Twitter? LinkedIn? Facebook? MySpace?
Social networks remind us that between 83-87% of all goods and services are sold via the old fashioned method of social networking. Even if there were no Internet, what we do know is that the bulk of sales for any business happen because of a relationship or more importantly in the world of branding: a perceived relationship.
Brand.Relationships are about emotion - that same warm and fuzzy feeling that happens when you have a valued friend. A well run branding campaign generates the same emotional feelings with the customer. A good brand should feel like a valued friend.
The advertising community is twittering about the fact that Ashton Kutcher was the first to reach million friends on Twitter. They are filled with Twitter envy and are trying to grapple with one important thing. Aston did this entire stunt without paying an advertising agency. Ouch!
Social networking is at the heart of selling products and services - not advertising. Advertising is cold, impersonal, flashy and usually lack substance. Branding is about a relationships - in a very real sense Brand.Relationships are not about what the customer knows, but who the customer knows.
Do your customers know your brand?
