Brands - Social Iconography
A one-week study of Facebook/Twitter icons in print ads in Bangalore and the
brand experience therein
It all started with
Which led me to
• Wonder if this was an anomaly or a standard practice
• So, I decided to do a simple research on social media icons in print ads
• Using Bangalore Times• From 13th – 19th May • Considering all brand ads with
Facebook/Twitter icons
….and this is how I rated them Despite the imagery, no brands
were harmed during the making of
this report
Thou shalt be judged on
• Prominence of icons in ad• Social media details given in ad• Adherence to best practices on Facebook/Twitter
brand pages• Use of tools (Facebook)• Conversations• Strategy (if any)
• Facebook and Twitter icons prominently displayed, but no name, handle, url mentioned• Facebook search results
has many official sites and fan made pages, but nothing officially Indian.
• Playboy Footwear account belongs to L.A
NA/5
NA/5
#18
• Prominent display of icons, but no names/urls• The obvious name/handle is
not owned by the brand on Facebook/Twitter• Facebook url turned out to be
Franco-Leone-Shoes-Pvt-Ltd• 341 Likes• Information, photos updated• No conversation
• Twitter account not found
NA/5
1/5
#17
• Prominent display of Facebook and Twitter icons• No mention of
name/url• Facebook search
for RedTape (not Red Tape) yielded this as first result• 7485 Likes• Minimal Info,
many photos• No conversations
2/5
• Twitter Search for Red Tape (not RedTape!!) yielded results for a US account• Account has 1 Following and 24 Followers• Inactive since Jul 09
NA/5
#16
• Facebook and Twitter icons displayed reasonably well, but no url/name/handle• Facebook search leads to
many results. Requires sifting to find the official account• Page has 133 Likes• Info updated• No Wall
• Twitter handle obtained by a BrandFactory search - @brandfactoryFG• Bio, DP updated• Account has 2 Following
and 0 Followers• Announcements• Inactive since March
1/5
1/5
#15
• Facebook and Twitter icons well displayed but no name/handle/url• A Facebook Search easily gets
you there• Facebook Page has 115 Likes• Info, photos updated• No conversations, but
democratic
• A Twitter Search gets you there thanks to John Abraham• Account has 1 Following, 6
Followers• Announcements, no interactions
2/5
The one who started it all
1.5/5
#14
• Clear display of Facebook and Twitter icons and url• Facebook page has 349
Likes• Features apparel photos
and videos• Information updated• Not much in terms of
conversation• Connected to twitter
account with a dedicated tab
• Twitter account has 11 following and 25 followers• Bio, Background, DP updated• But updates almost seem automated with no
interaction
2.5/5
1.5/5
#13
• Facebook icon and url quite prominent• Could’ve used a smaller
page name though• Facebook Page has 221
Likes• Info, Photos, Videos
updated• Announcements• Conversational• Tab for the campaign
2.75/5
#12
• Facebook & Twitter icons almost hidden thanks to denim background• No mention of url/name/handle• Simple search on Facebook gives
results• Facebook page has 37100 Likes• Information, photos updated.
Questions used, but minimally• Puzzle app leads to website• No conversations
2.75/5
• Only basic search required• Account has 80 Following, 160
Followers• Announcements. Not Interactive• Inactive since April
1.5/5
#11
• Facebook icon and url prominently displayed• Facebook page has 4973
Likes• Info, Photos updated• Information
dissemination, including events• No conversations, but
link to queries’ page
3/5
#10
• Facebook icon and url prominent. ‘Like Us’ sounds like a Kareena command • Facebook Page has 2166 Likes• Info, Photos, Videos updated• Incentive to Like• Tabs used but execution could have been better
3/5
#9 (the brand, Kareena, not you)
• Facebook icon and url very prominently displayed• Facebook Page has 379
Likes• Info, Photos updated• RSS Feed has a bug• IPL quiz in progress• Starts conversations on
other relevant Fan Page Walls• Conversational
3.25/5
#8
• Facebook icon displayed prominently but no name/url mentioned• Fan made Page more easily
recognisable in Search• Facebook Page has 135
Likes• Info, Photos updated• Neatly done Store locator
and Collection tabs• Also has a Rewards
Program tab• Interesting ‘Travel
Thursdays’ content plan, in addition to announcements• Conversational
3.25/5
#7
• Facebook icon and url prominent• Facebook Page has 42318 Likes• Info, Photos, videos updated• Tabs for specific models• ‘Likes’ other Audi accounts• Extensive use of Notes• Reasonably conversational
3.25/5
#6
• Facebook and Twitter icons and url prominently displayed • Facebook Page has
103895 fans• Info, Photos updated• Linked to twitter,
YouTube• Polls used, not Events• Tabs used for various
campaigns including a ‘Wish Ranbir’• Announcements and
some conversations
3.25/5
• Bio, DP, Background updated• Account has 51 Following, 506 Followers• Only announcements, no conversations
3/5
#5
• Facebook icon and url reasonably prominent• Facebook page has 103992
Likes• Incentive to Like and to
invite Friends to Like• Info, Photos updated• Events, Polls used well• Tabs used for different
campaigns• Storefront leads to website• Many quizzes but no
conversations
3.25/5
#4
• Facebook and Twitter icons and url almost hidden in dealer panel, but name, handle mentioned• Facebook page has 12140
Likes• Info, Photos updated• Storefront leads to website• Also has a Corporate Gifting
enquiries form• Interactive, with Trivia and
Quizzes• Conversational, but minimally
so• Twitter account has 442 following and 967
followers• Bio, Background, DP updated• Trivia questions and announcements.• No conversations
3.5/5
2/5
#3
• Facebook icon and url as prominent as possible • Facebook page has 13238 Likes• Info, photos, videos updated• Notes used well for T&C • Linked to Ustream and YouTube• A customised app for a campaign• Very Conversational
3.75/5
#2
• Facebook and Twitter icons almost hidden, but name, handle mentioned• Facebook page has 793733 Likes• Storefront linked to First Citizen Club • A Tweet20 Contest app• Info, Photos, Videos updated• Good Use of Events• Interactive Quiz• Extremely Conversational
4/5
• Bio, DP, Background updated• Account has 437 Following, 1072 Followers• Tweet20 Quizzes in progress• Conversational
3.5/5
#1
Observations
• Only about 25% of the ads in the period had social media icons (22/ approx 90)– Surprising to see many large, international brands,
known for their savvy, missing • Presence ranged from randomness to checklist
material to experimentation to beginnings of strategy
• Apparel and accessories dominate (11/18)
Observations
• There is definitely some movement towards social commerce
• The Top 7 seem to have some notion of strategy
• Surprising to see Brand Factory doing so miserably when others in the portfolio – ezone and BigBazaar seem to be understanding the space much better.
After more than 8 years of working with brands such as WorldSpace, MidDay and The Times Group, I decided to take a break and work for myself. These days, I am an independent brand and social web consultant, blogger, and a columnist for Bangalore Mirror. And yes, I do have a couple of icons to share.
About Me
http://www.linkedin.com/in/manuprasad
https://twitter.com/manuscrypts
www.manuprasad.com/blog www.manuscrypts.com
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