Communit-ication: Think Platform, Not Page

We’ve all heard this three thousand times: the old, top-down advertising model is dead and has been replaced by a two-way dialogue and open communication between brands and consumers (also known as people).  Where brands used to control and project their images to consumers, consumers are the new custodians of culture – and brands live and die by these bravangalists (not to be confused with Branjelina).

But beyond just having a two-way dialogue between brands and people, how can companies create real value and rigor in the social space?  By thinking of Facebook Pages as substantive social platforms (places where people can interact on their own terms, with each other) – not just Pages (promotional sounding boards) – brands can start to foster more passionate communities.  I'm calling this deeper understanding and commitment to prioritizing real connections 'communit-ication'.  

Some quick credentials - How many people actually follow brands in social spaces? 

According to a recent report by Arbitron and Edison Research, 25% of social network users follow companies /brands on social networks.  But their reasons for following vary – and that’s where it gets tricky. 

People “like” brands for different reasons.   Some want interesting / entertaining content and others expect prompt customer service.  Some love discounts and promotions, while others hate them.  This “Facebook dichotomy” is evident in that 24% of consumers have “unliked” because the company didn’t offer enough deals, while another 24% have “unliked” because posts were too promotional” [ExactTarget 2011].

Are you getting ready to throw a few Angry Birds my way? Don’t freak your freak – all I’m saying  is that there is no magical formula to creating a rockin’ social space and it’s important to make like Vanilla Ice and “stop, collaborate and listen” to how people are responding to your page and optimize from there.  Striking a balance between acting like a real person (with interesting info) and acting like a company (STILL interesting, but allowing for more brand-focused content) will appeal to different types of fans. At the same time.  Like, whoa…

Beyond promotions and sounding clever, brands can really add value in social spaces is by connecting people with similar interests and facilitating a dialogue between them.   A Facebook page isn't just a place to post. It's a community platform. Keyword: community.  Fans have expressed an interest in your brand, so that’s one thing they have in common.  What else?

Asking questions in status posts – and reviewing how fans react – will provide an indication of what your more active fan base is interested in (and what kinds of messaging they respond to).  Over time trends will appear, allowing you to create an ongoing and appealing communit-ication platform.  What’s not to say that a branded Facebook page can’t begin to foster the same kind of communication + community as a Meetup (minus the localization)?

By focusing on - and energizing- engaged fans over time, brands can reach a larger qualified audience than they would by blasting out general messages.   A handful of bravangalists who engage with each other will also bring in their branvangelical friends.  And heck, those friends might even have a friend (or 700 friends) of their own.   

Wow, you’re so popular.

An "Ohhhh SNAP" Resignation - Girl Quits Job on [Viral] Dry Erase Board

This is pretty awesome:

Jenny, a broker's assistant, quit her job yesterday by sending a company-wide email with photos of her resignation letter written in a series of hilarious dry erase board posts (Huffington Post). I've included a few here, but check out the full letter at The Chive.

There's speculation over whether this is a publicity stunt; The Huffington Post reported today that the guys behind The Chive post were responsible for a fake Donald Trump story in 2007... 

Besides being hilarious, the kicker - that "Spencer" aka the a**hole boss in question, spends 19.7 hours a week on Farmville - illustrates the recent findings from Nielsen's "What Americans Do Online" report.  Nielsen reported last week that Americans spend one third of their time online playing games and social networking.

Nielsen "What Americans Do Online"My bet is that this is a stunt by a media company, promoting the prevalence (and value) of social gaming today...  Apparently The Chive will reveal more tomorrow.

What do you think??

Farmville, anyone???

Update on Wednesday, August 11, 2010 at 09:56AM by Jackie Prince

Hoax confirmed!

The Chive and Tech Crunch (among many others) are confirming that Jenny was indeed a hoax, brought to you by brothers Leo and John Resig (who run The Chive and were also responsible for the Trump Tip Hoax and the Teen text Disaster Hoax).  All of these pranks have targeted mainstream media.

They targeted Tech Crunch because they wanted to get a write up, and claim that they did it just to see if they had it in them.  And for the thrill of creating something incredibly viral while the rest of the world was asleep (it was posted on The Chive at 4:30am).

**Thanks LC for the Tech Crunch Tip!!

Betty White is Da Bomb

David Matthews had a dream: that his favorite celebrity, Betty White, would grace the SNL stage as a host. And what better way to realise that dream than through 500,000 Facebook fans? Ohhh the wonders of the Facebook!

Matthews created the "Betty White to Host SNL (please?)!" just over 4 months ago, on December 30th, 2009.  Last Saturday night, Matthews and over 500,000 fans' wish came true, as Betty rocked the SNL stage in what's being called (by some) the best SNL episode EVER.  Guest appearances by some amazing female alums, reprising classic sketches (including one that has Betty White talking about her muffin...awsome and gross at the same time)

For those of you who hadn't heard of, missed, or forgot to DVR SNL last Saturday night, you MUST watch it! HI-larious and so special :)

This actually kills me..

Click here to watch some clips and go to NBC.com for the full episode (in the US).

Vitamin Water "hopes it’s ok we pulled you away from checking out you ex’s photo gallery..."

Ahhh, the Facebook app.  So many brands try to do these, but so few do it well. 

Without access to Facebook’s statistics, I believe that Burger King’s Whopper Sacrifice has been one of the most successful apps, at least in terms of buzz.  The application, which encouraged Facebook users to ‘sacrifice’ (delete) 10 of their friends in exchange for a Whopper voucher, generated tons of press and dare I say ruined quite a few friendships. Facebook actually shut down this app due to claims that it violated privacy settings (users are not supposed to be notified when they have been removed from someone’s ‘friends’).  At the time of its termination, the app saw almost 234,000 friends sacrificed for The King.  Now that’s sticky!

Vitamin Water’s latest Flavour Creator Application is another example of a brand who has managed to leverage the crowd sourcing function of social media to engage with consumers in a fun way. The page itself boasts 912, 144 fans at the time of this post, as well as very high interaction rates on their wall postings.

The application encourages users to submit a new flavour and vitamin combination, as well as package design, with a $5,000 incentive to the winner.  Other brands have turned to the masses to influence their product lines – the Walkers Do Us A Flavour activity was highly integrated and successful campaign, as well as Revels Eviction, which asked fans to ‘save the one you love, evict the one you hate’.

The Vitamin Water application uses a ‘buzzmeter’ – an aggregation of Twitter, Foodgawker, Google and Flickr feeds – to determine which flavour is being spoken about the most.  From there it determines the 10 most popular flavours and submits them to the ‘Vitamin Water Judges’ (including Carrie Underwood and 50 Cent… wtf???) to select the winning combination. 

A series of basic old school-themed games are supposed to determine which vitamins you most need and want in the new flavour.  However there’s nothing particularly telling about actual vitamin content needed in the games, despite their simple and somewhat addictive game play.  Perhaps some example of vitamins and their benefits would add to the app’s function and provide a bit of education. 

My favourite part of the application, though, is the cheeky and insightful tone, which permeates the app (have a read of the side of a Vitamin Water bottle and you'll see the brands consistency).  I also love the bottle design element, where beginning October 5th, users can have a go at designing the new bottle and flavour name.

The initial dialogue when you open the app is, “hope it’s ok we pulled you away from checking out you ex’s photo gallery… so get cracking, you can always be a stalker later…” This illustrates Vitamin Water’s understanding of both the medium they’re using and how their audience interact with this media (come on, you've all done your share of Facebook stalking).

While Vitamin Water's app isn’t a revolutionary concept by any means (indeed, nothing here is new - RSS feeds, voting, gaming), the brand has integrated these elements nicely in a fine example of how to engage with your audience by speaking their language and encouraging a dialogue.  The $5,000 incentive can’t hurt either…

I vote for a lime/banana/mint combination with Echinacea and Green Lantern vitamin powers … who’s with me…?!?

 

Stalking your children

Facebook, Twitter Revolutionizing How Parents Stalk Their College-Aged Kids

Saw this and thought of my brother, who's in his 3rd year at McGill University in Montreal, Canada.

If our mom knew how to use Facebook, I imagine she'd be (a much less intense) version of this woman!