Google+ has been rifled with issues and skepticism since it began. The social platform has been criticised for its lack of activity and for being too small to be taken as a viable social media platform for brand use. Moreover brands have not always been sure about best practice marketing strategies on Google+. However last week Cadbury’s proved that Google+ can be used by brands to get rich engagement for brands just like Facebook and Twitter with their new Dairy Milk Bubbly.
http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/news/cadbury-to-launch-secret-flavour-on-google/4003975.article
Since developing its Google+ page Cadbury has been one of the few brands that have been able to utilise and dominate Google+. By capitalising on positive response from announcing the original Dairy Milk Bubbly on Google+ in January, and then building a Google+ page out of chocolate in March, the company last week revealed the secret flavour of its new bar to its over 2.5m fans on Google+.
By optimising the Google+ Hangout On-Air feature, nine fans got the chance to sample the flavour. It also streamed the event live on its YouTube channel.
http://socialmediainfluence.com/2012/09/25/cadbury-uses-google-for-world-first-publicity-stunt/
Brands can particularly take note of Cadbury’s use of Google Hangouts as they have shown that it is a great way of directly connecting with fans as well as creating shareable content that has a massive reach.
Whilst people have been slow to migrate to Google+, Google has claimed that it now has 100 million active monthly users (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/09/18/google_plus_usage/). So now more than ever may be the time for brands to start investing and utilising Google+ as a platform for social engagement rather than just lavishing attention on Facebook and Twitter accounts.
