It’s the age old question isn’t it. This Facebook thing, it’s just a phase hey? There was Friends Reunited and then here was Myspace and now Facebook, next it ‘ll be Twitter…

Er, not! Facebook is not just a trend, a glossy new brand that has somehow attracted 325m users. No, it’s a step change in technology.

Millions of tiny data items, akin to mini, structured emails, are now flying around Facebook at speed and scale (2bn photos uploaded per month, 2bn links shared per week to be precise).

Each has with it (“meta data” to use the technical term) interesting privacy information – we know who wrote what, which friends they want to share it with, when they created it, how they created it. It helps us know more about the relationship between two people, how close they are, what they talk about, what they like doing. That gives Facebook a massive technological advantage when it comes to filtering and providing a valuable start page for exploring the web.

If Facebook knows what and who I really like then why go elsewhere, why search for something else for that matter.

So, the answer to what comes after Facebook is probably more Facebook. Of course it may not be called Facebook, or even run by them, but under the tin it will be Facebook – tiny chunks of data accompanied by social meta data – filtered and processed to bring you the chunks of data you actually care about.

If Facebook is really represents a technical sea change, as I believe it is, then companies ignore integrating Facebook into their long term digital strategy at risk of going dinosaur, a little earlier than they might have expected.

It’s just a blog article, how can it save my brand? well listen up.

Facebook users don’t want to visit your brand page, they want your brand to visit them, on their home page, their Farm, their profile.

If they don’t like what you say, or you overload them then you’re gone in a single click. You can’t even spam them to ask “are you sure?”. You no longer control the consumer’s data – they do.

Brands are at the mercy of the consumer on Facebook anyway so why not go the whole hog and use the Nudge Social Media remix approach.

So what is the social remix approach?

Well, say your a loo roll manufacturer and your key brand value is “strong” then why not ask Facebook users to discuss strength with their friends – “who’s the strongest man, who has the strongest sense of smell, whose shelves stands the test of time”. We’ve migrated the brand value into its social context –  how that brand relates to me and my friends.

Look at the Tango Head Masher or Buzz! The Friend Quiz. In Tango’s case we took the brand message “unknown side effects” to let users mash their friend’s heads in photos and the side effect of an unknown head appears instead (a horse, a cat, a pufferfish or even a slice of ham…). Very funny you cry but important nonetheless.
We’ve not even mentioned the fizzy drink or provided a link to buy one, yet research showed a 37% likelihood to buy as a result of the social remix. This compares favourably with 25% achieved on previous television, radio and billboard campaigns.
Hmm maybe brands should be on Facebook after all, it’s just how you portray yourself in the social world that changes…