So in searching for a topic to blog about, because my own social media life is not too interesting, I found this article that reminded me about the conversation we had in class about the Aids resource center.
The story is about the how Proctor and Gamble (creators of products like crest toothpaste etc.) are ending their advertising campaign with Facebook. The article went into detail about the crest white strips campaign that was on Facebook in 2006. Facebook called it a success, but looking into the outcomes it seems less than worthy of the title.
Just like the Aids resource center, becoming a "fan" of something on Facebook, is not going to get continued participation and interest. It is a one time click, whose link then gets lost amid the bumper stickers and wall posts on your page.
I think that P&G, who has a marketing budget of over $300 million, made the right choice in dropping Facebook. I think that looking into another type of social media would be their best bet. They need to have a legitimate two way conversation with their consumers. I think Twitter might be a good fit. It would allow P&G to make short posts about new products, promotions etc., and then allow for feedback and comments from consumers. It would be a step up from Facebook which really was nothing more than a widget in terms of participation.
Having been on Facebook for a long time, I still could not figure out how businesses could leverage the social networking power by simply having a facebook page or fan group. I think they have to offer more than that. I can see how FB games/widgets developers could make some money out of FB apps. I used to play Fluff races and tempted to buy fancy decorations or environments or gifts for my fluff, using real money (paypal). I know many people did.
ReplyDeleteI don't think FB is the place to sell toothpaste, but it could be the place where people share their dental hygiene or funny stories about freaking visits to dental clinics, or whatever. P&G should not expect FB to be more than that. What it could hope for is when people recount stories they read on FB, they might have connect Crest name with them, and maybe, maybe, buy Crest because of that.