A recent article in the Wall Street Journal is an interesting piece on how big brands are using social networking software to establish their own mini-networks to act as focus groups for the development of new products and services.
Some key outtakes:
- The article highlights the creation of the “I Love My Dog” network by Del Monte whose 400 members actually collaborated with the brand to conceive “Snausages Breakfast Bites” – a breakfast food for dogs that tastes like eggs and bacon.
- Del Monte’s product conception cycle took 6 months instead of 12 due to the continuous availability of this group of dog lovers.
- The article sites engaging content as the biggest challenge:
. . . the consumer companies that run these private networks face the constant risk of member boredom – and ultimately, member flight . . . the companies that set them up have to constantly add games and other features – as well as provide incentives such as coupons, giveaways and sneak peeks at new products – to keep members around.
- Other example of brands doing this are Coca Cola, Walt Disney, Proctor & Gamble, and Sylvan Learning Center (who has a group of mothers they use to test ad campaigns).
- According to Inside Research, spending on proprietary panels came to $40 MM in 2007, and will grow to $69 MM in 2008.
The article mentioned that Myspace and other big networks are looking at providing the ability for brands to tap into segments of their user base for this purpose.
What does this mean in the broader context of Social Commerce? I think it highlights the importance of data – and the resulting insight – that these types of buying communities can generate for a brand. Most social commerce communities get launched to educate and aid the consumer in the research and buying process, while capitalizing on that engagement to learn more about their audience as a side activity. This trend indicates that there is an opportunity to move even further, growing the focus from learning about the consumer to learning from the consumer.
Filed under: Social Commerce, Social Networking, Uncategorized Tagged: | del monte, inside research, market research, Social Commerce
Great post, good job there, I love it! I bookmarked your blog for future reference, I am too busy to go through them one by one now, but thank you for the post!