in the end, it seems we really do want our brands to be people. we want them to worry if we sleep well at night. we want them to ask us if our feet hurt after a long day.
so it's no surprise that when you get to social media, its the brands that allow a personality to speak for them that get the followers.
obviously this is easier for some than others. do you really want to get chatty with your toilet paper? but for a fashion brand, this makes complete sense. this is something you put on to express your personality, so it had best have some personality itself!
yes, its also the inside deal that everyone wants. the scoop, the find, the first in the know. "For several months, she focused almost exclusively on the clothes. However, she slowly realized that her followers were responding more to glimpses of her personality." a big realization in "The Importance of Tweeting Oscar" . . . but again, lets step back.
tweets are necessarily conversation snapshots. they are an invitation to rebuttal. and lets get all linguistic on this. a 'conversation' from the etymological standpoint is a 'turning to' or even 'keeping company with.' otherwise, well . . . it's a monologue.
"Much of what Ms. Bearman does on Twitter is reactive. She throws herself into the middle of conversations that involve Mr. de la Renta's work, participating in the chatter"
we get plenty of these from brands anyway. the TV spots. the billboards. perhaps part of the reason brands see such a response when they crowd-source ads is that it was the first option for consumers to have their say. speak directly to and as the brand.
well . . . twitter and facebook and foursquare have obviously changed all that.
so now a flip around. . . what is it about all those celebs that makes us love them? why do we love it when we get to see a new music video? hold on. wait a second. you mean we get to hear them AND see them??? they bare their souls and then look us straight in the eye?
why is the official Fuck You video so damned appealing? i mean, yes, we've all been snubbed by someone. we all hope to show them what we've really got and wind up on top in the end. that's nothing new. after all . . . we heard it all in the old "Do you love me?" song back in the day.
a few brands have caught onto this. a few retailers have been showing their colors, getting their personalities out there... but some of them are still just stuck talking coupons and two for ones. i mean, i like it when my friends buy me a round at the bar too, but that's not why i post on their facebook page and show up to their parties.
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