New media lessons from old school brands
Posted by Jeffry Pilcher on August 23rd, 2007
I haven’t picked up an issue of Adweek in quite a while, because what’s happening on Madison Avenue with the Budweiser account doesn’t really concern Weber Marketing Group or our clients. But I picked up an issue today and thumbed it all the way through. Boy oh boy, has that publication changed in the last few years.
Adweek used to be all about global agencies and massive TV ad campaigns. Now it’s almost all about new media, or at least that how it seems. Here are three articles from this week’s current issue:
- Why Barbie can have a social website, but not Coke
- YouTube, politics and Obama Girl
- Advertising in video games
The story about how Coke – the world’s biggest, most valuable brand – couldn’t sustain its social website, “The Coke Show,” was the most interesting. From the article:
The Coke Show joins a growing list of cautionary tales, including Wal-Mart’s ill-fated social network The Hub and Anheuser-Busch’s Bud.tv, showing it is far from easy to tap the same kind of sharing vibe that’s fueled the rise of MySpace, YouTube and Facebook.
Takeaways:
- Learn from Adweek. They see which way the wind is blowing. Marketing – even advertising – is increasingly becoming a dialogue with consumers. Traditional media still has its place, but the days of one-sided, one-directional marketing are numbered. It will be more and more common for consumers – not advertisers – to control the discussion and pick the venues.
- Success isn’t guaranteed. If big brands like Coke, Budweiser and Wal-Mart can’t find success after applying all their might and muscle, others are sure to fail also. The rules are still being written and no one has all the answers. Can your credit union’s CEO handle this level of ambiguity and uncertainty? Especially when the ROI is fuzzy (at best).
- Don’t rush into the Web 2.0 world blindly. Some organizations seem to think “if you build it, they will come,” but it’s not that simple. You need to know your target audience and what they want to talk about BEFORE you launch a blog or a MySpace page. And don’t underestimate the commitment it takes once you’re up and running. You’ll need to devote time, energy and focus to your Web 2.0 initiatives every day (hint: hours of writing).
Jeffry Pilcher is the Creative Director of Weber Marketing.
JP,
Good post. I think that if credit unions still have some kind of common bond they won’t get the Coke Show Cold Shoulder.
Coke drinkers don’t really have anything in common other than they like Coke. Enough to reject New Coke. I say it’s time to change the recipe again and see how much they still care…..
Target audience is key (as you point out in number 3) to building ANYTHING. Trying to be all things to all people is a sure way to fail at Web 2.0. The more targeted the better, in my opinion.
Jeffry,
It’s funny how some things look so obvious to folks on the outside. A Wal-Mart myspace knock-off? Did they really think that was going to work?
I wonder if they had meeting joking about how K-Mart could never pull it off, but might Wal-Mart will have it locked up!
The bottom line is innovation will drive this technology. But dont let the social project taint your brand and don’t think your brand will carry a boring site (see coke)
Wal-Mart could have bought a semi-successful social media outlet, funded the project and used the web traffic for marketing and folded the expense into their marketing budget – instead they wanted to brand it to Wal-Mart. I think it was just poor strategy. I think they may have failed to realize that their target isn’t really excited about Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart is just necessary. Their brand is cheap merchandise for the masses – not the hip new place to hang out and buy fashionable clothes.
So credit unions – if you are going to wade into the social media pool – make sure you want to get wet. Make sure you brought a towel. Bring your sunglasses and sunscreen (am I taking the metaphor too far yet?).
And most of all, don’t get into the kiddie pool unless you plan to get dirty.
The bottom line is that any social media initiative must have some focus. Whether that’s a specific SEG (such as LA Firemen’s, who could have a blog), a social cause (such as VanCity’s “Change Everything”), or a reflect a core of the brand (such as “simplifying life” or “smarter living”).
The key metric for online success today is “participation.” User-generated content is what drives the best Web 2.0 experience.
No comments. No questions. No posts. No photos. No submissions. Cricket, cricket… These are the things that characterize online leprosy.
Excellent post Jeffry.
A niche, a purpose, relevancy, freshness and a small-geographic footprint are key for credit unions. In the real world and online.
Rather than the world-wide web, think small-world-web. You simply can’t be a Facebook or a YouTube, but I believe you can do something special in your own backyard.
Everyone contemplating the leap should read William from Vancity’s success factors on Netbanker.
That’s the quote of the week:
“Rather than the World Wide Web, think Small World Web!!”
Once again, a Canadian saves the day!!!!!
Speaking of Wal-Mart and social media, take a look at Jeremiah Owyang’s post this morning.
He ends with a great suggestion for them:
@Trey…I’ve always loved the site Woot! You basically get a new discount item presented each day, and people can comment via its blog. Wal-Mart will have a very tough time convincing the public to change their deep-rooted opinions of the goliath retailer. Why not just use social media for their bread-and-butter? They are supposed to be the price leader – why not use some variation of Woot’s model and keep convincing us that they are in fact the destination for the best prices. We keep talking about trying to be all things to all people. To me, Wal-Mart just needs to give me the best price. Otherwise, I have no need for them.
When I think “community,” I will absolutely NEVER think of a 100,000 square foot box store. Of course, I’m from a Southern Indiana town of 7,000. Seems to me they’re trying to be a strawberry and an apple all at the same time.