Co-op Launches New Social Media Initiative
Friday, September 26th, 2008 by Mark Hanson
Fashion company helped by microfinance from CFS on Vimeo.
This is a great example of a brand using social media properly. It reflects the Co-op brand perfectly in a way that’s totally believable rather than feeling like its been cobbled together to capture some ‘buzz’. The way they use ’real’ people is powerful and can’t be faked. It is also the kind of thing their customers would genuinely find useful, as opposed to ’build it and they will come’.
They’ve created a special $50m fund to aid development of small businesses in some of the world’s poorest countries. One of their employees, Belma Granankic, is a Bosnian refugee and she’s been given the mission of going back to Bosnia to see whether the initiative is making any difference. Around this they’ve created a video blog to follow Belma. There may be debate around the quality of the video but it serves the purpose and feels like it was somebody who went to Bosnia to observe on progress and then used new technology to help you see it too, as opposed to a film crew putting on a show.
For more on use of video in social media check this out on Freshnetworks
…great way to build engagement between the brand and the community - letting them see inside an organisation; video can break down the barriers between brand and customer. It’s an effective way of conveying content as it often encourages more personal and more efficient presentation of ideas. Finally, video can be easily shared and so has a great viral effect.
