Mathilde's 9 post

Likeable

Even if I have a Facebook account, I wouldn’t define myself as a social media person. I’m not active on it even if I check the website multiple times a day. As Brian said, social media is not a choice and that’s probably why I’m on it. I feel that I would miss something by not being on social media anymore. Whether it’s to stay in touch with friends or just to know what’s going in on in general around you, our presence on social media is not anymore an option but it’s a minimum requirement.

From this perspective, I was not particularly excited about our visit to Likeable, but still curious. I found Brian’s presentation relatively interesting; however, I didn’t really learn anything special in the terms of using social media efficiently. The big rules such as interacting with the consumers, apologizing, and taking the next steps to fix issues are not new and honestly not surprising. The process of knowing your audience, understanding the platform and creating relevant content is quite applicable to any other form of communication.

I liked Brian’s honest point of view regarding the fact that sometimes Likeable has to work with other agencies and has to share the cake, so to speak. He recognized that Likeable has a specific domain of expertise and that there’s no good in extending services in which the agency is not highly qualified.

I liked how Brian formulated Social Media realities especially when he explained that Social media are about relationships and not about instant purchase like Google, giving the example of the orange table. Social Media are not programmed to instantly respond to our purchase needs.

I don’t see myself working either at Likeable or at other similar social media agencies. I have no passion for or even real interests in social media and consequently I don’t have the necessary desires to work for this type of media. In terms of culture and working environment, I’m afraid Likeable is too casual and relaxed to make me feel like I’m at the right place. I remember during our visit at Landor, Tam told us about her experience at Google, and how this overly casual atmosphere did not match with her personality. 

Current Event

As we talked about Snapchat as part of the Likeable’s recruitment process, I wanted to follow up with the fact that the application recently spurned a $3 billion acquisition offer from Facebook. It’s really surprising that a growing app such as Snapchat doesn’t jump on this considerable offer and thereby on the great opportunity to associate its success with the giant social media platform. I remember that Facebook did also decline a Yahoo acquisition offer for $1 billion years ago, but the possibilities of growing and developing the website were way bigger. Facebook as a platform was able to create and introduce new features. On the other hand, from my perspective, the concept Snapchat, as powerful as it is now, is limited and not really expandable. The possible evolution of the app is limited to the concept itself. By declining Facebook’s offer, Snapchat made a bold decision to keep independent but the risk for the app to fall well below its current heights without any major way to rebound is important since the app has not generated revenue yet.