Small World Labs

I'm back from the Thanksgiving holiday with a single topic stuck in my head: Why there are so many failed social media efforts. A dinner conversation with former brand manager for a consumer product good and a recent report from Epsilon (thanks MarketingVOX) weighing heavily on my mind.

Lets start with the Epsilon CMO survey which revealed that 55% of these marketing executives were either "not at all interested" not "not too interested" in using existing social networking platforms like Facebook and Myspace. Yet in the very same survey , CMO's indicated that online world of mouth through social media is one of their top priorities. Add to that my my discussion with former brand manager who at first seemed very savvy about the role and value of online community but admitted that his brand was "terrified" of what would happen if customers "went negative". Together, the empirical and quantitative data point to something disturbing: CMO's want the benefits of social with out being social.

Why is this disturbing? It means that top marketers around the country don't understand that "social" is a not just a buzz word or messaging channel. "Social" represents a fundamental shift of marketing strategy from PUSH (one way, controlled, ect) to PULL (user engagement, interaction, peer to peer, ect). This shift isn't window dressing, it has far reaching implications on how a brand exists in the marketplace. To gain word of mouth resonance you have to enable two way conversations- both positive and negative- about your brand. Brands become citizens in the social web. If all a brand does is shout its message people will start to tune it out.

Therefore, to a social marketer, it is never a question of "word of mouth" vs "social networks", you have to do both. There is no better case study for that theory in action than the past US presidential election. Obama was able to combine his own social network, existing blog networks, and existing social networks to build a massive fundraising and get out the vote operation that eclipsed McCain's by exponential margins. Yes, they exposed themselves to rogue elements from supporters and saboteurs but the Obama brand gained from the publicity to great ends. For more information check this piece from ReadWriteWeb.