Klout, Kred or PeerIndex? It doesn’t matter

by Niall Cookon January 23, 2012in Analysis, Measurement, PRINT, Return on Investment

While conducting an analysis recently around a bunch of organisations in the same sector, we looked at their respective Klout, Kred and PeerIndex scores. Regular readers of this blog will know that we’re not huge fans of these fairly simplistic measures of ‘influence’ – we obviously prefer our own multi-channel, multi-attribute methodology. However, as long as they are viewed for what they are – just three examples of a much wider cosmos of indicators of social media performance, meaningless on their own but potentially insightful as part of a broader analysis – they can help motivate and focus attention.

Armed with the data, we thought it would be interesting to see if there was any kind of correlation between these competing influence measures.

What we found is that there isn’t really anything to choose between them. Of course, they’re all measuring the same thing so I guess one would expect to see strong correlations. So it doesn’t really matter which one you use. Here’s the data:

Correlation between Klout, Kred and PeerIndex

First up, we looked at PeerIndex. Taking the scores of our sample of 39 organisations, we found a Pearson r value of 0.573 between PeerIndex and Kred, and a slightly higher r value of 0.595 between PeerIndex and Klout.

Based on our sample, both exceed the critical values for r at the 0.01 confidence level, demonstrating a statistically significant relationship between both PeerIndex and Kred scores and PeerIndex and Klout scores.

Then we looked at the relationship between Klout and Kred. When the r value came out at 0.846, we couldn’t quite believe it. On the basis of this, we could confidently state that 99.9 times out of a hundred the relationship between the two scores is not a result of chance.

Conclusions

Whilst Klout, Kred and PeerIndex correlated strongly with each other, whether they’re measuring the right thing is a different matter. There’s no relationship with brand value, for example, unlike our PRINT™ system. When applying the PRINT Index™ to the 50 most valuable global brands, there was a statistically significant correlation between social media performance and brand value. But there was no such correlation for the PeerIndex and Klout scores for the same brands. Kred wasn’t launched then but given the correlations above we can safely say the same would have applied.

So there you have it: three measures of social media influence that are going to produce similar results regardless of which you use, but none of which – on their own – mean anything.

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Sponsor David Graham on Change SA

The Wildlands’ Rhino Conservation Project, endorsed by Project Rhino KZN, aims to place as many rhino as possible under GPS surveillance. The main focus is on improving monitoring systems and incident response, that will allow reserve managers to know exactly where the rhino are at all times, and, more importantly, will alarm them when the rhino are in potential danger, thus curbing the response time of anti-poaching units.

Recent advances in technology have produced a GPS unit that can be fitted into a rhino horn, thus allowing for real-time monitoring of rhino (the units are linked to a localised solar-powered GSM system that integrates with Global Positioning Satellites producing accurate information on the location of rhino at all times). This has the potential to be an incredibly valuable tool in combating poaching and preventing future losses.

Wildlands is currently piloting this system in Somkhanda Game Reserve, with the ultimate aim of ensuring as many rhino as possible in the province are under constant GPS surveillance. Once the system has been perfected the plan is to expand the system into other reserves in KwaZulu-Natal where poaching continues unabated.

I will appreciate it if you share this with family, friends, colleagues and acquaintances.

by Jonathan Houston, online marketing manager at Talooma (@Jingo27 on Twitter)

Where does a CIO fit in with online marketing?

The generic answer that you get when you ask someone what a CIO does is, “oh, he is the chief IT guy”…

Now while this is partially true, a CIO is more involved in the strategic alignment of the business objectives, process management and revenue generation as well as revenue growth of specific business units through the strategic implementation of IT strategies and IT best practices. (that is a bit of a mouthful, but it sums up the strategic importance of the roll.)

In addition to this, there is still another area where the CIO can add a tremendous amount of value. Due to the fact that the CIO role is first and foremost a role concerned with the generation of revenue and the utilization of interdepartmental information through technology; the CIO role is becoming more and more concerned with the online environment.

Business is being forced increasingly more towards the online environment. With technological developments happening at a rapid rate of knots; the new CIO is having to ensure that their businesses are geared towards taking advantage of this digital revolution.

The successful CIO is one who is able to ensure that the systems that are being put in place are able to grow and develop with the changes not only internally, but externally as well.

A major debate which constantly surrounds the role of a successful CIO is that of whether or not a CIO can be successful without IT knowledge or experience… I would like to add another dynamic to that…

Can a CIO be successful without a sounds backing digital marketing and ultimately user experience?

Granted the CIO has a vast array of professionals within each specific department on whose experience he can draw; but with the rapid move to a technology driven and virtually connected world, a successful CIO is one who can understand and plan for the user experience that the consumer (both internally and externally) is demanding; whilst still ensuring that the organisation is able to operate more efficiently on systems which are “future proof” and able to ensure interdepartmental business intelligence to allow the C level executives in the organisation to better understand and plan for the future.

I am not suggesting that a CIO needs to be a digital marketer at heart, but rather that successful CIOs of the future, and even of the present day, need to be aware of digital marketing best practices and theories to ensure continued success.

I will welcome your feedback and comments and PLEASE share !!!!

]]> http://dngraham.wordpress.com/2012/01/22/where-does-a-cio-fit-in-with-online-marketing/feed/ 0 jingo27 jon http://dngraham.wordpress.com/2012/01/20/lee-swan-and-david-graham-of-deloitte-south-africa-support-the-wildlands-conservation-trust-and-rhino-conservation/ http://dngraham.wordpress.com/2012/01/20/lee-swan-and-david-graham-of-deloitte-south-africa-support-the-wildlands-conservation-trust-and-rhino-conservation/#comments Fri, 20 Jan 2012 09:31:59 +0000 David Graham http://dngraham.wordpress.com/?p=2591 Continue reading →]]>

by David Graham, Deloitte South Africa

I recently accepted the challenge of participating in the Giants Castle Mountain Bike Challenge to raise money for the Wildlands Conservation Trust and rhino conservation. The 75 kms I will be doing in April pales into complete and utter insignificance when compared with Lee Swan’s contribution toward rhino conservation. Lee has kindly provided an account of what she did last year in the Polar Race 2011, and believe me, this is no mean feat.

Lee Swan’s participation in what is dubbed ”The World’s Toughest Race” 

Lee Swan is the first African-born woman to reach the Magnetic North Pole on foot. After 18 months of training, in April 2011 Lee took part in the biennial Polar Race (dubbed “the World’s toughest race”) from Northern Canada to the Magnetic North Pole. The race covers 820km on foot, with racers navigating themselves over Arctic sea ice in temperatures averaging -40 degrees Celsius. Lee completed this journey as part of an international three person team. Lee endured an epic 23 day journey through the world’s harshest conditions.

Lee undertook this journey to experience the human condition at its most extreme, whilst raising awareness of the implications of climate change for South African business, ahead of the 17th United Nationals International Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP17). In her day job as Manager in the Sustainability & Climate Change consulting team at Deloitte, Lee is involved in assisting South African companies to steer through the emerging myriad of climate change considerations now embedding themselves into the business environment. Lee is a true inspiration.

Lee became involved with the Rhino Parade project because she is concerned with the longevity of endangered species, including rhinos.  Lee’s rhino depicts her journey to the Magnetic North Pole.

The value of rhino horn has recently escalated to US$ 38 000 per kilogram which continues to drive poaching activity. The Wildlands Conservation Trust Rhino Conservation Programme is making significant and tangible progress towards reducing rhino poaching through its investment in new technology GPS transmitter implants inserted into the horns of living rhino – a programme which Lee wishes to support.

Lee Swan’s motivational talk is something to behold. If you would like to book her, contact her directly at leeswan@deloitte.co.za

Would like to make a small donation toward my fund raising Giants Castle Challenge mountain bike ride in the April? Click on the link below.

Support rhino conservation and sponsor my participation in the 75 km Giants MTB Challenge

Please share with your friends, colleagues and network!

Written by Jeff Bullas

It was in 2005 that I noticed a trend that intrigued me and it was that teenagers were becoming obsessed with a social networking site called MySpace.

I didn’t create an account as it seemed a waste of time and I had more important things to do.

In 2008 I was invited by a friend to join Facebook and on signing in I was impressed by its clever programming and functionality that allowed you to connect with old friends and colleagues from college at the click of a button.

Over the next 12 months I observed that certain people became engrossed in Facebook and seemed to spend most of their waking hours updating their profile and uploading photos.

In 2012 that has not changed.

What has changed though is how it is used. Facebook is a place to play games like Farmville or Mafia wars. It is a website where you can now buy products and get specials. You can listen to music and upload videos. You can instant message and chat.

The creation of Facebook “pages” for business to participate has allowed the whole Facebook ecosystem to evolve at an accelerated pace.

Marketers have found it a vibrant place to engage and communicate with customers and it is socializing marketing.

So is it too much of a time sink that takes us away from things that should be done? Does social media in fact leverage our time and reduce the tyranny of distance?

Is Social Media a Waste of Time?

If you take a closer look then the benefits seem to outweigh the disadvantages.

Here are some of the upsides to social media

• 18% of people 50-64 years old use it to connect with others who have similar hobbies
• 17% use it to find “love”
• 50% use it to reconnect with old friends
• It is a source of entertainment as 250 million photos are uploaded  every day and there are 100 million videos to watch
• 41% of the class of 2011 used it to look for a job

Do you think social media is waste of time?

Why Social Media Isn’t a Waste of  Time

Courtesy of: Schools.com

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• How Do You Use Twitter [INFOGRAPHIC]

Toby’s Story

Rhinos are beautiful animals.  They live in Africa and Asia, but you can go and see them in zoos.  Although rhinos look very happy they have a sad secret…. THEY ARE ENDANGERED!  The nasty poachers come and kill the rhinos and cut off their horns!  They sell the horns to people who think rhino horns can cure people from bad diseases and they make medicine from it!  BUT IT DOESN’T CURE ANYONE!  A rhino’s horn is only made of hair!

It’s terrible to think about it.  That’s why it’s up to us to save the rhinos from disappearing forever ….

Read the story about Toby the baby black rhino.

Once upon a time there was a mommy rhino called Margaret.  She lived in Africa with her baby rhino called Toby.  There was no dad rhino to help Margaret look after Toby.  She had to do all the work herself.  She was a very good mother.  Toby loved living in Africa.  He loved to run through the long grass, he loved to splash in the muddy pools and he loved to sleep right next to his mother like a hot water bottle!  It was a lovely life for a baby rhino, but soon that all ended …

It was a warmish evening, almost time for Toby to go to bed.  His mother strolled through the grass looking for a comfy spot for Toby to sleep on.  Suddenly there was a loud BANG!  Margaret turned around, to her surprise she saw a blurry figure coming towards them.  Rhinos have very bad eyes, so it looked like one of the jeeps that the game rangers drove.  But why would they be out so late?  Soon two men jumped out of the jeep.  Then Margaret realized that the one man had a gun!  Margaret snorted in panic.  She hastily led Toby to a soft bush and gently laid him down.  Toby looked at his mother in horror as she charged towards the jeep!  There was another loud BANG!  Toby covered his eyes.  There was a silence.  Slowly Toby lifted his head up from the ground ….  He gasped!  His mother was lying with her eyes closed on the ground, in a net, being lifted into the jeep of the two strangers!

Toby watched with huge eyes, as the jeep drove away …

Toby didn’t know what to do. He would never survive without his mother.  He would starve to death!  He would be eaten by the hyenas!  But his worst fear was, he would be killed by poachers!  What would he do?  Would he survive?  All he could do right now was put his head down, get comfy and sleep …

It’s very early on a summer morn … and the sun is already blazing hot.  Baby Toby was sleeping peacefully under a tree.  A little white butterfly landed on his snout.  He awoke with a friendly snort.  The butterfly flew away.  Toby tried to follow it, he even tried to jump to get to it.  But it lifted higher and higher and higher until Toby couldn’t reach it.  He gave one last big jump, but landed on his face.

That’s when Toby realised that he wasn’t in the same place he had been.  He was in a cage with green grass and little white flowers everywhere!  It was very different to the African savannah.  Soon he heard a chattering voice.  Then he saw a stranger coming to the entrance of the cage.  Oh no!  He thought to himself.  More nasty poachers!  He charged to the other end of the cage.  The person came up to him.  “It’s okay little guy,” said the person in a soft chattering voice.  Toby looked at her with wide eyes.  The person was tall and slim with short blond hair and a kind face.  “It’s okay,” she said again.  “I’m Amanda and you must be the poor baby rhino who lost your mother.  Don’t worry we’ll help you”, she said as a smile ran across her face.  Now just let me give you some of this lovely sweet milk.  She held a bottle full of creamy milk.  Toby stared at the bottle.  “Please, just a sip”, Amanda said again.  Toby sniffed the bottle and slowly but surely he took a sip.  The milk tasted much creamier than his mother’s milk.  “Okay, I’m going to leave you to settle in”, Amanda said as she slowly walked away …

Toby enjoyed himself at the rescue sanctuary, but he preferred the African plains.  At the sanctuary he got fed twice a day with the creamy milk, he had lots of space in his cage and Amanda made him feel extra happy.  The days passed quickly by and those days turned into weeks, and those weeks turned into months, and for a whole year Toby was at the sanctuary.  He’d grown so big now that he didn’t need milk anymore!  He could now eat grass.  He had grown so huge that he got too big for his cage and had to be moved to a bigger one.  But still he wasn’t as happy as he’d be if he was in the African plains.  So Amanda decided to do what’s best for Toby.  She was going to let him free …

Everybody at the rescue sanctuary was up early.  It was going to be an exciting, but sad day.  One of the rangers put a big crate at the back of the truck.  Somebody put up a ramp leading to the open crate.  Then Amanda quietly led Toby up the ramp, into the crate.  Everyone hopped in the truck and drove to a quiet spot in the plains.

Everyone helped to lift the crate off the back of the truck.  They put the crate down carefully and Amanda slowly opened the opening of the crate.  Toby peeked outside the crate.  Slowly he took his first steps on the soft African soil.  He was just about to charge off, when he spotted Amanda keeping her distance from the rhino.  Toby quietly walked up to her.  He looked her in the eye, and rested his head against her knee as though he was saying “thank you for helping me”.  Amanda smiled and patted his head.  “You’re welcome”, she said.  Toby moved away and looked at all the rangers.  “Thank you”, he thought to himself.  Thank you all.  And with that, he strolled out to the years of Africa ahead of him ….

Rhino poaching in South Africa is at its worst ever and there does not appear to be an end in sight. Many organisations are working tirelessly and diligently to put an end to the needless slaughter of these magnificent animals. Support rhino conservation and sponsor my participation  in the 75 km Giants MTB Challenge – David Graham.

Please share this with your network.

We started our ride at the airfield close to Siteka Lodge

Following “Grim Reaper” along some superb forest roads

I am participating in the Giants Castle MTB Challenge in April in aid of rhino conservation. Click Here for more details of the event and what the sponsorship will be spent on to help save the rhino.

Please share with your network!

One organisation who is involved in rhino conservation is Wildlands Conservation Trust. Project Rhino KZN is focused mainly on improving monitoring systems and incident response, that will allow reserve managers to know exactly where the rhinos are at all times and, more importantly, will alarm them when rhino are in potential danger, thus curbing the response time of anti-poaching units. Recent advances in technology have produced a GPS unit that can be fitted into a rhino horn, thus allowing for real-time monitoring of rhino (the units are linked to a localised solar-powered GSM system that integrates with Global Positioning Satellites producing accurate information on the location of rhino at all times). This has the potential to be an incredibly valuable tool in combating poaching and preventing future losses. Wildlands is currently piloting this system in Somkhanda Game Reserve, with the ultimate aim of ensuring as many of the rhino in the province are under constant GPS surveillance. Once the system has been perfected the plan is to expand the system into other reserves in KwaZulu-Natal where poaching continues unabated.

Sponsorship

All of this requires a great deal of money, a lot of which comes from donations from the public. One source is from money raised at the annual Giants Castle MTB Challenge. This epic 75km one day mountain bike challenge takes place at Giants Castle in the Central Drakensberg Mountains. I will be participating in this event and hope to raise a minimum of R10 000 in sponsorship.

If you would like to sponsor me (any amount welcome), I have provided the banking details of Wildlands Conservation Trust below. PLEASE ensure that you use my name (David Graham) as the reference so Wildlands knows who is being sponsored. I will also welcome an email from you to davidneelygraham@gmail.com with details of the sponsorship.

Account Name              Wildlands Conservation Trust

Bank                              First National Bank

Account Number          62193487735

Branch Code                257355

Branch Name               Midlands Mall

VAT Number                4560143887

NB. Please specify “David Graham” as the reference

Please fax or email proof of payment to Heidi Mocke at +27 (0)33 343 6380 (Tel), +27 (0)33 343 1976 (Fax) or heidim@wildlands.co.za (Email)

The engine to power the next generation of African miners which is flexible, scalable and affordable!

The new mining environment in South Africa and Africa is all about entrepreneurial flair and fast reaction to volatile commodity markets. These miners want flexible, scalable and affordable back-office support.

This article was written by Johan Theron at Deloitte Consulting. If you have any questions or would like to arrange a more detailed discussion, contact Johan at jtheron@deloitte.co.za or +27 12 482 0514

It seems like there is a new scramble for Africa under way at the moment. Africa’s rapidly urbanising and increasingly affluent populations are certainly an attractive potential consumer market, but the real driver is global hunger for Africa’s mineral wealth. There’s also no doubt that Africa’s attractiveness as a market for goods and services also ultimately depends on the profits from mining Africa’s minerals.

The markets may be hungry for African minerals but they are also highly volatile—and look set to remain so. Long-term planning is thus much more difficult, but mining still requires significant long-term investment. Strong demand has also bred strong competition: it is now feasible to exploit smaller, less concentrated ore bodies. As a result, there are many more mining operations across the continent, and ownership is not nearly as concentrated as it once was. In part, at least, this trend is driven by Africa’s determination to participate much more actively in the mining value chain in order to ensure that more benefits remain on the continent.

In South Africa, in particular, the need for black economic empowerment has seen the birth of many junior miners, some of which have been hived off from larger entities. However they were formed, these ventures are primarily aimed at spreading South Africa’s economic wealth more broadly.

This changing mining landscape is driving the emergence of a new breed of entrepreneurial miners.

A new breed of miner

These new-generation miners are a far cry from the traditional mining houses with their impressive head offices and centralised, highly skilled finance, HR and IT teams. The new miners are building up their businesses—thus they are concentrated on exploration, followed by the creation of the infrastructure to support a mining operation and get the product to market.

All of this activity is, one should not forget, taking place at a time of severe fiscal constraint. Overheads thus need to be kept low, and fixed costs are much preferred because they make planning much easier. At the same time, as I noted earlier, demand has bred fierce competition: these companies definitely need to be run efficiently and to meet their delivery commitments.

These conditions place executives in a tight spot. Their main focus has to be entrepreneurial as they help to clinch new deals and partnerships, and generally create the strategy needed to prosper. They don’t have time to worry about day-to-day back-office operations although, at the same time, of course, they are dependent on them for cash flow.

A long established solution to challenges of this nature is, of course, to outsource some of the vital but non-core processes like payroll, HR or IT. Talking to these executives, it becomes apparent that payroll and IT are the processes most outsourced, but that other processes are rapidly catching up. The benefits include reduced risk and increased efficiencies—not to mention cost savings that, in our experience at Deloitte, can reach 30%. Benefits also include the flexibility to scale operations up or down according to business strategy, better regulatory compliance, a stronger control environment and access to global skills as needed.

Next-generation mining outsourcing for next-generation miners

Mining is one of the engines of our country’s and Africa’s future prosperity. I believe that this new breed of miner cries out for a new outsourcing model in which the key non-core back office processes are outsourced to a single vendor. The reason behind this thinking is, I think, compelling.

The first element of this thinking is that mining companies need to standardise on best practices appropriate to their sector. The days of extensive (and expensive) customisation are over. Both the systems and the back-office processes they enable should become background utilities comparable to water and electricity.

This is a welcome development because at one stroke it prevents companies from remaining hostage to the status quo—especially as the status quo might not have been optimal in the first place. It also means that software upgrades are easy and quick as there is no need to undergo the expensive customisation process each time.

Another key driver for today’s miners is the need to be able to predict costs accurately. This ability helps protect the bottom line and gives companies the flexibility to invest in their core activities.

Pulling all of this thinking together, I would propose the creation of an integrated solution based on an enterprise system that is preconfigured with best-practice mining processes. I would argue that it makes sense to outsource the financial processes that are enabled by this preconfigured system to the same vendor—along with the necessary IT infrastructure. It’s a winning approach because it enables process efficiencies across what is essentially a tightly integrated ecosystem. Along with these process efficiencies come significant cost reductions, as well as an easy-to-manage relationship with a single vendor.

The benefits for the next-generation mining house are manifold. As I have made clear, these operators are entrepreneurial in nature and are heavily into the investment phase of their life cycles. This type of approach gives them the freedom to focus on their core business strategy, secure in the knowledge that their non-core business back office operations are taken care of—and are optimised for the mining environment. The fixed, “pay as you go” cost structure means that CFOs can plan better, and can focus their efforts on growth activities.

A solution constructed along these lines has the advantage of being quick to implement (anything from four to six months would be standard, in our experience)—and it gives the small or mid-sized mining house a Rolls-Royce engine that it does not need to own or manage, but that that will give it the power it needs to do great things. Deloitte makes pioneering on the world’s final investment frontier easy.

Did you find this blog post interesting? If, so please share with your network. We also value your comments and feedback!