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Is Social Media The Real Thing?
03-02-2010
by Ralph Averbuch
When two global FMCG brands take to the social web you know it must be the real thing.
You know that social media has truly hit the mainstream when two of the world's biggest brands decide it's time to take up residence. On the one hand we have Pepsi which recently announced plans to spend some USD20 million on digital marketing, much of which will be on Facebook, and opted not to run its traditional ad spot around the US Superbowl. Then we have the rather interesting document from Coca-Cola outlining its strategy for dealing with social media. It's called "Online Social Media Principles" and can be found on Scribd. But it's the subtext of this document which is the most telling. It runs to a mere three pages. This is Coca-Cola we're talking about here, where image is absolutely everything. After all, take away the iconic lettering, can colour scheme or distinctive bottle shape and all you've got is a carbonated fizzy drink which used to contain a derivative of the same plant used to make cocaine. The Coca-Cola Company knows that as a big brand sold in around 200 countries, it is going to get talked about. So, rather than ignore the potential for problems, it seems it wants to try to preempt problems from developing by giving its staff clear guidelines on what should be addressed, how it should be handled and how to minimise the chances of online chatter developing into an out-of-control free for all. Good luck. They're certainly going to need it. However, it's still very enlightening to see Coca-Cola at least attempting to engage with the medium. Far better to face the music than to stick your fingers in your ears and hope it will all go away. As the document says, "Know that the Internet is permanent" and "Remember that your local posts can have global significance." It's a pity that bike lock company Kryptonite didn't take that to heart when a groundswell of criticism culminated in the rather embarrassing video expose of a flaw in its product. Enough said.
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