SOCIAL MEDIA'S GAME-CHANGER

Swedish supermarket chain Co-Op strips back the gloss of advertising with a smart ad campaign that gets you thinking.

Geoffrey Stackhouse, Managing Director, Clarity Solutions

Because social media is changing at warp speed, it’s often hard to get a handle on best practice. But this piece from Swedish supermarket Co-Op has nailed it. For today anyway.

It’s a real game changer and one of the cleverest and most strategic pieces of reputation management I’ve seen for a while.

The holy grail of PR is when your target audience endorse your brand in their networks – something that traditional advertising has always struggled with. 

So when the final frame reveals it's an ad, that blew me away. 

It looks and feels like a ‘real’ news story. And it is. There are no spurious claims or obvious brand shots, just a strong news angle expressed with simple but solid evidence.

As a social media piece its irresistibly shareable - short, positive, and informative with a massive punch. It also hits the Zeitgeist.

If it was old media we’d say it had the key news values of Currency, Timeliness  and Impact and give it a spot in the early general news.

As the world abandons text based mass media in favour of video based narrow casting, how can you keep relevant?

Hone your broadcast skills: Simplify your insights and speak in soundbites.

Make it visual: Don’t talk about benefits – show them. Create graphs, case studies and tell stories.

It’s all about your insight: Invest in a solid argument. Know your audience and hit their hot buttons.