Speaking at the Elite Conference for Independents in Cadiz, Ginger Juice founder Bruce Martin said companies are increasingly trying to connect with customers and recent examples of this can be seen in Coca-Cola’s named bottles and Starbucks’ insistence on writing customers’ names on their cups.
And he argued social media gives companies an excellent opportunity to do this, especially in the travel industry which he believes has a head start.
Martin said: “Everyone wants to personalise, even if it is a bit fake.
“If there is anyone with a personal touch, it is travel businesses. You have a connection with your customers that many big brands would kill for.”
He added one way companies do this is by getting customers to share remarkable moments that they have thanks to a brand with a brand.
And with travel companies so instrumental in people’s key special moments, from a weekend break to a honeymoon, they are well place to capitalise on personalisation.
Martin also warned of the growth of dark social media which is also causing companies problems.
He said examples of it are things like Whatsapp with 800 million users and Facebook Messenger which 700 million signatories.
He added while customers love the technology, the problem for companies is, unlike Twitter, they cannot see the conversation taking place and are therefore unable to influence it.
“It is an interesting challenge for brands: how on earth do they deal with these things that are just going to grow and grow?” he said.
As far as current social media is concerned, Martin reminded delegates of the basic rules to follow in order to be successful.
He said brands should not hector consumers over deals but instead look to have conversations with them.
Silliness always works he added, as does arresting images while short, pithy pieces of writing are always more successful than long-winded and lengthy pieces of prose.
