Social Brand Identity is Fracturing – Creating Socially Friendly Brands - Tom Troja

Wendy Clark SVP Marketing Coca Cola unveiled statistics at the Ad Age Digital Conference in NYC last week with profound consequences She revealed that last year Coke tracked 146 million downloads of Coke related content on YouTube Only 26 million of those were of Coke created contentOver 120 million views were of content created by people not related to CokeThese are big numbers with big meaning for all of us So many people creating and experiencing content about Coke not created by Coke What is Coke to doamp8230 what are we to do for our brands It is interesting that this did not get much attention but not surprising as it upsets the applecart39s of those who think they are in chargeAccording to Wendyamp8230 quotWe must meet people at their truth on what is important to them and work back to ours If I can39t connect on their truth we don39t get throughquot Wendy is learning the lessons of this shiftIF CONTENT IS KING WHO ARE THE KINGMAKERSWe the Peopleamp8230 has a catchy ring don39t you think With that many people voting with their hearts to watch and create what they want what they trust the dye is being cast for the rest of usWendy has a great story of how people had aligned with Coke39s messaging over time and produced more meaningful content that Coke could ever do because it came from their heart and people sense thatCoke has been at this awhileamp8230 125 Years actually They get the importance of social They are the biggest brand in facebook have executed multiple social efforts and are spending considerably more in 2011 for Social Marketing They know the people are the king and they are working to create a brand experience where people reflect themselves into the brand itself We all should be doing thisBRAND IDENTITY ITSELF IS FRACTURINGAs Wendy alludes to truth is what people believe it to be Perception is reality Social only accelerates this We want to meet people at their truth what the brand means to them and help connect that perception with where the brand wants to be We flex the brand be open to possibilities that give more credibility to the peopleIt is what people create about the brand that will have future influence that speaks the truth as it comes from them The brands align by being imaginative open helpful and centered on people Brands continuing down a path of one off campaign quottargeting consumersquot with quotroadblocksquot that quotmicrotargetquot with a quotcall to actionquot is a dead end This strategy drives brand behavior not aligned with social connectionCREATE YOUR SOCIAL IDENTITY OR IT WILL BE CREATED FOR YOUThis disparity between the viewing of brand produced content and people produced goes to the heart of social identity If you don39t create a strong and true social identity for yourself people will create it for you and you might not like the resultsEvolve your social identity by flexing the brand imagining the brand from the peoples POV Envision the brand at an emotional level of openness concern and availability Ground it in who you are as a brand If done right it allows you to be larger to be flexible and a key part of the social swirl happening all around youIt is the first thing you should do It drives everything else To do this we use a reverse archetype model that taps into collective human truths and conversation Whatever your method make sure you look beyond a campaign approach and connect at a deeper more meaningful level Your social identity then animates your social behavior stimulating people39s creativity and passionHOW SHOULD YOU SPEND YOUR SOCIAL DOLLARSAn overwhelming number of marketers consider social media to be integral to their strategies this year and 70 plan to increase their social media budget by more than 10 this year according to a recent poll from Effie Worldwide and Mashable 87 said social media was quotimportantquot or quotvery importantquot to achieving their biggest marketing goal this yearAccording to the poll brands want more friends How you get those friends will be remembered The content they create about you will peak volumes Make this meaningful and connect in ways that help people want to join you to give part of themselves to the brand to add their narrative to a shared story so that their friends will friend you Start thereMost recently as the founder of the Social Symphony Tom has weaved social tactics in concert with CRM 20 social strategies with Colgate Cadillac Kraft Gallo Reebok and others and has spoken about these subjects at iMedia Brand Summit IAB Social MITX and OMMA Social Tom can be reached at TomTrojaTheSocialSymphonycomRead all Tomamp8217s MediaBizBloggers commentaries at the Social SymphonyCheck 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 Media Advisory Group accepts no responsibility for the views of MediaBizBloggers authors

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