21 May 2009
Following extensive research, Carnival Cruises' John Heald and On Holiday Group CEO Steve Endacott have been revealed as the business leaders trading in Britain that have most readily adopted services like LinkedIN, Facebook and twitter as part oftheir essential marketing tool kit.
While social media has been one of 2009's most hyped phenomena, little evidence exists as to what extent businesses are deriving benefits from the plethora of available services. In order to gauge real-world attitudes to the tools, bigmouthmedia assessed the online networking performance of 50 CEO's & senior marketing executives selected from the FTSE100 and the Sunday Times Fast Track 100.
Carnival's Senior Director John Heald emerged as the clear winner in the FTSE100 category. He uses a combination of Facebook and blogging to reach out to past, present and future customers.
"The internet has changed the way that people want to communicate with companies, and even the FTSE100 has to come to terms with that. Customers have become accustomed to a certain level of transparency and informality in their dealings with business and even large-scale enterprises need to adjust their marketing strategies accordingly."
See what Heald had to say about his social media engagement here.
Heald's use of social media proved to be a relative rarity amongst the FTSE100 executives sampled. Only 25% of them engage in any form of online networking, compared to 80% of senior players from Fast Track companies.
Topping the table from the fast growth companies listed in the Fast Track 100 is On Holiday Group CEO and founder Steve Endacott. The former MyTravel chief employs a range of tools including Facebook, LinkedIn, twitter, Plaxo and Xing to promote his travel company and believes that they are an essential part of the modern business toolkit.
"I believe that these are tools every business has to get to grips with. There's a generation of consumers growing up with social media, and unless you truly understand the culture there's a real danger of losing touch with them," he said.
Find out more of Endacott's thoughts on social media engagement here.
LinkedIn emerged as the senior executive's networking tool of choice. Half of those surveyed use the service, while 80% of the FTSE100 managers that engage in online networking use it as their only application.
"Social media is simply about listening and interacting with your customers, using channels that many staff will already be familiar with, such as Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Digg. It is common sense, and it's perhaps unsurprising that the majority of the FastTrack companies are ahead of the curve in this respect," said Econsultancy's Chris Lake.
"What's needed is a shift in mindset. Firms should embrace customer feedback and act on it. By engaging with customers you increase satisfaction, which is a proven way of generating repeat business and referrals. Why wouldn't you want to do that? Social media really is win-win, but I'd stop short of filing it under 'marketing'. It's about customer service, as much as anything."
Cristina Hoole, PR and Marketing Director, LinkedIn Europe, added: "These research findings clearly illustrate the increasing role of social media in the business community and the positive impact that online networking can have on the success of professional individuals. LinkedIn provides all its members with the tools to easily connect with their professional peers and experts that can help them to succeed and do their job more effectively, and to offer a direct route to new business opportunities. Steve and John are great examples of the benefits of a strong professional network."
SURVEY RESULTS
Bigmouthmedia Networking Score
Average FTSE Executive: 0.35
Average Fast track Executive: 1.38
25% of FTSE executives engage in social networking
85% of Fast Track executives engage in social networking
Most Networked FTSE Exec
John Heald, Carnival Cruises
Most Networked Fast Track Exec
Steve Endacott, On Holiday Group
Bigmouthmedia research reveals UK business' engagement with social media
A bigmouthmedia survey has identified the UK market's biggest business users of online social networking tools.Following extensive research, Carnival Cruises' John Heald and On Holiday Group CEO Steve Endacott have been revealed as the business leaders trading in Britain that have most readily adopted services like LinkedIN, Facebook and twitter as part oftheir essential marketing tool kit.
While social media has been one of 2009's most hyped phenomena, little evidence exists as to what extent businesses are deriving benefits from the plethora of available services. In order to gauge real-world attitudes to the tools, bigmouthmedia assessed the online networking performance of 50 CEO's & senior marketing executives selected from the FTSE100 and the Sunday Times Fast Track 100.
Carnival's Senior Director John Heald emerged as the clear winner in the FTSE100 category. He uses a combination of Facebook and blogging to reach out to past, present and future customers.
"The internet has changed the way that people want to communicate with companies, and even the FTSE100 has to come to terms with that. Customers have become accustomed to a certain level of transparency and informality in their dealings with business and even large-scale enterprises need to adjust their marketing strategies accordingly."
See what Heald had to say about his social media engagement here.
Heald's use of social media proved to be a relative rarity amongst the FTSE100 executives sampled. Only 25% of them engage in any form of online networking, compared to 80% of senior players from Fast Track companies.
Topping the table from the fast growth companies listed in the Fast Track 100 is On Holiday Group CEO and founder Steve Endacott. The former MyTravel chief employs a range of tools including Facebook, LinkedIn, twitter, Plaxo and Xing to promote his travel company and believes that they are an essential part of the modern business toolkit.
"I believe that these are tools every business has to get to grips with. There's a generation of consumers growing up with social media, and unless you truly understand the culture there's a real danger of losing touch with them," he said.
Find out more of Endacott's thoughts on social media engagement here.
LinkedIn emerged as the senior executive's networking tool of choice. Half of those surveyed use the service, while 80% of the FTSE100 managers that engage in online networking use it as their only application.
"Social media is simply about listening and interacting with your customers, using channels that many staff will already be familiar with, such as Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Digg. It is common sense, and it's perhaps unsurprising that the majority of the FastTrack companies are ahead of the curve in this respect," said Econsultancy's Chris Lake.
"What's needed is a shift in mindset. Firms should embrace customer feedback and act on it. By engaging with customers you increase satisfaction, which is a proven way of generating repeat business and referrals. Why wouldn't you want to do that? Social media really is win-win, but I'd stop short of filing it under 'marketing'. It's about customer service, as much as anything."
Cristina Hoole, PR and Marketing Director, LinkedIn Europe, added: "These research findings clearly illustrate the increasing role of social media in the business community and the positive impact that online networking can have on the success of professional individuals. LinkedIn provides all its members with the tools to easily connect with their professional peers and experts that can help them to succeed and do their job more effectively, and to offer a direct route to new business opportunities. Steve and John are great examples of the benefits of a strong professional network."
SURVEY RESULTS
Bigmouthmedia Networking Score
Average FTSE Executive: 0.35
Average Fast track Executive: 1.38
25% of FTSE executives engage in social networking
85% of Fast Track executives engage in social networking
Most Networked FTSE Exec
John Heald, Carnival Cruises
Most Networked Fast Track Exec
Steve Endacott, On Holiday Group
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