The important values in social media conversations

Valeria Maltoni had just written a very informative post, dissecting Micheal Brito’s when he wrote on determining the objectives when adopting social media. Both, whom I admired for the kind of directions they behold, have definitely hit it right to guide their readers towards establishing values through conversations.

Of course, many people have their own definition and conclusion of what social media truly is. I have my own too, which primarily foster around the insertion of meaningful conversations where it matters. Hype helps, but hype as we know it, burns itself out as quickly as a candle would last you. Sure, anybody can launch a blog and dabble into social media but at the end of the day, we should be questioning ourselves what are we intending, planning and hoping to achieve.

But, before we even launch any social media campaigns, we must still use the core basics to formulate the solution and approach which are supposed to lead us to the outcome we desire. I prefer to use the notion of “supposed to lead” because a great deal of effort is needed throughout the campaign to materialize the kind of results we planned for. Therefore, there are some notable pressure points (arising from Valeria’s post) that we should examine at all times.

The Need To Participate. In social media, it’s all about being a part of something bigger than ourselves. The only way we can benefit fully from a social media program is through participation. With dual-directional flow of exchanges, that is the fundamental of a true conversation. Isn’t that, precisely what is missing in traditional media?

I am always puzzled with agencies advocating their clients to set time aside (no matter how difficult) to engage every customer in their social media outreach programmes. Yet, at the same time you see that same agency coming up with the same reply that they have “no time” to connect with consumers. From there, looking at the usual behaviour of an agency will tell you if they’re indeed practicising social media. Afterall, if they can’t accomplish that for themselves, how can they do that for you?

Do Something or Do Nothing. Face it. Regardless of which you choose to do, your corporate image is being shaped over time. By doing nothing, you missed out on various opportunities to innovate yourself and provide for consumers with what they need. Not what you perceived them to need. These conversations can become a prized asset in your R&D or marketing campaigns. Simply, your consumers turns out to be your marketers. At least when you eventually engage them, you keep them happy knowing their sentiments are being heard.

The Chase for Popularity. Many companies love popular bloggers. In particular, bloggers at large with high traffic. It has also led to bloggers hunting for popularity in the most dramatic (often cruel) manner. Sure, your message reaches the eyes of many through these bloggers but it doesn’t tell you how it benefits the readers.The true influencers are not popular bloggers, at least to me, but customers and prospects. Customers have ready experience to share, while prospects share with the world how they arrive at their decisions for a certain purchase.

More often, social media “experts” neglected the crowd who are truly scouting for information (or looking to contribute ideas) and spent too much time with readers who are there just to have a good laugh. A misappropriation of attention, I called it. So now, it brings you back to Micheal’s question, which matters to you?

Values Over Technologies. The primary reason why technological companies often have problems pitching to clients, is because they do not want to hear results (from technologists) but they want to see results. Given a fast-paced IT industry we are looking at today, we have no lack of social media options that we can adopt. Why must it be YOU?

Fostering The Right Community. This is pretty much like raising a child from infancy. The shaping of a community starts from the very point you begin. All the values you planted will last as long as your initiatives are ongoing. Do you want a community that comes together for nothing more than just a barbeque, or do you want a community that has endless sharing of information to help buyers decide?

Noise Volume Over Noise Quality. There are plenty of people who are more than capable to create some hype with one single post in their blogs. However, this group usually belongs to the category of one-hit wonders because it’s the trademark that many of these one-time publicity are not contributing to conversations. Remember, conversation is an ongoing exchange. Otherwise, it is nothing more than a pay-per-post gimmick.

Participation Isn’t Agreeing. To effectively implement social media campaigns requires you to also listen to defectors or rather opposing views. This is something that everyone must be prepared for. I’m not going to talk much about this but I will lead you to re-read Monika’s version of social media.

There are still a lot more to pick up from social media, like experiential marketing and choosing the right person to do the job. I will stop at these since I am drawing lessons learnt from Valeria’s posts. Hopefully, it can lead all of us to examine the activities and noise we have come across. Are they publicity stunts? Or are they social media works in progress?

July 1, 2008 | Filed Under Corporate Branding, Social Media

Leave a Comment 

Are taglines dead?

As much as a lot of marketers are singing the death of taglines, I am still aligned to believe that corporate taglines are still very powerful ways to capture the consumers’ attention. In fact, I haven’t come across a corporate identity without a tagline or slogan for a long time. Does this indicate the death of taglines?

Taglines capture more attention than the entity’s name, as I came to explore this when creating my own tagline. I have a ton, but it’s all about relevance. What a tagline typically does, is more than just adding that glam to the company’s image. It’s also another way to summarize the vision, objective or even the services a company is offering.

Sometimes, I really admire how copy-writers come up with punchy taglines or slogans. It’s really not easy to summarize a multi-million dollar business into a phrase with less than 5 words. I just don’t see how taglines are dead, or even heading towards that path? Perhaps, with New Media tools that allow us to share more intimate details of what we do, the New Media evangelists would have written off the conventional taglines altogether. Why bother with taglines when I can put up a full page of information?

Ironically, we see web-based corporate entities using taglines too.

Taglines are here to stay, and will continue to play a major role in the branding of companies. In the realm of Social Media, we frequently pronounced conversations and relationships as one of the key features. Consumers are not going to waste time exploring, not until something captures their attention and eventually lead them into the noise.

I would like to take this opportunity to share with you this podcast from Big Duck regarding taglines, featuring Sarah Durham and Dan Gunderman.

Here’s some famous taglines over the years. Some have pass the test of time, some are unmistakable through generations and some are new.

AT&T (Telco)
Reach out and touch someone


American Express (Banking & Credit)
Don’t leave home without it

McDonalds (Fastfood)
We love to see you smile

Nike (Sports Apparel)
Just Do It

The X-Files (Entertaiment and Film)
The truth is out there

Disneyland (Entertainment)
The happiest place on earth

Singapore Airlines (Aviation)
First to fly, the Singapore Airlines A380

Singapore Airlines (Aviation)
Experience the Difference in 2006

Coca Cola, Singapore (Beverages)
Give in to temptations

Most recently in Singapore, telco company M1 launched a campaign that has since captured everyone’s attention by storm. And what’s their tagline behind all their catchy oh-ohhh oh-ohhh?


How can taglines be dead?

June 23, 2008 | Filed Under Corporate Branding

Leave a Comment