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Social media is changing the world. If you aren’t on the bus, you’ll be run over by it. But does this apply if you are selling grout? How can brands without aspirational appeal take advantage of the social media wave?
There’s a quick dose of reality to consider. If people aren’t talking about your product, they aren’t going to suddenly start sharing it on Facebook. Even so, there are other options and things to consider if your product isn’t a natural social fit.
Popular Opinion Matters
Consider the plight of McDonalds. It recently had a social media flop when it asked people to share stories. Generally speaking the stories were pretty negative. They are left spending a consider amount of money, and potentially harming the brand as well.
What doesn’t make sense is why they didn’t expect this? Movies like Super Size Me helped paint them as a source of junk food that nearly killed the movie’s maker. The general opinion isn’t great, and 140 characters in isolation isn’t going to change anyone’s mind.
Mcdonalds has plenty of products and promotions that do have popular appeal. People love things like the McRib, the Monopoly game and their support of the Olympics. Heck, I used to beg for Shamrock Shakes when they were available. All of these are limited time promotions well suited to the ephemeral nature of social media.
Every business has products like these. Food trucks have managed to move from “roach coach” to mobile gourmet by exploiting the time sensitive nature of their product.
Highlight interesting uses
Sure, no one talks about grout. However, they do talk about bathroom remodeling. Even if a product is a small part of a larger effort, there’s opportunity to actually engage in conversation.
Could a bandage manufacturer talk about how it’s might be used to stitch up hockey injuries? Certianly
Even the least sexy products in the world are often used in far more interesting places than people would expect. Anyone that thinks how their product is used is actually caring about their users. That’s social.
Just be fun
Budweiser nailed social media years before MySpace was even invented. They took an undifferentiated product and got people to talk about it, just by making entertaining ads and playing them to the largest possible audience. They didn’t need the internet to make that happen, just the SuperBowl and the water cooler at the office the next day.
Any brand can be fun. KSwiss and the Kenny Powers, MFCEO tried to take an unremarkable shoe company and just talk about it differently. Will it Blend took an industrial grade blender and made it a viral sensation. While it might be easier for a little brand to do this, anyone really can be edgier about what they do. Arguably, GEICO ads are getting people to talk about Auto Insurance, one of the least interesting products imaginable.
Every brand has a chance to be social.
Even so it doesn’t mean that it’s going to be easy. For every win, there are probably five failures that never garner attention. I’d be the first one to say that I’ve been trying to get people to talk about financial responsibility with a short term lender for months with limited success.
Even so there’s one thing to keep in mind. Social media is fleeting. If people don’t see something they can’t view it badly. Why not try? Most failure won’t get noticed, but the success could turn a sleepy blender company into a household name.
Related articles
- McDonald’s Has Mc’Egg on Its Face Again (jpwilliam.wordpress.com)
- McDonald’s learns a social media marketing lesson the hard way (newmediaandmarketing.com)
Tags: social media
