Tag Archives: Engagement

Why Should Brands Embrace Social Media?

Quick Summary: Brands should embrace social media because social media will soon be the only cost effective to reach consumers.

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Question: Why should brands embrace social media?

Answer: Brands should embrace social media because social media will soon be the only cost effective to reach consumers.

I have noticed two trends both as a marketer and as a consumer –

Trend 1: The cost of interrupting people with advertising is increasing.

Tired of the over-clutter of things in their lives, people are going “off” consumption. Tired of the bombardment of commercial messages, people are learning new ways to block out advertising. At the same time, media consumption has become more fragmented. Therefore, it has become more costly to interrupt people with advertising.

Trend 2: The cost of engaging with people via social media is decreasing.

“Listening to” consumers, “engaging with” consumer, and “touching” consumers has always been the holy grail of marketing. For the first time, social media allows marketers to “listen to”, “engage with” and “touch” people, both as individuals and consumers, in a cost effective way.

Why Should Brands Embrace Social Media?

The Three Laws of the Marketing Chain of Being

Quick Summary: Read about the five levels in the Marketing Chain of Being, and the three laws that govern how brands move between them.

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In an earlier post, I had written that, like the Renaissance Chain of Being, there is also a Marketing Chain of Being.

The Marketing Chain of Being

In this post, I’ll explain the five levels in the Marketing Chain of Being, and the three laws that govern how brands move between them.

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The Five Levels in the Marketing Chain of Being

There are five levels in the Marketing Chain of Being –

1. Commodity Hell, in which brands basically focus on price and channel promotions to sell more (think groceries).
2. Differentiation, in which brands highlight product features and benefits to command a price premium (think automobiles).
3. Engagement, in which brands use service (in both its customer service and conversation meaning) to develop relationships with customers (think Dell).
4. Cultural Currency, in which brands become shared social objects and help customers define their individual and group identities (think Nike+iPod).
5. Meaning, in which brands become the tools that customers use for self-realization or restoration (think Google).

Is Customer Service the New Marketing? Of Course Not!

Quick Summary: Read about how engagement is only the middle level in the ‘Marketing Chain of Being’ and how social media and customer service are only tools to create engagement.

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The topic of the week in the marketing and public relations blogosphere is whether customer service is the new marketing, so much so that there’s even an upcoming event on the topic.

Most of the posts on the topic have focused on how social media is causing customer service and public relations to merge into each other to form the fabric of a new marketing paradigm.

I’m a brand manager, not a PR practitioner, and I can’t but feel that the above statement is rather simplistic. Yes, customer service is important. Yes, word of mouth is important, and, by association, public relations is important. Yes, good (or bad) customer service is an important factor in creating favorable (or unfavorable) word of mouth. Yes, social media gives customers the tools to amplify word of mouth. Yes, yes, yes and yes. But that’s only part of the story. Let me tell you the real story by going back to my post on the Marketing Chain of Being.