Three Simple Examples of How Brands can “FAB” up their content and Just Might…Do I Dare Say it Out Loud? Monetize Social Media!

Having spent the last 17 years using direct mail as a renewal and acquisition strategy, with acquisition rates as high as 7% at one point and renewal rates well over 30%, I hope I have learned a thing or two about relevancy.  My brand experience has been with clients such as Nestle, Coca Cola, GMAC and Procter & Gamble, so I like to tell myself I’ve have  a teensy bit of brand perspective, one might say.

So why are these well “funded” national brands struggling to be relevant? One might argue that these brands are doing better than most.  I would agree.  But I would also offer that they do can do much better.

Take Disney for example.  Wouldn’t a  “How to Look Like A Princess For a Day” video series be incredibly interesting to their core audience?  Check out this user generated video on youtube with  almost 800,000 views!

CINDERELLA: Disney Princess Inspired Makeup Tutorial Icy Blue False Lashes

How hard would it be to hire this user, xsparkage or get a professional to create a fun series like this and then have links to the actual makeup, dress up clothes, etc?

Hats off to Betty Crocker who  has started to do this with their series of “How to Make A Cake”, which I think is genius and apparently so does almost 80,000 other people whenever a new cake gets uploaded to youtube!

How to make an inchworm bug cake and bug cupcakes

Do you think they sold 1 or 2 cake mixes because of this series?

Or what about the auto industry?

There are many top videos around cars.  In fact, in less than 2 minutes I was able to find  user generated videos that generated over 100,000 and 12 MILLION views, respectively.  Do you believe that General Motors could reposition their brand as more cutting edge and consumer friendly by using one of their models to conduct of the following experiments?

Spishak Spishwax Car Wax

Smart Car Crash

And maybe they could really get out of the traditional brand box by doing some event based PR/Marketing that showcases local dealerships doing live demonstrations of similar “experiments’.  “Bring in your trade in worth $2,000.00 or les and we’ll give it a makeover you’ll never forget!”

Wouldn’t that improve customer experience since one of the negative aspects to buying a new car is trading in your old one that is worth nothing?  Have fun with it, get people engaged…the dealers could even take a video of it and submit it on the customer’s behalf.  The top video views gets a new car.

Statistics easily suggest these type of strategies ar worth testing as reported by King Fish Media in their  2009 Survey on Marketing, Media and Measurement:

• 86% of respondents’ companies are currently creating or plan to create original content for their customers and prospects in the coming year.
• 81% believe that brands and companies can create content that is as engaging and informative as content created by media companies.
• 74% feel that original content and media are most effective for generating marketing ROI.
• 70% are spending more today to reach customers and prospects directly with branded content than they did three years ago.

REV tip of the day:  Take calculated Risks that are Entertaining and at times invoke a Visceral response.  People take action most when their emotions are engaged!

Tweet This Post