The Conversation Manager

Wouter Glaser is Communication and PR Manager at Hyves, thé social networking site in the Netherlands. For an update on his book The Conversation Manager, Steven interviewed him on his role as Conversation Manager at Hyves. You can find the full interview below. Enjoy!

How would you describe your role as Conversation Manager of Hyves: what are your tasks?

My primary task is external communication of Hyves and influencing the image of the social network. I thereby shape the overall communication strategy, communication about new product launches and set up collaborations. I discover conversations about Hyves by monitoring media, the Internet and Twitter. I react to these conversations based on the opinions expressed. For instance by inviting the person in question to lunch and a tour.

What skills do you need to succeed in your job?

Everything stands or falls with the ability to communicate, both in person and by phone and online. The formulation and distribution of the right message is also an important competence. Another characteristic the Conversation Manager should have is the ability to uncover how people are influenced, and by whom these people are influenced. While journalists are still important, they are only one of the influencers who make or break your brand. This combination coupled with expertise and experience makes a skilled Conversation Manager.

What challenges do you face?

The biggest challenge in my position consists of a number of misconceptions about Hyves, including those about the size of the company (160 employees), the average age (31 years) and reach (7.8 million unique visitors - Comscore June 2010). Another challenge is the fact that the playing field of influencers is becoming ever bigger, which makes it more difficult to improve perceptions among certain groups.

What are the most common situations in which you enter into a dialogue with consumers?

I myself do not enter into dialogue with Hyves users as Hyves has dedicated community managers who are specialised in that. Twenty so-called Hyves Angels work 7 days a week to enter into dialogue with Hyves users, answering no fewer than 750 questions per day. The Angels are also in contact with well-known Hyves users, artists and our technical department. Since recently, they also enter into dialogue with Hyves users who use Twitter to point out problems, via twitter.com/hyvesangels.

Do you have a specific policy, or certain guidelines that support your strategy?

Influencing the influencer is the primary strategy. This is the motto of Thomas Creemers and Anton-Jan Thijssen (TBWA\Busted), who taught me the PR profession. This is the basis of a number of starting points, including publicising our USPs:

1. Hyves is locally relevant.
2. Hyves gives personal attention to its users
3. Hyves users can customise Hyves the way he or she wants.

What is your personal vision for Conversation Management in 140 characters?

The Conversation Manager will in the near future become the spider in the web between communication, PR and social media departments.

Are you a fan of Sex & the City? Well, next time you go to New York, download their iPhone App. It will guide you through the city, so you can experience the show’s key locations.

It’s a 1,99$ App and offers you details about 120 locations including restaurants, bars & apartments. The App works through GPS so it is pretty easy to use. Nothing new you could say. Also pretty late that an app like this is invented for this show, don’t you think?

The learning for me is that this App was not created by the people behind the TV show, but by another media company. Today, TV producers & managers are still thinking in terms of DVD’s, CD’s, … as additional business lines for their popular shows. It’s time that mobile applications should play a bigger part in it. This can make TV really interactive.

I’ve just got back from a two week holiday in France. Along the way, I saw some marketing examples I would like to share. Here we go: 

1. Branded utility: Driving to the south can be tiring (certainly after a team building trip with InSites ),so this sprinkling system came in quite handy. A nice example of branded utility by APRR.

 2. Commercial pharmacists in France: Compared to most pharmacists, the ones in France seem to understand that they are actually running a store. Selling medication can be done in a more commercial, promotional way according to them. I could appreciate that

 3. Digital newspaper printing: This is a great service. By digital newspaper printing, people in this hotel had access to 1400 newspapers. You received the paper of your own country, early in the morning in full color. Never seen it before, but could appreciate it a lot.

4. Making a brand positioning statement: Showing your brand positioning without showing your own products. It’s what Gucci is doing in Cannes with this boat. A great yacht is standing close to the ocean to make it clear how premium Gucci is. Hunderds of people were taking pictures of it.

5. Security above all, you can always have a heart attack over here: After a steep walk, some people may get a heart attack; that must have been the thought of the owners of this tourist attraction. Preventive measures to ensure your visitors, or is it the other way around.