As Social Media Week hits London, hundreds of ‘communicators’ are getting together to discuss, deliberate and cogitate the make-up of the social landscape and if the future looks bright or indeed orange!

So when you have so much social fruit to pick from the tree, where do you start? Well Richard and I selected – ‘The Future of Brand Communications- where Marketing, PR & Social Media collide', hosted by Like Minds, as it’s a question I’ve often pondered over and one that comes up in every client meeting we have in some way. The panel comprising some the illustrious and extremely charming, Chris Moss (ex Virgin Airlines, 118 118 and many more), who describes himself as ‘just having had good luck over the years’ and the socially savvy and engaging Tom Messett, Chief of Social Media at Nokia. Aptly sat at either end of the panel, both provided an applied approach to the subject from brand right through to staff engagement.

So what is the future of brand communications? Well as we sat making notes, Tweeting questions to the panel and re-Tweeting statements the panel had made I did begin to wonder. The overarching theme that came from the experts was one of ‘social empowerment’ – I’ve coined the phrase! You look from within your organisation to create your community and build out, that’s the future and something brands often forget. The people that know your brand are under one roof, or maybe a few if you’re a global entity, but you have the power to create this global force from within. Not all singing from the same hymn sheet and robotically tweeting, reTweeting, posting the same message or responding to a forum post with a convoluted answer; no instead you have hundreds or thousands of opinions, voices and thoughts that should be vocalised to their communities, in their own way talking about content that’s prevalent to them.

Management of that brand communication is tough and the part that ‘businesses’ struggle to get their heads around the concept of free communication. This is why you have to cultivate and empower employees to know the product, the business and then go ahead and talk to their mates in the pub etc… if you treat your employees like consumers and  consumers like employees then you start to engage audiences correctly. Gone should be the days of the brand police applying the brand guidelines to all communications, now brands need to have a personality so social media guidelines should form the heart of that process and everyone that is part of the brand should be aware of them.

An argument did ensue amongst the panel and audience members about the issue of ‘brand loyalty’. Do you buy from a person or a brand, how does that work? Personally, I have brands I like but I don’t necessarily have their products – Nokia being a prime example. I think they are a great business, latterly they’ve lost their way but with the launch of Lumia, new approach and scope they are back in my opinion. Will that change my purchase habits? Possibly, over time but that will also be driven by my peers as they are my key influencers. If that is just one person then brands have a tough challenge, certainly over the next 6-12 months. How do brands retain loyal advocates? I think good products, aspirational, solid communications and a consistent, non-invasive approach works and that seems to be what the industry felt too!

The most important point to remember really is that social currency does not replace the human interaction provided by brands. Social media is a complementary service and provides an easy contact method plus opens up an amazing opportunity for brands to engage, grow, get feedback and talk to their fans and also the people that don’t like the brand. Brands need to embrace both positive and negative comment, take it onboard and cultivate both parties to ensure ultimate advocacy to drive their businesses forward.

I’ll leave the last word to Tom Messett, from Nokia, “a brand is the sum of its conversations” – it’s an oldie but a goodie and something it’s always good to bring back to the heart of communications conversations!

Helena