Rules of engagement in FMCG by InSites Consulting. What can we learn from conversations taking place on Facebook, YouTube & Twitter? Engaging consumers is key, brands try to win the hearts of consumers through social media. What can we learn from those experiences across brands?

2. Brands try to
win the What can
Engaging
hearts of we learn
consumers from those
is key consumers experiences
through social
across brands?
media

3. We went on a safari

4. Goal:
Identifying what is driving consumers to engage in branded
conversations across social media
About this study:
We collected branded conversations on the 3 big social media:
Facebook, Twitter, YouTube
• Over 2 million online conversations
• More than 300 brands included in our study
• We applied social media netnography to identify the
rules of consumer engagement
• Results were presented in March

5. What we learnt

6. Engagement is no free ride: content management and
strategy are key for engagement
Many more positive conversations than negative
conversations
People do not always talk about your brand, often they
just love or hate a product

7. 1 YouTube? The new television channel?
Instant feedback broadcasting…
Companies tend to not only broadcast
their commercials on TV, but to also
upload them directly on YouTube
which leads to additional exposure.
Asking their help in spreading the
commercial is very effective! Contrary
When it comes to true love, things to TV, viewers are far less passive.
can get complicated and, sometimes,
You get direct feedback on the
a little painful. 'Liking' this ad as your
execution, content and brand fit of the
favourite Super Bowl spot, though?
Much easier. (11739 comments). (By commercial.
Pepsi Max).

8. 2 Webcare and offline consumer care complement
each other
Within the FMCG sector, it is best practice
that companies readily reply on their social
media pages to customers complaints.
“Oh no! We’re very sorry that Moreover, they are quick to openly
happened, Anjuli. We never want our
fans to have a less than perfect apologize to these customers. Disappointed
experience. Please give us a call at
1-800-468-1714 or go to customers are very often pointed towards a
http://bit.ly/eZcaVV so we can get external link or telephone number.
some more info about this.”

9. 3 Humour works
And this across all social media channels
One of the main pillars of traditional
advertising is that funny commercials
work. And this is also the case on social
media. ‘Joke of the day’ is one of the most
popular topics on Facebook pages. Jokes or
funny one-liners are easily re-tweeted on
Twitter. Also on YouTube we found that
movies commented as being funny were
often given a higher YouTube rating.

10. 4 Free always works
This is not only valid for free products or service, but also for free content or
experiences
In FMCG, online sampling & couponing
are very popular!
Don’t talk about the money! When brand fans
talk about money, it is almost always in a
negative tone, and often about the (supposed)
bad practices of companies.
Free stuff is used as a powerful mechanism to
increase the number of fans or likes.

11. 5 Evoking curiosity
It is contagious
Spreading a rumour will help you
evoke attention for the actual
content. Rumours are
contagious and are therefore
easily re-tweeted and liked.
Ben&Jerry’s mentioned on the
Saturday live show that their new
‘Schweddy Balls’ ice cream flavour
was going to be launched. The rumour
was spread through a television show
and was immediately picked up on
social media.

12. 6 Gamification
Reckitt Benckiser is very active on their Facebook page and
regularly offers fans games to enjoy, in the process
engaging their fans and probably creating new ones. One of
these games is called Urban Thrill and invites fans to
perform all sorts of stunts and climb heights.
“Check the wrapper of your favourite
Crunch bar to receive a promotional code “Perform stunts, climb new heights, feel the pace! We have
for the Nestle Gold Rush Game and enter launched our new free-running game - UrbAN THRILL! Play now
by clicking on the 'Nestle Gold Rush and enter into the prize draw to win a flight for 2 to destination of
Promotion' tab on the left. You can also visit your choice worth up to £2,000. Spread the word and share this
apps.facebook.com/nestlegoldrush to enter. game with all your friends”.
Good luck!”

13. 7 Social media, the new website?
Not a good strategy if you want to reach engagement
““I really love it!! But I have a question.
My best friend lives in Italy. Some consumers use social media as a
I recommended her to buy it too, but
where exactly can she find
replacement of the companies’ websites.
this product in Milan?” (Comment on the Tactical questions do not lead to
official Facebook page of Crest
Whitestrips) engagement.
Keep your website as the main source for
“Do you have an e-mail address I can practical information about your product &
contact you with? I have
some questions I would like to ask you. service.
Please reply! Thank you” (Comment on
the official Gatorade Facebook page)

14. 8 Treat them as colleagues
Consumers love to know the people behind the brand
Much more successful than simply
uploading a TV commercial on
YouTube is a ‘behind-the-scenes’,
something not shown on TV.
A very successful video with almost 1.7 million viewers and many positive
comments. But why? It shows a true ‘behind-the-scenes’ of a supermarket chain
in South Korea trying to innovatively enlarge its market share by introducing easy,
comfortable, digital grocery shopping: ‘a new way of getting your groceries’.
Showing something new, something innovative, is appreciated!

15. 9 Be one of them
Don’t forget about the small things in life
Brands need to be a friend. They need to act as a person, paying attention also to the small things
in daily life. It is a crucial element to stress that you consider your consumer as an equal.
You should think broader than just your brand and product. Especially on Facebook fan pages or
YouTube people like to talk about what they are interested in in general. On many pages, music
and sports are very popular themes. Especially for brand in a low involvement product strategy, this
seems to be the way to go. Understanding the digital lifestyle of your target is key!
Family and friends of online fans also need to
“I use your product to make chicken be taken into account. Making the members
enchiladas... It is a great recipe that my family happy massively increases the chances of
loves, even though they are very picky eaters. I
have been a long time fan and consumer, thank
brand fans posting positive messages on
you for sponsoring our soaps :).”- The role of social media.
family. On the Campbell’s Facebook page

16. 10 When consumers take over
Consumer collaboration
Active co-creation and competitions are very popular on
social media. Consumers feel empowered to control and
determine the future of their brands
Sometimes collaboration is the only option. 45% of Facebook brand pages are owned by
consumers across sectors

17. Thank you!
@InSites
marketing@insites-consulting.com
http://www.facebook.com/insitesconsulting
http://www.slideshare.net/InSitesConsulting

18. Research team
Annelies Verhaeghe Martijn Huisman
+32 9 269 1406 +31 10 742 10 34
annelies@insites-consulting.com martijnH@insites-consulting.com
@annaliezze http://be.linkedin.com/in/martijnhuisman86
http://be.linkedin.com/in/anneliesverhaeghe

19. Want to know more about
research within the
FMCG sector?
Filip De Boeck
Business Director FMCG
+1 646 386 9852
filip@insites-consulting.com