Managing Brand Equity in Social Media
I came across an interesting blog post today by Chris Perry on Ad Age. Chris’ post talked about how easy it is for a brand to lose its identity amidst the increasingly diluting affect of endless Tweets, status updates check-ins and other social media activity.
This idea was played out earlier in the week on a conference call we had with a potential restaurant client. We were talking with the client and a technology vendor the client had hired to develop an never-been-seen-before social media platform for the company.
In just about every sentence, the vendor kept talking about building the digital brand. The digital brand was going to innovative, groundbreaking and nothing like the industry had seen before. The digital brand was going to put them on the map (think it was the vendor that was expecting to be put on the map, not the client). After about the umpteenth mention of the digital brand, I interrupted to tell him there was no digital brand – only the brand.
Certainly the digital space allows you to experiment with very different opportunities than the traditional world allows. And, experimenting with new social technologies clearly provides an opportunity to contemporize and personalize the brand. However all activity, offline and on, needs to be integrated together to build equity in one brand.
The good news about social media is there are virtually no barriers to entry. That is also the bad news. With no monetary cost involved to Tweet, post to Facebook and set-up offers on Foursquare, many brands’ default position in regard to social media participation is tactical. This is a mistake. A strategic approach should carry the day. What are the brand’s overall objectives, what does it stand for, what value does it provide and to whom? Once these variables are understood and you have a clear picture of all marketing activity, you can then begin to think about how social media engagement can enhance rather than detract from brand equity and a clear, holistic identity.
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