December 2nd, 2008
Fortune 500 series: How Newell Rubbermaid uses social media
A couple weeks ago I began a series focusing on how Fortune 500 companies are leveraging social media and the thought leaders behind the companies’ programs. The questions from company to company are often similar, but the answers are vastly different. The first Q&A centered around Bob Thacker, senior vice president of marketing and advertising for OfficeMax, who has had great branding success for his company thanks to some social programs.
Now the focus is on another Fortune 500 company, Newell Rubbermaid, the parent of many wide-ranging brands, such as Sharpie, PaperMate, Rolodex, Shur-Line, Calphalon, Graco, Levolor, and of course the classic Rubbermaid product line. With such a huge brand inventory, how could social media potentially span that broad to help the company overall? I asked Bert DuMars, vice president of e-business and interactive marketing for Newell Rubbermaid, to explain the company’s approach, as well as why, over time, each of his brands will need a dedicated social media expert — and why those experts need a solid background in traditional marketing.
Q. [Jennifer] At a high level, please tell me about Newell Rubbermaid’s social media strategies.
A. [Bert] Our strategy is to listen to our consumers first, understand how they would like to engage with us and/or how they would like us to engage with them. We are using strategic methodologies developed by Converseon (specifically for our Graco brand) and Forrester Research Groundswell (POST methodology — specifically for our Rubbermaid brand). This has led us to start small, experiment and see what works. We then expand the particular tactic based on consumer feedback that they are receptive and that we have developed a level of trust with them in the conversation. Graco has been a first mover for us in blogging and outreach to “Mommybloggers.” Rubbermaid, Dymo and CardScan have been first movers in consumer generated reviews and ratings. These leadership positions allow our other brands to learn what works and then determine how they might like to proceed with social media marketing strategies with their consumer segments.
Q. When considering new social media strategies, what is your first move…To hire? To invest? To seek out market data?
A. We definitely seek out market data first. This is a new area for us and heavy investing (whether dollars, personnel or both) without understanding how, when and why our consumers would like to engage with us is risky and dangerous for our brands. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to listen before you leap. We use ForeSee Results consumer satisfaction service to help us listen to our consumers specifically in the interactive marketing area. We also need to determine if we have something positive and influential to add to the conversation. Our Sharpie brand has done limited to very little social media marketing to date, but there are many positive Twitter posts, YouTube videos and blog posts on the brand and products. So, the real strategy that needs to be considered for this brand is what can we add to the conversation that is not already, organically happening. I think there are some social media tactics that will work, but if there is already a large amount of activity and it is positive, you need to be very careful not to disrupt and/or interrupt it.
Next: The importance of a social marketing team –>
Jennifer Leggio, aka "Mediaphyter," writes about the "social business" side of social media - including enterprise, security and reputation issues. See her full profile and disclosure of her industry affiliations.
For daily updates on Jennifer's activities, follow her on Twitter.
To interact with Jennifer, connect on Facebook.
Subscribe to Social Business via Email alerts or RSS.
