snaPsHots
Networking
BRITISH TAKE ON FACEBOOK
Photos: Charles Caratini
Tobias Oppold
Alice Walpole
Chairman Robert Deed thanked BGL BNP Paribas for hosting the trade fair for the 4th time
Margot Parra
A social media conference anchored the British Chamber of Commerce for Luxembourg’s annual trade fair in October. British ambassador Alice Walpole officially opened the event, taking the opportunity to promote Britain’s digital skills, such as Tech City in East London. Skype presented a case study on how it uses social media to reduce customer service costs. The firm encourages users to provide technical support to each other via a community forum, reducing the need to run expensive call centres, Neil Ward, its Luxembourg chief, said. By the same token, it does not look at social media primarily as a marketing channel, Ward told Delano following the conference. Nevertheless, social media does play a key role in attracting new customers, found a panel led by Daniel Eischen, CEO of Interact. For example, BGL BNP Paribas uses Facebook to reach young people who would not normally be interested in hearing from “a stuffy bank,” said Ilona Biwer. While Facebook and Twitter are “good things to do,” said Patric de Waha, CEO of Zap.lu, it’s important to “engage at a deeper level.” More photos from the event are availAG able at www.delano.lu.
More than 150 attended the trade fair and conference
Catharina Biver Neil Ward
November 2011 - delano - 29