Social Media Love Theory by BuzzandtheCity
Last night in a beautiful sunday dusk, I shared a few martinis with a good friend of mine who was telling me how much in love he was with this girl.
The thing with people in love : they feel the need to justify and explain in details how much love they feel and why.This is just magic – even just to watch it happen.
And then as if he was a life-long researcher in medicine who just discovered a revolutionary cure, he started drawing on a napkin his newfound theory about love.
“This is two circles, he said while drawing. The one on the left is her, and this is me. These 2 circles represent our worlds. Then at the center, love is where our worlds meet.
This shared part is my world with her, and this one is her world with me. But most important is the part of our new world that has nothing to do with our current worlds and which is what we create and build together.”
Honestly I find this definition of love brilliant – romantic and analytic. The fact that my friend managed to define love between two people by using 3 circles wowed me.
Then here I am thinking about this love theory applied to brands interaction with consumers - yes, I’m a bit obsessed with work lately.
And I found this is exactly the mirror of what social media can do entertwined with a brand :
The ideal relationship between a brand and its consumers is a loving one. We must get rid of old school marketing archaism, where the engagement with the customer is a post-engagement, and move to an “inclusive marketing” in which there is a conversation rather than a monologue (full article from Customer Collective here )
I believe social media is the best way to re-create these love circles. To paraphrase my friend :
On one side, there is the users world. On the other side, the brand world. Then through social media (love) two worlds meet to share a part together in each other’s world. But moreover, social media will provide a whole new space belonging exclusively to both of them and thus creating the new “inclusive” experience.
My best wishes to my friend and his sweetheart xx
For more on Social Media, visit ZeroDegrees and SocialMediaToday
[quote]Honestly I find this definition of love brilliant – romantic and analytic. The fact that my friend managed to define love between two people by using 3 circles wowed me.[/quote]
Thx dear!
Ya I agree – love is based on two entities discovering each other; not one doing all the talking and the other doing all the listening. It’s about positive interaction. Paradoxically, its more economic to have these interactions than traditional advertising; though the catch is that it requires sincere and genuine marketers to sustain the conversation vs. the super slick salesman.
you mean, a brand can love me ? ;o)
@ Seo Blog China – Yes we can ! but like in the real life, it’s all about finding the right partner..
XLNT!! and you just wrapped up the business model my former employer P1.CN with your 3 simple and clarifying cirlces …its all about LOVE =)
the love circles are from me
Yes they are. And the media love circles are from me baby xx
ahaaa…
a typical marketer-salesman fantasy !
The people in love with the brand and the brand in love with the people,
“let the sunshine….let the sunshine in”
while in real life :
http://www.zdnet.fr/actualites/internet/0,39020774,39707041,00.htm?xtor=RSS-1
sorry, in french only
I have the feeling brands should be aware that too much flirting in social media without being invited might turn against them. One has to remember social media has two sides, if the people loves you, great ! If they don’t, poor brand !
Then the question is : Can you control what’s being said on the social media ?
Hey Petri
Nice comment. This is why I use the word “theory”. I don’t believe it’s a fantasy though. I agree this is difficult and that a lot of marketers, brands, salesmen are trying to find the right model.
The article you submit actually contributes exactly to my point : basically it is saying that people find the advertising too intrusive on the web and that the trust of consumers is thus challenged.
I roughly translate that part “people in the poll reject pop-up ads, calls on mobile, sms, advertising emailing, advertising on social networks”.
Well this is no news! I see the “slick salesman” (to quote Rand) behind his desk trying to keep up with trends by reading some blogs and articles and comes to the idea “Wow! If Facebook was a country, it’d be the 8th most populated! Let’s put banners and ads on Facebook!” Da! I’m being a bit charicatural here but this is the situation I sadly see everyday.
A good use of Social Media is creating these love circles : it’s about giving, caring and sharing. Sounds corny but when you think about it it’s not. So if you happen to find the right professional partner, the fantasy can become reality.
Anybody can theorically have a Ferrari, but who knows how to drive? Same with Social Media : this is a powerful tool who needs skilled riders.
I think I should write a whole post about that…
And about your last question too..Thanks for the work for the weekend