Comments on: Are marketers creating a social media bubble?

By: Nigel

Nigel — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 23:00:56 +0000

Hi Ted, thanks for the comment. Good point about Dell. I still find it suprising that so many people lose their sense of proportion when it comes to something like Twitter.

By: Ted Morris

Ted Morris — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 22:19:00 +0000

Social Media Bubble? Absolutely. It’s not a brand building tool. As I see it, that’s the job of paid media -TV, Radio, Out-of-Home. Social Networks are tactical tools for Customer Relationship Management - enabling transactions and customer service, spreading word-of-mouth regarding the user experience and promotions. The example I like is how Dell generated $5M in sales on the Twitter channel. This represented a number so small, relative to their total annual sales, that it showed up as zeros on my calculator. Even at that, it wouldn’t have happened for an obscure brand. Thanks for putting Social Media in perspective. Cheers, Ted.

By: Tom Ewing

Tom Ewing — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 10:43:26 +0000

I wonder if it’s truer to say that brands can BE disrupted on social media but not disrupt?
DCJ - I suspect the brand fans are people with a lower participation barrier, rather than recluses: people who don’t really ‘curate’ their social media presence much. They see a “become a fan” button, click it, and that’s the limit of their engagement most likely.
As for the bubble - in marketing terms maybe it is, maybe it isn’t - there have been plenty of people in each camp for a few years now and the answer is still “wait and see”. The initial hype is already turning into a more “show me the money/ROI” proposition but even a lot of that is blogosphere tough talk. The one thing I’m sure of is that I can’t see a credible scenario whereby people stop using these tools.

By: Nigel

Nigel — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 14:18:36 +0000

@Mike Laurie, is disruption the only way to build your brand? No but it sure is a lot quicker than brand-building by repetition. Our analysis suggests that growth depends on encouraging people to see your brand as “different in a good way.” Innovation, in business model, product experience, positioning or actions are the keys to creating that perceived differentiation.

By: Nigel

Nigel — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 14:08:38 +0000

Thanks Pete. And here is a new item to add to the mix. Pepsi is apparently dumping the Superbowl in favor the community-oriented Pepsi Refresh program based round Facebook. As noted in the post this is a major financial and cultural shift.

By: Pete

Pete — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 20:26:00 +0000

Nigel,
Thanks for posting! I wish AdAge and AdWeek would reprint this so more folks — especially corporate brand managers — could read it.
There’s a fuss and rush to do all things social media at many companies, without a sense of realism — that social is likely just another tool in the marketing toolbox.
Pete

By: Nigel

Nigel — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 18:37:44 +0000

OK, more comment than I can sensibly comment on right now! Couple of quick thoughts:

Miro, nice summary of the roles for which social media can be used.

DCJ, I believe Dynamic Logic found 20% of U.S. Internet users were into social media and the rest were more ho hum. Not sure what that says about brand fans other than the fact they may not be representative of the broader audience.

Matt, good point about mobilization but to hark back to a previous question, have you got a good example of a brand that did so?

Google alerted me to that fact that Mark Earls thinks I assume social media are the same (but smaller version of mass media). Sorry Mark, you assume too much! I am suggesting that marketers are creating a bubble by not recognizing what it takes to play in the social media space but are jumping in anyway.

By: uberVU - social comments

uberVU - social comments — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 18:20:38 +0000

Social comments and analytics for this post…

This post was mentioned on Twitter by plnnrz: Are marketers creating a social media bubble?: While at the Corporate Image and Branding conference in New York Ci… http://bit.ly/aZUaiq...

By: Matt Hames

Matt Hames — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 16:53:47 +0000

I’ve been thinking about the social media bubble for a while, but I’m more interested in what you’re saying. We’ve seen the “popularity contest” play out with some brands. In that vein, Facebook is a good test of past marketing. If the brand has done well creating a likeable brand, then people will fan the page. If it hasn’t, they won’t. And no real trickery will help.
One final point: if Coke’s 4 million fans are just impressions, then I agree it’s a small number. But if those people can be motivated, then the number is more like 4 million x 126 — the average number of friends people have online.
So the strategy is to amass then organize, it can actually turn into a profitable tactic.

By: Tom Kasperski

Tom Kasperski — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 15:47:09 +0000

Agreed, social should be viewed as just another touch point in an integrated marketing strategy. High involvement brands have more opportunity to benefit in this space. Brand managers + their agencies should keep this in mind. To quote Alan Wolk: “Your brand is not my friend”.