"There's no such thing as Social Marketing" - Interview with an Industry thought Leader

Well actually there is.  If there wasn’t the last 8 entries would have been a waste of time.  But my friend said this and I thought it was worth a second look.  He has impeccable credentials as one of the best media integration strategists in SA (if not the world) so, in an effort to validate some of my claims and insights, I gave him a call.  It was a most troubling conversation, not just because he likes to swear a lot.  Here’s how the conversation went:

Q:           Is there any best practice in social influence marketing as far as you can see?

A:            F&^K all!  Only a fool would claim best practice because 48 hours later it would be obsolete

Q:           Oh...well...is there any one person you have met who is leading the thinking in SA?

A:            I recently met a guy who said his partner was an expert... “don’t forget his name”, he said – but I already have...

Q:           Are there any full service agencies leading the way or at least experimenting?

A:           No, but there are a lot of specialised digital agencies claiming an expertise.  My job is not to understand what they do...but rather to ensure their contribution, if pertinent to the job at hand,  integrates properly with the overall communication strategy...

Q:           Anything else?

A:            Yes, there’s actually no such thing as social marketing...

Q:           ???

A:            All campaigns nowadays (whether online or offline) should be inherently “talkable” or else they’re just pollution...so unless your campaign has a “social idea” – you shouldn’t be thinking about it. 

Q:           What do you mean?

A:            A social idea is something people find irresistible...they will want to talk about it with their mates at the water cooler – it should dominate conversations in pubs and book clubs – people won’t be able to help themselves...social ideas have no regard for platforms – especially the social media platforms everyone is abuzz about...very simply, they will dominate conversations regardless of where they occur.  And yes, some of those will happen online.

A great conversation - summarised as follows:

·         No single thought leader in SA – but small pockets of specialists, some of whom know their stuff 

·         A clarion call for a social idea that is “sticky”, irresistible

and

·         CHANNEL NEUTRAL!!!!  (A bit like Father Christmas, his reach extends way beyond the chimney...)

...and which

·         INTEGRATES with everything else that you do