Social Media & The Rise of the Consumer

At the 2010 festival, anyone who attended the seminar programme will remember a common consideration that brands would need to start using the benefits of social media in new ways if they were to succeed in the ever-changing digital environment. Tribal DDB said that companies would have to listen first, collaborate second and sell third. Meanwhile, Procter & Gamble’s global marketing and brand-building officer, Marc Pritchard, warned that the industry should aim to shift to “servicing, touching and moving consumers” as opposed simply to “marketing, selling and campaigning”.

This year we found out what it all meant and how what was being said last year has led to new strategies and outcomes. Creative communities are not only being used simply to sell products, but for social interaction with consumers and for positive action for a better world. Either way, what we are seeing is the old one-way direct marketing announcements turning into important two-way conversations where input from all angles counts.

“It’s about the idea of curating content and starting a brief, then putting it out there,” said David Alberts, chief creative officer of MOFILM. Paul Edwards of the General Motors Company said: “For so many years at Chevrolet, we thought internally that we owned the brand. But the realisation a few years ago was that consumers own the brand – their perception of the brand is the reality.”

Road trip

Chevrolet has opened up its marketing to the diverse creative community around the world and realised how it is perceived by consumers and filmmakers for doing so. Albert, formerly of Grey Worldwide, described Chevrolet’s branded film programme as “the power of having outsiders look at your company” and Edwards revealed how up-and-coming filmmakers could use MOFILM to establish themselves in priceless airtime slots such as the Super Bowl. The ideas and projects presented prove that brands are learning to co-exist and interact in the same space as consumers and audiences, in an online and more immediate environment.

The customer is always right

What we’ve seen over the past 12 months is that ideas and warnings about utilising social media are not mere talking points any more, but are being demonstrated with real evidence showing that involving the consumer in the creative and marketing process is now the way to go. There wouldn’t be any social networks or media without content from the people who use them. This has clearly been recognised and is currently being taken advantage of to the benefit of consumers and companies.

Users have become part of the brands, and the content and conversations are no longer coming from one party and being directed to a target. Information and ideas are ignited in domains to be evolved and developed in continued social relationships and democratic creative communities.

A question of priorities

While commerce is always going to be an important topic, many speakers recognised that people put humanity before business. A session headed up by YouTube talked about catalysts to create action and momentum around good causes, including the new Good Work initiative. The scheme offers creatives around the world a unique opportunity to make a promo video for a not-for-profit organisation through YouTube with the winner receiving a trip to the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.

The seminar discussion explored the fact that advertising is at its most potent when it’s a force for good. But not-for-profit companies can – and more often than not, do – find it hard to connect with the creative community so agencies and brands need platforms such as this new scheme. Craig Davis, chief creative officer of Publicis Mojo Australia and founder of Brandkarma, the world’s first brand-centric social media platform, presented the winning entries from hundreds of submissions.

JWT also struck a chord, explaining how social media has revolutionised political activism as everyone now has the ability to become a mobile journalist, reporting to their own readership and audience using the internet and social media to spark movements and debate.

Mobile phones have now evolved so far that anyone can document events with live footage and photography. YouTube and Facebook turn these posts into breaking news, and Twitter then enables protesters to organise, mobilise and communicate for an integrated communicative delivery experience. The technology has the potential to transform local and personal events into international items for action, in some cases defying regulation and censorship.