Ramon de Leon: making people feel social media

A force of nature on stage – Ramon de Leon who does social media marketing for Dominos Pizza. And I love him for never saying “engagement” – and for bringing a sleepy Le Web crowd to life with the sheer energy of his performance.

Highlights:

People listen, people watch, people share. Have you never seen a dog with a video camera? Go to Chicago on St Patrick’s day. GoPros are all over Le Web. Technology is wearable

He sorted a customer’s pizza needs from a party in Paris at 1.30am. She had just lost her dog (he’d been put down) and she tweeted her appreciation.

His secret to social media: ask how you can make people feel.

Why do people make graffiti? Passion. In 2005 he considered going back to school just so he could have a Facebook account, because he wanted to use it to learn about his customers ay university – and beyond.

You need to believe in yourself and your own instincts. No way you can lead your team without this. You need to be your own caffeine – look inside for your own inspiration. don’t be lazy. Success only hits a moving target. And don’t be boring. If you’re running a brand and you’re boring – better up your ad spend, ‘cos that’s the price of being boring. He advised Disney to make its toilet paper interesting with origami. People take photos of it and share it.

His goal is keeping the conversation alive at all times, in helping them know the face behind the logo. “Social media fire can only be put out with social media water.” If you’re worried about people saying bad things about your brand – don’t do bad things. And when you do wrong – fix it. If someone’s pizza is screwed up, reach out to them and make them feel better now. Brands don’t do this – they need to.

Social media is about people, not technology. It doesn’t change your business, but it allows you customers to hold you to account. Get out there, get on your customers blogs. You are a media company whether you like it or not. Get your message out there. Content is always being created – and there’s a level of excitement. But he’s always trying to be found.

Update: Some background on Domino’s social media history from Neville.

Liveblogging just can’t transmit the sheer charisma of this guy. I’ll embed the video as soon as it’s available. Below: