Many brands are contemplating jumping on the Social Marketing bandwagon. Many should. Some shouldn’t. But, how do you determine if you should or shouldn’t?
It’s fairly easy.
Some brands believe they are successful because they keep their cards close to the vest. They don’t let you in, they don’t make their intentions known. Apple comes to mind. Bill Parcells. W.
These are the brands that should stay away from Social Marketing.
Social Marketing is only for brands that believe they are successful because they have good ideas and desire to communicate these great ideas to people. By listening intently to understand what people really say, what people really think, what people really desire. Brands that are available. Intuit comes to mind. Trent Reznor. Barack Obama.
No matter what you think of politics, Reagan and Obama fit in the same category: Brilliant communicators that give you the feeling they would talk turkey if they only could. Catch them in a bar, buy them a drink and they would tell you what’s really happening in the White House. I never got this feeling from W or Clinton. One was too secretive, the other full of b.s.
Do you think you could ever have a real discussion with Bill Parcells? Or Steve Jobs? I highly doubt it because they operate under the genius principle. And that’s what made them successful. But they would fail in Social Marketing. It’s just not in their DNA.
Only brands that operate under the Communication Principle are a good fit for Social Marketing. Because it’s in their DNA.
1 response so far ↓
Judy Snyder // March 27, 2009 at 4:06 am |
This is helpful, relevant and concise. I follow you on Twitter–I like your tweets.