Does Gemma 'Like' this?

On Facebook we can like brands, but really what is the point? Ok, Social media is great for communicating and sharing but does it really generate sales? I'm not convinced and heres why...

I read on my news feed 'Peter likes Nestle, or Kathy likes Cadbury's', does it matter what chocolate people prefer? I love chocolate but I'm not going to click on the page and then click 'like'.I don't feel like Cadbury's is an essential part of my everyday read. Logging onto Facebook and having news from Cadbury's seems pointless! Nor does it make me want to go and purchase a Cadbury's chocolate bar.

I decided to carry out some research on Facebook, to understand what the consumer can get from liking, and how liking can benefit the brand.

Heineken have enabled consumers to 'like' their brand on Facebook. 2,840, 809 people like Heineken.

This proves Facebook allows brands to build an online community and target consumers solely by interest. The millions of people that like Heineken, have given Heineken the opportunity to share information, and personal experience.

When I looked on the wall of Heineken's fan page I was surprised. Here we have a brand that embraces real life experiences- unlike the several other beer brands I looked at! It is really important for brands to share human experiences and use a human tone. For example, Heineken got several consumers to show their thumbs up with a heineken.

The million Heineken fans on Facebook then got a personal experience. They see this image and instantly relate to it, which in effect will most likely make them think of a Heineken over any other beer in the supermarket! This image suggests 'like' Heinken to have a good time!

Are you feeling extra lucky?

This image is a great way to get the consumers attention because everyone wants to be lucky! The conversation that Heineken are then generating online is positive around the brand.

The One Million Likes Video was Heineken's way to say thank you for 1,000,000 likes! This is what you call fantastic experiential marketing. Heineken sent out huggers on the streets of Amsterdam to hug people to show their appreciation. The people that then didn't know about the fan page would probably like it because of their real life experience (a hug with a Heineken hotty!)

I don't think liking a particular brand generates sales but it does help the business to be liked.

What brands do you like...have they made you like the brand more?