Social Study: Advertising Is Not a Dirty Word - Michael Kassan - MediaBizBloggers

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Pissing people off is not an effective method of persuasion.
I believe this has been empirically proven.
It may even be a natural law of the universe.
Certainly, it's just plain common sense.

And when it comes to social media, marketers, media buyers and the trade press have settled in on the consensus that, as Adweek poetically put it last year, "these human networks stink as an ad vehicle."

But is that really true? Have we empirically proven that?

Perhaps not.

Sure, advertising in a social context is disruptive. It is likened to getting in the middle of an intimate conversation among friends. Yes, click through rates on banner ads on social networks are abysmal. True, branded entertainment and sponsorship are options.

But is it impossible to make advertising truly social? What would happen if we tried and how would it work?

The questions couldn't be timelier.

Pepsi's decision to pull out of the Super Bowl—the uber-old-media platform it has dominated for decades—and reallocate millions to a social media campaign called the "Pepsi Refresh Project" that will award grant money to community projects chosen by consumers, is exactly the kind of seminal, big-brand departure from convention that ignites marketer stampedes.

Moreover, we have seen the power of social media in raising awareness for protesters in Iran and money for earthquake victims in Haiti. So the question is bigger than just whether we advertise or use some other form of communication.

Instead, we must ask how brands become an integrated, not a disruptive, part of the conversation.

So as the inventively organized Social Media Week conference unfolds this week simultaneously in six cities (Sao Paulo, Berlin, London, New York, San Francisco, Toronto), I sought out MediaLink Senior Advisor Jenna Trabulus, who works with our client and Social Media Week sponsor Meebo for some insights into how to make these networks serve as effective and authentic marketing vehicles.

The first step, Jenna notes, is to understand that it isn't just the tools that have changed from traditional media, but the role of marketing itself.

In social media, users amplify and share their likes and dislikes, recommendations and interests. The individual has effectively become the curator, the taste maker, the critic, the evangelist… the marketer, in other words.

When that individual shares the information and content with his or her friends and social graph, critical mass adoption in human networks can drive buzz and great interest, bestowing attention with lightening speed. The crowd as marketer.

And clients can go far beyond the traditional means of communication. They can engage the consumer in the conversation-development stage of brands and marketing of products. The brand as marketer.

Meebo itself is a good example of how this tectonic shift can play out positively. Its suite of tools enables and connects consumers to content, communication and their communities. Through the Meebo bar, users gather their friends on a single buddy list where they can talk and share content in real-time across different IM platforms, communities, and traditional social networks.

And it carries ads.

In the publisher sites, the brand becomes content. It invites users to participate and engage. And with this polite and persistent knock, consumers have answered. Click through rates average 1% and consumers spend more than 30 seconds engaging.

More important, this novel digital play has made advertising itself social, because once a brand enters into the conversation, we as consumers share it with our friends. The tools for sharing and socialization of content enables "earned media" for brands and uses the power of the social network to share content, videos, articles and rich media—one-to-one or one-to-many. And the impact is amplified as the information is curated on the Web and shared between trusted sources.

We are moving beyond the CPM and beyond excuses. Advertising can be social if executed properly.

So as the Saints go marching into Miami to take on the Colts this Sunday, let's ponder Pepsi's bold move. Let's be conclusion-neutral about social media. Let's not be too quick to make conclusive judgments about what is, after all, still an emerging channel.

Otherwise, we might miss a mighty opportunity.

I don't know about you, but I get pissed off when that happens.

Michael E. Kassan is Chairman and CEO of Media Link, LLC, a leading Los Angeles and New York City-based advisory and business development firm that provides critical counsel and direction on issues of marketing, advertising, media, entertainment and digital technology. Michael can be reached at michael@medialinkllc.com

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