Coca-Cola’s new “Fan First” approach to marketing: It’s the Real Thing
I remember back in 2007/2008 when I was developing social media strategy for Unilever and Diageo brands, Facebook was the central ‘hub’ from which we could create a fan-centric experience for Guinness/Smirnoff/Marmite, etc. We used to pride ourselves on having more Fans than Coke – often ten times more, using the ultimate consumer brand as a benchmark which we had superseded. Not only did we have more fans, but we also had more engaged fans (which, after all is the ‘secret ingredient‘).
I often used to quote Coca-Cola as being somewhat behind in the game and on many occasions used Coke’s refusal to build a presence within social networks was slipped into a new-biz pitch to show lesser smaller younger brands that they could stand on the shoulders of giants in this new landscape.
Fast forward a few years and things have changed. This presentation by Michael Donnelly, Group Director of Worldwide Interactive Marketing for Coca-Cola, created for the iStrategy2010 conference outlines Coke’s ‘fans first’ approach in social communities.
This deck is a brilliant case-study for social media interaction and I’m sure will be used by marketers for years to come. I’m partcularly impressed that Coke actually admits where they got it wrong in the past.
And today…
What Coca-Cola calls the ‘Fan First’ approach is surely what good brand marketers should have been doing for decades: letting the end-user ‘own’ the brand experience. However, hats off to the brand team behind Coke. Now that the big brands are finally ’getting it’ surely it’s just a matter of time before the others follow?
This, on a day when Sony announced that Sony announces that it made £1m worth of sales via Twitter for it’s Vaio products – it certainly looks like the tide has turned and that social media marketing is no longer regarded as being PR’s poorer, geekier cousin.
Does this mean that my job’s going to get easier?
Does it mean that I’m going to be able to walk into my next new client and not have to give them the hard-sell on the benefits of social media marketing?
Does it ****.
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I’d say if we keep seeing great case studies like this then our jobs will get easier in some aspects. The next new clients won’t need the hard-sell. They may want to do everything yesterday, and we may need to help pace them, and determine with them– which social media marketing approaches make the most sense. The challenges will be slightly different but hard-sell may drop out of the equation.
Remember when companies debated whether they should have a website? Some went kicking and fighting the whole way. Now look at them!
Hi Debbie
Sorry for taking so long to get back to your comment.
Of course, you make some good points – particulary comparing today’s growing trend for marketers to integrate social media strategy into business as usual with the goldrush stampede for businesses to get on the website bandwaggon over a decade ago.
On that point, businesses having an amateur website in the early days of the web wouldn’t necessarily impact negatively on their sales / public perception as much as having a poorly thought out or even sloppy social media presence today. Reason being is that social media conversation takes place on non-native platforms making them more visible to a wide community than content contained on an ‘owned’ site. Coke seem to get this.
It does make our lives easier as marketers in this arena to go out and sing social media from the rafters but my fear is that many brand guardians still see social media as a technological solution whereas they should be considering a completely new way about thinking about communications culturally.
I totally agree with you that the challenges will be slightly different but hard-sell may drop out of the equation.
Thanks for stopping by!
By the way, I’m loving the work that Weber Media Partners are doing in this area. It looks like both you and Catherine have tonnes of experience in conversational marketing.
[...] Coca-Cola’s new “Fan First” approach to marketing: It’s the Real Thing | raxraxrax.com – if you read this blog, you will already get what Coca-Cola is talking about, but I just like the way its told [...]
On this day in History…
1950: Nuclear scientist Klaus Fuchs is sentenced to 14 years imprisonment for espionage.
1954: The biggest explosion ever made by man is witnessed in the Pacific when US scientists explode their second H-bomb at Bikini Atoll.
1971: Hundreds of thousands of workers across Britain take part in an unofficial day of protest against the government’s new industrial relations Bill.
1966: Chancellor of the Exchequer James Callaghan confirms the “historic and momentous” decision to change over to decimal coinage.
2010: Rax gets two mentions on Ged’s brilliant Links of the Day post!
a truly momentous day !
This comment was originally posted on renaissance chambara | Ged Carroll
i have tried social media marketing for getting our new products to be known on the market. it seems to work well specially if the audience is targeted .:
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