Heard on twitter tht U suck (Buzz vs Influence vs Infiltration)
April 21st, 2009 Posted in brands, digital, internet, marketing, social media, social networking
I depend on twitter users to tell me what movies to watch or which online serice to pick. Of course I do this because I have a sneaking suspicion that Nikhat Kazmi may be receiving kickbacks for the 5 stars he she gives a Karan Johar movie. So I depend on live hour-by-hour tweets of a fellow twitterer.
My colleague hemal returned from a recent Social Media Summit, quite unhappy and concerned. It seems brand managers quite happily spoke about how they infiltrate online communities to fake posts and comments. And yes, most of us digital marketers also fall in the trap by explaining to clients that that’s what we can do for them. It’s the easiest way to explain what we do to someone who doesn’t understand social media.
It’s worth mentioning here that the strength of social media lies in two key areas:
1. network of
2. trust
Networks such as orkut and facebook were easy. but they truly became powerful because users now didn’t just keep in touch, instead they started asking for information, reviews, advice…
Tightening the circle of trust
It is said that 76% of don’t believe that companies tell the truth in advertising. Hey but my friend won’t lie. What’s he got to gain?
Trouble is that if brands continue infiltrating and buying bloggers off, your blogger/twitter friend may have something to gain after all. Result? People will start closing in their circles. Tightening their ‘circle of trust’. And soon brands will lose the influence-potential of social media.
Drowning in cynicism
I see the marketers of 2020 in deep shit. People will be far more cynical. (they probably already are. You must’ve noticed the reactions before susan boyle started to sing)
Buzz vs Influence vs Infiltration
Brands like Burger King have been perfect examples of creating buzz over the internet. Fastrack tried out a twitter contest to do just that.
Influence ofcourse can be created just as well by videos on youtube. Pepsi recycle is worth a mention.
Perhaps infiltration, even though it’s the easiest, needs to be killed. It’s a lazy option. It’s going to kill social media. It’s going to effect the social fabric of the web. Perhaps the marketer community needs to take a stand?
April 22nd, 2009 at 12:29 pm
I guess, it is also an opportunity for the players in the online marketing business to take a stand, STAND OUT, differentiate and hopefully make money by helping their clients to increase their revenues! Tall Order and easier said than done, but then, who said it was easy:-))
April 22nd, 2009 at 5:14 pm
@Amarendra Yep, the problem is people think social media is easy and use lazy methods like fake posting. Thank you for stopping by Amarendra.
April 22nd, 2009 at 5:30 pm
I agree. At a TV station I know of, the crowd was recently impressed by a chap whose card said ‘online brand evangelist’ (honestly!)…he basically charges for plugging brands on forums.
Brands will look beyond it when they know the social media marketing options available, their short term ROI & the long term benefits. Also, the brand manager of an established brand is too busy worrying about his spend on traditional media (95%+ of his total budget??) to spend time understanding, performing trials & then sustaining social media marketing efforts. So for reasons of natural lack of budget for traditional media & absence of stifling legacy, I think the baton will have to be held by younger brands for some time to come.
Take a stand? Sure, to nip the ‘evil’ in the bud and to make sure nobody misses the bus.
April 22nd, 2009 at 6:15 pm
@Gaurav true gaurav. Perhaps the times has come for marketers to base the attention that they give media on its long-term effectiveness and not just the budget spent
Plus it’s so damn difficult to explain to someone new what social media can do. The easiest way is to still just say ‘we’ll write posts and comments on POPULAR forums’ 
Thank you for your comment!
July 5th, 2009 at 11:08 pm
I guess it’s just the tip of the iceberg the true potential of social media is far from being realised..and it’s de-merits too!!
July 13th, 2009 at 4:04 am
It is becoming increasingly difficult to filter out the truth. To believe Rotten Tomatoes or your best friend ! I usually go by the best friend, esp as I know the kind of movies he likes over the period of time.
Btw I thought Nikhat Kazmi was a female.
July 13th, 2009 at 5:48 am
@Rahul: True
@Ava: yea turns out she is
and i go by twitter now. you get updates the moment the movie’s released 
Thanks for the comment!
July 15th, 2009 at 8:31 am
I use apple movie trailers to sort through the new movies! After all it’s better to see yourself the trailer to decide what you will watch or not!
November 7th, 2009 at 9:50 am
A very interesting blog post. What would you say was the most common problem?