Human-centered Marketing:

Last in terms of time but first in terms of the evaluation of the audience was the presentation of Eleftherios Hatziioannou – former Social Media Manager of Mercedes-Benz. The Greek-German speaker made it clear: We are human beings after all. And this will never change. What has changed is that marketing and communication of brands is not an one-way street anymore. We are moving from target groups to communities. People become media which is something that creates a huge opportunity for brands. What beats a satisfied customer who spreads the word and love for your product?!

“Lefti” presented various examples of how to use Social Media in different ways ranging from R&D (My Starbucks Idea), Manufacturing (Lego), Social Commerce (Groupon) and Customer Service (Dell). He pointed out that social media engagement takes time and resources and that the Social Media Manager plays a central role. He also shared his own 10 golden rules of Community Management:

1. Add value and simply be helpful
2. Be open and honest
3. Speak their language (insiders vs. outsiders)
4. Listen carefully and be approachable
5. Be like a true friend/ human being
6. Show your appreciation and gratitude
7. Talk with them not to them
8. Create a positive atmosphere (humour/ fun)
9. Don`t be afraid of failure and mistakes
10. Lean back and set the stage for them

He is a true Social Guru and he did walk the talk. He has spoken with simple words, honestly – as if he was talking to friends. A guy who really wanted to help: those around him, the Greek business community and Greece as a country. Maybe that is why he asked the following question at the end: “I wonder what would happen – if we just stopped talking about the crisis (macro-economics) and simply started giving the best service ever to our customers (micro-economics) instead.”

The frenetic applause of the audience was the best finale both for him as well as the whole conference.

Source: The original article was written for the Marketing Week by Epameinondas Tsakalos (Boussias)