As print media and television continue to diminish in reach (especially to the millennial population), companies are turning toward social media to get their messages to the public. Brands are evolving by launching interactive campaigns on Twitter and Facebook, and consumers are demanding the personalization and direct communication that are the norm for these platforms. A 2013 leadership study shows that 80% of those surveyed believe that it’s vital for a CEO to interact on social media.
Twitter campaigns can generate buzz quickly and cheaply. Nabisco’s Oreo (MDLZ) had a huge win by quickly reacting to the 2013 Super Bowl blackout and posting its “You can still dunk in the dark,” ad. Within an hour, the post had nearly 20,000 Facebook likes and 16,000 retweets. It also benefited from as much free media as any Super Bowl commercial (which cost about $4 million for 30 seconds).
With huge returns for less money spent, it makes seeming sense that brands are building up social media teams and cutting advertising budgets. In 2013, then Proctor & Gamble CEO Bob McDonald announced his intentions to save $1 billion in advertising per year by using “free” Facebook and Google ad impressions. Tom Doctoroff, JWT Asia Pacific CEO and author of “Twitter is Not a Strategy: Rediscovering the Art of Brand Marketing” disagrees with this method.
“Twitter is a tool…but it is not a strategy,” he says. “You can’t just be a ‘cool kid’ with social media. Everything needs to be brought into a framework of a brand engagement and relationship…sometimes broadcast media is the way to go but then compliment it with social media that people can engage with if they want to.” Forcing customers to become a company’s friend, says Doctoroff, is a recipe for disaster.
When people are forced into engagement, says Doctoroff, it often does the opposite of what it is supposed to, detaching brands from the consumer and coming off as markedly unhuman.
The brands that are winning in this realm are Coca-Cola (KO), Axe and Mattel (MAT) says Doctoroff. “This alignment happens when people really understand the conceptual craftsmanship of brand building.”
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