Social Media isn't the "IN" thing

In my work, i get alot of opportunities to work with branding managers, PR agencies and Sales executives who want to know how social media can improve their bottomline. I usually spend anywhere between 30 to 90 mins frustrating myself over conversations such as these.

"Will my brand getting involved in social media generate sales leads?
or
"I want a social media plan that will allow me to change my brand's perception."

I find it extremely distasteful that traditional marketers ( well paid might i add) in this country and time are still so far off the mark when it comes to social media. Yes, of course ROI needs to be justified and yes, of course you expect to come out looking the better after a bout of social media engagement, but many marketers are still approaching the digital medium as a channel to manipulate and the audience as potential consumers they can influence.

When i mention that choosing to engage with their audience online means having to relinquish control over their brand , there is usually an uncomfortable 5 seconds of awkward silence round the table. I generally defend this by explaining engagement can only be monetized by listening and communicating. You won't improve retail sales by engaging your audience with a 1 way sales pitch. Getting seriously involved in social media is like opening Forrest Gump's box of chocolates, although you never know what you may get, it's important to know who is giving them and why.

When a brand decides to launch a PR campaign to position itself differently, the online channel is usually the first port of call as PR agencies expertly tout bloggers such as myself as "viral brand ambassadors". When im involved in such meetings, i usually start by saying this.

"Your client's brand will not be changed, impacted or perceived differently in any channel you choose unless you change the user experience or customer behaviour of that brand"

My marketing perspective has been totally rocked by "Branding only works on cattle" by Jonathan Salem and i agree 100% that branding is defined by experience and behaviour and not by celebrity endorsements or the ambiguous tv ad or even the funny viral youtube video. Most local highly paid PR marketers still think they somehow have the power to change the way you perceive a certain brand by putting subliminal messages in as many advertising touchpoints as possible. I believe that social media engagement will not only debunk most of these mythical perceptions but actually bring to light the REAL branding most consumers think the product or brand is to them

Take for example the case of say this local ad by AllsWell

It's funny , pretty good as a talking point and to most PR agencies, a "success". They will say "Look, even this blogger Melvin Kee is talking about it". :) Well,let's put this in perspective. Any of you rushed out to buy a bottle of AllsWell after this ad? I know i didn't. Have i bought a bottle recently? Yes. Why? Because i genuinely like the drink and it's accessible. These are my user experiences and therefore my branding definition of AllsWell. To me, they make unique local drinks that are generally refreshing, reasonably priced and easy to pick up. It has nothing to do with any"Love" connection or some market position of reaching out to heartland consumers as "the common man's drink".

Assuming the above 2 were real PR objectives and Allswell wanted to use social media to achieve those PR objectives, i would have said why not engage the local community to give out 5,000 bottles of Allswell to community projects such as an old folk's home or an orphanage or hospice? Spread the word through a viral channel and get an engaged audience to be real ambassadors by volunteering to distribute these bottles. You could take the experience and film it and spread it virally, you could ask for signups for this exercise through widgets that bloggers could carry on their blog ( i would!).

What would be the outcomes of such a campaign? As a blogger and consumer, i would experience Allswell being a forward thinking, community focused and socially responsible brand. Would this affect my next purchase? I imagine that my being involved in the exercise brings me closer to Allswell as a consumer. REAL engagement. Plus the cost of this exercise would pale in comparison to the above production and media spend on TV.

This is an example of how social media can help reposition a brand and hopefully impact the bottomline. But marketers don't want to hear this do they? The conversation is still about comparing traditional media's ROI versus the online channel. Until these people involved in branding or advertising stop looking at their brand as THEIR brand and users as "CON"sumers, social media will never be an answer.

Comments? Thoughts? Drop me a comment