In the mad rush to jump on the social media juggernaut, some marketer efforts are on target and others are missing the mark. A blog called Social Media Optimization ran back to back articles, one on the success of Wal-Mart. Both stories are instructive and both were extrapolated from an earlier story in Adweek. While it might be a stretch to call either of these efforts Marketing for Good, given the fact the both Adweek and the Social Media Optimization blog quoted me in their articles, I figured I might as well elaborate here.
On their Facebook page, Wal-Mart created a The Roommate Style Match Quiz, a fun little quiz where a college student can compare their personal decorating style to that of their roommate. Wal-Mart is known for discounts, not style. They are stepping away from their core brand truth and trying to play in foreign waters. Students immediately perceived the inauthenticity of Wal-Mart trying to give fashion/style/taste advice and called them out on it.
On the other hand, Target has a Dorm Survival Guide on their page with tips about decking out your dorm. This totally fits with people’s understanding of the Target brand – Target is known for bringing design to the masses for low prices – so the students didn’t reject it.
Facebook is still somewhat pristine territory when it comes to the marketing onslaught. Advertisers are amping up their activity on the site, but it hasn’t yet become inundated like MySpace has. I think the users of Facebook are protective of their space and are not looking forward to it getting too “junked up” even though this is inevitable. Perhaps they are holding brands, bands, widgets, or other “corporate” entities to stricter standards. A brand has got to fit in if it wants to be accepted, and acting like a phoney just doesn’t play with this generation.
From a Marketing for Good perspective, I have no complaints with marketers trying to engage or entertain particular targets via social networks like Facebook. In fact, there are lots of opportunities to create a genuine exchange of value, in which the consumers give his time or attention to a brand in exchange for entertainment or useful information. A number of marketers are creating widgets that enhance or personalize the Facebook experience. This is all good. At the risk of stating the obvious, it’s just bad when done badly.