Social Media: bridge the gap between consumers and producers
There is a new world created by the people for the people that’s always busy and at the same time sleepless, no such thing as night or day, it’s called the Online World. Every second the clock ticks, is equal to nth users who are online in the world wide web, most especially in the networking sites, thus social media were born and create a new form of society online.
Social media come in different forms, including Internet forums, weblogs, social blogs, microblogging, wikis, podcasts, pictures, video, rating, social bookmarking sites, and among others. One of the best example is Facebook which currently has 500 million users world wide. Some even considered it as the 3rd largest country (if it were a country) wherein everyone around the globe meet and interact socially.
Social media play an important role in our society today and have been modernized to reach consumers through the internet and become appealing to big and small businesses. However, as I have noticed, some companies still prefer to use the old media approach and methods. Maybe they still are having thoughts about the social media stuffs or could be that they are just observing the impact. Just like in the case of some pharmaceuticals companies when it comes to marketing and advertising (I am not referring to any in particular, but rather in general). If pharmaceuticals companies have the medicine brands campaign using social media, I believe it would make the individual and consumers as a whole to find facts about their products easily and hassle free. As you might have noticed, there are so many supplements with no approved therapeutic claims that somehow confuse the consumers. A certain article quoted that: “You must have the best medium to disseminate information in both online and offline for the lack of information can cause product doubts“.
Pharmaceutical companies have different marketing approach. And to those who use social media as one of their stategies, mostly conduct contests online, such as blog writing, photo submission and voting (which is done via Facebook through “Like-ing” ) and among others. One of the local company that has an ongoing online contest is Alaxan FR‘s The Search for the Toughest Job. A contest that was launched last May 26, 2010 by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) teamed up with Manny Pacquiao and Alaxan FR. And I would say that they have the edge when it comes to brand campaign using social media. Further, it also gives every Filipino citizen a chance to express theirselves and be recognized that they’ve got a tough job.
We got different views when it comes to advertising and marketing strategies. I don’t claim to be a marketing guru or something, because I really am not. But I am just expressing some thoughts here, a piece of advice. Social Media bridge the gap in a sense that they transformed the way that consumers relate to brands and the way that brands should operate, driving direct interaction, transparency and a more consultative approach. If all companies (small and medium businesses) will open their mind and understand value of social media they would have a lifetime advocates of their brand. This is not just about campaigns, but also permanent positioning.
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