It was so fun to live blog this event, something I rarely get to do now. I just love in taking all this information from the world’s largest brands, this is a raw capture. Read the live tweets #ISF09 here at the Internet Strategy Forum in Portland.

Katherine Durham VP of Marketing, who I just met this morning is responsible for many of the consumer facing product lines at HP, Imaging and Printing Group, view her LinkedIn profile to learn more.

Topic: Integration of digital median and conversational marketing

Trends that HP sees:

• The more things change the more they stay the same, reaching the right customer with the right message at the right time, and in the right place.
• Digital is getting marketing what it used to be. Talks about the old corner store, how relationships were built in real life, digital is doing the same now.
• “If content is king, context is queen” Jeff Berman, MySpace
• 14hours per week are spent online by consumers (40% of time) however companies only spend 5% online.
• 5 years ago only one of the 10 top sites were social (myspace), now there are several in the top 10 youtube, facebook, wikipedia
• Social media isn’t just for kids, many are not accessing it from twitter.com but are using mobile devices.
• Talks about forkfly.com a mobile social network that enables customers to show restaurants coupons while at the table.
• 77% of Americans watched a video last month
• The importance of reviews are important as they give credibility. 87% of customers would rather ask a friend and trust them than see a critics view about that product.
• Negative reviews can convert
• Gives a customer reference to BazaarVoice, who helps increase results.

The mix still matters, traditional marketing tools still matter. She breaks it down in three different stages: initial consideration, active evaluation, closure, and shows the mix changing. See below image.

Click on image to see my notations

HP success factors:

• Maximize Online to In store integration
  • Breaks down in three cross channel shopping opportunities from online, in-store, and on-ad.
  • 96% research online, 79% purchase in store from consumer product line
  • Key message: Integrate your strategy cross-channel
• Integrate social media
  • Everyone wants to have a say, so listening is good, consumers want to share their opinion
  • Social networking has become important within the employee culture.
  • These tools are about relationships and trust with ‘friends’ and that helps to deliver that with HP
  • Mom is a key target for them, talks about the Pioneerwoman blog –as great example of a blog that demonstrages a customer using printing products in her life. http://thepioneerwoman.com/ Gave a case study how the blogger Ree drove more conversion.
  • They have a social media lead that builds relationships with key influencers and bloggers, they gave products to the top bloggers to give to their community –making the blogger appear like a community hero.
  • HP just recently launched a Facebook page –a bit late in the game considering how large the company is.

She gives the final points that it’s an “AND” not an “OR” use these mediums together with digital and social. Use the data and trust nyour cut, and leave room for innovation and experimentation.

My Take:
Kathy’s got it right, social marketing, while a different approach to marketing that doesn’t work with traidtional marketing efforts, should not be encapsulated as a silo –it needs to be integrated like an overlay across nearly all marketing efforts. Tip: Rather than talk about social in your marketing strategy plans, instead talk about customers –which will naturally lead you to involve their voices in the program.

Via.WebStrategy.