July 5th, 2006
Corporate marketers to 48 million Internet users: 'share your stories'
Web 2.0 Social Web start-ups, move over. From hotel chains to sports broadcasters, established top tier corporate marketers are aiming for the Social Web.
Sheraton Hotels & Resorts is no longer a hotel booking site, it is a “global community” where travelers can “connect with others.” In the Fall, the sports fan will be the “center of ESPN’s universe” with “tools for fans to create profiles, contribute to sports blogs, post opinions and link to favorite articles” at its Sports Nation property.
The just launched “New” Sheraton.com asks both Sheraton hotel guests and non Sheraton customer travelers to “share your travel story and connect with others…and belong to the Sheraton Global Community.” According to Sheraton:
Designed as a global community that consumers can belong to, the new site invites visitors to share stories, tips and photos about their best travel finds, destination favorites and passion for travel. The new sheraton.com is part of the brand’s promise to move beyond merely transacting with customers to instead providing meaningful experiences to support the Sheraton brand’s positioning around warm, comforting, connections.
Sheraton believes its new approach “reflects the way people shop and research travel today." According to Chad Waetzig, Senior Vice President of Marketing, Sheraton Hotels:
I can’t think of another industry where word of mouth is as important and influential as it is in the travel industry, and we wanted to be the first hotel company to introduce a social networking website where travelers from around the world provide content by sharing their own travel experiences. And what better way to invite guests to belong than to share their travel reviews and pictures?
Interactivity with the Sheraton brand includes a ‘click to call’ customer service feature. A ‘live chat’ option will be added “where guests’ questions can be asked and responded to in writing, live time.”
ESPN is preparing to integrate “MySpace” like user-driven community features to Sports Nation in September. ESPN’s Social Web strategy was unveiled to its advertisers at a recent pre-NBA Draft party held in New York City, according to reports by AdAge:
ESPN will allow users to personalize their home pages and participate in blogs and discussions around favorite teams and sports. ESPN plans to sell "team sponsorships" around the community-driven elements of its website, much like the sponsorships individual professional teams ink with marketers.
For example, a particular beer marketer could be the official beer of the New York Yankees on ESPN.
As corporate marketers embrace the Social Web to directly interact with their brand constituencies, “veteran” Social Web players such as MySpace, Facebook and YouTube, are gingerly attempting to make their properties more attractive to corporate marketers through social branding strategies, as I discuss in "Monetizing You and Your Friends: The Social Web Seeks Social Brand Dollars."
At the end of the day, all will be competing for the "attention" and the "contributions"of the same 48 million Internet users generating or contributing content online, and hoping to monetize those users.
MORE ON USER-GENERATED CONTENT
