Big Brand Customer Intimacy Without Brand Conversations
07/26/2010
In a recent eMail volley with twenty-something Jason Stershic, Spectyr Media, Jason posed an interesting question -
- "How do you humanize Coke, Pepsi ESPN? I follow them but I don't expect a human connection, is that part for the course for most users following corporations?"
My views about social media are fairly traditional, if you can use that word for a strategy that is nano seconds old. I believe the value of social media occurs when the people behind the brand step out from the brand shadows and actively listen (active listening is a 2-way communication!) to their customers and other stakeholders. The result is what has become a social media cliche - people-to-people relationships versus a relationship with an inanimate object or brand.
Over the past six years I've talked to thousands of people about social media. I'm always curious to understand - What does social media mean to you? For the most part, people told me social media is ... as Tim Jackson said, "Connecting with people" or as Connie Reece put it, " It's all about the relationship."
However, when it comes to Big Brands Jason doesn't expect a "human connection." I wonder .. can a Big Brand create customer intimacy with millions by using the tools of the social media world?
When Richard Binhammer or Lionel Menchaca - Dell or Frank Eliason - past Comcast now Citi or Tony Hsieh respond to @tweets or comment on blog posts it's a 1:1 interaction. Since they communicate in the digital public square their conversations are overheard by thousands if not by millions. By default that opens the communication to whomever is listening in.
Perhaps those people RT (retweet) or add a status up to their Facebook page or write blog posts or even take it offline at office water cooler conversations. Through people who were not involved in the initial discussions the perception of the brand's humanity is expanded. Without that initial direct to brand customer conversation, can a brand still create customer intimacy through social media?
Duncan Wardel, vice president Disney, agrees that social media provides new avenues to create dialog with consumers. However, he also has another view of how brands will use social media. He told me that he sees one of the biggest trends is -
- ".. allowing consumers to talk with one another .. establishing a platform to really allow your brand evangalists to reach out to other people that you won't be able to reach .. as consumers have an inceasing ability to screen out brands they no longer consider relevant." Video
What do you think? Does a Facebook page or a peer-to-peer crowd sourced campaign, supported by a brand, but with little or no brand engagement, help to create the humanity of the brand? Do you expect to have direct conversations with the people from brands you follow? Can only peer-to-peer interactions create raving fans?