Brunner Digital launched a social collaboration that enables the agency to better communicate and source ideas across its offices. The platform also has been adopted and custom-designed for two clients.
High school recruiters at DeVry University will use the tool to share experiences and tips once they’ve left the classroom. Aquafreshwill use it as a central meeting place for its global marketing managers to leverage the brand work being done in the United States.
“A great idea can come from anywhere,” said Shaun Quigley, digital practice leader for Brunner Digitalin DC. “In addition to that, we needed to put our money where our mouth was in terms of social media and how clients can leverage that technology to improve the way they communicate internally.”
Last spring, the agency set out to create an organic knowledge base where all employees could start groups, comment, vote and collaborate on a variety of topics. On the Brunner Digital version, discussions range from creative concepts and emerging media to benefits packages and presentation skills.
“Email is an antiquated way to share knowledge,” said Quigley “and a traditional intranet simply wouldn’t cut it. We charged a team to develop a tool that would solve the problem.”
Enter BrunnerWorks, a social media platform that allows the agency to save “knowledge streams” about a particular client, topic, article, or problem. Tagging and bookmarking allow users to search across a variety of media types including text, images and video.
“It’s very much a platform for the people, by the people,” said Brunner’s Chief Technology Office John Roden, project manager and visionary for BrunnerWorks. “All content is user generated. There is no programming required to add content. We add functionality as we think of it or as new media emerge.”
The tool was built in-house using an open source platform. Integration with other third-party social media like widgets, YouTube, Flickr and Twitter allow for seamless collaboration among users.
Users are allowed to generate profiles, add friends and start groups, similar to Facebook. Groups like “Social Media Team” and “Digital forum” sit alongside “Brunner Moms Rock” and “Happy Hour.”
BrunnerWorks averages about 60 - 80 users a day, with a peak early in the week of around 100. Each visitor averages ten pages and ten minutes per visit. There are 163 users and 45 groups.
“Crowdsourcing is a concept that’s changing the traditional agency model,” said Quigley. “And we know that in order to be competitive, we need to adapt and embrace that change. BrunnerWorks has enabled us to work in a smarter, faster way, and the tool is already making a big impact on our work for clients.”