Keynote speech at Melcrum event will address social media hot topic – is Return On Investment possible?
LONDON, August 12th, 2010
The keynote speech at Melcrum’s major conference and workshop event; Building the business case for social media in internal communications, will be given by Philippe Borremans - a Belgian PR professional with more than 15 years experience in media relations, crisis and social media communication. In 2009 he left IBM to become Belgium’s first chief social media officer at the Van Marcke Group of Companies.
In his keynote address at the Brussels Marriott Hotel, Belgium, on September 14, Borremans will examine the controversial question of whether you can or can't gain return on investment from using social media in internal communication. Often, he says, the "can't" camp win the argument because there are so few examples of financial benefits. Borremans discusses a number of concrete business and communication steps that can lead to a clear, measurable and realistic plan - one that can see companies recoup and surpass their initial outlay. His presentation will cover these steps based on a real-life scenario and show how beneficial a carefully and well-planned, enterprise-wide social media strategy can be within a large organisation.
In a recent interview, Borremans said, ‘There’s no point jumping on the social media bandwagon if you don’t know which problems it will solve. There’s no use in saying, “we should be using internal blogs” when you don’t have an application for those blogs. If it doesn’t solve a problem, there isn’t a use – and I think this is the issue that the business case is missing in a lot of organizations’.
Borremans believes that Internal communication and the role of HR is crucial because for these kinds of projects to be successful, around 30 percent is based on the new IT platform and 70 percent on information, education and putting the tool into context. ‘It is, he says, ‘more about cultural change than having a new platform to collaborate. Putting these changes into context, making employees understand what’s in it for them, giving them the right training and ensuring it’s ongoing are all crucial steps that internal communication and HR need to take.’
Melcrum is holding the major conference and workshop event; Building the business case for social media in internal communications, at the Brussels Marriott Hotel, Belgium, on September 14 and 15.
Over two days, thought leaders and pioneers in social media, using case study examples, will provide new insight into how social media is already working successfully. Hands-on workshops will guide delegates through the process of constructing their own social media business case.
Full details are available at http://www.melcrum.com/socialmedia/index.html
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About Melcrum
Melcrum, a privately held research and training business, is the leading authority on best practice, emerging trends and strategy in internal communication.
Melcrum advises internal communication leaders at 69 per cent of the Global Fortune 100 largest organizations and 84 per cent of the FTSE 100. Through independent research and executive education, Melcrum helps internal communicators achieve the rewards and recognition they deserve.
With global networks and offices in the UK, US and Australia, Melcrum researchers and editors spend their time meeting and talking to practitioners to find out where the best work gets done. Melcrum makes these tools, techniques, and case studies available to its members through publications, research, events, forums and web sites.
For further information visit www.melcrum.com or contact:
Robin Crumby, Group MD, Melcrum
T: +44 (0) 20 8600 4670
E: robin.crumby@melcrum.com
or
Jacqui Green, JGMpr
M: 07885 270 349
E: jacqui@jgmpr.com
