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Social Network Marketing: Know What You're Getting Into by Sean Carton
The moral to this story echoes the findings that most corporate community sites fail because "businesses are focusing on the value an online community can provide to themselves, not the community," [according to "The Wall Street Journal"].
The examples you raise remind me of a Leo Burnett comment that anyone can walk in a room with a sock in their mouth and get attention. If, on the other hand, the objective is to add value to communities, isn't one likely to achieve a more enduring result with real sales impact: the community adopts the brand as part of its identity?
And, hey, what a fun business to be in: creating value for communities and driving sales for a client.
Katherine Warman Kern