the world has changed. socialisation and humanisation of the worldwide web social networks have been transformed and unleashed to create vast ‘live’ public forums and spaces Social has become the identity system and behaviour overlay of the web sharing is the new giving, participation is the new consumption and consumer reviews and opinion pieces are the new advertising add to this the socialisation of commerce Humanising a brand through Zappos, the US online shoe store, is often cited : for its Twitter feed, written by the company’s CEO Tony Hsieh. Instead. of a full dose of Zappos marketing at every turn, Hsieh tweets about things that come up in his daily life, the feed sounds as if it’s from a friend rather than a business that wants sales at any cost. The feed has helped put a very human face on Zappos, and has been very successful in creating brand engagement. It now has over 1m followers Redefining customer service and brand image Dell’s Direct2Dell blog has been established for several years, but it continues to stand as an excellent example of how social media requirea shift in corporate thinking. In the past, Dell, like many big brands, was wary of answering or addressing any online comments, but once it started its blog, it realised two things: that in responding to customer complaints online, it might not be able to solve every problem every time, and that by dealing with them on the web, they might expose some of Dell’s weaknesses to an even larger audience. The advantages of the blog have outweighed its cons. It is often cited as helping to improve customer relations, and also constant source to the company of valuable feedback The questionable Is all publicity good publicity? Skittles did generate a lot of buzz by creating a feed on its website that sucked all user-generated content from Twitter, Facebook and other outlets on the web onto their Home page. The good, the bad, and the ugly allappear – ‘Skittles gives you cancer’ being just one example. At the launch, the campaign did get a lot of buzz, mostly because marketers were debating whether or not this campaign was brave or damaging. On one level, Skittles, as a bag of sweets, is targeted at children, so some of the more questionable content was not exactly appropriate. Secondly, once the initial buzz died down, the campaign’s use of social media tools was injudicious. Stick to the rules Social media is all about transparency and authenticity, as Asus, the Taiwanese computermaker, learned after it decided to change the rules of a blogging competition that didn’t go in its favour. Six bloggers were competing to win Asus products, with readers deciding on the best reviews. When readers chose a review from a blogger that pointed out both the weaknesses and strengths of an Asus laptop, the computer maker changed the rules and asked the bloggers themselves to vote for the winner. As a result, the winner was not the consumers’ choice, much to their anger and annoyance. From the people to the people & why taste matters Toyota Australia’s user-generated video contest campaign went wrong for two reasons. Firstly, it turned to professionals to create content, thereby negating the ‘user’ in UGC. Secondly, it showed that taste levels still matter with UGC. A film competition to promote Toyota’s Yaris invited people to make a video ad of the car. The ‘Clever Film Competition’ offered a AU$7,000 first prize and was supported by a Twitter profile and Facebook group. As the deadline loomed, however, no videos had been shot, so the agency, forced to abandon its UGC hopes, invited production houses to enter the competition. The winning video, shot by Brisbane production house Play TV and posted on YouTube, features a father talking to his daughter’s boyfriend in a doubly suggestive, sexually laden conversation, and includes the line, ‘she can take a good pounding in any direction’. The video, which viewers found degrading to women, offensive, and even incestuous, was quickly pulled, with Toyota struggling to distance itself from it, though not, ironically, before it spread virally and was picked up by the world’s press. Social gaming circle Relevance is key, both in terms of the game to the brand and the relevance of the game to the consumer. The best social gaming apps all have similar themes, such as pets, charity, flirting and sports. Understand which topics your consumers might be most responsive to and then determine the best approach to integrate the brand. A meaningful gaming experience is built on basic human drivers such as identity and recognition, risk and reward, while being fun and entertaining. There should also be elements of exploration and challenge, opportunities to win or to provide some sense of accomplishment. Provide a platform for ‘bragging rights’. Viewing the accomplishments of others in their network will create a deeper experience at the centre of which is the brand. Zynga’s FarmVille is the most popular social game, played by over 20% of Facebook’s 400m users. Millions of people are spending their valuable real time sowing virtual seeds, tending to virtual crops and buying virtual tractors (of which there were many more sold in the US last year than real ones!). Social brands Some brands are more talked about online than others. Obviously, a margarine brand is less likely to be discussed than an iconic technology brand like Apple. Some products make better social brands than others. So an important question for any marketer has to be – how can we make ourselves more relevant to the public? There’s arguably an opportunity for all industries – perhaps we don’t see lots of people discussing household bleach brands online, but why not? It’s just a question of finding the right destination. Search me The socialisation of search . we all need to means become smarter about handling data to intelligently inform offline buys Search is often referred to as ‘the database of intent’ because analysis of users’ search patterns helps to identify the crucial information. Provide something of value Contrary to popular belief, all brands can find a space within the social sphere. The question is not whether a brand is suitable, but rather what social experience can a brand provide and to what audience. A brand doesn’t have to be the centre of a social game, but by providing something of value to game play, whether it’s an item, currency or a new environment, it is still possible to participate with consumers in a meaningful and relevant way. However, as with all marketing, it’s important that social gaming is integrated within a campaign and presents a consistent brand message. [email protected]