Challenges from social media: Make or break lessons for brands

CANNES: It’s no secret that the advent of social media has got the consumers bang in the middle of action as they no longer sit at the periphery. Today, they do all the talking when it comes to brands. While brands and brand marketers seem to have got a grasp of the changing relationship, the critical question is whether key stakeholders like advertising agencies come to terms with the new world order? And, are they equipping themselves to meet the challenges and opportunities that social media throws up?

It’s the growth of the social media and the rise of digital that formed the pivot of the seminar ‘The how of social media: Make or break lessons in today’s most powerful instrument of change’ held at the Debussy on Sunday. The seminar was chaired by Simon Mainwaring, CEO of Mainwaring Creative and Jeff Ross, senior advisor for innovation, Office of Secretary of State. It was an engaging presentation on how social media influences not only brands, but even politicians, state policies and social causes and what are the lessons therefore for each constituent?

Delving on the changed landscape with the inclusion of technology, Mainwaring said that agencies have to move out of the transactional mindset and look to embrace building long term relationships with consumers. “Agencies must become architects of communities where they have to form a consensus and create empathy. They have to own the relationship and not impose,” he said.

Mainwaring added that brand building today hinges to a great extent on the quality of listening that brands and agencies do.

“Brands seem to be doing a better job of listening to consumers than agencies and that’s a cause of concern.” Add to that the attitude of looking at social media independently and not as part of the evolving eco-system. “The 30 second commercials can still be good and rewarding. So creatives have to marry new media like social network and even digital to reach out to an audience that’s heavily involved in the new medium,” he said.

And the new-look relationship with the coming of new media is not restricted to just brand world.