rules of engagement in fmcg - what can we learn from conversations taking place on facebook, youtube...
TRANSCRIPT
Engaging
consumers is key
Brands try to
win the
hearts of
consumers through social
media
What can
we learn from those
experiences
across brands?
We went on a safari
Goal: Identifying what is driving consumers to engage in branded
conversations across social media
About this study: We collected branded conversations on the 3 big social media:
Facebook, Twitter, YouTube
• Over 2 million online conversations
• More than 300 brands included in our study
• We applied social media netnography to identify the
rules of consumer engagement
• Results were presented in March
What we learnt
Engagement is no free ride: content management and
strategy are key for engagement
Many more positive conversations than negative
conversations
People do not always talk about your brand, often they
just love or hate a product
Instant feedback broadcasting… 1 YouTube? The new television channel?
Companies tend to not only broadcast
their commercials on TV, but to also
upload them directly on YouTube
which leads to additional exposure.
Asking their help in spreading the
commercial is very effective! Contrary
to TV, viewers are far less passive.
You get direct feedback on the
execution, content and brand fit of the
commercial.
When it comes to true love, things
can get complicated and, sometimes,
a little painful. 'Liking' this ad as your
favourite Super Bowl spot, though?
Much easier. (11739 comments). (By
Pepsi Max).
2 Webcare and offline consumer care complement
each other
“Oh no! We’re very sorry that
happened, Anjuli. We never want our
fans to have a less than perfect
experience. Please give us a call at
1-800-468-1714 or go to
http://bit.ly/eZcaVV so we can get
some more info about this.”
Within the FMCG sector, it is best practice
that companies readily reply on their social
media pages to customers complaints.
Moreover, they are quick to openly
apologize to these customers. Disappointed
customers are very often pointed towards a
external link or telephone number.
And this across all social media channels 3 Humour works
One of the main pillars of traditional
advertising is that funny commercials
work. And this is also the case on social
media. ‘Joke of the day’ is one of the most
popular topics on Facebook pages. Jokes or
funny one-liners are easily re-tweeted on
Twitter. Also on YouTube we found that
movies commented as being funny were
often given a higher YouTube rating.
This is not only valid for free products or service, but also for free content or
experiences
4 Free always works
In FMCG, online sampling & couponing
are very popular!
Don’t talk about the money! When brand fans
talk about money, it is almost always in a
negative tone, and often about the (supposed)
bad practices of companies.
Free stuff is used as a powerful mechanism to
increase the number of fans or likes.
It is contagious 5 Evoking curiosity
Spreading a rumour will help you
evoke attention for the actual
content. Rumours are
contagious and are therefore
easily re-tweeted and liked.
Ben&Jerry’s mentioned on the
Saturday live show that their new
‘Schweddy Balls’ ice cream flavour
was going to be launched. The rumour
was spread through a television show
and was immediately picked up on
social media.
6 Gamification
“Check the wrapper of your favourite
Crunch bar to receive a promotional code
for the Nestle Gold Rush Game and enter
by clicking on the 'Nestle Gold Rush
Promotion' tab on the left. You can also visit
apps.facebook.com/nestlegoldrush to enter.
Good luck!”
Reckitt Benckiser is very active on their Facebook page and
regularly offers fans games to enjoy, in the process
engaging their fans and probably creating new ones. One of
these games is called Urban Thrill and invites fans to
perform all sorts of stunts and climb heights.
“Perform stunts, climb new heights, feel the pace! We have
launched our new free-running game - UrbAN THRILL! Play now
and enter into the prize draw to win a flight for 2 to destination of
your choice worth up to £2,000. Spread the word and share this
game with all your friends”.
Not a good strategy if you want to reach engagement 7 Social media, the new website?
Some consumers use social media as a
replacement of the companies’ websites.
Tactical questions do not lead to
engagement.
Keep your website as the main source for
practical information about your product &
service.
““I really love it!! But I have a question.
My best friend lives in Italy.
I recommended her to buy it too, but
where exactly can she find
this product in Milan?” (Comment on the
official Facebook page of Crest
Whitestrips) “Do you have an e-mail address I can
contact you with? I have
some questions I would like to ask you.
Please reply! Thank you” (Comment on
the official Gatorade Facebook page)
Consumers love to know the people behind the brand 8 Treat them as colleagues
Much more successful than simply
uploading a TV commercial on
YouTube is a ‘behind-the-scenes’,
something not shown on TV.
A very successful video with almost 1.7 million viewers and many positive
comments. But why? It shows a true ‘behind-the-scenes’ of a supermarket chain
in South Korea trying to innovatively enlarge its market share by introducing easy,
comfortable, digital grocery shopping: ‘a new way of getting your groceries’.
Showing something new, something innovative, is appreciated!
Don’t forget about the small things in life 9 Be one of them
Brands need to be a friend. They need to act as a person, paying attention also to the small things
in daily life. It is a crucial element to stress that you consider your consumer as an equal.
You should think broader than just your brand and product. Especially on Facebook fan pages or
YouTube people like to talk about what they are interested in in general. On many pages, music
and sports are very popular themes. Especially for brand in a low involvement product strategy, this
seems to be the way to go. Understanding the digital lifestyle of your target is key!
Family and friends of online fans also need to
be taken into account. Making the members
happy massively increases the chances of
brand fans posting positive messages on
social media.
“I use your product to make chicken
enchiladas... It is a great recipe that my family
loves, even though they are very picky eaters. I
have been a long time fan and consumer, thank
you for sponsoring our soaps :).”- The role of
family. On the Campbell’s Facebook page
Consumer collaboration 10 When consumers take over
Active co-creation and competitions are very popular on
social media. Consumers feel empowered to control and
determine the future of their brands
Sometimes collaboration is the only option. 45% of Facebook brand pages are owned by
consumers across sectors
Thank you!
@InSites
http://www.facebook.com/insitesconsulting
http://www.slideshare.net/InSitesConsulting
Annelies Verhaeghe
@annaliezze
http://be.linkedin.com/in/anneliesverhaeghe
+32 9 269 1406
Martijn Huisman
+31 10 742 10 34
Research team
http://be.linkedin.com/in/martijnhuisman86
Want to know more about
research within the
FMCG sector?
+1 646 386 9852
Filip De Boeck Business Director FMCG