Social Media: Worth The Risk?

It makes for depressing reading. Shell has its brand hijacked online, with activists protesting its plan to drill in the Arctic with a fake social media campaign and an elaborate digital advertising offensive.Panasonic becomes embroiled in an embarrassing court case with its ad agency McCann in China, after its brand ambassador uploads an image of its new digital camera to Instagram. And Target is slammed in Australia after thousands of parents post comments on the retailer's Facebook page complaining about its ‘sexualised' clothing line for young girls.Marketers may need to monitor social media channels and listen to what is being said about them, but should they be investing in the medium? Should they have an active social media presence? Not according to Mylinh Cheung, former head of corporate media relations in Asia Pacific for Levi Strauss & Co. When the time is right "Brands should only invest in social media if they know when, how and what they want to say and have dedicated and experienced resources to support the medium," Cheung says. "And they must have engaging content. At the end of the day, content is still king."This opinion is shared by Hiroyoshi Suga, managing director of Panasonic consumer marketing Asia Pacific. Suga believes that it depends on the brand and the type of product and industry it is in. "Social media is about engagement and communication," he says. "It might be a little more difficult for business-to-business products where face-to-face engagement might work better. But from a branding perspective, social media will still work.Ryan Lim, business director of Blugrapes, is another who feels that social media is not a natural fit for business-to-business brands. "They (B2B brands) can be on social media, but they should be careful," Lim says. "The pressure to go on Facebook and Twitter is very high. Most B2B brands need to understand what they need to do. Consumer brands should be there."Veronique Meffert, head of group digital marketing, Great Eastern Life Assurance while echoing the same sentiment that for B2B businesses the options are fewer feels there too, a social media presence will in most cases make sense."My take is that knowing that most consumers and decision makers today are talking about the brands they buy and their experience with these brands, no marketer should ignore these conversations and the opportunities they offer," she says. As consumers spend more hours after hours on social media, so the pressure on marketers for their brands to be involved in the space grows. While some pundits believe that social media is not right for every brand, others argue that the introduction and rapid expansion of social media has changed the modern marketing landscape forever."We believe all marketing will be social," Prashant Kumar, president of Asia, world markets, for Mediabrands, says. "Social media is not something you do on the fringe, to augment other marketing. It will be at the heart of all marketing." Kumar advocates for every brand to have a social media presence, in one shape or another. "Not a one-size-fits-all policy," he says. "Different categories have different conversations. The journey varies category to category."