In the halls of Brand Management, Tom Fishburne is easily more popular than Dilbert. After all, he’s one of us.
So it is no surprise that Tom perfectly captured one of today’s most debated brand management questions:
“Who should represent a brand in Social Media?”
It is the same question that was posed on the American Express OPEN Forum, when Ann Handley wrote an article entitled “The Right Voice for Your Brand Online is…?“ In the post, Ann suggested the right “person” could be:
- The CEO (or other high-level executive).
- The marketing department.
- The company mascot.
- The intern.
- Separate identities for each distinct customer interest.
- Multiple individuals.
- Your customers.
All are interesting options but I think they left out not only the most obvious, but also the most important…the Brand Manager.
After all, the Brand Manager is the person that is suppose to live and breath the brand. They are the one deciding on what products make it to shelf, what the advertising will look like and making the call on just about every other little detail that has to do with a brand. When all is said and done, the Brand Manager is the brand.
So doesn’t it make sense for the Brand Manager to be the “Voice of the Brand?
The problem is that being the “voice of the brand” requires an entirely new skill set for Brand Managers. In the past, Brand Managers rarely interacted directly with consumers. When doing market research, there was always that convenient focus group where we could observe behind the glass. With PR, generally we had a person that handled interactions with magazine editors and were in charge of “public statements.” And with advertising, our agency took the lead in crafting that message. So while Brand Managers should be the “voice of the brand” in Social Media, it is going to require all of us to learn a new way of doing things… a new way to collaborate.
In the past, Brand Managers had to be experts at getting things accomplished internally and with agencies. Going forward, Brand Managers are going to need to be externally focused, with a mindset for collaboration and partnership. It is not going to be an easy shift, but it is one that every marketers need to be make in order to be the “Voice of the Brand.”
Tags: Brand Camp, brand management, Social Media
[...] Don’t make the mistake of giving up the Voice of the Brand [...]
It is my opinion that social media departments at large companies will grow bigger and bigger. They'll become more sophisticated, have more tools and become quite strategic. This is not a chore that should be outsourced to agencies or interns.
It is well suggested that a voice of the brand should be the brand manager because they are the people who construct the framework of branding.
But, I think the best way to address the voice of the brand to social media should be the CEO of the company, since, they are highest stakeholder of the company and generally, customers are affirmatively following them. Indeed, they are the best spokesperson of the company to any kind of media viz., social media, broadcasting media.
For instance, a Steve job, CEO of Apple inc. is the classic example for representing the brand to the media. He not only preaches but also kept the promising of rendering the best quality product ever the customer’s possessed.
Hillang – I agree completely where the CEO only oversees one brand….such as Apple, Zappos, Target, etc. But at my CPG companies, there are hundred of brands. For instance at P&G, you have Tide, Pantene, Pampers, Olay, etc. The CEO cannot be the voice of all of these. The Brand Manager is the role in the company where they only work on that brand. That is why I push for the Brand Manage to be the voice