Why are some brands still failing to recognise the power of social media?

I’m sure most of you would have heard about PureGym’s Luton and Dunstable site publishing an unforgiveable racist Facebook post during Black History Month. While I won’t dwell on the offensive details, it raises an important point: there are still brands out there that aren’t investing in social as a legitimate marketing channel. By that I mean they don’t have a strategy, tools and processes in place to deliver ROI or in this case avoiding a monumentally offensive f*ck up. Why is that? And why are brands surprised when it goes catastrophically wrong?

It’s undeniable that social media has changed the way we live our lives (have you watched Netflix’s The Social Dilemma?). The average person spends three hours every day on social networks and messaging apps, so for brands, social is an incredibly important channel to build awareness, brand loyalty and, ultimately, sell – as long as you have the right level of media to drive reach and frequency. But there’s also another opportunity here – one for the greater good – around starting conversations and creating communities.

Our client Bodyform is a great example of how a brand can use social for good, in this instance challenging the stigma around periods. We’ve been working with Bodyform for years and in July 2020, #wombstories swept across social like a crimson wave. It encouraged women to speak out against society’s censorship on what they should or should not feel about their bodies. The social campaign received an overwhelming response. Thousands of women felt empowered to freely share their stories of periods, PCOS, miscarriage, menopause and more – all in a safe, supportive and judgement-free space. As #wombstories shows, if you have a social strategy, with a clear narrative that supports your brand purpose, you can have a big impact.

But in the case of PureGym, which allows each of its 271 gyms to have their own social media channels, too often the responsibility is handed out without proper training. Without set guidelines or governance, mistakes are made – in this case, an unforgivable one that trivialised one of the most inhumane periods of modern history.

Read more: https://www.thedrum.com/