Brand Control is dead

Social media optimization is about how to make your brand relevant

Talked recently to Jonathan Ashton, Vice President of SEO & Analytics at Agency.com. Now I should say up front that I've admired this company since the mid nineties. They're the digital marketing agency in my mind. Uncompromisingly dedicated to strategy, creative and technology, they've worked with some of the best clients in the business and have been rated as one of top 10 digital marketing players numerous times. Check out the interview with Jonathan. It's also amazing to experience Jonathan's quiet, accessible confidence. Definitely enjoyed doing this one!

In case you want a synopsis before you commit to watching the video - conversations are happening. Big brands have the option to get involved. Brand identity is being forged by the people that experience these brands. The challenge that the brand faces is how to bring relevance to these conversations

- Duncan Alney Facebook | Twitter | Naymz

Comments

[Jennifer]

I wonder what Jonathan would say about the
Geico commercials? Off-message? Or iconic? We were having the argument over on Smaller Indiana (tried to link it, but couldn't ...)

[Firebelly Marketing]

The whole point is that brands cannot just shout at the audiences anymore, but they've actually got to listen to and engage with their audiences. Whats the Geico argument about?

[Roger]

I think the Geico argument is which spokesperson is better, the Gecko or the stake of dollar billz with the eyes.

Very interesting conversation, what would return the most ROI: An expensive search engine optimzation or placing social agrogators on your pages from the begining of the build?

[Jonathan Ashton]

Duncan - thanks so much for the opportunity to speak with you at SES. It is remarkable how central the challenge of social media marketing has become with marketers looking for some advantage in our increasingly competitive and challenging business environment.

The thing that big brands still haven't really absorbed is that playing by the rules is a central part of appropriate community participation. Perfect example is the Burger King Whopper Sacrifice Facebook strategy that has caused so much conversation recently. Facebook's objection was not that the campaign was designed to encourage people to drop ten friends in exchange for a burger, but that the notification feature that contacted the "friends" that were dropped violated their privacy policy. Clearly the campaign was wildly successful at generating buzz (with 1,780,000 matches in Google for a search of "burger king facebook") but at the end of the day it would have had much more legs had Crispin+Porter thought of a better approach that fully adhered to the Facebook rule book.

Cheers to you for building this helpful resource and thanks again for the opportunity to contribute.

[Firebelly Marketing]

Jonathan - Thanks for the interview again! And thanks for circling back. Following the rules is important when you're around people in real life, and it certainly extends online as well. Perhaps when a firm is carrying the burden of living up to its own creative expectations - the client's needs become secondary.