Brands on the Social Web: Creating Mind Share Through Social Media

Isman Tanuri works for a software giant on a typical day. However, his heart goes to helping businesses in Singapore understand and better connect with their customers through the social web. He blogs more about his thoughts on marketing and social conversations at A Groovyweb.

I was recently reading an early chapter of Al and Laura Ries’ ‘The Origin of Brands’ and was struck by this concept:

The world’s best and long-lasting brands were typically created by a divergence from an existing product category. These brands continue to survive not because of their ‘share of market’ but for being first in the mind of consumers.

Consider these examples of divergence and its disregard for market size:

– What was the size of the cola market the day Coca Cola was launched?

– What was the market size of Mac users when Apple launched their Apple I system?

– How about the size of the personal computer market the day Microsoft launched their MS-DOS platform?

– And when McDonald first introduced the fast-food hamburger to the American public, what was the size of the fast-food market?

The answer to these questions? Zero.

However, these brands have proven they have what it takes to survive and prosper all these years. So, why is this possible?

The Importance of Mind Share

Because, as Al and Laura Ries stated it, the battle for customers is not in winning a large share of the market (although that is helpful) but rather through the creation of the market by winning over consumers’ minds.