Social media experts like ourselves have been predicting the arrival of the branded social network for years. But the truth is many have tried but few brands have been able to inspire the kind of ongoing conversation and interaction needed to keep a social network alive. Yet Lego’s new attempt at branded social media might be just the thing to catapult the platform into mainstream popularity.
ReBrick is a little bit social, a little bit Pinterest, and 100 percent Lego. Lego is already one of the most photographed and shared brands on the Internet, so why not create a hub that serves as an exchange of all things awesomely Lego? And that is exactly what ReBrick intends to do. As a toy and iconic brand, Lego has always been about creating, so ReBrick highlights the best in Lego creations instead of the latest in Lego products. Mainly the project hopes to unite the millions of existing Lego-based communities that are spread all over the web. “Lego has a very strong and vibrant community, with hundreds of thousands of videos and many millions of pictures on online,” said Peter Espersen, Lego’s online community leader in an interview with Click Z News. “But they’re all distributed across hundreds of blogs and thousands of websites. It’s about giving fans the credit that they deserve and putting an amplifier to the interesting stuff they’re doing so everyone around the web can find it.” For Lego fans, ReBrick could prove to be the all-in-one stop for great ideas and creations from all over the web. For social media marketing gurus, the expansion of branded social networks could prove to be a challenge.
Granted, it takes a mega-brand like Lego to conquer its own social media platform but as niche networks expand, the need for the general social media management might diminish a tad. Custom-made social networks that speak directly to a vivid and enthusiastic audience are undoubtedly the wave of the future. And only time will tell how this will change the face of social media marketing.
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