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c h a p t e r7:FIVE ESSENTIAL TIPS■strategic social-media-based proposition. By comparison, in early 2010 announcements
from other big consumer brands like Unilever and Coke indicated that they too would
be de-emphasizing branded microsites and similar media programs as components of
online marketing. Instead, they increased investments in building a presence in globally
significant social networks like Facebook. Coke, for example, has literally millions of
fans collected around its Facebook business page.
Building on what was learned by participating in Facebook—and its very
favorable experience with its fans through its business page—Coke created a stand-
alone collaborative site for NCAA fans. Built on the Posterous blogging platform
(you can learn more about Posterous here: http://posterous.com/), Coke’s NCAA
marketing tie-in, “The Department of Fannovation,” encourages NCAA fans to
submit ideas on improving the fan experience for NCAA athletics followers. The
Fannovation campaign creates a connection between “new” NCAA fans and Coca-
Cola, and importantly does so in a way that new fans in particular are likely to gain
additional awareness of and thereby consider Coke as a first choice in refreshment.
Fannovation—built as noted on a blogging platform that was configured to encourage
curation and hence participation (content creation and collaboration)—was further
promoted through adjacent social channels including Facebook and Twitter.
Note that Coke’s “Department of Fannovation,” like Dell’s “Digital Nomad”
and “Take Your Own Path” communities, is not a purely brand-centric application.
It is instead built around a passion of a subset of Coke’s audience—that is, being an
NCAA fan. Coke is a participant in the application, but at the center is the excitement
of being an NCAA fan. The application carries right into collaboration as well, by
encouraging fans to create and submit ideas, and then rate (curate) them. The result is
new learning for Coke in the ways it can take itself to market—and in using a range
of social channels for campaigns as well as the promotion of those campaigns—and
a whole new set of quantitative measurements that can be used to further improve its
social presence and related activities. By tying these projects to Coke’s larger brand
essence, Coke reinforces its role in its customers’ lives, not as a soft drinks vendor but
as an expression of the connecting point—the higher calling—between the activities
and lifestyles of its customers and the brand itself.
Beyond consumer businesses, business-to-business brands—like Element 14,
American Express, HSBC, and Indium—are using purpose-built communities, busi-
ness-oriented networks like LinkedIn, and blogging to get closer to their own custom-
ers. In all of these efforts, the rationale is simple: Fish where the fish are, at least at the
start. You can create your own pond later. More importantly, respect your audience by
getting involved in the activities that they are themselves involved in. Become part of
their community by bringing your brand to them. Combined with a longer-term strate-
gic plan, these types of real-world, tactical efforts built around platforms that already
exist are a great way to get started.