MPG: What's in a 'Like'? Oreo, Facebook and the Future of Social Brands - David Puner

With the Super Bowl ad frenzy finally in subsiding churn Oreo now turns our fragmented focus back to brands engaging on Facebook the most popular social network 500 million users The cookie outside get 50000 new Likes in one day and make the Guinness Book of World Records The filling stuff get new Facebook Likes because they39re valuable I39m going to go out on a social limb and guess Oreo doesn39t really care much about the Guinness Book but does care an awful lot about the FacebookFor brands conducive to Facebooking it39s now past the point where they are either present on the social network or not Now is the time for brands to step up and be something on Facebook not just be on it And while they may not spend Super Bowl ad bucks on their Facebook engagement many brands like Oreo are invested if not also investing in their presence on the social network and are building sizable communities with increasingly formidable potential reachWith more than 166 million Facebook LikersLikes Oreo clearly has benefitted from early investment on Facebook in size of following alone So what39s the leavening agent From cursory exploration of what Oreo39s doing on Facebook to generate such a large Likebase it appears they39re respecting the space In other words Oreo is engaging within the space in a way that is unique to Facebook and Oreo itselfamp8212the brand experience doesn39t feel like a repackaged brand site glued together with previously woven ad copy Sample simple Oreo FB update quotPop quiz Twist lick thenamp8230quot It helps that Oreo is Oreoamp8212simple fun ubiquitous Oreos are in most kitchen cabinets Who doesn39t like an Oreo Conveniently on Facebook one doesn39t have to love Oreos to Like them One cannot shower a brand with Like And judging by the number of Oreo Likes a lot of people Like the little snack units enough to have told all their friends WOM Brand affinity and in turn integrated the brand into their Facebook DNATaking Oreo39s lead brands willing and able to commit to long term engagement on Facebook should snap up as many Likes as they can get now because it39s just going to get increasingly difficult or expensive or both to gain Likers moving forward For a brand like Oreo where both quality and quantity fans exist offline to begin with it39s a nobrainer to get them to click in now on FacebookThe long term value of this still relatively early acquisition has potential to reap rewards as brands enter the social fray in earnest en mass Like as meek or silly or both as it sounds is going to be increasingly more difficult to secure as more brands clamor it People Like what they like How many brands can someone individually Like before hisher brand affinity holds littletono value What becomes the user who barrages friends with commercial sentiment from brands far and wide If someone becomes unmanageable they get the Facebook DVR treatmentamp8212it involves hiding or unliking Yes unlikingWith more brands clamoring for Like Facebook users will become more selective with what they endorse with their Like It will take more than a brand suggesting with increasing desperation that a user Like them for Like39s sake It may also take more than the promise of a taco link httpusbloghavasdigitalcomsocialmediafromfromliketounliketheworldslargesttacogiveawayonfacebookhatesmyprinter Then again a taco may do the trick for a whileamp8212it just depends who39s giving away the tacoBrands will in turn pay more to acquire Like through the Facebook marketplace or ad API and it follows they will need to improve their Facebook experience so once they39ve got Likers aboard their Like Boat they will find reason to engage But to what point Should a brand39s Facebook experience eclipse the actual brand experienceIt still doesn39t take much to separate a brand from the pack on Facebook Day after day we see brands reaping recognition for executing engagement contests or campaigns on Facebook that on the surface don39t seem all that extraordinary And it makes sense considering where we are in the history of brands on Facebook we may be in a late stage of early adoption but we39re still in the early stages of brand engagement Regardless of the competition for Likes and the raging debate about how valuable Like really is brands will continue to want to stand out here presumably because standing out can lead to awareness consideration andor breathless salesWhatever it may have cost to get where they are now on Facebook if Oreo was just starting to build now it would cost more It may seem elementary but brands stand a better chance of acquiring Facebook Like if liked offline as well Facebook users have been eating or aware of Oreos forever They see them every time they go into a grocery store They see them on Facebook and Like them tooAs measurement develops and the value of brand Like becomes readily quantifiable the relationship between brand and Facebook user will inevitably become increasingly complicated More business less friendship So if you39re a cookie and you want to be big on Facebook get to it before it39s too late Hear that Fig Newton wwwfacebookcomfignewtons HelloFacebook Brand Like Ingredients LIKED OFFLINE BRAND ENRICHED COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT FLAVOR FBSPECIFIC RELEVANCE ANDOR SUGAR LEAVENING BAKING SODA ANDOR ORGANIC ANDOR PAID LIKE ACQUISTION COCOA PROCESSED WITH ALKALI CHOCOLATE SOY SOME OTHER EXPERIMENTAL STUFFDavid Puner is Director of Social Media Havas Digital His email is davidpunerhavasdigitalcomRead all David39s MediaBizBloggers commentaries at Leading New ThinkingCheck us out on Facebook at MediaBizBloggerscomFollow our Twitter updates MediaBizBloggerMediaBizBloggers is an openthought leadership blog platform for media marketing and advertising professionals companies and organizations To contribute contact Jackmediadvisorygroupcom The opinions expressed in MediaBizBloggerscom are not those of Media Advisory Group its employees or other MediaBizBloggerscom contributors 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MPG: What's in a 'Like'? Oreo, Facebook and the Future of Social Brands - David Puner

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