Make your SERVICE BUSINESS social media savvy

Never before have consumers been so directly involved in developing the brands that they interact with. The table is turned, the consumers are not the receiver of a brand message but the creator.

You probably find out about the latest brand / product launch in town through an Instagram / Facebook post of a friend. The message is personal, more often than not, unguided and uncontrolled by the brand owner. What this means to branding as a function is that brands can no longer be focussing on developing their own narratives, but to create the necessary opportunities for consumers to experience the brand, and if the experience is worthy enough, the consumers will spread the word on your behalf, but always at their own will. If you are a luxury product, your products have to be eye-candies to be instagram-worthy. However, what if you operate in a completely intangible world, what can you do? Say you are an app, a telco, a credit card. How do you get your customers to post, shout and 👍 for you?

It might defy all common senses of what one should do in moving towards an All-Digital world, but the truth is that creating a physical presence is highly effective in drumming up excitement to help co-create your brand with your customers.

Kudos to Mobile Online (MO), who recently launched in Hong Kong and pulled this trick fashionably by gifting out this cool-looking flourescent-coloured box with a set of VR goggles. 🙌👍💪 A great example of how a service-based company can earn 🤗 in this social-media driven world.

About the author

Bonnie Chan Woo is the CEO of Icicle Group. She leads the company’s strategic development with a special focus on brand integration in original content. The piece was also published on her LinkedIn page.