Would zombies use iPhones ?

When I took the train this morning I saw a print ad for the series "The Walking Dead" and I wondered: how do series sell themselves? Do and can series use new technologies?

For the record, zombies, as well as vampires or other gloomy/freaky creatures, benefit from a very large online and offline buzz. Partially propelled by the success of Twilight (not that I endorse that movie, but I have to face its large success and buzz)

As an introduction, let me present to you two print campaigns to promote the series "The Walking Dead":

- Norway 

The Norwegian campaign (December 2011)

The principle of that campaign.

See the first poster? You could actually strip off bits of the poster to get the adress of the website www.foxcrime.no. Just as a zombie would fall apart. 

- France 

Translation in English : "I see dead people, and then I kill them"

Translation in English: The only good dead people are dead dead.

This print campaign was made by the agency NoSite, to promote the first broadcast of The Walking Dead on Sundance Channel France, for the 12th January. The aim of the campaign was to show the human side of zombies, which enables an even more shocking contrast between the characters and the catch-phrases.

NoSite, of which this print campaign was the first campaign, also animates the twitter account of Sundance Channel France, the French antenna of the American Sundance Channel, that will broadcast the Walking Dead in France. The aim of the Channel: broadcast independent American and foreign movies.

Seeing the campaign, I wondered if NoSite used other communicational devices. 

And the answer was: not really. 

- Use of Twitter: no twitter account was created for this specific campaign. Likewise, the Twitter account of Sundance Channel only relayed the information, therefore undermining all the surprise effects created by the print campaign.

- Use of Facebook: Sundance Channel France has more than 13 000 Facebook fans, but the information about the imminent broadcast of The Walking Dead was, just like on Twitter, only relayed. Photos of the print campaign were posted, but without any inspiring quotes, without all the zombie effect which attracts so many people to view The Walking Dead. 

There is clearly a lack of use of the success of the zombie phenomena, new technologies speaking. 

For instance, the Walking Dead Facebook account gathers nearly 5 million fans, with a minimum of 3000 likes for each post from the owner(s) of the page (AMC, the US channel that created The Walking Dead, and Mad Men for instance) and hundred of comments for those posts. 

NoSite could have used this success to make a more interactive campaign to promote the broadcast of The Walking Dead in France. There is a huge online community of The Walking Dead fans: aside from the official facebook and twitter accounts, there are at least a dozen of non-official accounts that gather thousands of The Walking Dead fans. 

The official French Facebook page for The Walking Dead nearly gathers 5 000 fans, but there is no information as to the official character of the page: who created it, for which purpose. Moreover, the owners of the page do not seem to control 100% of the content published on their page. Commercial links are for example posted without being controlled. 

My advice: zombies are great (in communication). Why not take advantage of the existence of a gigantic fan community to use breaking-through communicational devices. For example, QR codes, or smartphones apps which could use all the fantastic imaginary behind the concept of zombies.

Zombies, get yourselves iPhones. 

Can brands still use social networks?

As all the previous articles show it, it has become indispensable for brands to use social networks to create a relationship with their customers.

However, more and more studies seem to proof a saturation of the commercial use of social networks: using your Facebook page to say "our products are great, why don't you try them ?" is not enough.

A few figures: 

- Only 15% of French customers consider social networks as a good platform to buy online products.

- 60% of worldwide Internet users don't want to be disturbed by brands on social networks

(Source: study "A digital life" 14th December 2012, TNS Sofres)

My question: what can brands do in this context? Can a brand still create a real buzz online?

Yesterday, I went to the great inaugural conference of the Week'Up conference cycle at EDHEC business school, where Michel et Augustin (represented by Christopher, communication) and Faguo Shoes (represented by the co-founder Nicolas) were present. And, according to them, there is still a place for social brands in the communicational strategy of brands.

- Michel et Augustin's use of social networks is particularly interactive; users love the brand and the atmosphere on the Facebook page is very lively.

Lastly, Michel et Augustin launched a competition in which users had to find four golden cows (one hidden in one of their products- a giant cookie, one hidden in Paris, another one hidden on their website and still another one that was hidden in their building) to win a ticket to travel with Michel et Augustin to New York. I followed the reactions of the Facebook-users during that chasse, and everyone seemed to help each another. 

Moreover, the contents published by regular Facebook-users are not censored and left as such: no censoring for Michel et Augustin, it's all about having an open dialogue with their customers. Users regularly comment on the taste of the products, about their last culinary discoveries and their love of the brand. To give an example, each time Michel and Augustin publish content on their page, at least 20 users "like" it, and, which is unusual and the signal of an excellent Facebook-relationship, it is quite frequent that more people comment than like the content. 

At the conference, Christopher gave a clear answer to my question: yes, brands can still use social networks. Especially if the values of the brand are to create a real proximity relationship between the brand and its customers.

The main role for social networks: enabling customers to participate to the Michel et Augustin adventure. 

- Faguo Shoes

For the story, Facebook was a key-ingredient in the success of Faguo shoes, a 3-year-old brand, created by two students while still studying in a parisian business school. The first sale events of the brand were created on Facebook.

Nevertheless, the use of Facebook users of the Faguo shoes page fan is different from that of Michel et Augustin. Even if the content created by the page is viewed and liked by around 10/20 people per post, there are not many comments. 

Likewise, Nicolas saw Facebook as a way to communicate with customers about which products they would like. In other words, Facebook is a direct tool for asking customers what they want, and getting a quick answer. Customers also interact with the brand in that way: most comments posted are about where to find Faguo products. Sometimes, users post pictures of themselves with their Faguo shoes on, a nice way of creating a direct relationship between both parts. 

My conclusion: the future of commercial uses of Facebook belong to the brands close to their customers, brands who take the time of answering as many customers as possible and who want a relationship with their customers. It is not enough to use social networks as a commercial tool, there should be a real will to create a community of lovers of the brand and to animate that community.