There are two things that really get me heated.
One is
shameless cross promotion.
Just look at the air space during the summer blockbuster
movie season. Ad time is littered with advertisers sixty-nining movie studios in order to hype each others’ products. I can’t wait to see how the
brilliant Madison Avenue types make the new Transformers film somehow relevant to
the next great chicken sandwich at Burger King. (Only available for a limited time!)
To quote the Chewbacca defense: It does not make sense.
The other thing I hate is shameless social media promotion.
Let me elaborate. Some people choose to “like” a product on Facebook because
they genuinely like it, or because they are enticed by coupon codes
or contests. For instance, I "liked" Old Bay's Facebook page because, aside from the
fact that I am from Maryland and have Old Bay coursing through my
veins, I enjoy using the product. They give out recipes, encourage fan feedback,
etc. That is good social promotion.
On the other hand, you have the results of an action
Facebook took a year or so ago. In another evolution of the social media giant,
they took users' preferences, such as favorite television shows, movies,
and sports teams, and made each of them into their own page. The supposed rationale was that this would allow users to connect with other like-minded "likers," which would enhance the
social media experience.
Skeptics would say that the real motivation was so that these pages could be
pimped out to the companies who made these products, thus giving them direct access to a consumer who, by their own admission, liked them.
If you use Facebook at all, you
probably know what I’m talking about. For example, a TV show that you have "liked" will contact you, reminding you
to watch next week’s episode, or offering a sneak preview.
Most of the time, this is
harmless space in the ever moving wall of Facebook. However, some things make you stand up and take notice. Specifically, I was quite turned off by what I saw from the Friday Night Lights fan page.
Friday Night Lights was one of
those NBC shows that had a small, but rabid fan base. Eventually, NBC
relegated the show to TV obscurity/DVR prime time on Friday nights, (Get it? Because it has Friday Night in the title, they showed it on Friday nights! Someone there at 30
Rockefeller Center is patting themselves on the back for that one) and didn’t
do a damn thing to promote it.
Since I had been a rabid fan of the show, I had "liked" the show's fan page on Facebook a few years ago. NBC hadn't done anything with it in a while, and I’m sure
that most people forgot that they even had a fan page. I had certainly forgotten about it. That was until I saw the following post:
Have any big plans following the Super Bowl this Sunday? Now
you do! Catch The Voice Season 2 premiere on NBC: (insert clip of some kid
auditioning before the gal who looked better when she was the dirty teenie
bopper). You can see what I mean on their Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/nbcfnl
Whoa, stop right there! We’ve got a lot of moving parts
there, but right away you can start to see that A + B does not = C-Lo.
I can
see it now: Someone who has a job title that includes “social media” or
“digital engagement” was sitting in a brainstorming session and said, “Hey, you know
how we have to drum up more promo for that show that’s a clear knockoff of
Fox’s American Idol? Those people who watch Friday Night Lights like football!
They’ll be watching the Super Bowl! Maybe there are some more 18-35ers on their
fan page that we can whore The Voice on!”
Therein lies the problem with social media engagement. If you make it too transparent, people will smell the bulls***. Social media
engagement is like guerrilla marketing in the 80’s and 90’s. If you do it well, it is effective. If you do it poorly, you alienate your potential customers.
And social media can be a double-edged sword, because your end user can respond back. Here are some responses from the page's
followers:
“I'm guessing that there isn't much overlap between fans of
Friday Night Lights and The Voice. Please don't do this again.”
“Well, I'm done following [Friday Night Lights] on Facebook
now.”
“Don't be pimping any other shows. You cancelled FNL and I
don't watch NBC at all now because of it. I am not a fan of FNL so I can get
your useless junk-mail/posts or otherwise. It was a show of support for a
fantastic show that some pinhead decided wasn't drawing enough fans. That's it.”
“I am no longer following or ‘a fan’ of [Friday Night
Lights] because you posted this. Shameful cross-promotion.”
And there you have it. This is what happens when you reach
too far on cross promotion.
If there are any “cross promotional geniuses” or
“social marketing gurus” reading this, take heed: A lot of your audience isn’t as stupid as your ads would make them out to be. And when you
bring in the element of social media, be prepared for your knowledgeable users
to lash back.
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