Brian Kenny, CMO of Harvard Business School
Brian Kenny, the Chief Marketing Officer for Harvard Business School (HBS) was in New York City this week to discuss his professional journey into the world of social media. He says HBS is actually embracing the behavioral shift brought on by social media and that the school is going to great lengths to harness viral marketing opportunities.
HBS is using social media for a variety of endeavors including publicizing faculty work, reaching out to potential students, customer service and event promotion.
However, with any social media program, there is some risk involved. Kenny says at first, it was difficult for the university to understand that successful social media efforts involve giving up a certain amount of control.
There are going to be events that garner negative attention and there will be people who post negative comments. The goal is to be involved enough in the social media spectrum, so that you can steer negative attention or press into a more positive venue.
Turning a negative into a positive, is often the best way to deal with a bad situation that is generating unfavorable press.
Kenny also spoke about Buzz versus Risk making the following four points:
- Social Media is not just another marketing and communications channel
- Technology is not social, people are social
- Go to where the communities already exist
- Embrace the shift, but pay attention to your brand in the realm of social media
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