SIMON KEMP • we are social• AUGUST 2013
SOCIAL BRANDSAND THE FUTURE OF MARKETING

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FIRST TO THE FUTURE
The most successful brands don’t just predict
the future; they define it on their own terms.
This document offers a series of provocations
to help you define your brand’s vision of the
future, and shares some suggestions on how
to start bringing that vision to life today.
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CONTEXT

THE ‘3Ps’ THAT WILL DEFINE THE MARKETING OF TOMORROW:
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A focus on communities
rather than technology
Connecting with people
when it matters most
PEOPLE PORTABLE
Adding value at every
possible opportunity
PRACTICAL

FUTURE PROVOCATIONS
1 Social equity drives brand value
2 Communities have more value than platforms
3 All marketing must add value
4 On the go is the way to go
5 From big ideas to leitmotivs
6 From selective hearing to active listening
7 Experiences are the new products
8 CSR evolves into civic engagement
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OUR ‘PROVOCATIONS’ FORMAT
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The realities, trends,
and observations that
inspired our thinking
Where we see these
developments taking
marketing in the future
TODAY TOMORROW
The implications for
brands, and what you
can do to harness them
TO DO

#01
SOCIAL EQUITY
DRIVES
BRAND VALUE
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TODAY: THE BRANDS THAT ARE WORTH TALKING ABOUT
ARE THE BRANDS WE’RE WILLING TO PAY MORE FOR
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THE SOCIAL EQUITY OF A BRAND
The more people talk about a brand, the
easier it is for us to predict how other people
will react if we choose that brand. As a
result, the brands that inspire the most
favourable conversations are the brands that
can command the greatest price premium.
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CONTEXT

TOMORROW: BRANDS RECOGNISE THAT AN INCREASE IN
CONVERSATION DRIVES AN INCREASE IN COMPENSATION
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TO ACHIEVE THIS, WE MUST EVOLVE BEYOND THE
CURRENT CHANNEL-BASED BROADCAST APPROACH
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OUTDOOR
RADIO
PRINT
WEB
TELEVISION
SOCIAL MEDIA

SOCIAL MEDIA vs SOCIAL BRANDS
Brand conversations aren’t just driven by
social media activities. Everything the brand
does – from its advertising to its packaging,
and from its POS activities to its customer
service – should be designed to inspire as
much favourable conversation as possible.
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DIGGING
DEEPER

IN ORDER TO SUCCEED, BRANDS MUST ADOPT
A HOLISTIC, CONVERSATION-BASED APPROACH
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PRODUCTS
CUSTOMER
SERVICE
POS ACTIVITY
ADVERTISING
PACKAGING
RECRUITMENT

TO DO: BUILD SOCIAL EQUITY BY INSPIRING FREQUENT,
FAVOURABLE CONVERSATIONS BETWEEN COMMUNITIES
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#02
COMMUNITIES HAVE
MORE VALUE
THAN PLATFORMS
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THE (SOCIAL) NETWORK EFFECT
We naturally gravitate to the social media
platforms where we can interact with the
people we care about. If these people move
on to a different platform, we usually follow
them, because it’s social benefits we seek;
media and content are just means to an end.
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CONTEXT

TODAY: PEOPLE’S PLATFORM CHOICES ARE DRIVEN BY
PERSONAL BENEFITS, NOT BY TECHNOLOGY FEATURES
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HISTORY HAS SHOWN HOW DIFFICULT IT CAN BE TO
MOVE A BRAND’S AUDIENCE BETWEEN PLATFORMS
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DIGGING
DEEPER

TOMORROW: BRANDS NURTURE COMMUNITIES
INSTEAD OF BUILDING PLATFORM-SPECIFIC AUDIENCES
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TO DO: IDENTIFY WHAT BRINGS YOUR AUDIENCE(S)
TOGETHER AND BUILD YOUR STRATEGY AROUND THAT
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#03
ALL MARKETING
MUST
ADD VALUE
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RAZZLE DAZZLE MARKETING
Too much marketing relies on elaborate
spectacle to attract audiences’ attention.
The result is a brand relationship that never
progresses beyond an initial pick-up line,
with an over-emphasis on short-term gains
instead of longer-term mutual value.
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CONTEXT

TODAY: MARKETING IS TOO FOCUSED
ON SHOUTING FOR ATTENTION
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THE EVOLVING PARADIGM
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Buying media space
to interrupt people as
efficiently as possible
Harnessing contexts in
which to engage people
as effectively as possible
INTERRUPTION INTERACTION
VSVS
!

TOMORROW: MARKETING DELIVERS ENDURING VALUE
THROUGH EVERY INTERACTION, OR IS TOTALLY IGNORED
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FROM ADS TO ADDED VALUE
As marketing evolves to this added-value
model, so media must evolve too. The ad-
funded model will become irrelevant, and
publishers and content platforms will need
to rethink their business models in order to
deliver a more integral value proposition.
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DIGGING
DEEPER

TO DO: ENGAGE PEOPLE AROUND THE THINGS THEY
CARE ABOUT – THINK PASSIONS, NOT PRODUCTS
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#04
ON THE GO
IS THE
WAY TO GO
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TODAY: MOBILE DEVICES ARE ALREADY MOST
PEOPLE’S ‘MOST IMPORTANT’ GADGETS
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GLOBALLY, MORE PEOPLE
OWN A MOBILE PHONE
THAN OWN A TOOTHBRUSH
SOURCE: MOBILE MARKETING ASSOCIATION OF ASIA 30
(
)

TOMORROW: STRATEGIES THAT DON’T COME TO LIFE
ON MOBILE DEVICES NEVER COME TO LIFE AT ALL
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TO DO: UNDERSTAND HOW AUDIENCES USE SOCIAL ON
MOBILE, AND PLAN AROUND THEIR ACTUAL BEHAVIOUR
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ADOPT A DEVICE-INDEPENDENT APPROACH THAT HELPS
PEOPLE TO CONNECT ACROSS ALL MOBILE PLATFORMS
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VS

#05
FROM BIG
IDEAS TO
LEITMOTIFS
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TODAY: SOCIAL MEDIA ALLOW MARKETERS TO MOVE
FROM SOUNDBITES TO ON-GOING CONVERSATIONS
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A NEW APPROACH TO THE ‘BIG IDEA’
As we embrace brand conversations, the
repetition of a single brand message becomes
increasingly less effective. Instead, brands
should harness ‘leitmotifs’: recurring themes
that evolve over time to tell the brand’s story
in various different ways in different contexts.
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DIGGING
DEEPER

ALTERNATIVES TO ‘HOMOGENOUS CAMPAIGNS’
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Sharing a wide variety of
disparate content that
appeals to people in different
ways at different times
Bringing a variety of
approaches and themes
together at the same time to
deliver diverse engagement
DANDELION TAPAS
A test-and-learn approach
where the brand constantly
tweaks variations on themes
to build deeper connections
KAIZEN

TOMORROW: BRAND COMMS BUILD AROUND FLUID
‘BRAND AGENDAS’ RATHER THAN SINGULAR BIG IDEAS
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TO DO: FOCUS MORE ON WHAT YOU WANT AUDIENCES
TO UNDERSTAND, NOT WHAT YOU’RE GOING TO SAY
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#06
FROM SELECTIVE
HEARING TO
ACTIVE LISTENING
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ACTIVE LISTENING, ACTIVE LEARNING
Every day, people share billions of public
posts in social media. Each of these posts
offers potential value for brands, but most
marketers miss this value by only tracking
direct mentions of their brands or activities.
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CONTEXT

TODAY: BRANDS ARE MISSING POWERFUL INSIGHTS AND
OPPORTUNITIES DUE TO EGOCENTRIC SOCIAL LISTENING
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A DIALOGUE OF DISCOVERY
Just as search engines help consumers find
answers to brand queries, so social media
listening can help brands answer questions
about consumers. Marketers can identify a
wealth of new brand opportunities by actively
listening to what people are saying, rather
than just tracking what they want to hear.
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DIGGING
DEEPER

TOMORROW: SOCIAL MEDIA BECOME THE ‘DISCOVERY
ENGINES’ THAT POWER ALL ASPECTS OF MARKETING
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SOCIAL LISTENING CAN ADD VALUE EVERYWHERE
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PRODUCTS
CUSTOMER
SERVICE
POS ACTIVITY
ADVERTISING
PACKAGING
RECRUITMENT

TO DO: USE SOCIAL LISTENING TO INFORM MARKETING
DECISIONS, NOT JUST TO MEASURE YOUR RESULTS
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#07
EXPERIENCES
ARE THE NEW
PRODUCTS
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TODAY: PRODUCT FEATURES NO LONGER OFFER
SUFFICIENT DIFFERENTIATION IN MANY CATEGORIES
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TOMORROW: ADDED-VALUE EXPERIENCES
BECOME THE CORE OF BRANDS’ OFFERINGS
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TO DO: IDENTIFY THE BRAND’S VALUE BEYOND ITS
PRODUCTS, AND BUILD EXPERIENCES AROUND THAT
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VS

SOCIAL ‘BAKED IN’
The most compelling experiences are
inherently social. As a result, brands
that can integrate shared experiences
into the heart of their offering will be
able to command a greater premium.
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DIGGING
DEEPER

#08
CSR EVOLVES
INTO
CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
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TODAY: SOCIETY INCREASINGLY EXPECTS BRANDS
TO GIVE BACK AT LEAST AS MUCH AS THEY TAKE
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CSR SHOULD BE ABOUT COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT,
NOT ABOUT RELIEVING THE CORPORATE CONSCIENCE
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VS

RETHINKING THE CONCEPT OF BRAND VALUE
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Activities focused
solely on maximising
short-term profits
Activities designed to
maximise returns for
employees and partners
SHAREHOLDER STAKEHOLDER
Activities designed
to contribute to the
greater good of all
SOCIETAL
VSVS VSVS

INSTEAD OF ASKING PEOPLE TO ‘LIKE’ THEM, BRANDS
SHOULD DELIVER IRRESISTIBLE REASONS TO LOVE THEM
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VS

TOMORROW: BRANDS EMBRACE COMMUNITY SERVICE,
MAKING IT A CORE PART OF THEIR OVERALL OFFERING
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THE RETURN OF THE GOOD SAMARITAN
Corporate philanthropy is not new, but its
popularity faded in the age of mass marketing.
However, as society becomes less tolerant of
corporate greed, civic-minded brands will
return to the fore as marketers rediscover the
enduring value of doing ‘good business’.
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DIGGING
DEEPER

TO DO: IDENTIFY WAYS TO PARTNER WITH COMMUNITIES
AND ADD LASTING VALUE FOR THE BENEFIT OF SOCIETY
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PARTING
THOUGHT
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THE FUTURE WON’T WAIT
You will only succeed if you put your plans
into action. The sooner you start testing your
hypotheses, the sooner you will know what
works and what doesn’t, and the greater your
chances of getting to the future first. Go do.
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FIND OUT MORE AT
WEARESOCIAL.SG

WE ARE SOCIAL IS A GLOBAL CONVERSATION AGENCY.
WE HELP BRANDS TO LISTEN TO, UNDERSTAND,
AND ENGAGE IN CONVERSATIONS IN SOCIAL MEDIA.
WE’RE ALREADY HELPING MANY OF THE WORLD’S
TOP BRANDS, INCLUDING UNILEVER, ADIDAS, INTEL,
DIAGEO, NESTLÉ, HEINZ, AND LOUIS VUITTON.
IF YOU’D LIKE TO CHAT ABOUT US HELPING YOU
TOO, CALL SIMON KEMP ON +65 9146 5356, OR
EMAIL US AT SAYHELLO@WEARESOCIAL.SG.
FIND OUT MORE AT WEARESOCIAL.SG.

SIMON KEMP
@ESKIMON
+65 9146 5356
SIMON.KEMP@WEARESOCIAL.SG
WEARESOCIAL.SG