The Secret Life of Brands

NEVER order from Victoria’s Secret. They phantom charge you for orders you never placed and then won’t fully refund your money. B.S.

This was a tweet this morning from someone I follow on Twitter. I don’t personally know Ann-Marie, so even though her tweet appeared in the public timeline, I did ask permission to use her information. I cannot be certain if what she asserts in her tweet is true. However, it plainly illustrates why social media has important implications for any brand.

I’m not a Victoria’s Secret customer, but just think of the people that read her tweet who may buy at a VS store or through their online presence. Ann-Marie is followed by 1458 people on Twitter. She has a blog. She has 207 connections on LinkedIn. She has 221 friends on Facebook. Like a lot of people these days, Ann-Marie is well connected. So when she is displeased about a product, service, company, brand, etc., chances are a lot of people are going to hear about it. More than likely, her comments will directly affect some people’s impression of the brand.

Companies like Victoria’s Secret can run beautiful TV and magazine ads. They can engage in a wealth of planned public relations. They can merchandise their stores impeccably. They can create a wonderful, engaging website. However, in this age of social media, there is a Secret Life of Brands that many companies don’t know about. Some of it is public comment and discernible; some of it is private and out of view. One tweet by Ann-Marie isn’t going to necessarily negate millions of dollars spent by Victoria’s Secret on advertising campaigns, but what if instead it turns into many negative tweets and blog posts, or repeated snide remarks regarding the Victoria’s Secret brand among Facebook and MySpace friends.

Advertising is still a useful way to make a company and products visible to the buying public, but wouldn’t it be better if big advertising campaigns were working in concert with the general social media buzz about a brand? Victoria’s Secret may be a great organization, and they may be well immersed in social media research, responses and initiatives. I am simply using one tweet by Ann-Marie to illustrate a point: companies need to be critically aware of the social media space. Today, people who voice their opinion online are in a virtual complaint department environment, and that opinion could be “overheard” and passed along by thousands of others. It is why companies need to be aware of the Secret Life of Brands.