Are brands prepared to listen?

12/23/08 06:51 AM

Are brands ready to hear what consumers think of their products and advertising? That's a key question that a lot of marketing people are going to have to answer when embark on a social media marketing program. Some executives are probably not prepared for consumers to tell them their marketing sucks, after all they have focus group data that says otherwise, but the reality is that consumers are already laughing at marketers and their products and advertising.

Social media can be a brutally honest way to get feedback on your branding activities. Let's face it there are so many marketing programs that do not add value to the brand and don't move the needle but are implemented to make marketers feel better about the work they are doing. Ad agencies are particularly great at patting themselves on the back for their work and submitting the names of clients for bullshit awards.

I recently had a chance to go to Twitter and see some people criticize the auto industry for their TV ads saying things like "TV ads are a waste of money, save your money and keep the service departments open on weekends and after 5PM". For sure it's hard to watch any sporting event without a bunch of ads for SUV's and other light trucks. While Americans had a shock to the system with $5.00 gas it seems that the car companies believe that the lower prices on gas is going to lead to amnesia by the public.

We talk about social media marketing but social media is great for market research and customer service. I recently used social media to invite some people to a secure website to view new product concepts and give us feedback and boy did we get honest and open feedback. We had planned to show the designs to around 20 people but we had over 70 who wanted to see the new product concepts. As for customer service, adding a link to a Twitter account where people could talk to customer service right away was also successful. A lot of people prefer online contact versus the phone or in person as online nobody knows who you are and you're not embarrassed by 'stupid questions".

The real issue facing brands is that they have to be prepared to listen more and talk less. People just want to know that someone is listening to them and that brands value their business. This adds a new dimension to the power of one and social media.

Tags: Social Media, Internet social media