The world is changing. Is your brand adapting?

1315402174_84d1627a5b Last week, my brother made a major life decision. He bought his first house. How did he tell me this momentous news? Most likely one of the biggest buys he’ll make in his life?

He sent me a text.

Earlier this year, another close friend decided to tie the knot. Did he give me a call to share this news? Nope. Wait for a face-to-face meeting? Nah. Again, it was a text.

One of my new online colleagues, Ari Adler, got married earlier this summer. Numerous people tweeted live from the ceremony.

Jason Falls even live tweeted a hospital stay last year.

We continue to see people communicating major life events–marriages, baby’s being born and job changes–on social platforms like Twitter and Facebook. And increasingly, they’re using mobile devices to do it.

Clearly, people are changing the way they communicate. But it’s not just any information, it’s sometimes life-altering news and information. I know this isn’t a big shock for most. But, here the thing:

What’s your brand doing about it?

What is your brand doing to take advantage of mobile technologies to reach your customers? After all, isn’t that where more people are conducting business every day? Think iPhone apps and FourSquare (usage of FourSquare grew from 50K users in May 2009 to more than 200K in August–thanks Dave Erickson).

What is your brand doing to engage customers on social platforms to start meaningful discussions that can help you improve products and services? (What about using Twitter or Facebook in a conference or event setting to crowdsource?)

How is your brand leveraging mobile technologies to connect with employees and foster innovation “behind the firewall?” (What about using Yammer in a mobile way with staff?)

What are you doing to bring your brand to life online? Is your Web experience truly interactive? Are you having one-on-one conversations with your customers? Are you putting your brand champions in positions to tell your story for you? As we become more dependent on mobile devices, your Web site and social platforms will be even more important.

As the way we communicate and share information as a society continues to evolve, brands will have to continue to alter their approach, too. What are you doing to keep your brand in the game?

6 Responses to “The world is changing. Is your brand adapting?”

trishskram on September 21st, 2009

Yup, Twitter conferences, chats, hospital visits, weddings, engagements … I wonder if we’ll be reading about divorces soon? — bad thought.

Any way, great read, Arik. I think this post really says a lot about how we as PR practitioners, marketers and communicators, need to sit down and look back at what our overall strategy EVEN is when we look at incorporating mobile marketing and Web 2.0 technoloy into the regular mix. Just because a company is tweeting a conference or Tweeting a surgery, doesn’t mean that exact idea will work for your brand. I’m approached often to discuss how my company uses SM sites and how we did our twitter webinar or Facebook give-a-way promotion — because they want to do the same thing. I always cringe because that’s not the way they should look at it–what may have worked for us, may not work for another brand. What will work for YOUR mission or vision. Do the necessary research and find out who you’re talking to online. Simple PR 101 tactics should be reviewed when tapping in to mobile marketing and SM best practices.

Keep on crankin’ out this material, Arik! Good stuff!
mkedave on September 21st, 2009

I like the word: “doing.” Probably because I like the question: “What are you doing…” This implies that there’s action. But, as many of us would agree – action follows strategy.

So, when someone asks: “How will your brand adapt?” I have to make it clear that the question might need some adjustment, the truth is that a brand itself doesn’t adapt.

That question should be: “How do you plan to make your brand’s communications adapt?”

Before that action of brand adaptation happens, your brand strategy is obvious: It’s your brand’s communication that will adapt.Your brand wants to stay connected and communicate with its constituents because that’s how your brand stays healthy, loved and grows up to be big and strong.
Mary Barber on September 21st, 2009

Great post Arik and as always it makes me think about how we, as communicators, need to change how we think and counsel our clients.

It also makes me wonder if, on a personal level, some of this is going (or maybe already has gone) too far. Looking at the picture in your post, reading your examples, and thinking about my own teenagers, I worry that we’re losing the multiple dimensions we get when we interact in person.

I read an article this weekend about the decreased emphasis on handwriting class in school. Our kids are doing papers on computers so they rarely need to write in cursive. They text, FB or tweet to communicate rather than gather on the street corner to chat. The handwritten note is very rare for them.

As communicators we need to be where the people are, but we also should consider preserving some of the dimensions of in-person and personal relationships that have made us strong.

Thanks for making me think this morning.
Deanna Ferrari on September 21st, 2009

I’ve had the same experiences w/ friends and family members telling me important information via text! Now, instead of getting a phone call or visit, we find out all we need to know about a person on Facebook. It’s crazy to think.

As far as our brands, and our personal selves, we need to keep two things in mind:

1. Take advantage of new technologies, such as instead of putting out a press release, announce company information via Twitter. Our send out an exclusive offer through mobile only.

2. Remember to still keep it personal, though. Yes, we can update our Facebook page from “In a Relationship” to “Engaged,” but still remember the people reading your page are people, with emotions, and still want to interact with you the old fashioned ways. These people include close family or friends…or even loyal customers.

I think it’s important to get your message out in a variety of ways… keeping it timely but also keeping it personal.

Deanna (@dferrari)
DR. WHAW? – September 21, 2009 « One true sentence. on September 21st, 2009

[...] The world is changing. Is your brand adapting by Arik Hanson — Our world is rapidly changing. Arik Hanson gives some good examples of [...]
arikhanson on September 21st, 2009

Thanks for the comments, all.

Trish: You’re absolutely right. Yes, these are new channels. Yes, these are new technologies. But, the basic 4-step PR planning process still applies. Good lesson for us all.

Mary: Tremendous point. And I’m glad you brought that up because that’s a great topic for a future post. The sociological changes going on here are fascinating. From a purely professional point of view, I find this trend extremely interesting. If I put my “father of two young children” hat on, it’s somewhat concerning for the reasons you list above. There’s so much we miss out on when we communicate via text, FB, Twitter, etc. What about body language? What about nuances in the *way* someone says something? Those are HUGE in the two-way communication. Great point, Mary. Like I said, fodder for a future post (or two).

Deanna: I don’t think anyone would argue we also need to keep our eye on face-to-face interaction with our audiences. In my mind, the social world just gives us another venue to making that happen and extending the discussions and conversations we have with our customers now.