Cross posted from the Web Strategy Blog.

Open Branding – The Opportunity for a Billion People to Help Build Your Brand
by Gurval Caer, President and CEO, Blast Radius

American Idol teaches us a lot of things about how society, participation can create success, we also know that customers listen to their peers more than anyone else. Social Marketing needs three ingredients to be successful: A social platform, Social media, Social Data.  Nike Jordan had ‘breakfast clubs’ that engages customers.  These customers can create customized training programs for personal sports workouts, and peers can share and review. How to listen and learn? Explore how customers participate, by understating the social media profile of your target audience.  Recognize there there is a spectrum of users, where do yours fall and what are the corresponding tool and experiences we provide them with.  Map out how users will participate both today and tomorrow, the joiners of today will the creators of tomorrow.  Gave a case study of EA, a packaged product called “Need for Speed”, in the pre-launch encouraged a rivalry of sub-cultures of different racing classes.

Takeaway: Start with the customer, the lifestyle, and relate to the cultures before starting with the brand.