Executive Interviews: Interview with Dr. S Ramesh Kumar on Social Networking
May 2010 - By Dr. Nagendra V Chowdary

Dr. S Ramesh Kumar
Professor of Marketing, Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bangalore

• Experts advocate that the companies articulate and adopt a unique social media strategy to tap into the growing popularity of social media. How should companies go about chalking out social media strategy? What are the critical success factors for getting the power and potential of social media platform right?
  As I have already mentioned social media strategy cannot be independent of marketing mix elements. Success factors cannot be prescriptive in a generic manner. Each brand should evolve its own set of factors that will be useful to it.

• For what kind of companies – B2B, B2C, C2C or P2P – do you think social media platforms would benefit the most?
  Both B to C and B to B will benefit from social networking. But given the nature of B to B, the advantages may be more pronounced in this domain. For example, a purchase manager wanting to have an opinion on a CRM package will get it rapidly from an appropriate newtwork.

• Many believe that Web 2.0 has resulted in ‘Enterprise 2.0’, a term coined to describe efforts to bring technologies such as social networks and blogs into the workplace. However, according to Robert Half Technology’s survey, the executives’ biggest concern was that social networking would lead to social notworking, with employees using the sites to chat with friends instead of doing their jobs. Some bosses also fretted that the sites would be used to leak sensitive corporate information. How do you think therefore the companies should draw lines between what is acceptable and what is not acceptable ‘corporate social behavior’?
  It is not the fault with social networking. Having the right employees and the right culture in an organization should take care of it.

• The Internet was built on freedom of expression. Society wants someone held accountable when that freedom is abused. And major Internet companies like Google and Facebook are finding themselves caught between those ideals. They face a public that increasingly is more inclined to blame them for cyberbullying and online transgressions. Can you highlight some of the recently reported and serious privacy concerns engulfing the social networking sites? Have you noticed any cyber-bullying instances and what was the public response to them? How do you think Internet companies should go about addressing the social antipathy over cyber-bullying and privacy concerns?
  With such a powerful communication mechanism, it is not surprising that these aspects also get proliferated. Several security measures and implementation of cyber laws is the only solution.

• With many players queuing up to slice the market share, what would be the future of social networking companies? Myspace has been acquired by Newscorp, while YouTube was acquired by Google. And Google has recently launched its own social networking site, Buzz. How do you think they should be positioning themselves to be dominant players? Who according to you would master the social networking market?
  I think convergence of technologies and benefits will shape futuristic positioning of these brands. Google is already in partnership with Sony and Intel for introducing televisions services on the web. A one stop informational /entertainment/ transactional approach seems to be imminent and mobile phones have added another dimension – mobility. A social network on the mobile may provide content, and may double up as a transactional platform from where the consumer may be able to buy several categories.

• Both Twitter and Facebook played a starring role in the online campaign strategy that helped sweep Barack Obama to victory in the presidential race. But like Mr Obama, social networks have also generated great expectations along the way on which they must now deliver. How should they prove to the world that they are here to stay and demonstrate that they are capable of generating the returns that justify the lofty valuations investors have given them?
  Again the onus is not on the social networking media. It is on how imaginatively a brand can use them. There are several dimensions that can be explored with regard to dovetailing social media Into the marketing strategy of a brand. A knowledge of reality coupled with a conceptual thinking will ensure that social media delivers.