When we consider tapping into social networking as a means of encouraging customers to laud our brands, some of us recognize that a number of companies have tilled the soil of such mainstream social media services as Facebook, Twitter or YouTube.
Typically, these efforts consist of an online brochure, or for those more ambitious, a link to a product demo or even a sales contest. Regardless of variety, customers are given an opportunity to opine on or participate in a company-led or brand-based dialog.
However, some organizations are going one step beyond; taking advantage of so-called “White Label” social media software to build a community that integrates brand attributes and imagery much more intensively than the social media services allow.
According to Jeremiah Owyang, who covers social networking for Forrester: 'This is software you can brand and integrate tightly into your existing domain.' 'The user experience,' he says, 'should be near seamless,' so that any company can effectively have their social media style service, e.g., MySpace or Facebook. (His blog http://www.web-strategist.com/blog/2007/02/12/list-of-white-label-social-networking-platforms/ lists over 100 White Label social media software vendors, and more coming each month.)
With White Label social media software platforms seemingly sprouting up like weeds, the idea of creating one's own site is fraught with the possibility of adverse customer criticism. This is especially true in such highly regulated industries as pharmaceuticals and medical device, where the idea is somewhat of a thorny topic (See our blog post 'Overcoming Social Media Phobia in a Regulated Market'). Nonetheless, whether you are in Big Pharma or not, the thought of collaborating with customers through either the garden variety social media services or the more exotic White Label species should not be equated with the unwelcome vegetation creeping into your lawn or garden. Rather White Label social media should be received as a new and exciting way in which to enhance your organization or brand by cultivating users with relevant and properly moderated content. The key is understanding how to properly leverage this new breed of social media in order to create competitive advantage.
If you want to get in on the White Label buzz, please visit and join MVP’s Neighborhood BugWatch community www.neighborhoodbugwatch.com. New members welcome!
Going far beyond a Facebook page, Neighborhood BugWatchers can:
- Create customizable profile pages
- Connect with friends and make new ones
- Display their favorite media, blogs and podcasts-and much more!
From the new outbreak of the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota to the continuing infestation of the Hemlock Wooly Aldegid (HWA) from northeastern Georgia to southeastern Maine and as far west as eastern Kentucky and Tennessee, Neighborhood BugWatch serves as an MVP Social Networking effort to help everyone 'battle the bad bugs, enlist the good ones-and create neighborhood buzz.')
Coming Soon: MVP takes social networking, and especially its "White Label" variety, very seriously. Based on customer request and demand for our services, we invite you to stay tuned for the forthcoming launch of our own on full service Social Networking and Mobile Application initiative: MVP Social Networking.
