Leading the Discussion

I was listening to a presentation on social media, and the speaker seemed to get stuck on a notion that seems entirely misguided: that brands should seek to "lead the discussion" and set a goal of getting customers to speak of a product using the same jargon as company insiders do - that when you notice Facebook updates and Twitter posts using your words, it's a sign you're making progress.

Something about that seems entirely backward: if anything, a company should monitor the feeds to see what terms people are using to describe their needs in relation to a product, and use the language of the customer in outbound communications.

That is, if five thousand Facebook users are asking their friends if they know of a detergent that removes grass stains, you really ought to consider using the phrase "removes grass stains" in your next campaign. You should not invent a term for your collateral, run an ad, and see how many of Facebook users start talking about "degrassination."

I'd concede that this is probably a good way to measure the reach and influence of an advertisement - if you use a term that isn't in common parlance in your messaging and people seem to pick up on it, there's little denying that this is a result of your influence. But I have a sense that it's very hard to do, and likely not a good measure of success: your goal isn't to get people using your words, but using your brand.

But more to the point, a firm that expects its customers to speak in the terms of insiders is steadfast in remaining out of touch with its market. Such a brand literally does not speak the same language as its prospective customers, and flatly refuses to do so, but instead insists that the market must undertake the effort to learn the brand's preferred terms.

My sense is that this is not the path to success.