electronics

JVC Mobile Entertainment Creates Local Social Network

JVC mobileHaving a national social media campaign through Facebook is great, but when it comes to selling high-end mobile sound and video systems, it’s important to have a local advantage as well.

In a first-of-its kind offering, JVC Mobile Entertainment has created a network of 84 Facebook pages that link the company’s national product lines with local audio and video dealers. The pages will be a resource for JVC fans to learn about not only JVC products and promotions in their area, but also lifestyle topics like music, action sports, body art and fashion, according to Chad Vogelsong, general manager of marketing for JVC Mobile Entertainment.

“Every brand has a national page, and they talk about what they’re doing on a national level” Vogelsong tells Marketing Daily. “We thought, ‘Why not create a community of local dealers?’”

JVC and its agencies (PR company American Rebel and ad agency e2amp) will be responsible for posting content to the 84 sites every day (as well as to the company’s national Facebook page), though the ultimate goal will be to connect with local businesses (such as music venues and tattoo parlors) in the 84 markets to have their Facebook updates and promotions appear on each local page as well, Vogelsong says.

“Other than the tech stuff we put up once a week, the rest of it is content from these local areas,” he says. “It becomes a truly regionalized community.”

Granted, setting up the network was no easy task. First, the endeavor is the first of its kind for any national brand, Vogelsong says. So much so, that Facebook initially shut down 84 separate JVC Mobile Entertainment pages until the company explained what it was trying to do. Another issue is the nascent nature of social media among JVC’s local dealers.

“We noticed a lot of our dealers had not embraced Facebook,” Vogelsong says. To maintain each regional page, JVC is encouraging dealers to either interact with the pages independently, or to send photos and promotions and JVC and its agencies will update them daily.

The payoff, according to Vogelsong, is a deeper level of communication with potential customers and fans to engage with on a daily basis on terms that they’ll find meaningful. “It’s an 84-page magazine that I get to fill with whatever I want,” he says. “It’s a daily news machine that we take to the local level.”

1 comment about "JVC Mobile Entertainment Creates Local Social Network".
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  1. Tyler Pennock from Burson-Marsteller, October 24, 2011 at 9:52 a.m.

    I certainly appreciate the desire of brands to support social media engagement at the local level, but I have a hard time seeing how maintaining 84 separate Facebook pages is truly the best approach. It seems like a total drain on resources and a massive dilution of the fan base. Companies such asWalmart have built local components into tabs on their Facebook page, allowing users to drill into content and engagement at a local level, all while staying within the central brand page. However, it's still early days when it comes to local social media - so best practices are definitely still evolving.

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