Cx3: Grow social capital and go guerrilla

‘Citizen Journalism’, ‘The Conversation’ and ‘The Buzz’. These are 2009 buzzwords that describe mainstream consumer behaviour of interacting with social media, the social media vehicles that interact with each other to carry a voice, and the amplification of the voice by social media influencers.

Powerful stuff if the voice is talking positively about your brand!

Growing social capital enables a brand to more easily and cost-effectively influence via social media networks. Creative guerrilla tactics are becoming increasingly commonplace as brands start to leverage social media and grow their social capital. ‘The buzz’ has to start somewhere, and that somewhere is creativity that attracts the attention of 'citizen journalist'.

The Sony Bravia Balls campaign is a well documented case study as the benchmark for how to successfully use social media on the back of simple guerrilla creativity. This was complimented by the consistently creative Bravia paint explosion on a Glasgow housing estate.



T-mobile’s Liverpool Street flash mob dance campaign is another example of guerrilla marketing generating a social media buzz.



Both of these examples leveraged upon today’s consumer behaviour of recording videos and taking pictures on their mobile phones and sharing these via social media. Both brands listened to the unfolding conversation and encouraged the buzz by feeding consumers with more of what they wanted to hear. As a result, the social capital of both Sony Bravia and T-mobile brands established.

Social media communications are now mainstream and fully integrated into consumer behaviour, and it is this evolved and powerful consumer behaviour that brands need to be aware of and leverage upon. So Brands, what are you waiting for? Venture into the concrete jungle and go guerrilla – your citizens are waiting for you with their mobile phones!

RELATED LINKS:
Cx3 blog entry: iPhone sales grow despite market downturn
Cx3 blog entry: Social media heads are round, is yours?
Cx3 blog entry: How social is your conversation?
Cx3 blog entry: Twitter flies Hudson plane around the world
Cx3 blog entry: iPhone driving growth in mobile internet usage behaviour

Cx3: T-mobile Liverpool Street advert - class

Google G1 or Apple iPhone...fight!

Google launched its long-awaited G1 mobile phone this week. There is no doubt that the Google G1 is credible competition for Apple's iPhone, therefore, expect flying baubles at the annual Christmas bun-fight this year.

So what's so special about the Google G1? Well, Google has taken the best bits of iPhone touch and added some of their own, integrated a slide-out Blackberry-style QWERTY keyboard, increased the camera picture quality, and boasts a faster connection speed to the internet - oh yeah, you can also make a phone call if you so desire. The Google G1 may not be the design classic as awarded to the iPhone (Apple will always have that sewn-up), but to a customer audience whose priority is functional integrated communications, the Google G1 is a winner.

Apps and widgets will be key to maximising the G1's success as an integrated mobile communications platform and Google's Android system aims to achieve this. The Google G1 is affiliated to the T-mobile network, who have been busying themselves in developing their own version of the very successful Apple App Store. Google has the opportunity to leverage its existing application empire via T-mobile.

Skepticism of Google entering the mobile handset marketplace in order to extend its advertising reach is rife, but so what? Currently, there is a troublesome lack of mobile channel advertising regulation, and if this is tightened by Google entering into the marketspace, then surely this can only be positive?

However, and a big "however", as much as the Google G1 may be a strong player, network loyalty to O2 and aggressive churn tactics may determine that the Apple iPhone remains in consumers' pockets. To benefit consumer choice and ultimately integrated communication reach, exclusive handset-network affiliation needs to change.

RELATED LINKS:
Cx3 blog entry: Apple iPhone App Store success reported
Cx3 blog entry: iPhone driving growth in mobile internet usage behaviour