The 330 marketing professionals who attended this year’s Omnicom Media Group Media Innovations Forum are the most visible sign that social media engagement features very high in brands’ marketing communications plans. While many are now active in social media, brands still need to anticipate the rapid transformation of consumer habits and attitudes in order to capitalize fully on the opportunity this medium presents.

 

Consumer attitudes have changed as a result of technology and, according to media futurist Gerd Leonhard, we are now in a networked society where social media is creating a new Operating System. In his keynote address, he described how consumer attention and trust are the new currency, one that brands are starting to reward or even buy. By 2020, Leonhard predicted, social ways to pay will emerge, such as virtual currencies, data and time, replacing cold hard cash in transactions. Another key element of his address was “sharism”, where consumption and brands are shared among groups of people. “A brand that can be shared is a brand that will succeed,” Leonhard said. “We’re now living in a connected world and brands have to become connected too.”

 

This is the very point that gave rise to the Intel initiative, detailed by Euan Wilcox, business director of The Upper Storey. The Intel Swarm saw consumers get together via social media platforms in Canada and Asia to buy Intel-powered computers at better prices. “There was a great deal of learning, particularly across countries,” Wilcox explained. “You need critical mass for the ripple to deliver the message and provide the results you need. Eventually, word of mouth matters more than technology.”

 

At the other end of the spectrum, Patrick Gardner of Perfect Fools explained how McDonald’s engaged with consumers in the Nordic countries with content, rather than a sales message.

 

“Dreaming in Mono” is a series of seven episodes shown on TV, in-store and online about a group of people who get together to compete in an unusual sport: monoski. The story was enhanced through a website, which connected to a social media presence, offering a downhill ski race viral game, videos, polls as well as other applications. “We wanted to create content that people liked to see and wanted to become involved with, building a community,” Gardner explained, “so we created characters and a story that reflected the values of McDonald's, while showing the restaurant in a natural setting.”

 

Toys ‘R’ Us Asia provided several stunning examples of consumer engagement in social media, in many ways a middle of the road approach. Argha Sen, the retailer’s head of Marketing for Asia, reminded the audience that social media must be integrated in the overall plan and shouldn’t be a standalone activity. He also showed how it also needs to address the brand’s business issues. Sen demonstrated how QR codes, viral videos on YouTube, FourSquare and on-the-ground Facebook fans recruitment were all working together with more traditional marketing channels. “We never do something because it sounds cool,” he remarked, “we integrate everything.”

 

“We’re fast reaching the stage of maturity in social media where decisions to embrace this medium are no longer dictated by the herd mentality or the promise of cool. They’re driven by the tangible evidence that it does work in moving perceptions and delivering results,” commented Elie Khouri, CEO of Omnicom Media Group MENA. “Not so long ago, a brand that went into social media was described as brave. Today, it’s a necessity, as long as it’s done cleverly. Having a Facebook page isn’t a social media strategy. There is so much more than can be done to engage individuals as well as groups.”

 

Using the most salient examples of creative use of social media, including Cadbury’s Picnic campaign in Australia and the Pepsi Refresh project in the USA, Charlie Crowe, CEO of C Squared, the organizers of the Festival of Media and co-producer of the Omnicom Media Group’s Media Innovations Forum, illustrated the significance of social media for brands and their commercial performance. “Twitter makes $250 million from branded Tweets,” he revealed. “Twitter was born through social reasons and a business model had to be discovered to sustain the platform.”

 

The Omnicom Media Group Media Innovations Forum is designed to provide client and agency teams, as well as industry partners, the inspiration to raise the bar and create a new dimension in brand communication here in the Middle East.

 

“The forum presented very interesting cases of innovative uses of social media. This has definitely shed some light on the full potential of social media, not only to promote brands but also to foster consumer trust by creating a movement as opposed to just a campaign,” echoed Zeinab Assaf from the marketing department of TDIC in Abu Dhabi.