Live Issue... Will branded social networks catch on?

 BMW marked a new phase for social media marketing in Asia when it announced plans to set up its own social network in China.

There’s no shortage of brands that use existing social networks, but to build one from scratch marks a change in direction. Is it something other brands should consider?

The goal is to strengthen brand loyalty - the car brand aims to connect the market’s 150,000 BMW drivers so they can share their collective experiences with the brand. At a tricky time for the car industry, such a project can maintain brand loyalty but also create an exclusivity about the brand hat could attract new customers.

“A lot of drivers have owner experiences and, through the site, they can share tips and solve each others’ problems as a support network - it’s taking customer service to a new level past the traditional call centre,” says Zaheer Nooruddin, director of Edelman Digital in China, which worked with BMW on the strategy. “It’s really about engaging loyalty.”

BMW follows several other brands that have launched their own social networks, including Mercedes-Benz, Unilever, Clear Channel and MTV, mainly based out of the West. While countless other brands have created pages and links on existing social networks, including staples Facebook and MySpace, only a handful have taken the idea a step further and created their own domains.

The advantages of operating a site independent of established social media include the freedom to design the site to feel like the brand itself, as well as implementing its own technology and overseeing the security aspects of the site. Creating a separate page on Facebook, for example, can limit the scope of what the brands look to achieve, never mind user experience.

“In China Xiaonei is hosting social marketing campaigns for brands such as Pepsi and Neutrogena. But these are more short-term digital campaigns to promote a product. The brands are going where the audience is and they are satisfied with the ROI in a short-term perspective,” says Carine Senft, regional interactive director of Ruder Finn. “A branded social network is more valuable in a long-term point of view. The community might be smaller than on Facebook or Xiaonei but more targeted.”

Yet critics say the social networking concept is now overused, and getting users to join yet another social network that is only focused on one subject is difficult.

According to Brian Stoller, partner, invention, at Mindshare, companies that will succeed on this platform are the “superstar brands” - the ones with a passionate following who can more easily promote the site. Car manufacturers may fall into this category, but brands that create less exciting products may want to stick to existing networks.

“Something like toothpaste will likely not see a high level of passion,” he adds.

Launching such a platform is also expensive. The digital creation of a site that houses the capability to support thousands of users is a substantial project, plus having to update the site constantly to offer new capabilities to engage users is a never-ending task. 

The upshot is that returns will not be swift. “Brands should not open a network to appear social. They really have to be social,” Senft notes. “There needs to be strategy and resources behind these projects.”

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