Agencies and marketers alike agree that the “social” aspect of social media is changing marketing dynamics. Because of person-to-person interaction within social media, word-of-mouth is becoming more amplified, more obtainable and more measurable.
Brands are looking to their agencies for entree into social media. The big question is do agencies have the know-how to provide this service? These and other related questions have been featured in a series of articles by Joe Marchese, President of socialvibe. Achieving word-of-mouth means making a brand culturally relevant, finding out where your brand intersects with people’s lives and how you can increase the meaning of your brand to those people. Trying to understand how people will behave toward your brand in social media is no different from trying to understand how people will behave toward your brand in the real world.
Social media is a valuable tool for assisting marketers, agencies and brands to answer the question, “ what will make a brand relevant.” And it offers a tremendous platform for spreading a brand’s message as that brand achieves greater relevance.
It would appear that agencies will have to do more and be more for their clients. Any client who already feels less than “well-served” is likely to look elsewhere. Agencies (the good ones) will need to evaluate the ever-expanding needs of their clients, and whether or not they can meet those needs and deliver adequate service. Make no mistake, a shake-up is coming and the agencies that “work” social media will benefit most.
Some of the best agencies are hungry to take on the challenge of building the brands that shape our lives. Unfortunately, the current brand-agency relationship isn’t set up for the task of building social networks, servicing a client’s existing social media nor compensation commensurate to do it. If it’s true that a brand’s participation in social media means much more than simply buying media and blasting the “big idea,” can agencies fill this role?
As Mr. Marchese points out, agencies can fill this role and must fill this role to survive. Unless agencies participate in social media, their role as brand gatekeepers will eventually end and their services will become nothing more than a commoditized function performed by Google and Microsoft. The future for agencies goes beyond knowing how to get in front of the right people. Agencies need to know how to talk and listen to those people, then shape the brand and its message.
As a marketer or brand developer it is becoming more critical than ever to ask the all-important question: What is my agency building for me?
Directing Response, a resource for direct response marketers, producers and media buyers, is produced by Teddy Parker, Executive Producer for ChopShop Direct. She can be reached at 949-838-0355 or via E-mail at teddy@chopshopdirect.com.
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Posted at 4:31 pm on 10/14/09 | No Response yet | The Editor in
