Humana CIO Jack Lord didn't buy that social networking was only for young people, or that a health-care company couldn't use it to its advantage.
by Ellen Neuborne
Here’s a telling statistic: From January to October, 2007, some 6.1 million people signed up for the social networking site Facebook — the kind of triple-digit growth that conjures an 11-digit valuation. This tidal wave hasn’t been lost on Jack Lord, chief innovation officer at Humana, the $21 billion health-insurance giant. With nearly half its customer base over 65, Humana would seem one of the companies sitting this trend out. But Lord didn’t buy into the idea that the only applications for social networking involved young people. And he didn’t buy that a health-care company couldn’t use online interaction to its advantage. “Health is something that is co-created,” he says.
Humana had stacks of its own data showing that positive health outcomes stem from connections between patients, experts and the larger community. Almost all this research involved the “old” form of social networking — human beings connecting without the help of the Internet. There was no reason online interaction couldn’t be similarly beneficial. The question: How could Louisville-based Humana participate in the online iteration without looking like a chaperone at the school dance?
The solution came in the form of an old partner — Jeff Taylor, the former CEO of Monster.com. Taylor had worked with Humana during his early Monster days, and last year was readying his second act: the launch of Eons.com, a social-networking site designed for the 50-plus set. Taylor approached Humana and convinced the firm to sign on to the project as a founding sponsor. Together, they set about discovering what, exactly, grownups want from social networking.
Here’s what they learned:
Focus groups would steer them wrong. In pre-launch research, Taylor asked Boomers if they wanted to meet people online. “A hundred percent said no,” he says. But when an article about Eons appeared in the Wall Street Journal, “a couple hundred thousand showed up at the site looking for the social networking.” The result: Eons has shifted the site’s focus from editorial to 80 percent social networking — and that percentage is rising.
>> Mature users are different. While younger social-network users typically post their own creations online — a phenomenon known as user-generated content — the 50-plus set looks more for what Lord calls “shared content.” The youngsters’ approach is like performance art; the oldsters’ is more akin to a group conversation. >> The payoff for both marketing partners is better brand building and the ability to make much closer connections with their customers, rather than simple lead generation. Says Lord: “This kind of work positions our brand as the most innovative in our space.”
The solution:
You have to be in it to win it. Exploring from the sidelines does not offer enough information, Lord says. “You need to be in this space to be able to understand the power of it.”
>> House your social-networking project in a department that focuses on the future. Marketing departments may be too focused on ROI. That’s why the social-networking initiative sprung from Lord’s innovation area.
>> Get over your control issues. Many advertisers have been leery of social networking because the sites can’t guarantee “a brand-safe environment” and fear that their ads will be displayed alongside inappropriate content. Taylor sees a big change in the way companies view this. “The conversation about your brand is already happening,” Taylor says. “The question is: Are you participating?”
Results have been positive enough that Humana is expanding its relationship with Eons for the year ahead. One result: A dedicated vertical space will debut on Eons’ corporate Website, with content and social-networking opportunities specific to Humana products and services. Expect more ideas to crop up soon; Humana has placed a full-time employee at Eons’ headquarters to act as a permanent liaison between the two firms. Taylor will court the big brands with the promise of a TiVo-free marketing platform. “At a time when traditional advertising — the television ad, the radio ad — is being challenged, corporations are trying to reinvent their ad strategies,” he says. “Companies are desperate to make a connection.” And not just with kids.