Social leverage explained simply by an old, but good, wine?

January 30, 2009
by Latitude

In the olden days say 50BN (before net) marketers bestrode the world as customer loving colossi, PR agencies (always in knots of three) designed an annual plan and Ad agencies had sessions on “customer voice”( no actual customers “they’ve no idea about brand dear”). These alchemists worked out that your POS, POP and shelf edge promos needed to speak with a succinct message with a call to action. Shops were designed to ensure linked buying and (apart from British Rail) companies trained staff in customer service, to feedback ideas, promote benefits and answer questions.

We discovered CRM; the financial power of adding value to the customer experience of our brands and offerings- think receipe cards in Tesco and DIY project demos at B&Q or even the last two centuries worth of Pears ads. You can safely assume that we understood value + loyalty = sales.

So we’ve got that online stuff pegged; targeting the right people in the right place, creating aspiration and adding value through the new formats. You’ve got a Facebook page, a TV ad on YouTube, the boss (PR team), blogs weekly and your techies Twitter, it’s sorted!

Umm yes and no- it never ceases to bemuse me how some of the most digitally and brand savvy companies seem to forget previous learnings, brushing social off as a passing fancy or not leveraging these assets when they have them. They “get the online offering” via their website, and if they’ve a brick presence match it to that, they create (ring fenced) communities to add value via brand engagement. So why don’t they leverage these emerging channels? Why, for example, do they still use “cease and desist” on bloggers or unauthorised “brand use” beyond their PR controllable boundaries and not try engaging this audience as a powerful tool?

When did you last buy new shop footage without knowing and driving the max ROI per mm? Visualise your company Facebook page (set up last year, not used since) as the real customer magazine (not the PDF on your web page), a customer testing forum (free- no wine needed) a virtual dump bin or promos leaflet plus brand penetration measure rolled into one- it’s that and more.

That video on YouTube is it really driving brand and sales, or coverage in the NMA making the PR agency look good? Is the bit about your products in the online mags driving to you, do you know if the blogs and Twitters are referencing it and do you reconnect with them? Does your agency do all that very quickly, measurably? Are your knowledgeable salesmen, blogging about the products that everyone is virtually talking about today- this minute, answering customer queries on your MySpace or are your leaflets still just PDFs on site? Why, I ask myself, do companies who have these very useful sales channels and connections to the true voice of the customer in their tool box not join them up, measure their impact or leverage them delivering real ROI? Want to know how? Good that’s what we are here for.