Engaging consumers is key. Brands try to win the hearts of consumers through social media. What can we learn from those experiences across brands?

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2 Engaging consumers is key Brands try to win the hearts of consumers through social media What can we learn from those experiences across brands?

3 We went on a safari

4 Goal: Identifying what is driving consumers to engage in branded conversations across social media About this study: We collected branded conversations on the 3 big social media: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube Over 2 million online conversations More than 300 brands included in our study We applied social media netnography to identify the rules of consumer engagement Results were presented in March

5 What we learnt

6 Engagement is no free ride: content management and strategy are key for engagement Many more positive conversations than negative conversations People do not always talk about your brand, often they just love or hate a product

7 1 YouTube? The new television channel? Instant feedback broadcasting When it comes to true love, things can get complicated and, sometimes, a little painful. 'Liking' this ad as your favourite Super Bowl spot, though? Much easier. (11739 comments). (By Pepsi Max). Companies tend to not only broadcast their commercials on TV, but to also upload them directly on YouTube which leads to additional exposure. Asking their help in spreading the commercial is very effective! Contrary to TV, viewers are far less passive. You get direct feedback on the execution, content and brand fit of the commercial.

8 2 Webcare and offline consumer care complement each other Oh no! We re very sorry that happened, Anjuli. We never want our fans to have a less than perfect experience. Please give us a call at or go to so we can get some more info about this. Within the FMCG sector, it is best practice that companies readily reply on their social media pages to customers complaints. Moreover, they are quick to openly apologize to these customers. Disappointed customers are very often pointed towards a external link or telephone number.

9 3 Humour works And this across all social media channels One of the main pillars of traditional advertising is that funny commercials work. And this is also the case on social media. Joke of the day is one of the most popular topics on Facebook pages. Jokes or funny one-liners are easily re-tweeted on Twitter. Also on YouTube we found that movies commented as being funny were often given a higher YouTube rating.

10 4 Free always works This is not only valid for free products or service, but also for free content or experiences In FMCG, online sampling & couponing are very popular! Don t talk about the money! When brand fans talk about money, it is almost always in a negative tone, and often about the (supposed) bad practices of companies. Free stuff is used as a powerful mechanism to increase the number of fans or likes.

11 5 Evoking curiosity It is contagious Spreading a rumour will help you evoke attention for the actual content. Rumours are contagious and are therefore easily re-tweeted and liked. Ben&Jerry s mentioned on the Saturday live show that their new Schweddy Balls ice cream flavour was going to be launched. The rumour was spread through a television show and was immediately picked up on social media.

12 6 Gamification Check the wrapper of your favourite Crunch bar to receive a promotional code for the Nestle Gold Rush Game and enter by clicking on the 'Nestle Gold Rush Promotion' tab on the left. You can also visit apps.facebook.com/nestlegoldrush to enter. Good luck! Reckitt Benckiser is very active on their Facebook page and regularly offers fans games to enjoy, in the process engaging their fans and probably creating new ones. One of these games is called Urban Thrill and invites fans to perform all sorts of stunts and climb heights. Perform stunts, climb new heights, feel the pace! We have launched our new free-running game - UrbAN THRILL! Play now and enter into the prize draw to win a flight for 2 to destination of your choice worth up to 2,000. Spread the word and share this game with all your friends.

13 7 Social media, the new website? Not a good strategy if you want to reach engagement I really love it!! But I have a question. My best friend lives in Italy. I recommended her to buy it too, but where exactly can she find this product in Milan? (Comment on the official Facebook page of Crest Whitestrips) Do you have an address I can contact you with? I have some questions I would like to ask you. Please reply! Thank you (Comment on the official Gatorade Facebook page) Some consumers use social media as a replacement of the companies websites. Tactical questions do not lead to engagement. Keep your website as the main source for practical information about your product & service.

14 8 Treat them as colleagues Consumers love to know the people behind the brand Much more successful than simply uploading a TV commercial on YouTube is a behind-the-scenes, something not shown on TV. A very successful video with almost 1.7 million viewers and many positive comments. But why? It shows a true behind-the-scenes of a supermarket chain in South Korea trying to innovatively enlarge its market share by introducing easy, comfortable, digital grocery shopping: a new way of getting your groceries. Showing something new, something innovative, is appreciated!

15 9 Be one of them Don t forget about the small things in life Brands need to be a friend. They need to act as a person, paying attention also to the small things in daily life. It is a crucial element to stress that you consider your consumer as an equal. You should think broader than just your brand and product. Especially on Facebook fan pages or YouTube people like to talk about what they are interested in in general. On many pages, music and sports are very popular themes. Especially for brand in a low involvement product strategy, this seems to be the way to go. Understanding the digital lifestyle of your target is key! I use your product to make chicken enchiladas... It is a great recipe that my family loves, even though they are very picky eaters. I have been a long time fan and consumer, thank you for sponsoring our soaps :). - The role of family. On the Campbell s Facebook page Family and friends of online fans also need to be taken into account. Making the members happy massively increases the chances of brand fans posting positive messages on social media.

16 10 When consumers take over Consumer collaboration Active co-creation and competitions are very popular on social media. Consumers feel empowered to control and determine the future of their brands Sometimes collaboration is the only option. 45% of Facebook brand pages are owned by consumers across sectors

17 Thank

18 Research team Annelies Verhaeghe Martijn Huisman martijnh@insites-consulting.com

19 Want to know more about research within the FMCG sector? Filip De Boeck Business Director FMCG