Indeed, if the person concerned was in a country at the polls, they could well be feeding their own reports or videos into civic reporting aggregators, or simply into Twitter, which is increasingly playing an important global role as a breaking news reporter.

What people are doing — and what tools they are using on social media platforms — has become a point of attention across the global economy. Many brands believe, with relative justification, that if they can tap into the booming popularity of social media networks they will be able to grow their equity and successfully manage increasingly complex viral consumer feedback loops.

But a sole focus on the detail — on social media tactics, tools, trends and platforms — can mean brand strategists are permanently chasing their tails.

There is considerable risk attached to developing campaigns using specific social media channels and technologies without an eye on the bigger picture — not least because such channels can easily lose market traction and relevance in the few short months required to take a strategy to market.

Global leaders in the social media field are seeking to understand the social media phenomenon at its highest level – and brand strategists would do well to follow suit.

Take, for example, the work of commentator and analyst Clay Shirky, who has coined the notion of “global cognitive surplus”. Shirky’s idea is pretty simple. In the 20th century, humankind was in passive consumption and entertainment mode. Now, in the 21st century, new tools have allowed us to tap into our cognitive surplus (traditionally assigned to watching TV) and interact with each other socially — in civic and entertainment senses. We do this, according to Shirky, to fulfil a deep, instinctive desire to connect with each other.

Shirky’s idea is supported by recent studies in happiness and economics. According to Richard Layard and other leading economists in the field, reported happiness levels in advanced economies have been largely unchanged since 1950.

Research shows that when average annual personal income passes 20000, people don’t become happier. In summary, rather than being directly self-interested and obsessed with building personal wealth, modern people’s happiness can actually be defined by his or her sense of community. By the quality, in other words, of the individual’s connections with other people. And it is this social orientation that is pouring the rocket fuel on the social media fire.

Starbucks’s My Starbucks Idea website offers an interesting example of the dynamic at play in the brand context. The site engages consumers in the brand’s idea generation, experiential marketing and social responsibility. My Starbucks Idea has become a veritable community — one in which Starbucks customers feel involved and where transparency has taken on new meaning.

And then there’s IBM’s blog universe, an extensive blog portal encapsulating the musings of IBM folk. The portal is engaging for staff bloggers, business partners and clients.

Through their blogs, IBM staff communicate with other professionals from their specific sector, as well as across their global organisation.

Once again, use of social media by the brand centres on facilitating community interaction, in a largely organic and free-wheeling fashion.

The core social-media brand challenge is developing a strategy that caters to the fact that people are connecting with each other at truly profound levels. Because they can, and because they really, really want to.

And so, while most brand analysts are hailing recent social media campaign successes, the really smart ones are figuring out how to replicate not the tactics, but the approach.

- Wolters is group communications manager for Added Value, a brand development and marketing insight consultancy.

- October 20.10.2010 by Kate Wolters

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Source: www.businessday.co.za/Articles/Content.aspx (accessed on 22.10.2010)