7 Opportunities in Brand Socialization

　　The rise of social networks and media has transformed brands from being 'capitalist' to 'socialist'. The degree of a brand's socialization will be a key indicator of its vitality. Brands must either socialize or be marginalized—this is an inevitable choice, and it is also a change that advertising and marketing agencies, as brand promoters, must make.

　　Destroying an old world often gives birth to a new one. For those aspiring to become the new elite of advertising and communication in the new world, consider the following opportunities:

　　First, become a parasitic brand marketing company attached to social media and networks. Recently, Buddy Media, Vitrue Media, and Context Optional—frequently favored by capital and brands—are such new elites. They are all built on Facebook (including Twitter), with core businesses helping brands manage social media and conduct social marketing and commerce. Last October, Buddy Media completed a $23 million third round of financing. Such companies expand with Facebook's growth and gain explosive growth opportunities as brands increase their investment in Facebook several-fold year after year. Facebook has not only enabled super social games like Zynga but also nurtured a batch of rapidly rising social marketing companies. Similarly, Tencent, Renren, and Sina Weibo can become 'rich mines' for such parasitic companies.

　　Second, become a symbiotic partner of social media. IPG, one of the world's top four advertising groups, lagged behind WPP and Publicis in the search era, so in 2006 it bet on Facebook. With an investment of less than $5 million, it fully assisted in the development of Facebook's advertising system and the promotion of brand clients. Over the years, this has not only narrowed the gap with the top three competitors in the new frontier of digital marketing, bringing considerable business revenue, but also yielded substantial investment returns—its Facebook stock valuation has exceeded $300 million. Establishing an equity symbiosis that goes beyond simple ad placement and content marketing is one growth strategy that large advertising groups can consider.

　　Third, become a 'Taobao brand' factory. 'Taobao brands' generally refer to original brands built on the internet. They are called 'Taobao brands' because Taobao once dominated the e-commerce sector, and many original internet B2C brands also rose from Taobao, such as Mbaobao, Green Box, and Ousha. For industries with low brand concentration, or traditional brands that need to customize new products for the internet-savvy younger generation, new marketing companies with rich brand operation experience, social network and internet promotion experience, and technical development capabilities have a huge opportunity to become 'Taobao brand' factories. In today's era of social trends and the scaling of numerous group-buying and large B2C platforms, the entire web is a marketplace. Thus, marketing companies can transform into owners or shareholders of 'Taobao brands'. If building a traditional brand may take at least 3-5 years, then a 'Taobao brand' infused with socialization and e-commerce genes can be established in just 6-9 months.

　　Fourth, become the operational driver of social e-commerce. If you lack the resources and capabilities to become a 'Taobao brand' owner, you can also consider helping traditional brands with e-commerce promotion, or even building social e-commerce capabilities. Social e-commerce includes seamlessly integrating e-commerce into social media and network platforms, as well as organizing traffic on e-commerce platforms through social methods and establishing user loyalty programs. Vancl's 'VANCL Fans' is such an attempt.

　　Fifth, become an operator for the production and distribution of social video. In layman's terms, this is 'micro-film' operation. 'Micro-films' are different from viral videos and extended TVCs. They combine the self-propagation of viral videos with the production quality of TVCs, while skillfully integrating brand and product appeals into a good story. Moreover, the theme must reflect the brand's core values, influence the audience's emotions, and help build an emotional bond between the brand and the audience. Notable works in recent years include Chevrolet Cruze's 'Old Boys' and JEEP's 'No Story, No Life'. 'Micro-films' provide the advertising industry with a brand-new creative space and business opportunities. Beyond 'micro-films', brand-exclusive web premieres and exclusive dramas present even greater opportunities.

　　Sixth, become a platform for managing brand social fans, data monitoring, and statistical analysis. Klout, which has attracted capital attention, is a service provider that measures the influence of brand fans on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook. It is said that this platform can manage fans in a tiered manner, tailor brand experiences, and develop corresponding loyalty programs and targeted marketing campaigns.

　　Seventh, become a gold digger on open internet platforms. Openness is the inevitable path to internet socialization. The degree of openness of mainstream platforms also determines the overall socialization of the internet. Openness will form several major interconnected social galaxies. Building advertising and marketing systems within these galaxies is also a brand-new business opportunity. Tencent's Q+ and QQ Connect will nurture a batch of service companies that leverage these for marketing.

　　Each of the aforementioned fields is sufficient to generate 3-5 companies worth over 1 billion yuan. These opportunity seekers have already emerged in the United States, but in China they seem to receive little attention, and at least no particularly powerful players have yet participated. While entrepreneurs are focusing on gold rush opportunities in social networks, don't forget that the industry chain supporting the gold diggers might just be the overlooked gold mine.