Media ShopTalk:  w/c 24 & 31 May 2010

There is so much talk about  advertising on digital platforms, what’s the future of internet advertising and any other alternative media advertising platform these days. The bottom line is that no matter where or how you advertise, you have to attract people in order for them remember you.

Chris Botha, Joint MD of The MediaShop Johannesburg, wrote the below article which first appeared on The Media Online on the 27th of May.    

How to get fans and evolve your social media strategy

If you tweet, will they come? Not if your brand doesn't have something really great on offer ”Social media is like teen sex. Everyone wants to do it. Nobody knows how. When it’s finally done there is surprise it’s not better”   Avinash Kaushik, Analytics Evangelist, Google Social Media has been one of the hottest, most discussed topics on advertising forums for the past few years. Every strategy that leaves a planner's desk is expected to have some form of social media element to it. It is Facebook this, Twitter that, and MySpace everywhere. The reason for these platforms being so popular is because they attract massive numbers (Facebook has an estimated 2,5-million SA users) and the fact that consumers lovingly interact with the medium for hours on end (ask any employer who allows his staff access to the site). But in my opinion brands are doing... well... a really crap job of it so far.

Too many brands are jumping in feet first into this new space without doing the "back end" due diligence. They expect that if you merely create a Facebook site, or Twitter account, every single person that has ever bought from you will want to interact with your brand on a very personal level. Example - the other day I heard an ad on radio for a travel agent, advertising the fact that you can follow their brand on Twitter and on Facebook. Here is the catch though - if you follow the brand, you stand a chance of winning an I-pod. So basically- it is bribery.

They are saying that if you make as if you are a fan of ours, we might give you something. I am on Twitter and follow Lance Armstrong, Victor Matfield, John Smit and Bill Gates because I am interested in what they have to say (or their PR Agents at least). On Facebook I am a fan of the Free State Cheetahs and Will Ferrell - because these are two of my favourite things! If this travel agent wants me to put them up as high as Lance, the Cheetahs and Will Ferrell, they are going to have to do a hell of a lot more than give me a 1 in 10 000 chance of winning an I-Pod.

Here is where the brand's value becomes critical. Which brands have such inherent values that their users will follow them on Twitter and Facebook, and not miss a beat of what they have to say - without being bribed, simply because they love the brand so much? Well, Apple for starters has done an amazing job. The brand is loved by its users, and in Steve Jobs they have an icon who has people hanging on his lips. Apple realised that they need to first build the brand value, and "fans" will come. MINI is another. In 2009, at the height of the recession, they celebrated their 50th birthday in Clarens in the Free State. Thousands of MINI drivers drove down to this little town to celebrate the birthday of the brand. They have tons of fan pages on Facebook, most of which were created by the fans - and not by the brand. There is even an unofficial fan club called "MINI-acs" that adopt social causes, and socialise together. The one thing they have in common is their love for the brand.

Again, not created by the brand, but because of the brand. But some brands just aren't sexy I hear you say? I mean, how do you make a product like insurance or banking sexy and "worthy" of following. I think there is a space for any brand on social media, as long as you do it exceptionally well. Virgin Money created a "beat your bank manager" social media online game that was very successful. Users could go online, and play a game where you beat your bank manager with a hammer. All built around the simple promise that useless creatures like bank managers are removed when you bank with them. Fantastic, entertaining, engaging! And from a bank. What a great way of interacting with users in an online space, without expecting them to receive Tweets from you on what their current interest rate is that they offer.

So where am I going with all of this? I guess my message is to ensure that you develop and build your brand, and then try and develop a social media strategy, and not try and develop your brand by having a social media strategy. Create fans like Lance Armstrong and MINI did. By doing amazing things, by creating amazing products, by investing in what matters. Then you get fans. And on that note, we would like to inform you that you can now follow MediaShop on Twitter.  We’re not offering any special prizes if you do follow us, but we will be tweeting  new deals, packages, hot industry gossip and other interesting snippets!

Follow us on: http://twitter.com/MediaShopZA

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Formed in 1988 and located in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town, one of SA’s leading media agencies, The MediaShop’s 360-degree offering goes beyond merely planning and buying, instead follows carefully defined strategies. The MediaShop modus operandi is to integrate with each client’s business goals and objectives across all communication channels. The MediaShop integrates into client’s marketing team, ensuring the target market not only sees, but internalises, the advertising message. This is The MediaShop. “Open 24 hours… no problem!” For more information, visit www.mediashop.co.za