Who represents your brand on social media? It’s a question that excites and agitates marketers all over the place. Some would prefer not to have to think about it at all.

And then you have companies like Coke, who recruit customers to be their ambassadors.

Expedition 206 is a year-long tour of three “happiness ambassadors” who are discovering what makes people happy in Coke’s 206 markets around the world.

I asked Coke’s digital marketing senior manager Anne Carelli how they came up with the idea, and how it’s working for them. You’ll be able to read more analysis on this in my online marketing column in the next NZ Marketing Magazine.

SY.        What are your marketing and comms objectives for Expedition 206?
Coke:   Our goal for this program is to unite people around the theme of happiness and bring our global “Open Happiness” campaign to life. Coca-Cola has been inviting people around the globe to enjoy the simple things in life for more than 120 years, and that spirit of positivity and optimism is at the heart of Expedition 206.  Our objectives include creating the opportunity for engagement both off-line and online in social media in all the countries where we operate as well as increasing the positive chatter in the digital space related to our Company and brands.

SY.        Where did the idea come from?
Coke:   The idea originated from our desire to create a program which would increase positive mentions / discussions of our Company and brands in social media, create new presences on Social Network sites and in social communities as well as create a group of brand ambassadors around the world. We also wanted to research happiness and determine what are the similarities and differences in what makes people happy around the world.

SY.        What challenges did you face getting it up and running?
Coke:   Looking back on the planning of the program, we didn’t have any major obstacles.  One particular challenge was selecting the finalists for the experience.  We had so many incredible candidates that we had to work very hard to narrow the selection down to the three final teams.  Candidates from all over the world submitted applications and audition videos, and we brought 18 people to Atlanta for a rigorous interview and audition process. We were looking for specific candidates with the right mix of personality, technical skill, health and mindset to complete this unprecedented journey. The final teams were presented to the online community for voting and it was a very close race!

SY.        What has been the best thing about it so far?
Coke:  One of the best elements of this program has been learning about the truly amazing people the Happiness Ambassadors have connected with in over 100 countries so far on their journey.  By utilizing social media platforms we are able to share these stories with the world and create spaces where consumers are able to engage with the Ambassadors and their stories.

SY.        What have you been able to do through social media that you couldn’t do with anything else?
Coke:  Through sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr and blog updates, Ambassadors have been able to maintain constant communication with the social media sphere and share their amazing stories.  And vice-versa; fans can track and participate in the journey online and on the platform they chose.  Additionally  through crowdsourcing opportunities, fans participate in the journey by sending the Ambassadors messages, sharing their personal stories of happiness and giving the Ambassadors recommendations on how to find happiness when visiting their country.

SY.        For a huge brand like Coke, having your customers represent the brand seems like a really smart idea. Any plans to continue this into the future with other, similar expeditions/campaigns?
Coke:  This is a big part of how we do things at Coke. It’s not a gimmick; it’s a different way of operating. As for future programs building off of this expedition, you’ll just have to stay tuned!

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The biggest lesson for any marketer – or any leader, for that matter – is that we no longer have control. We demonstrated this in a very radical way when we launched our current brand.

The reasoning was sound: by choosing a catchy, short phrase and putting a # in front of it, we instantly turned it into a search term in Twitter that others could tap into.

Our research was pretty easy: see what was already happening on the #sy hashtag. Not much, as it turned out – and we were monitoring it for about a month. The only common thread was references to Sonic Youth … not a bad brand association.

Then, about two days before launch, we started getting the weather report from Damascus. Why? Damascus is the capital of Syria … or for short, #SY.

That’s okay. We can share the weather. We even tried to make conversation, but the weather forecaster wasn’t interested.

But as time has gone on, we have met some of the stupidest people I have ever come across. People who tweet foul jokes about sex, but can’t bring themselves to spell the word “pussy”. Instead … you guessed it, p##sy.

If you know me, you know I’m pretty easy going and will roll with the punches. But as the launch faded and we weren’t using the hashtag, and others were (to misspell “pussy”!) it was less and less a reflection of our brand, and more an embarrassment.

So without any fanfare, we’ve quietly dropped the # from sy. There are lessons for every brand here, we just made them very tangible. Here are some of those lessons:

• Possession really is nine tenths of the law. Perhaps even 9.5. Trademarks and patents are okay, but unless you’re actively using “your” IP, it’s up for grabs in the public perception.
• Your brand is what others say it is (especially online). Even if they’re not referring to you! Google (and Twitter search) doesn’t yet know the difference between a social media consultancy and a middle eastern country.
• Your brand is in many places. We’re still finding the # in places we didn’t expect. There are so many places to be listed, which is great for search engine optimisation, but no fun when you have to update everything.
• Facebook doesn’t let you change your company name on your Facebook page. Which is really ridiculous.

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While Vodafone NZ has one primary person driving its Twitter account, Telecom has taken a team approach with its Online Response Team (ORT).

Telecom’s Rebecca Smith is in marketing, and therefore in charge of pulling together the ORT, but she won’t let any marketers on the Twitter account (including herself!). You’ll hear why in this interview.

I also interviewed Vaughn Davis about the kind of advice agencies can give clients about social media. The context of the discussion: Vaughn gets social media. He gets that it is a powerful force for change within an organisation. Which is the rub – as a creative director for an outside agency, his influence is limited inside an organisation. I think he gave a great answer for where to start – why do you want to do this social media stuff?

I interviewed Vaughn and Rebecca at the Social Media Club Auckland, a monthly gathering of anyone who’s interested in social media. Might see you there on the 8th of June.

Liked this post? You may also be interested in:

• Vodafone’s 3G guy episode on Twitter
• Advice from Telstra, Orcon and 2Degrees at Social Media Junction

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Matt at Kurb thinks Twitter’s not good for branding, because it only allows 140 characters. I disagree.

Branding has always been about a simple, big idea. Just Do It. I’m Loving It. etc.

What’s changing now is that audiences are getting more involved, expressing their own perceptions of brands.

In one way, it’s nothing new. My version of Nike has always been idiosyncratic and different to your perception.

But now we have the tools to mash up our favourite (or least favourite) brands and express our own perception.

If you have a brand, you’d be smart to get into that conversation with others about your brand. You may find hidden facets, things people think about you that you never thought of.

Because it’s a conversation, Twitter gives you the opportunity to practice your brand, and co-create it with your customers and prospects.

Where’s the money? There’s not a straight-line path between exploring your brand on Twitter, and money in the bank. But the line is there. It’s called strategy, and it’s preparing you for next month, next year, two years from now.

And, as my recent post shows , brands don’t need to be commercial. Simple, big ideas can like Twestival and Blackout can cause social change, whether it’s digging wells or changing laws.

And it all comes down to the new world of branding that’s being created on Twitter and other conversation platforms. Are you there? Are you learning?

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This week we talk blogging with breakthrough strategist and Generation C expert Jake Pearce. Hear how a solo consultant uses blogging to amplify word of mouth, and get his ideas across. 

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And don’t forget to send your audio or video comment to simon@ijump.co.nz to be in to win Joseph Jaffe’s amazing book Join the Conversation!

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This week we talk blogging with breakthrough strategist and Generation C expert Jake Pearce. Hear how a solo consultant uses blogging to amplify word of mouth, and get his ideas across.

And don’t forget to send your audio or video comment to simon@ijump.co.nz to be in to win Joseph Jaffe’s amazing book Join the Conversation!

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