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In a world where COVID has upended everything, including the meaning of words, the idea of “super-spreaders” seems alarming. Yet these are the people who help brands grow by amplifying their message, generating buzz, creating the most authentic and compelling kind of advertising: word of mouth. These super-spreaders have a following online or offline who trust their words and what they say goes further than any paid media budget can, and works better. But unlike paid influencers, these people can’t be bought – if you want them to spread the word about your brand, you must have a story worth spreading.
If the brand story is interesting and engaging, prosumers and other stakeholders help it reach a larger audience by sharing, re-telling, liking, commenting and reviewing. They spread the word around. They create ripples in social networks and multiply the brand story impact- without any commercial commitment and transaction, because they buy into the brand story well enough to share it. And multiply the impact beyond paid media. Winning the Super-Spreaders is the real test of a well told Brand story. Does your story have what it takes to earn their participation?
Imagine brands as trees. The branches are the reach provided by the paid media, while the brand story is like the seeds produced by the tree. Super-Spreaders are the bees and the birds taking the seeds of the brand Idea and/or story to populate another area. And at times, areas, geographies, people outside the reach of a typical media plan.
Do you know the Super-Spreaders of your brand? Have you profiled them? How do you nourish the relationship they have with the brand?
These are essential questions you may not have answered. The truth is, they may be the difference between a brand campaign that reaches promised media numbers and one that goes beyond to earn a disproportionate share of attention. As the Super-Spreaders share, comment and re-tell, the brand story multiplies and takes root in culture.
Are you aware of Brand Stories well told, the ones that created a reach and impact far many times than the typical media spends would deliver? Perhaps you work on a brand with Super-spreaders! Then it’s time you help those brands enter SWARDS: the first awards for Brand Story-Spreading. The first awards to recognize that while creativity and execution are important, in today’s hyper-fragmented media world what really matters is not what you pay to spread your story but the unpaid non-commercial multiplier effect you earn when Super-Spreaders become part of your story. It’s time to take the fundamentals of brand story-spreading and recognize the best practitioners in the 21st century.
SWARDS link -in case the hyperlink does not work https://www.brandstorytree.club/swardsNOTE- The author is member Governing Council SWARDS
BLOG/03/2022. To connect send an email or connect on Twitter S_kotnala and subscribe to the weekly update click here.
