Social Media Week: Ogilvy's Ashwath Ganesan on 'Life after Facebook Zero'

The VP & Head of Planning, Ogilvy One, examined the decline of organic reach for brand pages and offered recommendations on how to adapt to the Facebook environment

Sarmistha Neogy | Mumbai | September 26, 2014

The fourth day of Social Media Week saw Ashwath Ganesan, Vice-President and Head of Planning, Ogilvy One, speak on 'Life after Facebook Zero', where he examined the decline of organic reach for brand pages, and offered insights and recommendations on how to adapt and prosper, in this new environment.

Ganesan said that the average organic reach of content published on Facebook is dropping off the cliff. According to him, “Digital evolution has witnessed a few stages – it started with 'Brand.com', it was the era of websites where brands followed consumers and focussed on information. Then came the 'Brand Page'- where brands moved their website to social, which was the paid social media and outreach. And finally, we are now in a stage called 'Brand Content'- where focus is more on advocacy, rather than sharing and virality.”

Ganesan highlighted that one shouldn't treat Facebook like a subscription, but as a badge. There are a few things brands need to keep in mind in order to communicate and increase their real fan base. Eighty per cent of word-of-mouth still happens offline, he said. He elaborated that for every five pieces of information a company puts up, one should be about the brand, which should ideally be promoted. The rest 80 per cent should focus on great content.

So, how does one derive at good content? Ganesan explained, “Best content comes from revealing your best self to your best audience and it can't be done only through one platform. Therefore, it's bullshit when people say that you don't need advertising if your product is good.” He cited the examples of popular brands like Coca-Cola and Red Bull. Coca-Cola is best at packaging and distribution, while Red Bull is good at events. “So, there are two different consumption occasions for products in the same category. These are the points which need to be highlighted in the communication,” he stated.

He further said that social media belongs to the marketers, while brands are sacrosanct and need to be more flexible and adaptive. “The 'cheap and easy method' is what everyone wants. But, the way you can achieve it is by pure 'dumb luck'. The 'cheap and hard method' is about internal alignment, it takes effort and perseverance. And, finally, there is the 'expensive method', which is the easiest of the three, and promises reach across all social media platforms,” he said.

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