CEOS’ DIGITAL IDENTITY: MEXICO December 2015 BARCELONA BOGOTA BUENOS AIRES LIMA LISBON MADRID MEXICO CITY MIAMI PANAMA CITY QUITO RIO J SAO PAULO SANTIAGO STO DOMINGO Contents Presentation 3 Key results 4 The CEO, another digital asset for companies 7 How to implement a Digital Identity Strategy 8 Methodology 9 Team of Specialists 10 Presentation The digital revolution that has been taking This study is a starting point that aims to place in recent years is transforming the measure the reputation of top Mexican CEOs communication, economic, social, and in the Internet by analyzing their presence political models of the world in which we and digital reach through personally-created live, and top businesspeople and CEOs must content, third-party mentions (notoriety), and remain aligned with this new reality. In the ratings (notability) shared by the stakeholders digital world, people are the key players. of an organization via the Internet. The aim Networks give society a voice, and before the is to ascertain whether in 2015 the leaders widespread use of the Internet, this voice of the most important companies in Mexico consisted of individuals who did not have a have been able to evolve at the same rate place in which to express in real time their as social networks, and if those leaders are interests and opinions about what took place ready to understand the rules of the game in their surroundings. The Fourth Estate, imposed by the Internet as to how their which up until a few years ago was an area company’s reputation and communication exclusively reserved for the news media, must be managed. To do so, we have selected is being democratized. This space, in its and analyzed a representative sample of CEOs multiple dimensions, is occupied by citizens, from 100 organizations located in Mexico that communities, and social groups of a variety were chosen because of their importance in of types and interests, including politicians, terms of business, visibility, and reputation. journalists, investors, businesspeople, citizens, consumers, and employees who take advantage of the ease with which social networks allow people to communicate, connect with others, and influence a wide array of topics in order to achieve radical changes in how society, organizations, and governments operate. Top leaders are embracing this digital revolution by participating in the dialog just like anyone else, disclosing relevant information, and helping to build public opinion, while taking into consideration that there are risks, but also countless opportunities if a well-structured plan is implemented in order to minimize threats and focus on advantages. 3 Key results 1. MEXICAN CEOS ARE STARTING TO BUILD CEO with a proactive focus who has profiles in DIGITAL IDENTITY STRATEGIES: 58 % OF THE the four platforms analyzed as part of this study CEOS ANALYZED HAVE ONE OR MORE SOCIAL (Wikipedia, Twitter, LinkedIn, and a personal NETWORK PROFILES blog), allowing him to have better control of his interactions in the digital world through personal More than half of the 100 CEOs involved in the channels that help him minimize any potential study have a profile in one of the social networks negative situations that could affect his reputation. that were analyzed (Twitter and LinkedIn), a Another aspect to highlight is the digital strategy personal blog/site, and/or a Wikipedia entry. This of Carlos Slim, who is present in all the channels, reflects the interest that Mexican CEOs are slowly but with a defensive focus. In other words, he having in the digital world. has positioned personally-created content via his channels in order to establish a positive digital Of the profiles with the strongest presence, the footprint, but without interacting with other social businessperson Ricardo Salinas Pliego is the only network users. Figure 1. Top 10 Mexico Mario San Román TV Azteca ® Index: 62.78 Ricardo Salinas Pliego Grupo Salinas Index: 72.99 2 Emilio Lozoya Austin Arturo Elías Ayub Pemex 3 Telmex Index: 60.23 Index: 77.49 4 1 Emilio Azcárraga Jean Televisa 5 Index: 60.06 6 7 8 9 10 Olegario Vázquez Aldir Carlos Kasuga Miguel Alemán Xavier de Bellefon Carlos Slim Domit Grupo Empresarial Yakult México Magnani Axa Seguros América Móvil, Carso, Ángeles Index: 56.29 Interjet Index: 41.11 Sanborns Index: 59.80 Index: 42.81 Index: 40.83 4 2. THE MOST-USED SOCIAL NETWORK: Figure 2: Most popular Social Networks among LINKEDIN IS THE PREFERRED ALTERNATIVE Mexican businessmen FOR CEOS IN MEXICO LinkedIn is the social network that businesspeople use the most (29 %). It has 300 million users throughout the world, of which 5.8 million are in Mexico, and it is growing at a rate of two users per minute to become the new Facebook for CEOs and professionals. Twitter is the second most-used social network by the CEOs analyzed in this study (23 %), and it is also the network that offers the most visibility and proactiveness in terms of generating content. The top real-time social network is one of the channels that leaders use to maintain a digital presence, and in some cases, to establish close relationships with their company’s stakeholders. 3. DIGITAL FOOTPRINT, BUILT THROUGH THIRD PARTIES: ONLY 6 % OF THE LEADERS ANALYZED 29 % HAVE MORE PERSONAL RESULTS THAN THOSE GENERATED BY THIRD PARTIES WHEN A GOOGLE SEARCH IS PERFORMED The social networks that Although there is interest in entering the digital world —either to establish a dialog with are used the most by the stakeholders or to create a protective strategy—, it businesspeople analyzed are is worth noting that when their names are searched in Google, only 6 % of the top CEOs analyzed in this LinkedIn (the new Facebook for study have more mentions for their own channels CEOs and professionals) and than mentions generated by third parties. Twitter, which is sometimes used This shows that although most have started to strengthen their digital identity, some CEOs at to establish close relationships large Mexican corporations do not have a defined with audiences strategy that allows them to properly manage their image and create a digital footprint that helps improve their personal reputation as well as their company’s reputation. deof losthe empresarios business people 99%analizados muestra un analyzed have more de los empresarios mamentionsyor número for their de own analizados cuenta mencioneschannels than a sus mentions canales con presencia en el propiosgenerated que by de third menciones buscador Google generpartiesadas por terceros 5 Business CEOs must have a digital identity strategy YouTube (which is the second most-used search or they risk becoming a potential weakness for the engine behind Google and has 18 million unique company in the event of an involuntary personal users in Mexico), only 11 % of the business leaders exposure. All CEOs generate talk about their roles in the study have more than 10 results that make in the Internet, and an ostrich strategy, which reference to their identity. consists of hiding your head when faced with constant change, does not build a reputation. Even 5. THE MOST INFLUENTIAL IN 2015: THE MOST when the aim is to maintain a low profile, a strategy INFLUENTIAL CEO IS ARTURO ELÍAS AYUB must be defined for a company’s top CEOs because these individuals are the most visible face as well as The CEO with the strongest presence and reach is the people who journalists, activists, investors, and Arturo Elías Ayub, Director of Strategic Alliances employees will seek out. at Telmex, followed by Ricardo Salinas Pliego, of the Grupo Salinas, and Mario San Román, of Tv 4. OPPORTUNITIES IN THE STRATEGY: Azteca, from the same group, so it can be inferred CORPORATE WEBSITES, PERSONAL WEBSITES, that the company has a digital identity strategy AND REPOSITORY CHANNELS for its top CEOs. The Top 5 ranking also includes Emilio Lozoya, CEO of Pemex, and Emilio Azcárraga Half of the CEOs involved in the analysis do not Jr., President of Televisa and also the most popular appear in the corporate website of the company Twitter user with more than 1.2 million followers they represent (despite being the most visible (however, he stepped away from social networks a face of the business and one of its key assets), year ago, so his reach is slowly wavering). and only 4 % have a personal website, which is an underused tool that could protect their identity Of the Top 10, an aspect worth highlighting is and add value to the personal and corporate digital the fact that 8 of the 10 CEOs are from renowned communication strategy of the organization they family-owned Mexican businesses. lead. Additionally, in repository channels such as Figure 3. CEOs with personal websites 6 The CEO, another digital asset for companies CEOs in Mexico are facing a new reality defined by Conveying the corporate mission, vision, and the digital whirlwind that is taking over the world: values with a human touch. Companies and being present in social networks is no longer a choice. their leaders have the incredible opportunity A company’s stakeholders are going to talk about of conveying the identity of organizations and its CEOs, regardless of whether or not those CEOs what they do from a perspective that is closer to have a digital presence, so it is important to establish stakeholders. a proactive or a low-profile strategy that has been planned and includes a thought process as well as a Inspiring a company’s partners and customers. series of goals. The digital presence and participation Studies have shown that a social CEO inspires of CEOs, especially those at large global corporations, others and is considered to be the closest partner. are another way of building a company’s reputation, In addition, 77 % of consumers are more likely to especially when brands, companies or institutions buy from a company and 82 % have more trust in are faced with a reputation crisis because they have an organization if its leader uses social media.