Slippery Slope to the Bottom

Interpublic today announced a deal with SocialVibe. Bottom line, this is a BAD idea. Paying consumers to endorse brands and promote to friends is a slippery slope.

On the surface it looks great- winning points to redeem for charitable contributions. Finally liking Madison Avenue and social media. A win for all

I dissent. Take the concept to its logical conclusion. In order to meet the growing demands of its clients (or worse yet- Wall Street) more consumers need to be enticed to promote brands… so what happens?

First is the ‘commoditization’ of the charitable cause. We lose site into making a difference, and contributing to an actual cause. It becomes a media platform to stand on and say, ‘hey look at me’. People can, and will, start syndicating how much of a difference they are making. Yet, beneath the surface it is nothing more than self aggrandizement. In the long run, charitable causes lose communities, as constituents are pulled further from their cause, and not closer to.

Worse yet, SocialVibe and Interpublic start increasing the stakes. They award points that can be redeemed for actual products or services. Then the model falls completely apart, and we get a bunch of ‘brand sell outs’ (I dare not use the more derogatory term) who care nothing about the products they endorse. Soon spam takes on a whole new form as people try to make a few extra dollars using every knows social media tool to promote whatever it is they sign up for to their contact lists.

In either case, brands loose. In both cases the long term sustainability of the model is limited at best. Smart marketers beware.

Then again, I could be wrong. This could be the whole new model. I am not betting my $.02 on it, nor the non-profit on sit on the board for. Their mission is too important.