Maz Nadjm

Maz Nadjm is the Founding Director of SoMazi, a specialist consultancy which monetises corporate social media and insight through awareness, technology and engagement.

Maz has lived and breathed social media for almost a decade, guiding organisations such as BBC Worldwide, Sky, Ogilvy Group UK, News international and Chelsea FC to launch, structure, develop, monitor and profit from social media activity.

Having breathed new life into countless organisations using social, Maz has been named as one of the world’s top 50 social media power influencers by Forbes in January 2012. Maz is also regularly asked to appear at seminars, conferences and on TV around the world to comment on the industry.

Digital crisis management, horsemeat style

It can happen to anyone. One day you are happily providing tasty prepared meals to devoted consumers, and the next you are accused of serving up horsemeat, committing fraud and conspiracy against the public, and somehow being linked to convicted arms traffickers via the intermediaries that transport meat through the seedy underworld of the European food chain!

Who knew that a humble lasagne could cause so much trouble for so many goliaths of the food industry?

The answer is that someone should have. Because in today’s world of instant global exposure the vast majority of your digital crisis management needs to be in place before a crisis occurs, scenarios practised, scripts written, influencers on-side and communication channels identified.

It should be someone’s role to ensure that this has been done. In the wake of the horsemeat crisis, how many of the businesses involved in it do you feel had an effective strategy to call upon?

In the days before social media it could take hours or even days for a story to break. Today it can take seconds to go viral, so it’s prepare or perish.

Employee advocacy through social media

Social media offers us an ever-changing landscape where almost daily innovations, initiatives and strategies are formulated to help businesses to make the most of this environment.

There is no question that most organisations can benefit from their involvement in the online conversation.

But in the rush to set up Facebook pages, win fan bases and restructure businesses to be more adaptive to the needs of their audiences, how many have forgotten to look inwards at the most under-utilised social marketing assets in the business world, your own staff?