1) The document summarizes a one-week study of brands' use of Facebook and Twitter icons in print ads in Bangalore. It analyzed 22 ads and rated them on their use of social media. 2) Most brands prominently displayed icons but did not include social media details. Few had strategy or conversations on social pages. Top brands had updated info, polls, and were conversational. 3) Observations noted apparel dominated, many large brands were missing, and use ranged from random to experimentation to beginnings of strategy. The author is an independent brand consultant and blogger.

1. Brands - Social Iconography A one-week study of Facebook/Twitter icons in print ads in Bangalore and the brand experience therein

2. It all started with

3. Which led me to Wonder if this was an anomaly or a standard practice So, I decided to do a simple research on social media icons in print ads Using Bangalore Times From 13th – 19th May Considering all brand ads with Facebook/Twitter icons ….and this is how I rated them Despite the imagery, no brands were harmed during the making of this report

4. Thou shalt be judged on Prominence of icons in ad Social media details given in ad Adherence to best practices on Facebook/Twitter brand pages Use of tools (Facebook) Conversations Strategy (if any)

6. Facebook search results has many official sites and fan made pages, but nothing officially Indian.

7. Playboy Footwear account belongs to L.ANA/5 #18 NA/5

9. The obvious name/handle is not owned by the brand on Facebook/Twitter

10. Facebookurl turned out to be Franco-Leone-Shoes-Pvt-Ltd

11. 341 Likes

12. Information, photos updated

13. No conversation

14. Twitter account not found1/5 NA/5

16. No mention of name/url

17. Facebook search for RedTape (not Red Tape) yielded this as first result

18. 7485 Likes

19. Minimal Info, many photos

21. Account has 1 Following and 24 Followers

23. Facebook search leads to many results. Requires sifting to find the official account

24. Page has 133 Likes

25. Info updated

26. No Wall

27. Twitter handle obtained by a BrandFactory search - @brandfactoryFG

28. Bio, DP updated

29. Account has 2 Following and 0 Followers

30. Announcements

31. Inactive since March1/5 1/5

33. A Facebook Search easily gets you there

34. Facebook Page has 115 Likes

35. Info, photos updated

36. No conversations, but democratic 

37. A Twitter Search gets you there thanks to John Abraham

38. Account has 1 Following, 6 Followers

39. Announcements, no interactions#14 2/5 1.5/5

41. Facebook page has 349 Likes

42. Features apparel photos and videos

43. Information updated

44. Not much in terms of conversation

46. Bio, Background, DP updated

47. But updates almost seem automated with no interaction1.5/5

49. Could’ve used a smaller page name though

50. Facebook Page has 221 Likes

51. Info, Photos, Videos updated

52. Announcements

53. Conversational

54. Tab for the campaign2.75/5

56. No mention of url/name/handle

57. Simple search on Facebook gives results

58. Facebook page has 37100 Likes

59. Information, photos updated. Questions used, but minimally

60. Puzzle app leads to website

62. Account has 80 Following, 160 Followers

63. Announcements. Not Interactive

65. Facebook page has 4973 Likes

66. Info, Photos updated

67. Information dissemination, including events

68. No conversations, but link to queries’ page3/5

70. Facebook Page has 2166 Likes

71. Info, Photos, Videos updated

72. Incentive to Like

73. Tabs used but execution could have been better#9 (the brand, Kareena, not you)

75. Facebook Page has 379 Likes

76. Info, Photos updated

77. RSS Feed has a bug

78. IPL quiz in progress

79. Starts conversations on other relevant Fan Page Walls

80. Conversational3.25/5 #8

82. Fan made Page more easily recognisable in Search

83. Facebook Page has 135 Likes

84. Info, Photos updated

85. Neatly done Store locator and Collection tabs

86. Also has a Rewards Program tab

87. Interesting ‘Travel Thursdays’ content plan, in addition to announcements

88. Conversational 3.25/5 #7

90. Facebook Page has 42318 Likes

91. Info, Photos, videos updated

92. Tabs for specific models

93. ‘Likes’ other Audi accounts

94. Extensive use of Notes

95. Reasonably conversational#6

97. Facebook Page has 103895 fans

98. Info, Photos updated

99. Linked to twitter, YouTube

100. Polls used, not Events

101. Tabs used for various campaigns including a ‘Wish Ranbir’

103. Account has 51 Following, 506 Followers

104. Only announcements, no conversations#5

106. Facebook page has 103992 Likes

107. Incentive to Like and to invite Friends to Like

108. Info, Photos updated

109. Events, Polls used well

110. Tabs used for different campaigns

111. Storefront leads to website

112. Many quizzes but no conversations3.25/5 #4

114. Facebook page has 12140 Likes

115. Info, Photos updated

116. Storefront leads to website

117. Also has a Corporate Gifting enquiries form

118. Interactive, with Trivia and Quizzes

120. Bio, Background, DP updated

121. Trivia questions and announcements.

123. Facebook page has 13238 Likes

124. Info, photos, videos updated

125. Notes used well for T&C

126. Linked to Ustream and YouTube

127. A customised app for a campaign

128. Very Conversational3.75/5 #2

130. Facebook page has 793733 Likes

131. Storefront linked to First Citizen Club

132. A Tweet20 Contest app

133. Info, Photos, Videos updated

134. Good Use of Events

135. Interactive Quiz

137. Account has 437 Following, 1072 Followers

138. Tweet20 Quizzes in progress

139. Conversational3.5/5 #1

140. Observations Only about 25% of the ads in the period had social media icons (22/ approx 90) Surprising to see many large, international brands, known for their savvy, missing Presence ranged from randomness to checklist material to experimentation to beginnings of strategy Apparel and accessories dominate (11/18)

141. Observations There is definitely some movement towards social commerce The Top 7 seem to have some notion of strategy Surprising to see Brand Factory doing so miserably when others in the portfolio – ezone and BigBazaar seem to be understanding the space much better.

142. About Me After more than 8 years of working with brands such as WorldSpace, MidDay and The Times Group, I decided to take a break and work for myself. These days, I am an independent brand and social web consultant, blogger, and a columnist for Bangalore Mirror. And yes, I do have a couple of icons to share.  http://www.linkedin.com/in/manuprasad https://twitter.com/manuscrypts www.manuprasad.com/blogwww.manuscrypts.com