If you’re one of the 175 million people who log onto Facebook everyday, then you may be constantly exposed to marketing messages, according to sociologist Hope Schau.
Cal State Long Beach Associate Dean for Accreditation Mary Wolfinbarger-Celsi introduced Schau to about 110 people in the College of Business Administration lecture hall Tuesday for the “Harnessing the Power of Social Media” presentation.
CSULB alumna Schau is a Southern California-trained sociologist who studies the marketplace, especially media-enabled, market-oriented behaviors. An associate professor of marketing at the University of Arizona, the third Notable Speaker Series guest directed her presentation to anyone who uses social media, both personally and professionally.
“Social networking is exploding. Some commentators are saying that the next decade on the Internet will be the Facebook decade,” Wolfinbarger-Celsi said. “Twitter and other social networking applications have also gained a foothold in the Internet landscape. Both business and individuals are trying to figure out how to use these tools to meet their goals. And the social networking space is changing and growing — it’s not remaining static.”
Schau defines social media as the Internet and web technologies used to transform broadcast media monologues into social media dialogues.
The ideas behind social media are organized around objectives, to target participants and specific media. These include, for example, LinkedIn for building a professional network, Facebook for keeping in touch with family and friends, Wikipedia for sharing knowledge, MySpace for sharing pop-culture preferences, Twitter for sharing mobile updates and Flickr for sharing pictures.
“Our generation doesn’t see any boundaries on sites such as Facebook,” Schau said. “We need to educate people about the usage of privacy.”
Schau said social media are technology platforms that enable social interaction. When people interact, they talk about common points of interest. Lively discourse reveals preferences, leading to word-of-mouth communication.
“Word-of-mouth is really credible to people,” Schau said. “Anything that you say on Facebook or Twitter that promotes a brand is actionable.”
Schau also mentioned that in April 2009, Nielsen Media Research reported that 90 percent of people believe the things said by someone they know.
Schau said viral marketing is a phenomenon that encourages people to pass along a marketing message. She also said buzz marketing is a technique that attempts to make each encounter with a consumer appear unique.
“Buzz marketing is trying to tell people what they can do better,” Schau said. “It is the art of authentic scripting. The more people use it, the more valuable it is.”
Schau said that following traditional marketing principles for product, price, place, promotion and practices match marketing goals and social media organization.
“One of the biggest product placements in television right now is Starbucks shown in the ‘Law and Order’ series,” Schau said. “Starbucks cups are constantly being used to creep into the media. It is huge because now people are seeing the message in a popular show.”
In addition, Schau said a significant number of students have changed their attitudes on public policies due to social media.
“The presidential win of [Barack] Obama might have been a social media and viral marketing coup,” Schau said. “He got the youth to vote, a task many thought was impossible. He knew media and was media-literate.”
Schau added that vigilante marketing is unpaid marketing and marketing efforts.
“It is a completely consumer-driven brand such as the ‘Twilight’ series by Stephenie Meyer,” Schau said. “‘Twilight’ is already outselling ‘Harry Potter’ because of the fan base.”
Furthermore, Schau said tweeting about brands on Twitter is a buzz-scripted campaign.
“Starbucks, CNN, BMW, Apple and MTV have an obligation to maintain their brand image,” Schau said. “If you tweet about Gap, you receive a $5 coupon. If you tweet about Ikea, you receive $10 off.”
The Notable Speaker Series is hosted on Tuesdays by the College of Business Administration. The next speaker, Lean Consulting Associates President Bob Bennett, will be at CSULB on March 23 from 7-9 p.m.
“The purpose of the Notable Speaker Series is to engage, perform new ideas and stimulate new ideas for students,” said CBA Dean Michael Solt. “The College of Business Administration graduates highly ethical professionals in a global business environment. We want professional to interact with the world outside and help students learn about more interesting topics.”