Insatiable for Social Media

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Thursday, October 1st, 2009

Everyone’s yammering about social media these days. It would be hard to name a client who’s brought a project to our door over the past year who had not asked that we integrate some sort of social media component with said project. One of our recent favorites was an RFP for an extremely large government initiative that insisted this blandly institutional program be outfitted with all the trendy social media accessories to make it capture the public’s imagination and spread like wildfire. We came up with some fun ideas, but all the same, we couldn’t really imagine the desired result actually happening. Why? Because, inherently, the message at the heart of it all just did not feel like it was worth getting excited about. In our opinion, no one was going to Facebook or tweet about this bad boy. From a social media perspective, we saw this as a very earnest effort to polish a marketing turd.

The fact is, like traditional marketing and advertising efforts, some social media campaigns work, and some don’t. And even if a campaign generates the desired buzz, where does that buzz direct you, and ultimately, does it effectively serve the bottom line? I recently read an article that made some interesting comparisons between various social media initiatives.

For example:

Have you ever had the opportunity to “elf yourself”? If you recognize that phrase, you’ve probably played with the engaging little online holiday application that allows you to personalize a troupe of dancing elves with photos of yourself and/or family and friends. Most likely you, and about 150 million others, emailed your brilliant creation to your circle of friends, and received a few of theirs in return. Lots of fun, and a social media phenomenon. The company that sponsored and paid for the application saw some impressive results for their investment: it has been the most-visited holiday greeting site two years in a row and netted 200 million visitors in 2007 alone.

Now here’s the question: do you know the name of that sponsor company? Chances are, you don’t. Sorry, Office Max. Despite all the activity engendered by the application, Office Max saw it’s sales drop 7.5 percent during last year’s holiday season and has posted losses over several quarters.

Now, when you hear the phrase, “That was easy,” or see an image of a red “Easy” button, what company do you think of? Staples probably bubbles right to the surface. Their “Easy” campaign has consistently and effectively communicated its core message – that Staples efficiently helps you solve problems. The result? From a social media standpoint, that message has become part of the social consciousness, ranking right up there with phrases like “I’m loving’ it.” and “Got milk?” They’ve sold gads of actual souvenir “Easy” buttons which reinforce the campaign in a very tangible way. And most importantly, since Staples remains solidly in the black, the economic results have been noteworthy as well.

To be effective, a social media initiative needs to have a strong connection to its brand. Elves are cute, but after all the ooo-ing and aww-ing, how do you make the connection back to office supplies? And how does Office Max in particular fit into that scenario? Fact is, it doesn’t. Office Max got a lot of fizz for their efforts, but no substance, and no resonance for their brand. Staples, by contrast, continues to get meaningful mileage out of their campaign.

As we move forward in putting more and more social media campaigns together, it would be smart to always do an “authenticity check”, and ask ourselves whether or not the initiative connects to the brand in a meaningful, memorable way. Additionally, let’s ask the even more basic question: does social media provide the right channel for this project? Will people care about the funny, flashy campaign but forget the brand behind it? Just because everyone’s yammering about social media doesn’t mean every campaign should use it.