PepsiCo recently decided to pull their annual Super Bowl commercial in favor of a $20 million social media venture, a move that demonstrates the changing face of marketing: traditional to digital. As in my last post, I will continue to address mistakes being made by well-run organizations in relation to their brands’ social media presence.
The second most common mistake I see? (Behind, of course, hiring an intern to manage your business’ social media.) Marketing departments taking their current communication material and copying it into social media outlets. They say we need to be on Twitter, let’s slap in a few sentences here and there—that should make everyone happy—this seems to be the general idea behind many organizations’ current social media efforts. It is cheap, fast, and easy. However, it is ultimately wrong.
Traditional media cannot be duplicated as social media. I know I sound like a broken record, but social media is unlike traditional media. It is about two-way conversations. It may seem intuitive that copying your TV ad on to Facebook is a good idea since it worked so well putting them on your website, but the spaces are different. Success in most marketing channels is determined by your ability to tell a great story; in the social media space, your success will be defined by your ability to have a great conversation.
Some companies get it right, but others fail miserably. As I’ve said, those who currently work in social media realize its importance; however, if your job is to manage the brand and marketing strategy of a multi-million or multi-billion dollar company, whose success has been based on the ability to communicate effectively through traditional media outlets—social media appears to be a nuisance that must be dealt with as inexpensively as possible.
However, for those who think it is still just a nuisance, I would point to PepsiCo. Anyone think Pepsi isn’t a leader in marketing? Can you think of a much bigger statement than moving your TV spend for the Super Bowl into social media? Me neither.
By no means am I recommending ditching all traditional media. Online advertising did not replace TV and print, nor will social media replace all other marketing channels. However, the time is quickly coming when a poor social media presence will reflect just as poorly on your brand as not having a website for your company did 10 years ago.
It is time to get off the couch folks. Just checking the box that you have a Facebook account is not going to cut it. It is time to start managing your social media presence professionally.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Jon
Fantastic points. There was a discussion yesterday on the same topic surrounding another large brands failures with Social Media, this was was centered on Domino’s. Same thing, that discussion (http://admavericks.com/2010/01/07/dominos-gets-it-um-kind-of/) illustrated Domino’s failures to actually take the time to understand the medium. Their lack of understanding, as you point out above, is far worse for their brand than just not playing with Social Media at all.
Hey Pete,
Thanks for the post. Great example of a company that should be large enough to have their act together, but does not. I will give Dominos some credit… they at least appear to be listening and attempting to engage… more than you can say for some.
I think you make some interesting points here. Regardless of how Pepsi performs in the social space their mere presence enhances social media’s credibility. Traditional media advertisers who come across Pepsi’s story will ultimately have to think about calling guys like you and me.
And that credibility is happening right here in Des Moines. For a long time Lava Row, McLellan Marketing and Mike Sansone were the only game in town for social media consulting, coaching, advice, etc. Now, agencies like Lessing-Flynn and Create Wow Media, PR pros like Claire Celsi and companies like Catchfire and Social Republick are offering social media services in many different forms.
I think Hillary Brown and Nathan Wright from Lava Row articulate this point extremely well in this video post (by John Pemble) at around three minutes in. http://www.lavarow.com/2009/12/31/52-weeks-52-videos/
Big brands and competition will bring success for all of us. Thanks for your post!
P.S. Thanks for the shout out Pete, you make social media in Des Moines not boring.
Thanks Josh. I agree that as this space develops additional companies offering social media services of one type or another lend credibility to those seeking professional assistance in managing their social media presence. Ultimately, this should make it easier for companies to justify allocating real budget dollars towards managing sm. That seems to be another funny thing about large brands… nobody likes to go first, but once a market leader starts doing things differently, it doesn’t take long for everyone else to follow suit.
I think we’ll find that as much as the space has changed in the past few years, we’ll see it explode in the next five as the majority of companies begin to put real resources behind understanding and managing social media.
Thanks for the post!