Communication has come a long way since
mankind developed languages. It has evolved through many mediums leading to
social innovation & creativity. Ironically, as much as users promote themselves online,
collecting friends as stamps, the person’s limit to maintain connections is 150
relationships maximum. We cannot stay in contact with more than 150 people at a
time. Hence, the whole purpose of having a huge following online is the power
to influence.
As a marketer, my goal is to connect people
with brands and brands with people. Thus, I will emphasize on brand experience
via social creativity. The trick to
social creativity is to first determine a social tension or passion that is
relevant to the brand. Once that is identified, one must always integrate these
3 elements (playfulness, interactivity, ability to pass on) into his
communication content to maximize share value across all channels. This way, the
target audience will share the fun of your campaign due to being entertained
and engaged.
Another way of ensuring a brand’s impact is by
segmenting communication across these 4 spheres; Public, Social, Psychological,
Tribal. As Saudi Hollandi Bank, we hit the public sphere by mass awareness through campaigns
and PR activities. We hit the social sphere by solving a tension for SMEs
seeking funds. We hit the psychological sphere by having our clients relate our
slogan’s action “Banking made easy” to our brand. What remains is the tribal sphere,
which we have lightly tapped by having clients associate themselves with our
brand as promotion winners.
Key takeaways:
- Behavior Shift: Solving a social tension relevant to the brand, e.g., trusting banks
- Fun Theory: Campaign content to be entertaining, innovative, useful
- Relationship has greater impact than the message itself
- Brand community = social capital which leads to influence
For those of you who wish to delve further
into the subject at hand, I recommend
- A book called Brand Washed
- A short video on human behavior http://elitedai.ly/18eyn9c
