They absolutely do. Especially in light of the ownership issue. All these sites have proven unreliable in the past and do you want to trust your brand with that? Brands must take a hub and spoke approach to the their interactive branding strategy. The site, whether it’s mobile or web based is the hub and all the other sites - Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare - are the hubs.
Social is a fad. An important and revolutionary 5-10 year fad, but one nevertheless. Brands are scattering themselves out all over the place to the point where they think they need a “social media agency of record” and other silly ideas. What they need is a strong brand manager with a strong, competent agency that understands the big picture and can handle all your needs. If they can’t, at least give them the ability to partner with smaller, more specialized companies that will write Facebook updates. This keeps the message consistent and “on brand”. Having umpteen businesses controlling different messages just makes for a confusing morass for all involved.
With the current digital buzz about Foursquare sign-posts, Twitter accounts, Facebook fan pages and apps that do everything, AdAge.com asked “do brand websites still matter?”
It’s a good question and one that I’m sure marketing manager or brand manager is pondering. Having just spent a great…
