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Adoption – 5 Stages of Media Grief

by Rob Paterson

September 30, 2009 at 10:29 am · Filed under Adoption

Scott Monty is the head of Social Media at Ford – he is really in the thick of it in terms of how best to adapt and adopt Social Media in a large corporate environment.

Here is a link to his brilliant post that shows the linkage for adoption to the Kubler Ross Stages of Grief. For to adopt SM, your old world view has to die. Do you see yourself along this continuum? Scott has much more in his post – please go there.

The 5 Stages of Social Media Grief

Read more: http://www.scottmonty.com/2009/09/fear-and-loathing-in-social-media.html#ixzz0SbVts5ER

(With apologies to Elisabeth Kübler-Ross.)

Denial – first stage of social media grief in which the marketer refuses to acknowledge the existence of social media. This was the case early on in the industry’s development. Luckily, I don’t think there are many companies left that think like this.
Common phrases: “It’s just a kid’s thing,” or “It’s just a fad.”
Common behaviors: avoiding the Internet, putting hands over ears and singing “I can’t heeeeeaaaarr yoooouuuuu. La la laaaaa.”
Anger – In the second stage, jealousy and rage are misplaced and rage ensues.
Common phrases: “This is stupid,” “I’ve got better things to do with my time.”
Common behaviors: full-fledged slave to work email; increase in print or television media buy to show effectiveness and superiority.
Bargaining -Anger gives way to hope that incremental adoption of social media will be enough to make a difference.
Common phrases: “If we have a Facebook page, we should be covered,” “Let’s just create a blog,” or “Let the agency figure it out.”
Common behaviors: the use of social media only in time-limited campaigns; half-hearted efforts on a limited number of social sites.
Depression -The fourth stage manifests itself in an understanding that the inevitable cannot be delayed and the marketer becomes doleful.
Common phrases: “Twitter/Google/Facebook is taking over the world,” or “We’re overwhelmed with choices.”
Common behaviors: moping; pacing; complaining to friends on Facebook.
Acceptance -With the final stage, the marketer finally realizes that social media is here to stay and begins to determine ways to integrate activities and craft strategies that are truly integrated.
Common phrases: “Let’s craft a comprehensive social media strategy,” or “Let’s spend some time listening to what consumers are saying about us.”
Common behaviors: integration of marketing and communications functions, determination of measurement goals, online and offline alignment from the beginning of projects.

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Joeclor5September 30th, 2009 at 10:50 am

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