Last week two of us went to a talk organised by the APG and given by John Grant; author of such well known books as The Green Marketing Manifesto and The Brand Innovation Manifesto. He was speaking primarily to launch his new book ‘Co-opportunity’ and used the session to focus on one specific area: Pro Social Media. His book covers a wealth of other areas and ‘real world’ communities, but he was at pains to point out that what has driven ‘social media’ is human feelings, empathy and real life.

Social media as a term is pretty meaningless – we all know this. All media can be social. We all also know that consumers increasingly have control and ownership of the space they inhabit and the brands they interact with. John Grant’s solution to this is to coin the term ‘MESPACE’ not social media and talked of the future of Brands as ‘ideas to live by’. In the social sphere brands need to pick something bigger and more meaningful than the brand – things people want to commune with and talk about.

A wry smile was raised at the point when he talked about how the old marketing models do not apply any more. Stop the Press! OK, so while this isn’t exactly new news; he did outright state that there is no place in the marketing world for brand onions or brand propositions, certainly not as defined by marketing teams. Instead, apparently, the answer lies in ‘marketing enthusiasm’. We’re not 100% sure what this means but the opportunity seems to lie somewhere in brands as ‘life enhancing’. This makes a lot of sense because essentially it means put the consumer at the heart of your brand (not just its marketing).

Brands used to focus heavily on corporate social responsibility from an ethical and environmental perspective. While this is still valid the emphasis has shifted into more social enterprise. Apparently it’s not about being green it’s about being nice (note the two aren’t mutually exclusive). Those of you that read the February Vizeum Trend Report will have seen that we focused on this theme, coining it ‘Passive Social Enterprise’. Some examples cited were the Pepsi Refresh Project www.refresheverything.com (funding great ideas) and Wycliffe Jean + Starbucks + The Redcross www.youtube.com/watch?v+7qOfuWxFpeE Starbucks also encourage community schemes and the use of their stores as community meeting points. So the brand isn’t a coffee house – it’s a community centre. Reframing the brand context.

Grant then gave 10 ‘Pro Social Media Applications’ for untapped potential; these ranged from crowd sourcing, social production and common purpose (examples included www.kickstarter.com , www.ageofstupid.net , www.urgentevoke.com and www.quietriots.com ) to resource sharing and social learning (such as www.hyperlocavore.ning.com , www.bagborrowsteal.com/g/member ).

There was also talk about how social media had radically changed the US election and was set to play a huge role in the UK over the coming few weeks. Indeed the conservatives announced recently that they want us to help govern. Only a few years ago that very idea would be preposterous! And we do love a parody; you may be aware of the ‘Airbrushed for change’ campaign mydavidcameron.com

He summarised with several points, the truest of which being that three things are crucial for successful engagement in social media: be timeless, be authentic, be valuable. Wise words.

We enjoyed the talk but it would also have been nice for more UK examples to represent the context in which we all work and to take into account the particular ‘British’ nature in us all. What was encouraging is that much of the content matched that published in recent Vizeum Trend Reports.

The key thing to remember when thinking about these trends and the ever changing cultural landscape is that the opportunity for brands lies in truly understanding the needs and desires of their consumers and thinking about how they can create greater meaning, give tangible benefit or add value beyond the product itself. Put the consumer at the heart of the brand not just the marketing.

P.S. For more info on the book and ideas from Grant go to: http://www.coopp.net/