THE LANGUAGE OF LOVE IN SOCIAL MEDIA

New Rules for Brand Engagement

Social Media Pervasive and Growing

• 700 billion minutes spent on Facebook per month

• 24 hours of content uploaded to YouTube per minute

Networking

Blogging

Micro-

blogging

Content

Sharing

Gaming

Consumer

Ratings/

Reviews

Aggregation

Location-

based

Application

Any

Discussion

forum on a

blog or

corporate

website

Customer

Service

Social Media is Truly a Global Phenomenon

• Social media usage

and attitudes quite

similar

• Drivers and needs are

universally human

characteristics

“It’s surprising just how similar we are. Even though

we come from very different backgrounds, we all

pretty much agree on what we expect out of social

media.”

A Three Month Conversation with 400 People

Client probes

for marketers'

perceptions of

social media

Interviews

Consumer blogs & digital diaries for behavior and

attitudinal mining

Blogs

Facebook Group for brand trust,

influence, impact

exploration

Facebook

Global conversation for

trends and cultural nuance

discussion

IdeaBlog

Two Types of Users: Moderates and Mavens

MAVENS MODERATES

Used Social Media to Study Social Media

• "Ethnographic-like"

feel and quality

• Large pool of "virgin"

respondents

• Truly global

conversation versus

multinational

The Story

Brands Outside Looking In

Marketers Struggling to Deal with the Shift in Balance of Power

Consumers in Control

Success Requires New Relationship-Building Model

• Risk losing relevance

and trust

• Complete loss of control

• Consumers define the

brand

Ignoring social media,

staying out of the

game

• Traditional marketing

approaches can

alienate

• Risk credibility due to

lack of relevance

Jumping on the

bandwagon -

“must be there”

What Did We Learn from Marketers?

Brand

Engagement and

Commitment

• Listen, uncover needs

• Build real relationship

• Let consumers co-own

the brand and evangelize

Must Build a Real

Relationship to Succeed

Stages of Brand Engagement

Focus on Discovery and

Attraction

Create Intimacy

and Build

Credentials via

Humanization

Cultivate Trust Through

Transparency and Consistency

Behave Less Like a Brand and More Like a Friend

ENGAGEMENT and COMMITMENT

Some examples

Schweppes

(soft drinks)

Developed a Facebook

app able to personalize

facebook profile.

Objective: to attract

people on Schweppes

fanpage.

Some examples

Mulino Bianco

(food)

Created an online

community including

both consumers and

people from the company

working together on

developing new

marketing activities.

Objective: co-create

brand value.

Key Things to Remember

Build a relationship rather than sell

Think COMMUNITY vs. marketplace

Act like a friend not a corporation

THE LANGUAGE OF LOVE IN SOCIAL MEDIA

Thanks for you attention