How come a post from a blogger be shared in a
spectacular tempo and a post from a brand go unnoticed?
Approaching convergent media as a means of
advertising, instead of as a means of interacting with individuals may not have
the desirable effects, brands wish for,as Kevin Lee argues.
In a social network environment people exchange
ideas, opinions, beliefs, share interesting videos, quotes, gain common causes
etc. After all, that is the reason of convergent media existence.
I was wondering about brands with a dominant appearance
on social networks and their approach. These brands neither exaggerate about
their attributes and their products’ decisive advantages, nor bombard you with
newsletters about their environmental conscience or corporate social
responsibility. They make you part of their cause.
Kaplan proposes 5 pieces of advice for
companies deciding to go social:
- “Be active”: Social media is about engaging others in conversations.
- “Be interesting”: Make research about what your customers want to talk about.
- “Be humble”: Discover and learn the basic rules of the social platform, before you enter any application.
- “Be unprofessional”: Do not be afraid of making mistakes, in your attempt to keep presence with latest updates.
- “Be honest”: Respect the rules and do not try to force your way in.
Take for instance TOMS shoes pr campaign about
donating one pair of shoes to a child in need for each part of shoes sold.
Check out the attached video on YouTube and watch the actual testimony of TOMS
founder to the brand’s cause.
Furthermore, I believe that all of you were
surprised a few years ago with DOVE’s pr campaign about real women’s beauty.
Dove puts ordinary women to the first raw of its campaigns, sets up real beauty
workshops for girls and makes a remarkable attempt in changing our perception
of beauty.
These campaigns are supported by extent appearance in social networks and therefore these brands appear as individuals talking about topics that are passionate about, or important issues to them and their community. That’s where their huge success lies.
I do not know how you feel, but I love being
part of a pr campaign with a real impact on people’s lives.
4 comments:
I do see your point regarding the need to have some sort of appearance in the social network. Not only, some PR campaigns are there to raise awareness on important issues such as laws or even societal conventions.
But as some would argue, CSR can easily be a double blade. Lets take the Dove Campaign. In this article, http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/brandnewday/archives/2008/05/surprise_doves.html, we see how there are short comings. People start talking about these campaigns even through a blog just like this and because of the power they now have though the convergent media we can see how they question everything and look further unless they are completely uninterested.
The customer can be given the ability to own your brand if convergent media is not used in such a balance. (http://www.searchmarketinggurus.com/search_marketing_gurus/2008/05/letting-custome.html)
A review of the thread of comments on the Dove Real Beauty online campaign carried in the BusinessWeek link shared in the comment above, against the creative campaign videos discussed by Ellie, sheds light on the two-sidedness of the social media. PR is under greater scrutiny than at other time in history. It is not enough, it seems, to have a great cause; the apparatus we use to run that cause must be seen to be authentic too. In the thread in the BusinessWeek, the commentators are raising questions not on the campaign idea itself, but on what may seems like a peripheral issue but one that has great importance to them: the authenticity of the photos of the models used in the campaign. The online conversation with our publics - it appears is going to be no less than a 360 degree dialogue. Katie Paine in How to Measure Social Media Relations: The more things change the more they remain the same aptly reminds the PR and Marketing practitioner who is the boss when she quotes Scoble and Israel's Naked Conversations thus, 'the consumers are.... in control and they are going to let you know what they think by changing their behaviour,'
Great post. I think you have really touched on an important aspect of how brands or companies use convergent media. It should not be used just to fight for a share of public attention, but to interact. Without interaction, it becomes painfully obvious to the online community that the act of posting via Facebook or Twitter is disingenuous. Perhaps it is because the reach of the online world is so vast that people are actually searching for connection and humanism from the people they converse with online. Klout scores are a valuable way to identify trends in Twitter. It's not a perfect system, but at least it is a way to encourage organizations who tweet to increase engagement and improve the way they use it. In the end, as you point out, it really is the human side that draws people in, not necessarily the volume of posts, tweets etc.
The way technology creates new dynamics and the question of how bossiness can take advantage of these dynamics is an issue at the top of any agency’s agenda the last years. The shift in markets has been drawn in a vertiginous rhythm and is not hard to understand why everyone is seeking to understand how are they going to follow that rhythm!
“In advertising, we fabricate the relationship between the brand and its customers; in social media, you let it happen organically.” Simon Mainwaring, a former big ad agency creative director, said in his interview at Behind the Brand.
A really interesting interview, which examines the shift in the marketplace during “the converged era”. “Is the technology that changes everything?” the hosts asked. “
You will find the video below
http://on.mash.to/yxxoAk
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