MySpace - how is it being used by advertisers?

With its 75 million registrants globally, including 800,000 Australians, and growing at 250,000 per day (6,000 of which are Australians), it's easy to see what's so attractive about MySpace as an emerging "Social network" channel by which to advertise on line, and most specifically reach the elusive 14-30 year old segment.

How is MySpace being used?
The current model is simple. An advertiser posts a profile (think of this as a one page web site) with digital freebies (video, music, ring tones, wall paper, etc.), then buys advertising to generate initial interest and momentum. This in turn helps the profile collects friends, and the network effect plays out as people visit the profile and, hopefully, respond to the desired call-to-action: visit a microsite to get more product information, view a movie trailer, opt in to an email list, enter a contest, or something similar.

Any successes?
By now you’ll have heard about the UK chart topping band Arctic Monkeys who used MySpace with dramatic effect earlier this year. Their debut album "Whatever people Say I am, that’s what I’m not" outsold the rest of the top 20 album chart combined, during its 1st month of release. In terms of sheer impact, the UK music scene hadn’t seen anything like it since the Beatles.

Arctic Monkeys built up their fan base on the web, after demo CDs they handed out at gigs in 2003 were put on the web for other people to hear, with MySpace playing a significant role.

In response to this type of success and the captive audience which MySpace can deliver many brands are now experimenting with the channel. We’ve been tracking this use of MySpace by brands over the last year, in terms how they are using it and how successful they have been at growing networks of friends. Where "friends," in the world which is MySpace," are the number of fellow MySpace users who are "connected" within your personal network, by linking their profile page to yours.

Who has your brand name on MySpace?

Adidas Soccer profile is effective at creating community, though the profile name points to a big problem: Adidas doesn't "own" www.myspace.com/adidas. Nor can it buy the name. MySpace doesn't allow members to sell or transfer their profile names.

Given many campaigns are built on profiles, this area could become the new domain-name land grab for marketers. Many of the top advertisers' brands are the profile names for individuals. Check out some of Australia’s biggest brands, such as Nokia, Telstra, VirginBlue, JimBeam, thebigad (opportunity missed for Carlton Draught?) and you'll see what I mean (just add a brand name after www.myspace.com/).

Why not check out your brand on MySpace just add a brand name after www.myspace.com/

How to approach using MySpace

Respect the community. It's a club and you don't really belong. Most social networks aren't about advertising or commerce per se. As an advertiser you're a guest in the club. Understand the environment and respect the unwritten rules: don't intrude on conversations or connections in a way that irritates members; don't divert users from the network to other sites; and don't disguise yourself in a dishonest way.

MySpace even allows this to happen within its own network. Check out Rupert Murdoch's "profile." As the new owner of MySpace, Fox wouldn't actively promote this. But it lets it exist unedited in the true, uncontrollable spirit of social networking.

Don't advertise. Connect and engage instead. Sure, you'll see banner ads on social networking sites, but that's not a particularly powerful way to leverage the network's strength. You must construct a strategy in which you offer something of unique value to the community so you can engage in a dialogue or an experience. That's the best way to showcase your brand. What's this mean? Give to get. Give the community something it can't get anywhere else. In return, you get a level of engagement you can't find in most media.

The network effect is real... and fast. Use it, or get out of its way. Social networks are based on connections between people. People collect friends like votes in a popularity contest. The more friends you have, the more networked you are and the more valuable you are as a property. Even the Rupert Murdoch parody profile has over 1,200 friends. In most networks, you are what you say about yourself, who you know, and what you consume. How do you weave your brand into the fabric of the community? Make friends and reward your supporters.
The Internet was created to connect people and ideas through an unbreakable network. Many people lost sight of this basic premise until social networks exploded onto the scene two years ago. This phenomenon could potentially turn marketing on its head. Companies, brands, and products will becoming open source, owned in essence by the community. Marketers won't simply broadcast an advertisement to launch their product; they'll introduce their offerings to a community, make adjustments along the way, build a base of supporters, and through them build a powerful brand. Sounds a hell of a lot like eBay!