Is Social Media for Everyone?
October 17th, 2013
How ’bout no?
We talk a lot in class about the added value that social media can bring to a brand; the two-way communication with consumers, brand exposure at minimal cost, and its use as a relationship building tool. For many brands these benefits are valid, that is to say their usefulness to the brand is matched by the consumer’s willingness to participate. To illustrate, consider my last post about the GoPro and their photo/video of the day program. The program works because the consumers want to participate, they are actively engaged because they want to be.
Now consider brands like Cottonelle pictured above and their “Lets Talk About Your Bum” campaign. First of all lets not (I closed the window immediately after saving the picture this was so ridiculous). Personally, and I think this can be applied more broadly, I don’t want to start a dialogue about my bowel movements with my toilet paper brand of choice. I’m fine with commercials on TV telling me how soft it is, great, I like soft. Do I want to like your Facebook page and broadcast my affinity for Cottonelle Toilet Paper to all my friends? Absolutely not. Sometimes attempting to start a dialogue on social media only makes sense to you and your marketing team and Cottonelle is certainly not the only offender.