Is Social Media Ruining Brand Purpose Too?

Emanuele Madeddu
Nov 7 · 4 min read

Let me start with a very basic analysis of the impact of social media on people — you can find great ones here on Medium — just to talk about how Brands are still struggling to find the best way to use it to build long term connections.

I am I am old, and I mean “get-the-news-twice-a-day” old: the newspaper in the morning and the 8 pm broadcast at night. Over the past two decades, tech improvements and the prepotent growth of social media have changed how, and how often, billions of people like me access information. Broadband, 3G networks, and smartphones contributed to forming many people’s opinions on matters once discussed only in smaller circles. Human and economic inequalities, racism, sexism, climate change have seen their awareness grow to the level they deserve at an accelerated pace, something a traditional means of communication couldn’t have done. At the same time, social media has become the only exposure to information for many users. Today more than half of Americans who use Facebook get their daily news from it.

52% of Americans who use Facebook get the news from that site. It is a 9% increase from last year, quite a growth for a company that supposedly everyone hates and nobody uses.

The almost universal reach of social media has also created more self-awareness. Our public persona is compelled to look good, seem always interesting, eat well, travel to exotic places, do something meaningful. It’s not just Millennials or GenZ, the need for social media validation spreads across different demographics and cultures, levels of education, and income. Every single post we write says who we are, supporting a celebrity tells our passions, liking a cause defines our beliefs.

We are constantly looking for ways to fuel our profiles, posts have become a currency that loses value at a high rate and needs to be withdrawn constantly. Brands haven’t failed to notice and over the years they have changed their approach to social media marketing: from tactical promoters of their products to creators of content, often focused on feel-good causes. With this shift, brands have found a way to help followers form, develop, and nurture their public persona, they have become virtual Banks able to provide Social dollars.

Companies like Unilever, Patagonia, National Geographic, Tesla stay true to their Brand Purpose — who they are and what they stand for — and use it as a North Star to run their social media content and marketing initiatives. They have found ways to provide fans with compelling content to read, watch, and share, they play a meaningful role in their feeds, win their attention, and eventually access their wallets.

In my years at Nat Geo, we have focused on the belief that the more people know the world, the more they understand it, which eventually compels them to raise their voice, do something, and ultimately generate impact.

Editorial and Brand Initiatives like Planet or Plastic have allowed National Geographic to capture the growing sentiment around the health of the planet, and to increase exponentially the footprint acrosss almost every social media outlet. Thanks to the high quality of its content aligned with its Purpose, the Nat Geo Instagram feed is the #1 non-celebrity handle on the platform.

Top accounts the end of October 2019. Neymar, Messi, watch your back!

Without a doubt, authentic purposeful content drives engagement. But many other brands are struggling to get it right.

Several agencies, CMOs, and CEOs have eyed Purpose as a way to expand reach, grow followers, and eventually turn them into customers. When in the presence of weak leadership and unclear Brand Vision, we have seen the word Purpose misused in press releases, marketing stunts, and obviously social media activations. We have witnessed brands confusing Purpose for Corporate Social Responsibility, others creating totally-nonsensical marketing and communications stunts to solve hunger with soccer, fight racism, or “ just” make the world a better place. These lofty goals are sometimes deliberated in a vacuum, disconnected from the Brand Mission and don’t look at their internal and external practices first.

Consumers (who have become savvier over the years) spot the lack of authenticity and punish brands using — ironically — the power of social media amplification. For too many organizations, Brand Purpose has been wrongly perceived as a shortcut for quick wins and social media domination, and it has turned into something damaging for the trust and financial health of a company.

Alla prossima.

Emanuele Madeddu

Written by

Brand Strategy and Marketing @ National Geographic.

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