BrandWeek recently published an article regarding the use of social media by marketers of alcoholic beverage brands. With so many alcoholic brands stepping into the space, and so few restrictions and regulations what is absolutely clear is the drastic need for moderation – not just monitoring.
The article referenced an upcoming report being put out by the FTC expected in early 2011, regarding the number of times minors get passed age restrictions on such sites. “Facebook has some age barriers that are easily gotten around,” said Michele Simon, research and policy director of the Marin Institute. The institute is calling for the removal of all promotional content posted on Facebook by such alcoholic companies.
While many alcoholic beverage brands police their social pages themselves, there are inevitably the comments that make there way online and remain there for sometime before someone, such as FTC attorney Janet Evans who regularly combs such sites, discovers them.
“Get drunk” read a comment from a man named Jeffrey Dale Hoover Sr. on one brands Facebook page, and perhaps more alarming was the confession that fan Jim Lenz made: “I have a problem having just one.” Evans also went on to say that “they need to take off pictures showing kids in frat T-shirts and delete messages about binge drinking,” in favour of live-monitoring.
The error that Evans makes is the same that so many marketers make every day; Monitoring, while useful in determining sentiment and listening to your consumers is not taking the direct action that the FTC and institutes such as Marin are asking for.
What alcoholic beverage brands are really in need of is moderation. The physical approval, rejection and escalation of content online, whether it is photos, comments, video or any other piece of user-generated content.
While alcohol marketers are likely doing their best in-house, slow and steady isn’t going to win the race in this particular instance. “We’re taking baby steps to ensure that any engagement we do is responsible,” said Julian Green, a rep for MillerCoors.
What alcohol brands are truly in need of is the proper company to get the job done right the first time. That’s what moderation services companies are here for.
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When the minors get onto sites like these, does that become the fault of the site, or does the blame go to the legal guardians of that child?
There’s not much you can do if an underage users has fake details on their Facebook account – this is something Facebook and their parents should be looking at.
Take a look at the Johnnie Walker Australia Facebook Page which has a public moderation policy covering the types of content that are and aren’t acceptable. http://www.facebook.com/JohnnieWalkerAustralia