Social Networks: De-humanizing?
It would seem that one way to “humanize” your brand might be to give your customers a way to talk with one another about what they like (and don’t like) about your products or services. But, I think the authenticity of a “social networking” venture may be key.
The latest issue of Internet Retailer includes an article that calls social networking the next BIG thing in online marketing . Yub.com, the social networking site for Buy.com, is already ahead of the game with its “patent-pending method of referring e-commerce sales through hyperlinked words in member’s profiles.” Part of their program is that both the product referrer and the friend earn rewards.
Yes, this is akin to Friendster with the idea that “members” will want to write up profiles of themselves and get to know one another. It is also, as on Amazon, a way to become more familiar with the most prolific product reviewers and perhaps let them serve as a filter for your purchases (as in “Cathy B. always seems to recommend the books I also like, so I’m going to pay attention to her lists” etc.)
A couple of thoughts:
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This sort of networking is what women do naturally, and the various brands starting to “use” it have taken it online with a lot of programming behind it. Can what happens naturally between people recommending products to one another really be harnessed by technology without being tainted?
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Yub.com is focused on consumer electronics and their target market is the under-30 crowd, which seems to be most inspired by online social networking. Will women over 30, and especially Baby Boom women who serve many roles in any given day (from mom to businesswoman to soccer coach to traveler) use some of their online time to participate in such networks? I’m not so sure. Part of what makes a woman’s non-biz or non-kid life special is connecting, in person. Trying to leverage that online, and to grow large networks outside a person’s local community, may well backfire.
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The under-30 crowd, of course, grew up much more wired and perhaps people of that age find it harder to live without their cellphones (to the degree that they are frequently talking on them even when they are out to lunch with their other friends, for example). The fun of networking online and saying you’ve got a network of 1 million people may be an attractive type of challenge or game to this high-tech cyber-generation crew, but I think it may still grow old (and boring?).
The good news: Companies seem to be waking up to the fact that they’ve got to figure out how to stay connected to customers. For now, they may just be choosing to take the most complicated and techno-filled route to get there. Let’s wait and see how THAT goes.
