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Q. Many organisations are now developing social media strategies. How do you 

see the intersection between social media and the marketing mix since it clearly 

impacts on product  decision-  making and service?

Roberto Hortal:

 If I only had the answer . . .  I take a radically different view of social 

media than many of my peers. While most people see social media as a branding and 

customer service channel, I see social media’s largest potential in the areas of aware‑

ness, consideration and acquisition. This is not to say the best way to use social media 

sites is to advertise in them. Far from it. The social nature of the Internet demands that 

brands engage in conversation, and identify and incentivise brand ambassadors to 

help amplify our messages.

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Chapter 5  Digital business strategy

There is general acceptance of this, but also a general shyness about steering 

conversations and seeking to extract immediate commercial value in the form of direct 

sales.  Risk‑  aversion takes over and anecdotes [are] used to prove the point that there 

is a risk that poor execution may lead to a social backlash.

The risk is clearly real but there is also an opportunity to execute well and gen‑

erate significant amounts of business and positive buzz. I recently ran a campaign 

with Poland’s largest social network (Nasza Klassa). A fairly simple personality quiz 

mechanism was executed beautifully by my Polish team, resulting in what our part‑

ners characterised as the country’s most successful campaign in terms of reach and 

engagement, one that generated levels of sales comparable to those contributed by 

mainstream e‑marketing channels.

Social media spaces require nurture and respect, but we must not forget that so do 

physical locations. In the same way that people like to go to the village’s Post Office for 

a chat but also do their banking, branded social media environments have the poten‑

tial to merge conversation and commerce in a seamless, altogether better proposition 

for both consumers and brands.