You are bound to agree that people log on to Facebook (FB) to socialise and not to search for products. But have you ever thought about another angle? What if a friend talks about a hair care product to another friend and she in turn talks to several others? Can you imagine the huge viral impact the product could have at the end of the exercise, when at least a thousand friends would have recommended the product to say another 10,000 odd? Mind boggling? Definitely.
Companies have been debating the impact of this type of communication for quite a while. The biggest challenge facing the advertiser today is credibility. He may place an ad on prime time television or broadcast it on one of the most popular FM channels yet he can never be sure if the advertisement has registered on the mindscape of the listener or viewer. Consumers do not rate advertising as a very credible information channel. Yet businesses do invest in advertising because they often compensate for this lack of credibility through broad distribution channels. Now this theory will be turned on its head as Facebook and Twitter and other interactive social media networks gain importance. As Saumya Chattopadhyay, Head, Strat-egic Planning, Rediffusion (Y&R) says, “Yes, the best sales happen when the intent is not forced. Whereas earlier, one had to block space on prime time to telecast an ad, the Internet is being consumed 24x7. It has infinite viewing power. The medium is also interactive. That will definitely change the way an advertisement is being viewed.” There’s a point here — advertisers have always known about the usefulness of interactivity and peer opinion.
In the early ‘70s, Faberge Organics depicted a shampoo user, who told two friends, who in turn told two others and so on. However, in those days, telling a lot of friends was not that easy. The FB and other interactive media have changed all that. Conveying your message to many people can be done with the click of a mouse within a matter of minutes.
As S. Chatterjee, an advertising professional, explains, “This can be explained really well with the example of Burger King who created history of sorts. They asked people to sacrifice their FB friends for meal vouchers and the response was overwhelming. The fact that FB banned them is quite another story. But by then the fast food major had made enough impact.”
The web is definitely the medium of today. And it will most certainly make an impact on the way people advertise. Here are some statistics to prove the point. Last year advertisers spent $1.9 billion in advertising on social networking sites. This year, advertisers will invest much more. These sites have captured only a small share of online ads but the impact all this is having on newly empowered consumers is definitely incalculable. General social networking sites are also expected to generate more than $35 million in ad revenue. The most popular video sharing service is Youtube. In fact, it is the single largest destination for people of all age groups. You will understand the importance of Youtube with the following example given by S. Chatterjee… “My daughter loves dogs but as we stay in a small flat it is not possible for me to keep a dog. So what my daughter does is go to Youtube and watch dog videos! Youtube thus, is a very popular advertising medium. In fact, its ad revenues have grown by 25 to 30 per cent.
The power of Twitter too can be explained with an example. There was an American kid who trespassed into North Korea and was about to be arrested. But just before this happened he tweeted about his arrest. And he was extricated by the US embassy in 48 hours. That’s the power of the interactive medium. The whole idea of communication has changed — you can talk to celebrities and even follow them around. Movies and TV shows appear on Myspace but even financial services firms are buying the home page. This proves that even Myspace is now moving into “mainstream” advertising.
The truth is social media networks have definitely changed the way we communicate. And the way advertisers advertise.
The writer is a well-known industry watcher