SO GALLANTLY STREAMING

Are social networking platforms the new frontier for brand building and advertising?

It may be a 140-character update on a Washington congressional debate sent via Twitter, or a three-minute loop of Kim Kardashian getting a mani-pedi on youtube, but it’s definitely blazing its way to becoming a global sensation. The way (semi) private messages are transmitted, shared, and discussed on social networking platforms immediately raises them into real issues. An innocuous video diary can potentially attract reactions, discussions, dedicated blogs, and even micro-sites the moment it orbits into online universe. Blog it and they will follow. Such being the case, social network-ing platforms are effectively user-generated media -
a fertile, overcrowded, buzzing environment that has been the focus of efforts from marketing, advertising and PR professionals for the past couple of years.

According to online intelligence service provider Brandtology, “The most important conversation today about a brand and its target audience is the one that happens among the prospects themselves.” “Different platforms allow you to connect to different audiences,” qualifies Andrew Peters, director of Social Media at Pacific West Communications, whose credits include awareness campaigns for the Singapore Tattoo Show, the virtual mirror world Twinity, and ongoing reality programme SupermodelMeTV.

Although Peters believes there is a lot of crossovers and shared audience pools among these platforms, he advocates tailoring the message to the medium. “LinkedIn has a more serious tone than Facebook, which is more casual, but we are able to utilise both platforms for the same project.” For example, Pacific West has put up sign-posts on LinkedIn directing traffic towards another site, where details of the programme on which they are conducting an awareness campaign are provided in a more seamless, suitable environment.

Talk the Walk
Buying tickets to a Chris Daughtry concert, or keeping tabs on the legs of his tour, may be a popular Facebook activity, but how about weightier issues? “I don’t consider messages uploaded on social networking platforms as advertising; they’re not there to sell anything, rather they engage the audience in conversation, which in turn may become opportunities for actual sales,” explains Peters.

Indeed, big ticket brands have been using social networking platforms to get the word about their products and get discussions started especially in relation to new launches. “It creates not only brand awareness, but also brand loyalty because consumers get to discuss and understand the product amongst themselves,” Peters comments. But consumers aren’t the only ones that benefit from such discussions. Peters points out that such feedback is valuable tools for assessing the product and making vital changes where necessary.

“We have a strong online pre-opening campaign called ION DNA and (an-other on) Facebook,” says Lim Shien Yau, AVP Marketing Communications at Orchard Turn Developments, which launched ION Orchard mall. Its dedicated website introduced prospective shoppers to the mall ahead of its grand opening. Besides prospects of winning “one of experiential prizes”, most of which capitalise on what the mall offers, a visit to the website is a privilege virtual tour. At the same time, it also captures profiles of visitors to the site, doubtless an important database material.

Critically Massive
“The organisers of the Singapore Tattoo Show expected us to bring in a crowd of at least 5,000, but more than 15,000 walked through the doors and obviously they were quite pleased with the ten thousand head count,” Peters cites. For the sponsors of the show, from beverages to footwear, it meant precious association with what is perceived as a “cool” event — not necessarily a direct sales pitch but nevertheless a powerful branding initiative.

The ION Orchard campaign, for example, raised its hip factor with its “Search for Singapore’s Most Fashionable 100” on Facebook. ION Orchard photographers took shots of willing—and passably fashionable — pedestrians that were then posted on Facebook. The traffic it generated was immense, with denizens of the platform gamely posting their comments. How’s that for creating pre-opening buzz?

With a critical mass discussing an event or product launch, the likelihood of it attracting sponsorships is high. Marketing strategist and author David Meerman Scott says that “when people spread your ideas and tell your stories, buyers are eager to do business with you”. This has been demonstrated time and again by the buzz that Ap-ple creates around its products way before they are launched. Webcast countdowns, dedicated blogs, and virtual news updates preoccupy hundreds of thousands of potential buyers of the latest cool gizmo from the brand. Even the discussion boards become virtual centres of consumer-driven R&D with fans critiquing past, present and future releases.

Wherever, Whenever
Meerman Scott says in his book World Wide Rave that the phenomenon takes place when “people around the world are talking about you, your company, and your products” no matter where your location is. “It’s when online buzz drives buyers to your virtual doorstep... when tons of fans visit your Web site and your blog because they genuinely want to be there.”

Location is in fact getting to be a secondary consideration, a bonus to companies seeking instantaneous global exposure. And with social networking platforms open 24/7, time is no object either. When Peters launched a virtual awareness campaign — of out Pacific West’s Singapore office — for Hypocol, a cholesterol management drug, he was amazed by the amount of discussion it generated worldwide. “People from very diverse locations were talking about it. It was a virtual community spread out across the globe but united by a common interest,” he marvels. Audiences from Asia to Europe and Africa exchanged notes on the drug’s efficacy, writing earnest testimonials and elaborate experience-based discussions. Doctors, patients, pharmaceutical companies weighed in freely, unhampered by actual distance.

Surely, social networking platforms are more than just community builders. Some companies have utilised their ability to address diverse audiences at once. Dell Computers, Peters pints out, uses Twitter to support customers, push out packages through direct selling, and even turn the engine into a virtual call centre.

A Word Edgewise
Despite vaunted democracy in social net-working platforms, there are rules of engagement to observe in order to navigate them successfully. Savvy is key. TPR, the PR unit of TBWA group, is rolling out a maiden project on Facebook for one of its clients, reveals executive director Beth Kennedy. “The programme targets participants between 15 and 20 years old.” Focused on corporate social responsibility, it involves organising international participation in marketing programmes. “In terms of reaching out to participants, I think this is the only platform to get them.” Kennedy, who has so far resisted setting up a Facebook account, adds that she can “see no other way of launching this programme right now except on Facebook”. TPR has even recruited a 21-year-old “who speaks the language” to construct a site.

Blogs, say PR practitioners, are part of the equation. “Facebook is a social media driver,” says Peters — a chain of conversations that is instantaneous and democratic. Clued in and tuned in, the online generation spends most of their time interacting with friends on social networking platforms, adds Kennedy. Facebook updates them on what is going on and, more importantly, allows them to participate through their own video logs or vlogs and commentaries.

“I can see how much of Facebook can be productive if it is properly targeted. It can have a huge effect. But it gets out of hand when everything gets pushed at people,” Kennedy says. Hinting at natural selection forces at play, she adds: “People will filter through messages if they get sent too much and I think they are becoming more selective.”

This Way Forward
What worries PR practitioners and their clients is the exponential growth of mem-berships in social media platforms. Face-book, for one, claims more than 200 million members, half of which log on to the site at least once a day. “It’s overcrowded and there’s a chance of messages getting lost or considered as spam; the same is true of Twitter,” says Peters.

Kennedy expresses reservations about the openness of the structure. “It threatens privacy; the whole world knows so many things about you and you become a target (for unsolicited and unwelcome messages).”

Another concern is measuring efficacy of the platforms in delivering not just hits, but successful user sessions, read: actual sales. Service providers and their clients will have to wait for tools to measure delivery. “Traditional PR companies rely on specific parameters and use a multiplier,” Peters says, “but companies are now gener-ating tools that will look into virtual media.” For the time being, Facebook Fan Page provides insights into followers of specific campaigns, breaking them into familiar cohorts. Peters is developing microsites — spin-offs and elaboration of existing cam-paigns — for his clients based on profiles generated by Facebook.

Meanwhile, Brandtology has come up with ways to capture and analyse information circulating online that pertains to audience perception of client brands. The information is a vital tool for clients to strategise appropriately, react swiftly to the market, and secure a winning position. It offers online conversation audit, which provides a picture of how a client’s brand is perceived online. Its buzz and voices tracking services update clients on what is current in relevant channels in the marketplace. It also works with clients in developing strategies suited to the interactive environment.

“The way forward is going to be online interactive communication, but one that survives with specialisation,” Kennedy proposes. “Bombardment will need a direction. Let’s face it, how many hours can you spend on Twitter day,” she challenges.
The answer to that, at least for now, is not enough.