Reader, a couple weeks back I saw the screenshot of a post that encapsulated a lot about how (I think) many people feel about the way brands market themselves on social media. I’ve seen it too many times to count – the advice given about building communities and brands on social media:
- Be conversational
- Be funny
- Yada yada
I’ll say it once and I’ll say it again:
No-one wants to be friends with a brand.
You can love a brand. You can identify with it. But you cannot be its friend.
No one is kidding themselves into believing that they are friends with Starbucks because they love Pumpkin Spice Lattes.
Nobody except marketers.
We’ve reached a late stage in communication where we are so high on our own fumes of engagement and stats, that we believe brands to be the object of people’s intimate desire.
The reality, however, hurts quite a bit. Quite a bit more than most of us are willing to admit:
Nobody cares about your brand.
And guess what? It’s always been like that.
People will attach themselves to things that are popular and when they can, they will dump them for the next popular thing.
You occupy a tiny slice of life for a person. That’s it. You’re the funny tweet or the engaging image for all of 30 seconds of their day and they move on.
Now, trying to occupy that 30 seconds is a noble cause.
Trying to do way more than that and enter into some weird brand-person symbiosis thing is not only plain weird, but actually pretty dangerous.
Do you really want psychotic mega fans that haunt your every move? Or attach their entire lives and personalities to you? That rely on you wholeheartedly for a sense of self worth and affirmation? Do you really want a person relying on your tweets about pizza?
The answer should be a resounding no.
But, in saying that there is another side to all of this.
A more honest side. And one that people aren’t willing to admit because getting to this point actually takes some skill in writing.
Being sold to can actually be fun.
Yes, that’s right.
Done well, advertising (very honest advertising), can actually build a good relationship with your audience.
This George Foreman Grill infomercial for example features a very non-actory boxer promoting his grill. But what’s actually a pretty compelling testimonial is from a lady who they interview about the product (which I’ve conveniently embedded for you).
Shout out to John Bejakovic and his emails for featuring this one
And you know what’s even more crazy? That idea has been around for at least 70 years. Ever since the golden age of advertising in the 50s.
I think, maybe it’s time we go back a bit more.
Because whatever we’re doing now (particularly on social media) sure as hell isn’t really working (or doing society any favours).
Read this again and tell me I’m crazy.
