In recent years as social media has taken off, companies have tried tirelessly to create engaging social pages that humanise their brands and products as much as possible. After all, brands aren't just products anymore, but lifestyles; a symbiosis of life between us just bubbling away at the surface of society and seeping through to its very roots, sitting all around us every day, wanting to tell us their story, their origins; (our friends at Carat published a similar blog post a while ago on the subject of 'Brand Narratives' and I would recommend that you check that out.) To many this is a permissible phenomenon whilst others have voiced disapproval. I reviewed the book No Logo by Naomi Klein some time ago now, just in case you want more on that particular perspective. But this is merely the background as to why companies try to be as innovative as they can, to attract the most social commerce.
And it is that point that leads me to this review of Nescafe. Why do I like it? Well, aside from being a routine buyer of their coffee, I've kept them in my timeline because of a few salient reasons: Firstly, they publish content regularly, unlike some other coffee companies such as Costa Coffee, who I also liked through Facebook (yes I'm a coffee addict!) This is crucial for any business trying to establish a firm base on a social media outlet, you need to keep it updated; it's like a blog, a tracker of your life and if it's neglected or under-updated overtime, consumers will begin to lose interest.
But with the baby steps of having the basic commitment out of the way, we can get down to the nitty gritty: Why is their content so special? Well that's for multiple reasons: The main one is that it's just plain funny, constantly playing upon people's general tiredness and need for constant energy, or more often just uploading cool pics with innovative ideas! Look at some of these recent images.
I'm Glad Monday's My Day Off This Year!
Smile!
They also recently uploaded a series of images forming a recipe for a Nescafe Milkshake! Like I said, the content is innovative, it's fairly original and it's a brilliant addition to their communication strategy. But the best thing about this or any other Facebook page is that -largely- it's free to do! Of course there was probably a great deal of cash that went into producing those images; the equipment, the staff etc. but even when that is considered, it's so much cheaper than filming an advert and spending vast sums on a national campaign. But in a final note, to revert back to the Carat article in particular, they have used the Facebook timeline -like many other companies- to detail their history in the world, their origins, their landmark coffees and their participation in key world events, (I didn't know they'd been on the moon!) and it is that common feature that so many brand pages share. They want to tell us their story, and the Story of Nescafe is one that I thoroughly enjoyed!
The only real criticism that I have of Nescafe's Facebook page is that they focus a little too much I feel on their Original blend or their general brand. Looking at the content produced, I feel it would be fairly easy to incorporate their other blends into something artistic that could raise awareness of their other coffees and product lines. An interesting dynamic can be seen between both the Nescafe page and their Nespresso page, both tackling different arms of Nestle's coffee ventures.
But in all, I find the Nescafe page a particularly good example of a brand making good use of a social platform to spread it's message, and it is for that reason that I thought I should share it!
Please, feed back to me about this. Do you have any Facebook pages of brands that you enjoy, whose content you like? Let me know, I'd love to hear about them!
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