SMCQ7: In the era of social media, what do you do to control your brand?
Posted in Social Media Club on April 28, 2009
This week’s Social Media Club Question of the Week is one of the most pertinent to my online public relations practice.
The club poses the question: In the era of social media, what do you do to control your brand?
Remember the Skittles stunt in March when they turned their online presence over to social media sites like YouTube, Flickr, Twitter and Facebook? Their site’s still that way. They’ve certainly embraced their inner social media diva.
What do they do to let you know they’re not responsible for some of the content? They have a big disclaimer you have to agree to, along with inputting your birth date so they know you’re old enough to access their site.
I do a lot of consulting with business-to-business companies. So many of them are afraid of what will be said about them if they engage in social media. Guess what? Whether they choose to engage or not, it’s already being said. The difference is if they do engage, then they have an opportunity to respond instead of ignoring what’s being said.
We’ve all heard the expression ignorance is bliss. Well, I’m not so sure about that when it comes to corporate branding and reputation.
My answer to the Social Media Club question is . . .
It’s time you realize that you’re not in control of your brand.
With social media, everyone is a publisher. Citizen journalism will increase. It won’t replace traditional journalism, but it will play an even greater role in the years to come. People will always trust the opinion of family and friends over any corporation.
So once you’ve had your come to Jesus moment — realizing you’re not really in control of your brand — what do you do about it?
You become a master at using new social media tools to publish your own content which then competes in the marketplace of ideas for mindshare. The more creative, authentic and entertaining your content, the greater your chances of popularity.
Then you go to work to engage with others using social media to represent your brand.
It’s not so much about brand control as it is about brand management and appropriate representation.
Pete – Good posts. I quoted you in my blog (saw it in a SMC post). Check out “Brands in the Age of Social Media” http://bit.ly/KDqkk
Social Steve
I like Michael’s comments here. My comment that a company doesn’t control a brand isn’t meant as a “throw your arms up in the air and give up” approach to brand management.
Rather, I’m just pointing out that there many more sources of information about a brand now beyond what the company says. And that usually, people will pay less attention to what the company says and more to what their family and friends say.
Therefore, corporate communicators must engage key audiences using social media (and any other tools) to inform and persuade.
Of course a brand can be built and nourished. Without the brand, there would be no ship (referring to Michael’s analogy) in the first place.
It’s just a different dance now that social media is part of the equation.
Pete, I disagreed that you give up total control and agree that there is a way to keep a hold of the rudder. I believe you can still steer your brand through the waters of social media. While we may not longer be able to control how and what is said about our brands, as the captain, we can steer the ship through the waters, avoid the reefs and find the safe harbor. (You know my inclination for bad metaphors. )
I think it’s important to measure and monitor what is being said about your brand and then be ready to respond, answer questions and provide context to what is being said about the brand. In this way, we do control the brand to a certain extent and can still point customers to our best and brightest offerings.