Page 243 -

Leveraging the Power of the Community 233

Summary

This new social consumer era represents the ultimate in
dichotomies – everything must change in how businesses
sell, market, and service consumers yet nothing has changed
in the basic consumer fundamentals. Consumers have crossed
the power precipice fueled by the Internet and the informa-
tion it embodies yet their underlying buying fundamentals
have not changed.

As rational consumers, they still want the best product at
the best price but now it’s in an era fueling commoditization.
As intuitive human beings, the social era has heightened
their sense of importance, deepened their sense of self-
respect, and placed a new priority on mutual trust for how
and from whom they buy.

In the current economic environment this provides an
excellent opportunity for a business if (and it’s a big if) they
are able to enter the social marketplace quickly, honestly,
and within the guidelines mentioned.

“Homerun” social network case study –
Dove Evolution

Unilever launched a viral marketing campaign in 2006 as
part of its Dove Campaign for Real Beauty, to promote the
newly created Dove Self-Esteem Fund. The focal point of
the Unilever campaign was a 75-second spot produced by
Ogilvy & Mather in Toronto, Canada. The viral marketing
video was first displayed online on 6 October 2006, and was
later broadcast as a television and cinema spot in the
Netherlands and the Middle East. The ad was created from
the budget left over from the earlier Daughters campaign,
and was intended to be the first in a series of such online-
focused spots by the company. It has been discussed in