In the past broadcasting a brand message was limited to those with financial clout. The delivery of a brand message could be controlled by marketers and pushed through multiple channels to the audience. And with the marketers working with the product owners in mind and not the end consumer the gap between the brand promise and the actual brand product that the consumer would experience could be great.
This has all changed now with the emergence of low cost, highly accessible communication tools. Consumers are able to filter out the messages that are not relevant to them while amplifying and focusing in on the ones that are. Control in a very real sense has moved from brand marketers to the consumer and, as a result marketers have to change and adapt the way they develop and deliver brand messages.
Instead of repeating single marketing messages through traditional media, marketers should now focus on creating rich experiences and engaging stories and conversations that are relevant to their consumers. Brand values and brand promises need to be communicated in a way that allow the consumer the opportunity to navigate to the message.
Some brands though struggle with this idea of creating the experiences and stories that will engage their customers, instead choosing to latch onto the new evolving marketing channels and shoe horn in a campaign or message without really understanding who they engaging with and what conversations they should be having.
So what comes first then, the big idea or the channel? Easy question to answer you would have thought, well not so for some. Whether it’s looking for a marketing silver bullet, wanting to jump on the bandwagon of a new technology or just a little laziness creeping into marketing campaigns, both agencies and clients are both as guilty as each other for picking the channel first and then trying to shoe horn in the marketing message.
We need to stop talking social media first and refocus on the big idea. Consumers and future prospects don’t go weak at the knees for social media; they get excited by the coolness of the idea, the richness of the story, the personalities of the people and the relevance of the brand to them as individuals.
Social media should therefore be seen as the enabler. It’s the conduit that allows the important stuff, the content, to flow to the audience. The sooner we all realise social media is there to facilitate delivery and amplify the key message the quicker we get to a position where marketers energies are invested in creating amazing and inventive creative.
It is understandable however, that businesses get excited about trying to find ways of using social media to approach and reach consumers. This is not a bad thing, it’s good, as long as the idea is strong and you have a sound understanding of the distinction between social media on a social level and then on a technical level.
Take Nike+ for instance, a utility for the running community that is relevant, engaging and lives the brand promise. Burger King created ‘Whopper Sacrifice’ that actually sent customers coming to their site onto a Facebook page asking them to sacrifice their friends for a free burger. Dell Idea Storm is a Dell user community that contribute to design improvements.
The thread between all these brand executions is that they are based on a solid creative idea, use social technologies in the most appropriate way and recognise online behavioural patterns of their audience.
Smart brands that focus on the big idea first as opposed to selecting a tactic from the social media stable will end up providing a more creative experience for their customers through a channel that is appropriate to them. These customers will then see value in the relevance of the message.
Tags: brands, creative idea, social media
