Advertising Age - Welcome to the Anti-Social Club

Call it the anti-MySpace. While the proprietors of social networks pimp their large, youthful and presumably engaged audiences in the hopes of grabbing big ad bucks, droves of major marketers are, without fanfare, running invitation-only online communities where they can bounce ideas off their best (or worst) customers, sample broad cultural attitudes and spread word-of-mouth advocacy.

Highlighted by gheist

"These networks are quickly becoming the new CRM tools," said Jamie Tedford, senior VP-marketing and media innovation at Arnold Worldwide. "The importance of the number of friends a brand has is a reflection of the new opt-in permission-based marketing."

Highlighted by gheist

Communispace, with groups averaging 400 to 1,000 people, is based on the notion that developing customer relationships in a consumer-controlled world doesn't mean baring one's entire corporate soul. It's just about loosening that proverbial kimono a bit, enough to communicate with a targeted and engaged audience, sliced and diced any way you want it. That means the audience could be the most loyal and profitable customer, or it could be non-customers used to troll for product feedback or sniff out new-product ideas. You could ask them for pictures of their homes or new lingo they've heard. Or, you can just sit back and listen as community members follow their own tangents.

Highlighted by gheist

is hiring 10 people a week.

Highlighted by gheist

"If it's small, private and select, you can get more engagement than much larger communities," said CEO Diane Hessan. "You control who you're talking to. It's not the lonely-hearts club, and it's not your competitor pretending to be someone else. Not all customers are created equal, and we don't have to talk to everyone who uses a product to get the information we need."

Highlighted by gheist

the first thing most would notice on the shot of the home page for the Axe Community, devoted to the successful Unilever deodorant targeted at young males, is a photo of scantily-clad Olympian Kristi Leskinen next to a request to do some "homework" on Spike TV programming.

Highlighted by gheist