Brand building on social networks

01/08/2007

People searching for people is just something we can't get away from these days. And social networking sites are thriving on the desire of people to connect and advertise the number of "friends" they have acquired.

Facebook-mania has certainly hit London over the past few months. And the other social networks aren't doing too badly either with Bebo beating MySpace and topping the list as the most popular social networking site in the UK, according to Hitwise.

Social Networking thrives on communities of like-minded people and on friendships (some forged online and some based on real-world contacts). And digital marketing companies have been quick to spot the opportunities here.

Telus, a phone company in Canada, recently launched a campaign on Facebook where mobile phone customers (of any network) could pick five friends to share unlimited text and minutes with. All the user has to do is to select an animal (to represent themselves) and the application will ask you to add a friend on.

The company also sponsored a news feed targeting every Facebook user within its student demographic. They even set up a Facebook group and had a representative actively involved in monitoring discussions and responding to consumer comments.

Will it build brand reputation and get people searching for them? Only time will tell.

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