role of the Director of Social Media as a way to activate the entire organization socially and then when that’s complete – move on to something else. What’s your view?
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What are some best practices for protecting employees and customers from the dangers inherent in social media? My company offers Social Media monitoring as well as social engeering training for execs, but what are some other ways to minimize risk in this area?
@Brent – I highly recommend a strong social media guidelines – email me if you want me to send you some samples I have collected
I’m in the bar/nightclub industry and stay up to date on current social media trends.
It is important for me to have a social media director. For many reasons… @Paul can you please send me a sample or two that may apply to my biz. Thanks!
@Jim – please email me so I can send them to you (use my blog email me facility)
Great stuff.. Keep it up!
it’s important to have one consistent director and “keeper” of the message who knows it all and knows it well. however I do see your point on having a team of people well-versed in the organization with knowledge on how to push forth that message at all times because a company is ONLY as good as its message
[...] Paul Dunay from Avaya was talking to Brian Wallace, VP of Digital Marketing and Media for RIM, and recalls him saying that “2 years from now – if I still have a Director of Social Media – I should be fired!” Once it gets off the ground, social media isn’t a programme in itself – it needs to support the bigger goals like prospect acquisition, customer growth or co-creation of products/services. Putting it in a silo won’t help anybody achieve these core objectives. [...]
[...] VI suggest decimating England’s population of lawyers. Paul Dunay recently echoed this in his blog: …2 years from now – if I still have a Director of Social Media – I should be [...]
[...] Also I am not seeing anyone really “killing it” with or in social media (sans Mark Zuckerberg of course). There seems to be tons of Social Media consultants and Directors of Social Media but will that party last? (see my post on Fire your Director of Social Media). [...]
[...] just finished a great blog by Paul Dunay about why you should fire your director of social media. Paul, and his muse, RIM’s VP of Digital Marketing, Brian Wallace, posit that social media [...]
While I agree that there should be a group dedicated to “socializing” the company who’s sole purpose is to perpetuate a presence in Social Space, I disagree that you
“need to treat the role of the Director of Social Media as a way to activate the entire organization socially and then when that’s complete – move on to something else”
I believe that there should always be a focused group responsible for driving the company’s social message. Leave it to the masses and trained or not, at some point the chances of a social mis-fire or mis-use are much greater.
[...] Fire your Director of Social Media! | Buzz Marketing for Technology [...]
I couldn’t agree more! There needs to be a facilitator of conversations rather than censor telling other what they are allowed to talk about or share. As a father of an 11 year-old, I understand the necessity to protect oneself or children. Some things are inappropriate for some people, however, that should not preclude others for whom the media is appropriate from seeing it. I keep having flashes from documentaries of book burnings in Nazi Germany. When we start censoring what people can say, do, or post, that’s what we’re headed for.
The conversational streams should be exactly that—streams which ebb and flow without well-defined restrictions.
Like Brian Wallace said, after two years, the director of social media has become too comfortable with the status quo to remain on the cutting edge of technology—which is, after all, what social media is all about.
@Mark – great comment – thanks for sharing
I totally agree that leveraging social conversations presents a huge opportunity for brands!