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Yes, Netflix Exists But Im Going to Buy a VCR By Adam Baylor, MTI Network and Maren Engh Lets

face it. Theres no turning back. Social Media is here to stay in all aspects of our lives. After the Deepwater Horizon tragedy, social media became inextricably linked to crisis communications. Photos of oiled wildlife were Tweeted. Smartphone videos of oil washing ashore were posted to YouTube. Anti-BP groups were created on Facebook. Within five days of the Macondo blowout, the remotely operated vehicles underwater footage was streaming live on the Internet as thousands of barrels of oil gushed into the ocean. The eyes, ears and opinions of the world have coalesced through social media like never before. Regardless of whether or not you think its good or bad, it means one thing; a sea change is coming to the way shipping companies operate and respond to the Internet. It is increasingly true both in good times and crisis. Traditionally, during a crisis a company had plenty of time to collect information, develop key messages and engage the public via the local TV news channel, a radio interview or simply talking to a print journalist on the telephone. Not anymore. It is simply not enough for a responsible, transparent company to ignore the online dialogue or its presence on the Internet. Companies need to be engaged, which is easier said than done especially when so many are not using social media.

Marine Money searched the Internet for official Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, YouTube channels and LinkedIn profiles1 from a listi of 100 major shipping companies to determine who had a social media presence and how sophisticated that might be. We wanted to discern whether a maritime company could exhibit brand presence through social media marketing as well as gauge their ability to use the same platforms in general and during a crisis. That the industry is by and large at the start of its adoption of the developing communications tools is not surprising. But the opportunities, challenges and threats posed by the new media we suspect means the adoption curve will be steep and swift.

86%

Not On Facebook Active 7% 7% Semi-Active

Figure 1

ii

The results were as expected; shipping companies are not utilizing social media as either a marketing tool or as part of a crisis communication strategy. But to be fair most shipping companies have not discovered the value (or perhaps the threat) of social media to warrant a professional presence. A good

For the Geeks: The decision to research only four social media platforms was based on the popularity of these websites in the general public and familiarity within the shipping industry. Therefore, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn are all we considered.

reason for this is the indirect commercial relationship the shipping industry has with consumers, which minimizes the need for a broad communications platform. Rather than direct contact with a final enduser, there exist many layers between the shipowners and their consumers such as brokers, forwarders, agents and so forth. These layers make social media adoption and mastery in our industry somewhat elusive. What could we possibly have to talk about on Facebook? The majority of businesses that successfully market and advertise on Facebook use the social network to create a direct consumer-provider relationship. They engage in an online dialogue. The success of companies such as TOMS Shoes or Ben & Jerrys Ice Cream in using Facebook may be an eye-opener into what is possible in social media. TOMS has a very simple concept that makes the consumer feel good about buying shoes: buy one, give one. This positive and charitable action gives the consumer who is also a Facebook user something to share online by taking part in a direct action that the company facilitates. TOMS makes an effort to post to their Facebook page how the buy one, give one concept benefits a child in need. With constant interaction online, the consumer-provider relationship is highly active. Consider perhaps how the shipping industry might create some of that same positive connection by emphasizing the millions of lives it touches daily by delivering food and energy. Not surprisingly, advertising ice cream online has been beneficial. With more than 3 million Likes on Ben & Jerrys Facebook page, advertising Fair Trade and Organic additions to old products, for example, is easily done with a few Wall posts. The added benefit is that these posts to your fans come with measurable Impressions, Facebooks term of art for metrics and analytics. Impressions are a count of how many times a Wall post is viewed throughout Facebook, be it on your companys page or on someones personal page. It gives the page administrator or marketing team a better picture of the impact of each individual post and the level of social interaction. Container lines, 3pls, and others are finding that measurement a compliment to strategic planning.

Not all companies that we researched are avoiding the social media world; the small percentages of shipping companies that do participate include some big names: CMA CGM, Maersk, Teekay, Pacific Basin. These early adopters are finding benefits as they explore the possibilities. So what have they learned? First, these early adopters figured out how to use Facebook a small learning curve but an essential step. Sometimes navigating constantly changing software can be tricky. Many companies that use social media have developed teams dedicated to marketing, monitoring and engaging daily with their audience. Secondly, theyve figured out how to communicate to a world that is contained on one system. Facebook, for example now has more than 750 million users. Thats quite an audience of opinion and the numbers continue to increase even as the largest percentage of the industry ponders social media participation in its everyday business. This point is perhaps the pearl for the industry. To take an example from a crisis, an oil spill for example, using Facebook or other social media platforms to communicate a critical message, to correct misinformation or simply show concern may serve to protect a companys reputation, can provide the first person connection often proven to reduce anger and frustration. But Facebook influence doesnt happen overnight. It has to begin with a positive campaign of active participation. Social Media is not a one-off project. Success requires a strategic initiative, allocation of management time, resources and funding for a staff to implement and keep the content relevant, dynamic and current. So do not think your social media presence starts and ends with a launch of a Facebook page. The social media dialogue is continuous and your presence must be constant and not banal. It is a step to take thoughtfully.

Thirdly, theyre finding new ways to promote their corporate image through marketing and feedback. Access to Facebooks page metrics provides administrators with numbers that they can use to gauge effectiveness. For example, Pacific Basin posted a link to their 2011 Interim Results webcast. By using Facebook to disseminate this type of information the company broadens their reach, remains current and can see the impression that such content makes online. If the company is involved in an incident in the future, posting information in the same place about emergency actions taken will be measurable and allows entrance into the online dialogue with facts and figures and not rumors.

92%

Not on Twitter Have Accounts Active

4%

4%

Figure 2

iii

The adoption percentages for Twitter are nearly the same as for Facebook. While the two platforms differ greatly in medium (social network versus microblogging2), the opportunities and pitfalls remain the same: 1. Learning how to use the software, especially having access to its sophisticated search engines which provide some of the Internets fastest moving information (ponder this: more than 5,000 tweets per second when rumors surfaced that Osama bin Laden was killed).

Microblogging is a broadcast medium in the form of blogging. A microblog differs from a traditional blog in that its content is typically smaller in both actual and aggregate file size. Microblogs allow users to exchange small elements of content such as short sentences, individual images, or video links. (Wikipedia)

2. Giving your company a voice in the online chatter either promotional or defensive. 3. Developing creative new ways to promote your company. Twitter continues to play a key role in communicating breaking news. Throughout the Arab Uprising, we witnessed massive levels of organization through the use of Twitter as a communications tool. Followers of protest leaders were given information faster than the ruling parties. With the recent bombings in Mumbai, the New York Times was able to direct its more than 3.5 million followers within seconds to reporters who were using Twitter on the scene. In a world full of activist, citizen journalists and commentators, the use of such a democratic medium by mainstream news is both good in that the New York Times has journalistic standards (All the news that is fit to print) as well as eye opening for the speed with which a publication of record will weigh in on a breaking story. For a shipowner whose vessel is aground nearly anywhere in the world, the window of engagement is small and appropriate consideration must be given to swift action. For a recent earthquake in Stamford, Connecticut, it took CNN and the Associated Press 20 minutes to file a report. Twitter and Facebook created an instantaneous community sharing information including almost immediate linkages to the National Earthquake Center from whom primary information was circulated.

94%

Companies with Accounts 6% Companies without Accounts

Figure 3

If a picture is worth a thousand words then how much is a YouTube video of a ship smashing into a bridge in San Francisco worth? Or a contrasting video showing the intense cleanup effort that a company is exerting to combat an oil spill? The opportunity to present the message can go either way and a shipping company truly has the most to gain.

27% 51% 20%

Positive Exposure Neutral Exposure Negative Exposure No Videos

2%

Figure 4

Of the videos we did find on YouTube, 27% had a positive tone (job opportunities, good returns, deals), 20% were neutral and 2% were negative (poor returns, bad deals). It was surprising and encouraging to see that positive messages are out there for the public to view and confirming that it can be done. While our research was only looking for videos on YouTube referring to the 100 companies in the sample universe, it is important to remember that during an incident user-generated content will spike. The moment a crisis occurs and there is black smoke shrouding a harbor, dead birds on a beach or senior management does a perp walk, the YouTube videos are uploaded within seconds. When the Sea Diamond cruise ship sank several years ago and an amateur film maker coupled uploaded video with the theme song from the film Titanic, it became one of the most watched videos on the Internet.

The final part of our research was to look at LinkedIn, the worlds largest professional network. Based upon the level of participation, the results proved one thing: companies want to use social media but may not understand everything that is out there.

LinkedIn
54% On LinkedIn 46% Not On LinkedIn

Figure 5

More than half of the 100 companies that we examined are using LinkedIn. Why then not use other social media platforms? This imbalance is in part due to the professional or work-related content that LinkedIn strives to serve and present but it also points to our earlier finding that companies have not engaged fully an understanding of how to market on social media. The majority of companies that currently have a LinkedIn presence use the site for personnel notes, recruitment or business meeting notices and even the most robust pages are relatively static once established. Ultimately, it is its simplicity which makes it the medium of choice. LinkedIn, however, has yet to demonstrate its influence as a crisis communications tool, except that it enables a fairly robust opportunity for journalists or bloggers to locate, identify and even contact senior personnel. Twitter, Facebook and YouTube have more clearly demonstrated significant roles during a crisis.

It is safe to say, that the skills used by social media teams during ordinary client communications and marketing will translate well to skills needed in a crisis. Just being able to correct misinformation at the source is a valuable asset in todays 24-7 media frenzy. The industry is adopting this resource. As industry leaders blaze a trail, undoubtedly others will follow especially as a younger generation of shipping professionals rise in seniority. Competitors will be forced to follow industry leaders. Shareholders will insist upon the transparency that social media brings to corporate communications. It is worth the industry selling itself during good times through social media, because angry citizens will always be there, even if the industry is not, in the bad times.

AET, Bouchard Transportation, Clipper Group AS, CMA CGM, Frontline, General Maritime, K Line LNG, K-Sea Transportation, Laurin Maritime, NYK, OSG, Stena Bulk, Stena Drilling, Teekay Shipping, TORM, V.Ships Group, Svitzer, Ardmore Shipping, Bernhard Schulte Group, Fleet Management, Louis Dreyfus, Maersk Company Ltd., Stolt-Nielsen, Vroon, Yang Ming Marine Transport, Safe Bulkers Inc., Navios Maritime Partners, Orient Overseas International Ltd, U-Ming Marine Transport, Knightsbridge, Tankers Ltd., Kirby Corporation, Seacor Holdings Inc., Ship Finance International Ltd, Neptune Orient Lines, Grindrod Ltd., Capital Product Partners, Mercator Lines Singapore, Pacific Shipping Trust, CMB, Hellenic Carriers, Malaysian Bulk Carriers, Golden Ocean Group, Courage Marine Group, Alexander & Baldwin, DFDS A/S, Wilh. Wilhelmsen Holding Group, China Shipping Development, D/S Norden A/S, COSCO Holdings, Algoma Central Corporation, DHT Holdings Inc., Excel Maritime Carriers, Global Ship Lease Inc., Horizon Lines Inc., Diana Shipping Inc., Eagle Bulk Shipping Inc., Golar LNG Ltd., Regional Container Lines PCL, Globus Maritime
ii

The difference between active and semi-active is in how social the account administrators are to users online that Like the page. For example, a Wall post that has received comments from users but contains no interaction from an administrator would appear semi-active. The point is to create an online dialogue and thus become active. iii The total number for companies with Twitter accounts is about 8% but we split that amount here to focus on which ones are being actively used. If a company had tweeted recently then they were active.

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