About Nurit Blum

Nurit lives with Nitzan and is the mother of 18 months old Shira. She is an MBA student at IDC and is crazy about her job. When not working, Nurit spends time playing (for the soul) and cooking (for health). She also like sewing and even has a variety of Burda at home (although she asked us not to tell anyone). After working as head of Marcom of Microsoft Israel's R&D center, Nurit moved to Strauss four months ago, to a new and challenging job of digital content & channel manager. She is very lucky and doesn't like chocolate because otherwise she would have a problem. In this blog, she aims to make the new digital world accessible to all, show how these changes impact our daily lives, and suggest how to conduct yourself in this new world. She will try to examine new trends, revolutionary developments, and important insights. And of course, she'll write about our plans here at Strauss - she'd love to hear your ideas!

Blog as a Digital Asset for Commercial Companies

Posted on August 31, 2012 by Nurit Blum

In honor of today, International Blog Day, and as the Strauss blog is preparing to celebrate its first year online, I have decided to share with you the establishment process of our blog.

In today’s digital world, where every company owns various digital assets on diverse platforms, it is important that every digital asset has clear goals and unique content strategy, as well as the ability to support the business goals of the company. I believe that without a substantive connection to goals and a clear rationale, there is no point in setting up a new digital asset to begin with.

The blog world is a very developed scene – there are currently more than 164 million blogs online, and over 123 million people who consume content through blogs. In Israel, while the blog world is growing steadily, very few Israeli companies utilize this platform as a tool to communicate with their stakeholders.

The ‘trigger” for establishing the Strauss Blog was the discovery of a gap between the number of experts within the company, strict quality control procedures, fresh ingredients, numerous processes that occur “behind the scenes” and our ability to reflect all that in our existing digital platforms. Our goal was to create a platform where we can provide a stage for Strauss experts on one hand, and deliver value to our readers on the other.

We chose diverse fields in various content formats: Written content (evidently…), video, pictures, infographics and practically any other way in which an expert can share his/her unique field of activity at Strauss with visitors of the blog. Moreover, as an international company we decided to utilize this platform in the international arena as well as we work to strengthen relations with key opinion leaders outside of Israel.

Let’s move from theory to practice. Below are some insights that can help those who manage a company’s blog:

1. Read the posts from your reader’s perspective – Try to provide real value and always balance the message you wish to convey with the value surfers expect to get.

2. Connect to current events – Search events relating to the content worlds you are active in, and write posts about these topics. Clearly, it is very important to upload the posts on the exact dates, as this will help increase traffic to the blog (and increase promotion through SEO, Search Engine Optimization). The topic might be, for example, “Olympic Games”, religious holidays or “International Blog Day.”

3. Relevancy – Try to be as relevant as possible to your target audience. If, for example, you run a blog in several languages, treat it as separate platforms and examine every post for relevancy to its readers in each arena.

4. Update frequency – Post contents frequently. The biggest danger to a blog and to digital assets in general is that they are not updated, and users who log on see that the last update was made several months ago.

5. Using diverse formats to display content – There are many ways to deliver content and to make it accessible in an interesting and effective manner. Be sure to use many images, video footage and even animated infographics because they attract more attention of readers and encourage sharing on the net.

6. Sharing – Be sure to share your blog posts in various social networks and other content channels. Sharing is the best media you can get. A friend that recommends reading your content, does the best distribution work best for you!

7. Search – It is very important to promote your blog in search results through SEO, and also by including more terms in the posts that will advance your blog in search engines. Since blogs are based on the “long tail” principle, suitable promotion in search engines can bring searchers to your posts months and even years later.

8. Advertising – Various blog promotion media are currently available. My best recommendation is the media focusing on promoting relevant contents on other content platforms. It is important to understand the phase your blog has reached, and at least initially, obtain as broad exposure as possible to its contents.

9. Constant learning – It is important to remain connected to your blog figures at all times, learn which posts are more successful than others, determine where and why visitors abandoned the blog, and based on all the above, constantly improve the content and look.

In conclusion, it is important to remember that a blog is an evolving platform that keeps improving with time. It requires daily upgrade of content, constant work on figures, continuous exposure, and the right choice of target audiences with ways to distinctly address them. Although it is a consistent, long-term activity, I believe that a company who uses this platform will only gain close, authentic and direct communication with its various stakeholders.

Does Your Brand Already Have
a Significant Presence on Facebook?

Posted on April 16, 2012 by Nurit Blum

My affair with social media started in 2007 when one of my good friends went on a mission to Singapore. Within a few weeks I started receiving e-mails from her raving about “facebook” with which she could receive updates and communicate with friends all over the world.

Although I was convinced that it was just a passing trend, more and more people started talking about “facebook” and sending me invitations to join in. When one evening I opened my own “facebook” account, I did not get any sleep later at night. I was fascinated by the most intelligently designed digital platform that I’d ever seen. It was a remarkable combination of fun, games and information, shared fully with friends. I uploaded pictures, updated which places in the world I’ve been to, checked my IQ in relation to that of my friends, sent out virtual gifts, and, most importantly, located all the friends I’ve ever made from kindergarten until today.

Today, when evidently most of our friends are on facebook, most brands have some sort of presence there as well- on the most significant digital arena on the Internet. We as consumers have come to realize that we also have a lot to gain from a relationship with our favorite brands – exclusive promotions, sales, prizes, games and applications, but most importantly, direct contact with the brands that interest us, and the knowledge that someone is listening on the other side of the “wall”.

I would like to share with you the rationale for brands establishing a significant presence on facebook:

Everyone is already there (and if you’re not, what are you waiting for?) More than 3 million Israelis and 850 million people around the world have friends on facebook, with half of them logging on every day! Time spent on facebook has been rising from survey to survey, and by the end of 2010 facebook even exceeded giant Google and took over the top place in terms of the time spent by surfers at a specific website. If our consumers are there – we should be there as well.

Brand community.

This is an excellent platform for brands to conduct an interactive, direct and open dialogue, to hear what people have to say and convey messages. This interactive platform allows one to listen and engage in real conversation with stakeholders, and, when used correctly, can greatly improve customer relations. The consumers can assist in promoting the brand, while, for its part, the brand can reward them with special contents, offer exclusive offers, and, of course, provide services and meet special requirements. The beauty of it all is that everything occurs fast, almost in real time, and many users even develop independent relationships amongst themselves.

Time plays a critical role.

The more time passes, the harder it will be to attract fans to your brand page. If a year and a half ago it was relatively easy to get a “like” from someone for a brand, it was due to the fact that it the whole concept was new and intriguing. Today, however, facebook is flooded with brands, and you have to work much harder to get people to vote for your page and give you access to their “feed”. In addition, on facebook there is an immense advantage to being the first to do something new – it greatly increases how fast your message is spread virally (by word of mouth) and increases your overall exposure. Brands that are not wise enough to get on facebook now could potentially lose the business advantage that other brands have created for themselves by using this digital arena.

The brand as an independent content producer.

Facebook is an excellent medium for brands to spread their own messages. If we were once dependent on external resources such as journalists or even bloggers to transfer messages, today we have the ability to communicate directly with consumers, and there is nothing that supports this new type of communications with one’s followers better than facebook. Whether it is a video interview with the CEO, a direct broadcast of a launch, a press conference, a post on the behalf of a company’s employees etc. Everything is directed straight at the community we’ve created on facebook, without any external factors that may distort the message (journalists, etc.)

Quantify, quantify, quantify.

Facebook is one of the most measurable channels available today. It is possible to see what the exact return on investment is for any and all activities carried out, whether that return is the commitment to the community (the level of engagement), the number of new friends, new discussions started or the number of times something is forwarded. And once a store is established on facebook, the site enables us to instantly determine the exact economic value created by using this tool.

F-commerce.

A term coined within the last year, which refers to purchases made on facebook. If we once spoke about making purchases online (e-commerce), the next big thing will be shopping on facebook, which combines the inherent social networking capabilities of facebook with the element of shopping online. In other words, taking the social impact to the place most relevant to the brand – the purchase itself. Quite a few companies are already beginning to see the inherent advantage in F-commerce, and are starting to adopt such stores. I believe that we’re at the very beginning of a new shopping revolution.

Leverage in the international arena.

Facebook provides a great opportunity to make your business international, which is certainly a huge challenge for local brands in their respective countries. Facebook is a tool that can be used to create a direct channel of communication with millions of potential consumers around the world whom you can introduce to your brand and have them consume it simply by reaching out to them.

In conclusion, the beauty of a platform such as facebook is its constant evolution, just like the boundaries of the communities formed within it. Facebook is limited only by your creativity. I believe it’s fun to work in a place where you must invent new things every day, walk a new path, and initiate projects that can bring significant advantages to your brand.

Did you already join our facebook page?

The Digital Value

Posted on December 20, 2011 by Nurit Blum

One of the challenges facing us as business companies in a changing world is managing long-term relationships with consumers. Relationships that are currently being built in the Strauss Facebook community, must deliver value in diverse areas.

During the learning and work process conducted in the past year, in which the Strauss community was established and developed, we identified three areas in which we can provide value to our community members: content (tips, experts, knowledge), service (customer service including expert advice), and economic value.

I am pleased to say that from the very first moment it was clear that the economic value we provide to our community members must be both attractive and unique. It was important for us not to offer yet another coupon that surfers can find everywhere, but rather provide them with a unique, high-value and more substantial offer.

In a productive collaboration we formed with the Strauss sales division and Supersol, Israel’s largest retail chain, we managed to establish the Strauss Deal, a changing discount on various Strauss product categories.

In order for the deal to take place, it requires a minimum number of participants to join in order to redeem the coupon, and so it encourages people to introduce it to their friends. With this activity we effectively connected to the global trend of “social shopping” that facilitates discount prices just by being a part of the community.

Since its launch, Strauss Deal became very successful – thousands of consumers logged on to Facebook. We continue to examine additional collaborations in order to keep providing substantial value to our community on Facebook.

Nurit Blum

Posted on December 20, 2011 by Nurit Blum

Nurit lives with Nitzan and is the mother of 18 months old Shira.

She is an MBA student at IDC and is crazy about her job. When not working, Nurit spends time playing (for the soul) and cooking (for health). She also like sewing and even has a variety of Burda at home (although she asked us not to tell anyone).

After working as head of Marcom of Microsoft Israel’s R&D center, Nurit moved to Strauss four months ago, to a new and challenging job of digital content & channel manager. She is very lucky and doesn’t like chocolate because otherwise she would have a problem.

In this blog, she aims to make the new digital world accessible to all, show how these changes impact our daily lives, and suggest how to conduct yourself in this new world.

She will try to examine new trends, revolutionary developments, and important insights.

And of course, she’ll write about our plans here at Strauss – she’d love to hear your ideas!