The traditional one way advertising model of brand to consumer has been flipped, twisted and mangled in the new media world today. People don’t listen to brands as much as they listen to the social groups and communities they are part of. With so much clutter in the media space people have adapted ways to block out ads and branding becomes and even harder task. The number of people who bought and iPhone bought it not because of a need but because their friend’s got one. Apple has a 24hr sales force in the millions that are working for them for free.
The viral effect that runs through social communities has a far greater reach than any paid media and is far more cost effective, and most importantly it is coming from a friend or someone respected. So if you want to be heard become part of the dialogue rather than try to interrupt it.
So how do you get your consumers talking about you – listen to them and then let them know that your are by responding - they will spread the word.
One great example of listening to your customers is the recent EA ad for game Tiger Woods PGA Tour. About a year ago, avid gamer who goes by alias Levinator25 posted a video on YouTube of what he thought was a glitch in the game where Tiger Woods could walk on water to play a shot – the Jesus shot. This video was viewed close to 650,000 times. A year later on the release of the next in the series EA released an ad featuring the real Tiger Woods taking the Jesus Shot. This video posted Aug 19 2008 has already received 2,262,550 views. Whether this increases sales on the game is secondary the boost in respect for the brand in the Gaming community.
