In a world where the average customer grows up seeing 170,000 marketing messages by her 17th birthday; where 86% of people admit to sharing social media content in the bathroom; where less than 1% of young people trust advertising; customers only talk about the brands they LOVE. And, if customers aren't talking about your brand, you might as well not exist.
There are 18,000,000 photos on Instagram tagged #Starbucks. Not one is paid for by Starbucks
When Chinese mobile brand Xiaomi launched their new tablet, stock sold out in 2.7 seconds
Monster Energy drinks has become the most successful energy drinks brand in the US, without a single dollar spent on advertising
LEGO continues to defy critics and analyst expectations selling billions of dollars of analog toys in the digital age
All these stories are made possible by Brand Love.
Fans don't just "like" these brands, they love them. And the good news is that it's neither expensive nor exclusive to cool cutting-edge brands. Brand Love is achievable for all. Whether you're a budget airline or a footwear brand, Brand Love is an approach to building a brand worth talking about.
Castrol Oil became the most shared sponsor of the 2014 FIFA World Cup (Unruly) – their Footkhana film grossed 1 million shares, making it the most shared film on planet Earth that opening week. And it’s not just about social media shares either; this approach works in generating hard sales.
EE collaborated with three of the biggest YouTube superstars to create Limited Edition SIMs which helped the UK’s largest mobile operator, acquire 25,000 new customers in 24 hours.
Total sum spent on paid media advertising for both results? $0.00.
This model isn’t about being anti-advertising or paid media, it’s about believing these investments should come much later on the CMOs’ list to drive share and sales. It’s about recognising that delivering earned impressions are harder to achieve, especially when organic reach through popular social networks is in such fast decline.
So why not build your own brand platform for your fans? That’s what Red Bull did so they were in full control of their ecosystem.
No matter how large or small, it’s easier to move consumers from like to love, from customer to ambassador.
Red Bull global brand properties such as the Red Bull Air Race, Red Bull Music Academy or Red Bull Racing were far more efficient than traditional sponsorship or advertising. Just type in ‘Red Bull’ to Google and you’ll see the vast earned media this approach produces.
As the CEO Dietrich Mateschitz said, “In literal financial terms, our sports teams are not yet profitable, but in value terms, they are. The total editorial media value plus the media assets created around the teams are superior to pure advertising expenditures”.
Of course not all marketers want to change. There will always be marketers that outsource their work to the same agency year after year because “they’ll never get fired for buying media or making a TV ad”.
As they say, you can take a horse to water but you can’t make it drink. That’s why you should spend your time backing the right horses, the ones that are already thirsty. These are the brave ones that dare to dream big and experiment small.
By Jamal Benmiloud, Founder and Chief Creative Officer of EARN.
Jamal will be sharing more advice and insights on "How to Create the World's Most Shared Digital Content" at the Digital Marketing Show 2015. Book your free ticket to join him now!