Objectives of knowledge management

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.