Branding in the 21st Century - Leveraging Social Media Authentically
Social media marketing has been fraught with missteps that have hurt some of the leading brands in their category. McDonalds once promoted a campaign that encouraged twitter users to tweet stories using the hashtag #McDStories. The promoted hashtag has been taken down, but  customer dissatisfaction and McDonalds mockery still linger in the cyber-sphere. Similarly, Microsoft tweeted a very politically laden position that created strong backlash:
Social media #fails can be funny to read and talk about with friends. But they pose a huge threat to a brand's equity.
Yet, while these missteps gain outsized attention, social media has become a powerful means to engage consumers in an authentic and meaningful way.Â
Small decisions can make all the difference. After reading through branding expert recommendations, the keys to extending brand equity through social media seem to be:
3. Active Customer Service and Brand Management
Below is a North Face banner ad captured from its twitter handle. The image is authentic to the brand's myth and consumer perceptions about an active lifestyle.
Consistent brands are successful not only in traditional marketing campaigns, but also using social media.Â
Similarly, brands that successfully engage users through conversation starters and prompts seem to be more successful in using social media. For example, Nike creates consistent conversations starters to begin a conversation with its followers:
Social media is different than traditional advertising and branding in this regard. There is much more direct consumer interaction. Brands can use discussion prompts to slightly control the direction of a conversation, but consumers are immediately able to respond through social media however they choose, unlike traditional advertising. Brands that engage their followers in a conversation are much more successful in using social media to promote a brand than companies that solely rely on social media for advertising because it builds trust (and the conversation is structured so that it is still consistent with the brand myth).Â
Finally, brands can protect their equity and myth by using social media to engage in frequent customer service. Zappos has always done customer service well, but the image below shows how the company successfully uses social media to combat complaints that could erode brand equity.
Social media has wrongly developed the reputation of destroying brands. If done right, it is a tool that furthers a brands authenticity, engages customers, and manages a brand. Used in this way, social media is a tool for 21st branding success.
