If you’re a social purist, you’ll have to get over it. The days when everyone’s tweets were genuine and “all opinions are my own” are fading away.
That was so 2012… when Olympic athletes were tweeting for themselves, Olympic cameras were tweeting cool images, and the first “Twitter Olympics” represented an authentic social experience.
Social marketing is becoming an increasingly bastardized forum – full of paid “opinions.”
Sochi 2014 offers the perfect example.
For those of you who are social purists and wish to keep social interactions free of sponsors and paid opinions, you will shudder. Young athletes, such as Ashley Wagner and Gracie Gold, have already sold out. They’ve agreed to post social updates mentioning sponsored products and retweeting Olympic sponsors’ tweets.
The Associated Press interviewed Wagner and Gold’s agents who confirmed that this year is different from any other Olympic games.
“This is the first Olympics where I actually have a social media calendar, where an athlete has to tweet or mention something on a given day,” said Gold’s agent, Yuki Saegusa, senior vice president for Olympic clients at sports management giant IMG. “We get a list of tweets or social media things that need to be posted and then we approve them for her.” Wagner’s IMG agent, David Baden, said athletes’ sponsorship deals are now starting to specify “how many tweets, how many Facebook mentions and even Instagram” photos they must post.
From just two years ago, social marketing has evolved. It’s a natural progression, and you had to see it coming. Social influence is a hot commodity.
To be fair, the Olympic athletes and sponsors are handling the evolution well. The sponsors are clearly listed in the Olympic athlete’s profiles. Usually, the match between athlete (Gracie Gold) and sponsor (Covergirl) is a plausible one. And their commercial messages are sometimes as simple as “couldn’t forget the red lips.”
“I’ve had to fight through some tough moments…I’m stronger b/c of it.” — @GraceEGold #AmericanSpirit! #Sochi2014 pic.twitter.com/wJoJ1tZdzm
— COVERGIRL (@COVERGIRL) February 10, 2014
But really, the social lines were already blurred.
Brands have long been using brand ambassadors, influencers and paid testimonials in their marketing. Sochi 2014 is merely an example of how far social marketing has come, even since London 2012.
As a PR professional, I’m a recovering social purist. While I understand the proper use of the channel and the need for authenticity, I think it is wise to further explore how to utilize influencers. And it’s critical to use both pure content and paid content, earned media and paid media effectively. I certainly don’t recommend using hired guns who have no direct experience with your product. But if you find a credible athlete or other fitting personality and they are willing to be an ambassador for your brand, more power to you.
Social purists, be aware. The new world of social is here.
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