Social Media? Coke and What Makes People Happy
We’ve all heard about social media and most of us are familiar with it. When online communities allowed for interaction between members, social media began. Remember iVillage? GeoCities? Then there was MySpace, Facebook, blogging, YouTube, Twitter, Flickr, Digg, podcasts. In a decade, we’ve all come a long way.
I read something today that struck me as so funny that I had to share. From the AP via the NYT:
“Coca-Cola Co. is launching a new social media push that will send three bloggers to more than 200 countries in a year to uncover what makes people happy, as part of the soft drink maker’s ”Open Happiness” campaign.”
The three bloggers, voted for online by the public, will tell stories on the Coke website and via all the various social media outlets, under the “Expedition 206″ mantle. (To read more, click here.)
Actually, I think it’s a cool idea, and is compatible with their brand. But does anyone else find it completely ironic that they’re having to send actual people to so many places to get content from other people who actually live there (or would otherwise attend events such as the Winter Olympics)? Is this really social media or sponsored reporting with a hoped-for interactive component? I guess that’s why they’re calling it a “social media push.”
Tags: social media
Nov 01, 2009
Caryn
This is interesting. Nevertheless, I worry if it will not backfire for Coca-Cola as it did when they pushed their brand in Australia not long ago:
http://commetrics.com/articles/damaging-reputation-vs-brand/
The widsdom of the masses for choosing the three ‘best’ bloggers to write on Coke’s blog is not necessarily making sure that the company gets the best bloggers is it? Wisdom of crowds can only be conventional ….
Urs
@ComMetrics
Nov 03, 2009
This is an interesting approach taken from Coca-Cola. I as well find it ironic.
And your question “Is this really social media or sponsored reporting with a hoped-for interactive component? I guess that’s why they’re calling it a “social media push.†makes me curious on what directions the bloggers will be given by Coca Cola in terms of what can and can not be discussed. Will there be content censorship?
Nov 03, 2009
Maybe if the bloggers are viewed as “super fans” it won’t be an issue, but my mind went to where yours did too.