The document discusses how the internet and rise of social media has changed how people influence each other and get information. It notes that: 1) With the proliferation of social media, blogs, and online reviews, almost anyone can now influence many strangers due to the ease of sharing opinions online. 2) Social networks and digital communication allow people to maintain friendships over long distances and meet new people, expanding social circles beyond local communities. 3) Hundreds of millions of people have become "influencers" by creating blogs, uploading videos, and sharing content and opinions on social media platforms. This new landscape forces brands to rethink how influence is distributed.

1. 1
When did we
start trusting September 2008
strangers?
29 countries
17,000 internet users
How the internet turned us all into influencers
© Universal McCann 2008

3. 3
Contents
Introduction
➜ No strangers anymore
Welcome to the new influence
landscape
➜ The rise of social media
➜ Digital friends
➜ Proliferation of influencer channels
The impact
➜ The influence economy
➜ The democratisation of influence
➜ The new super influencers

5. 5
Methodology
This unique perspective comes from data collected in established from local data sources such as TGI and
the third instalment of Universal McCann’s global digital Simmons. They are the audience that matter as they are
research programme “Wave”. The research was completed involved in the new influence economy.
among 17,000 active internet users in 29 countries –
making it one of the most wide reaching investigations into To qualify as a member of the Active Internet Universe the
the subject of influence and word of mouth. Respondents respondent needs to be using the Internet everyday or every
are provided by the world’s leading online panel companies, other day. They are the audience that matter to current
all recruited to strict ESOMAR standards. and future of marketing communications and represent the
consumer that are driving the new influence landscape.
Every market is representative by age and sex to the 16-54
Active Internet Universe. Quotas and universe sizes were
Australia Japan
Austria Netherlands
Canada Romania
Chile Pakistan
China Philippines
Czech Republic Poland
France Russia
Germany Spain
Greece Switzerland
Hong Kong Taiwan
Hungary Turkey
India UK
Italy USA

6. No Strangers Anymore
Long before the concept of marketing existed our sources Today the web is driven by its’ users and peoples’ thoughts on
of information were limited. What we now tag “Word of everything, including products and brands, personal blogs, to
Mouth” was the only source of information outside religion, reviews on price comparison sites and wish lists on Amazon.
the monarchy and the state. People’s lives were localised It is now incredibly easy to share opinions and cultivate
and the information that impacted on their main decisions. influence, often without even trying. The result has been the
Then came newspapers, radio and the television set; mass democratisation of influence.
media created exposure to influences beyond the ancient
controllers of information. This is a fundamental change in the way we source and
share opinions and today anyone can wield influence far
However this influence was still professional and top down – beyond their immediate social group. In the old days the
the news reader, the columnist and the expert. Mass media conversations we had with our immediate peers generally
offered little in terms of consumer recommendation, readers’ stayed inside that network; today opinions and experiences
letters in newspapers and magazines or phone-ins on TV and are shared worldwide. Never before have we been exposed
radio shows were as far as consumer influence went. to so many opinions and recommendations from so many
Peer to peer interactions remained localised and face to face. people - most of whom are complete strangers, without the
aura of expertise or celebrity recognition.
Then along came the web and a revolution began. In the
early days, bulletin boards, chat rooms and home brew The result is an influence economy that is forcing everyone
websites allowed those technically in the know to project their in the public realm including the owners of products and
thoughts and opinions. More recently social media such as brands to become more transparent, open, conversational
blogs, social networks, photo or video sharing sites and wikis and honest. They have to rethink the way that influence is
have opened the door to consumer publishing and hundreds distributed and the role of marketing communications.
of millions have embraced it.

7. 7
Graham, UK
Agnes, France
Carlos, Brazil
Dmitri, Russia

8. No Strangers Anymore cont.
This study demonstrates through a unique global research else is no longer true thanks to social media. We all share
project in 29 countries that things have changed forever. In influence today whether we actively mean to or not.
the new influencer landscape there are five fundamental
changes that every brand and marketer will have to New super influencers rise above the mass: Not all
acknowledge. consumer influencers are equal. A new breed of “super
influencers” has been created by the tools of the social
Anyone can influence anyone: We now trust strangers as media revolution.
much as our closest friends.
The new influence ecosystem has fundamentally changed
Friendship is no longer local or face to face: It’s becoming how we buy products and services: There is a new level
distant and virtualised. of transparency and truth that all public institutions,
companies and brands have to adhere to.
Everybody is an influencer: The power to influence no
longer belongs to the experts or “those in the know”. The
idea that we live in a simplistic world where there is a small Darren, UK
group of “influencers” who dictate the agenda to everyone
Yvonne, Switzerland

9. 9
Welcome to the new
influence landscape
3 key trends
➜ The rise of social media
➜ Digital friends
➜ Proliferation of influencer channels
Scott, USA
Michael, Germany
Olga, Greece
Teresa, Canada
Brendan, Hungary

11. 11
The rise of social media
From its inception the internet has allowed consumers to These developments combined with the ever falling costs of
create content in a manner that was never possible in the computing and broadband have enabled a global revolution
age of mass media where TV, radio and press belonged in consumers publishing their content and thinking.
to the professionals. The web reduced the barriers to
production and opened up the channels of distribution This rise of social media has created hundreds of millions
to anyone with a desire to create content or share their of content creators as demonstrated by data from our
thoughts and opinions. Global Social Media Tracker in Figure 1. This shows
massive growth in a very short period of time and users
In the early days it required technical knowledge, experience have gradually moved from passive consumers to active
and a substantial investment in computing and the impact creators. Writing blogs has risen from 28% to 44%, creating
was limited to the geek community. In the last few years a social network page has grown from 27.3% to 57.5%
these barriers have disappeared and consumer content and and uploading a video clip from 10% to 42%. The result
opinion has exploded due to the emergence of mass market is billions of thoughts and opinions online and available
social media platforms like YouTube, Blogger and MySpace. for anyone to read.
Social Media adoption over time (Waves 1 – 3)
90% Read blogs/weblogs
80% Start my own blog/weblog
Leave a comment on a blog site
70%
Upload my photos to a photo sharing site
60% Upload a video clip to a video sharing site
% Ever done
50% Watch video clips online
Create a profile on a social network
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Wave 1 Sep 06 Wave 2 Jun 07 Wave 3 Mar 08
Figure 1: “Social Media adoption over time (Waves 1 – 3)” Global Average
Source: Universal McCann Social Media Tracker – Power to the People

12. The rise of social media cont.
The scale of this revolution is demonstrated by Figures 2 They are also sharing content; 55% are sharing photos, 22%
and 3, which show the extent of content that social network are uploading videos and 23% are uploading applications,
users and bloggers are uploading. It is clear that social all of which project opinions and endorse brands if included.
media has become a platform for directly sharing opinion
and thoughts; 34% of social network users are sharing
opinions on music, 31% are writing a blog inside their profile
and almost 10% have promoted a band. What I do with my social network profile
Install
applications
Favourite / 23.3%
Glen, UK currently
listened to music
33.6% Promote
a band
Hugh, Canada 9.8%
Upload photos
Write a blog 55.1% Upload
30.8% videos
21.9%
% added to your social network page
Figure 2: “What do you do with your social network profile?”
Social Network Users, Global Average. Source: Universal McCann
Social Media Tracker – Power to the People

13. 13
Monica, Spain

14. The rise of social media cont.
Bloggers are also very active in terms of sharing opinions
and recommendations; 32% have shared recommended
websites, 29% their favourite music and 28% opinions on
products and brands. This is a massive volume of opinion
that is fuelling the new influence landscape.
What do I post
on my blog?
Upload Opinions on
music products
and brands Recommended
20% websites
28%
32%
Stories from
other blogs
Videos 23%
24%
Favourite/
currently listened Photos
to music 50%
29%
Widgets
14%
% posted to your blog
Spyros – Greece
Figure 3: “When writing a blog, which of the following do you post?”
Blog writers only, Global Average. Source: Universal McCann Social Media
Tracker – Power to the People

15. 15
Have you seen the new
Universal McCann website?
Check it out
www.universalmccann.com
Federico – Panama

16. Digital friends
Since its inception as a closed academic and military and communication is much more frequent and casual.
network the web has had a major impact on the way its What is interesting is the extent to which social media is
users communicate and the nature of the social networks beginning to rival its more established equivalents, with
they maintain. In 2008, 1.5bn people are online and the nearly 58% having joined a network. But more importantly,
impact of the internet has spread into the way we interact as Figure 5 shows, these users are communicating in
and communicate as a society. new ways, with 66% using them to stay in contact with
existing friends, 42% using them to meet new people
Figure 4 shows the penetration of different communications and 18% for dating.
platforms; email is universally used and instant messenger
is adopted by more than 80% of users world-wide. This has This is a fundamental shift and movement towards
moved billions of personal interactions into the virtual and virtual communications platform as a way of broadening
written word, where it is much easier to spread influence friend networks.
How I communicate online
Email
99% Instant messenger
81.6%
VOIP
51.3%
Social network
58%
Figure 4: “Thinking about the Internet, which of the following have
you done?”, Global Average. Source: Universal McCann Social Media
Tracker – Power to the People

17. 17
How I use social networks
Stay in contact
with existing
friends
58%
Dating
18.3%
Meet new
friends
42%
Figure 5: “What do you do with your social networking profile?”,
Global Average. Source: Universal McCann Social Media Tracker –
Power to the People

18. Digital friends cont.
The rise of social platforms has created important new our friend networks to include new people and old friends
channels for peer to peer interaction. Figure 6 and Figure we would have previously lost contact with.
7 show the global response to the statements, “blogging
is important to socialise with friends” and “I use social The global impact is not geographically uniform and there
networks to meet new people”, which indicate the social are large distinctions by country, with fast-growing emerging
impact of both these platforms. Both are now perceived internet markets leading the way, such as the Philippines,
as important platforms for socialising with friends, pushing Mexico and India. In these countries social platforms have
more of our interactions into the virtual world and expanding been enthusiastically embraced among web users, thanks
Blogging is important to socialise with friends
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Figure 6: Agree with the statement
“Blogging is important to socialise with friends”

19. 19
to a multitude of factors including low cost of entry, less in the UK and 24% in the US. These are differences that
competition from traditional media, a poor legacy of fixed reflect broader patterns of adoption of social media and
line communications and a younger and relatively more cultural differences in role of the web in life.
affluent profile. This is reflected in their enthusiasm for these
platforms as social channels. The key factor is that the social web is increasingly adopted
as a core social platform by hundreds of millions of users
There are also large distinctions in developed internet worldwide. This dramatically affects the exposure to channels
markets, 58% of South Korea web users and 66% in Italy of influence and the nature of the social groups we maintain.
see blogging as a platform for socialising compared to 26%
Use social networks to meet new people
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Figure 7: Agree with the statement
“I use social networks to meet new people”

20. Digital friends cont.
The evolution of the web as a social platform and primary Interestingly these all rank above SMS or phone calls, which
communication channel has had a dramatic impact on shows that PC based internet is for expanding networks,
the scale and nature of our friendship networks. Figure while mobile is for maintaining current ones.
8 shows the global average number of friends and
personal acquaintances we maintain via different forms of The nature of friendship is changing from voice to text and
communication including face to face, digital and letters. written word. This is a significant change in the ability to
influence and share opinions as it’s much easier to do in
The amazing truth is that the web has massively expanded text – communication is more frequent and can include
the size of our social platforms and virtualised a large additional information like links, videos and photos.
proportion of our daily contact. Today, although we still
maintain an average of 35 friendships face to face, it is
rapidly being equalled by email with an average of 32, social
networks with 30 and Instant Messenger with 29.
Graeme, USA
Average number of contacts via
different forms of online communications
Face to face 35
Email 32
Social network 30
Instant Messenger 28
Phone 26
Text Message 21
My personal blog 13
Post/letter 9
Average number of connections maintained
0 60
Figure 8: “Approximately how many people do you stay in contact with in
your personal life through the following means?”, Global Average

21. 21
There are interesting regional differences in the nature of China – Instant Messenger leads the way as a nation of
friend networks as demonstrated by some of the major single children jump on Instant Messenger tools like QQ
internet markets shown in figure 9: to socialise. On average they have 51 friends on Instant
Messenger versus 28 friends face to face – a staggering shift
Brazil – very large friend networks, expanded further online. to the virtual.
Brazilian web users are known as vicarious social network
users thanks to an obsession with Orkut. On average they
maintain 51 friendships via social networks.
average number of contacts via
different forms of online communications
Brazil Social network 51.5
Instant Messenger 48.5
Email 45.3
Face to face 38.2
My personal blog 26.2
Phone 24.4
Text Message 17
Post/letter 8.6
Average number of connections maintained
0 60
CHiNa Instant Messenger 49
Phone 33.6
Email 32.2
Text Message 31.7
Social network 31.3
Face to face 27.5
My personal blog 26.1
Post/letter 12.6
Average number of connections maintained
0 60
Figure 9: “approximately how many people do you stay in contact with in
your personal life through the following means?”, key internet markets

22. Digital friends cont.
India – Email and mobile lead the way as Indians leapfrog Japan – Significantly smaller friend networks reflect the
fixed line networks, embracing functional communications structure of society, although it one of the most virtualised
platforms over social ones. with email and social networks leading face to face, but
Instant Messenger lags.
Average number of contacts via
different forms of online communications
INDIA Email 51.6
Phone 45.1
Social network 42.9
Face to face 42
Text Message 35.5
Instant Messenger 33.2
Post/letter 23.8
My personal blog 17.9
0 Average number of connections maintained 60
JAPAN Email 8.5
Text Message 8
Social network 7.4
Phone 7
Face to Face 6.5
Post/Letter 6.3
My personal blog 3.8
Instant Messenger 2.9
Average number of connections maintained
0 60

23. 23
UK – Social networks now equal the number of face-to-face US – Email just leads face-to-face relationships, but SMS yet
relationships reflecting the massive growth of Facebook. to catch on.
SMS usage is level with phone calls demonstrating the
popularity of messaging.
Average number of contacts via
different forms of online communications
UK Face to face 30.9
Social network 30.5
Email 25.2
Phone 21.1
Text Message 20.8
Instant Messenger 20.1
My personal blog 9.7
Post/letter 7.1
Average number of connections maintained
0 60
USA Email 21.1
Face to face 20
Phone 16.9
Social network 16.6
Instant Messenger 12.4
Text Message 8.9
Post/letter 7.4
My personal blog 7.1
Average number of connections maintained
0 60

24. Digital friends cont.
The impact of virtual networks and digitised friends can interactions tend to be more formal. Also social networks are
be seen on our core day to day interactions with partners, beginning to become important as the boundaries between
friends, work colleagues and children. There has been professional and personal continue to disapear.
a significant shift to virtual communication as shown in
Figure 10. This is particularly marked within friend networks The most remarkable trend is the influence of the virtual
where 79% keep in touch by email, 70% by SMS, 67% by connection on our most personal of relationships. Nearly
messenger and 46% by social networks. Interacting with 38% of respondents say they keep in contact with their
current work colleagues is led by phone and email, where partner via SMS, 30% via email and 10% via Instant
Messenger. All very significant compared to the 55% who
How do I keep in contact with my friends How do I keep in contact with my partner
Social network
31.1% 45.7%
My personal Social network
7.2% Post/letter
blog 79.4% 9.8%
Email
My personal blog 5.8%
30.1%
Email
37.9%
Instant Messenger
22% Text Message
66.9% 39.2%
Instant Messenger Post/letter
82.4%
Phone 48.8%
Phone 54.9%
Face to face
70.1%
Text Message
86.3%
Face to face
% stay in contact
Figure 10: “How do you keep in
contact with the following people”,
Global Average

25. 25
stay in touch with a partner face to face. Staying in touch amount of interaction is text-based and remote.
with children is a very similar pattern, remarkably 16% stay The impacts on the way we interact, communicate and
in touch by text and 13% by email, which again are very build our networks are substantial and they have a major
significant numbers considering just 34% have children and effect on the way we interface, receive and transmit
stay in touch face to face. recommendations.
This is a big shift. Think back 10 years, email was just
emerging as a business tool, IM and social networks were
yet to exist and SMS was nowhere. Today an increasing
How do I keep in contact How do I keep in contact with my children
with my current work colleagues
Social network
Instant Messenger
25.7% 15.1% Instant Messenger
9.6% 34.1%
43% Social network Face to face
3.4%
Email
8.1% 15.8%
2.2% Text Message
44.4% My personal blog 3.7%
My personal blog
58% 24.4% Post/letter
Phone Phone
Face to face
13%
29.3% Email
Text Message
8.1%
Post/letter

26. Proliferation of influencer channels
The continuing rise of social media and digitisation of our wish lists of products, Ebay has consumer ratings of sellers
friend networks has opened up a mass of new influence and iTunes has consumer ratings and recommendations.
channels that allow consumers to voice and have their This creates an environment where sharing opinions has
opinions heard, both amongst existing networks and more never been so easy - a very real change in a very short
importantly among a wider audience. Consumer contribution space of time.
to the web has become the norm.
The result is a situation we can call casual influence, it’s now
The result is that all sites are now incorporating social incredibly easy to influence other consumers be it via voting
aspects that encourage consumer input and interaction buttons or creating favourites lists or even just by purchasing
and there is now a huge number of ways in which to share a product that will later become a recommendation for
opinions as represented in figure 11. For example all another consumer. There are so many tools to do this that
e-commerce sites now have consumer reviews, comments we no longer have to really think actively about influencing.
and recommendations; Amazon allows users to compile
Consumer influence channels – mass market age versus social media age
Mass Market Age Social Media Age
Talk face to face Talk face to face Personal blog Comments on blogs
Phone call Phone call Social network page Comments on websites
Talk to a shop worker Widgets Viral emails
Talk to a shop worker
Consult a professional Video sharing site Auction websites
Consult a professional
Readers letters Photo sharing site Wish lists
Readers letters
Phone in; TV / Radio Chat rooms Ratings on retail sites
Phone in; TV / Radio
SMS Message boards Reviews on retail sites
Email Social Bookmarking Price comparison sites
Instant Messenger Chat room Social shopping sites
Figure 11: “Consumer influence channels – mass market age
versus social media age”, Global Average

27. 27

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