These “pearls of wisdom” answer the question of whether people want a social relationship with brands or not.

The annual Wave 5 research is published to help brands create successful social media programmes and to understand the usage, behaviour, influence and motivation of social media users. Although the information is collated from an international database of respondents, UM can drill down to a South African level of insight.

Over the past five annual releases of the Wave research, there is an indication that South Africans are moving away from traditional brand spaces online, opting instead to engage more with brands in social spaces. The research reveals that 74% of consumers that joined a brand community, in the 16 to 34 age bracket, are “more likely to buy the brand” and 75% “thought more positively of the brand” when joining its online community.

Says Jonathan Allan-Barrett, head of digital at UM, “The optimal word here is engage. Engaging with consumers one on one has never been easier via social networks, the additional benefit for brands is that this conversation is visible to other consumers, and that conversation becomes the new word-of-mouth platform.”

It is of utmost importance to recognise that social interaction and the level of social activity varies between brand categories, and different needs and requirements are sought between categories. Computer software ranks high for people seeking up to date and current information, while people like to share information and content in the music and movie categories.

“The tsunami that is microblogging (Twitter) is rapidly changing the face of social interaction again and, combined with the power of smartphones, this platform has seen the biggest increases across all demographics, with nearly a 30% increase between Wave 4 and Wave 5,” says Jonathan. “Clearly, the fact that it doesn’t require an enormous amount time spent creating content, but still allows you to maintain a constant stream of news, updates and opinion has much appeal. No longer is it the domain of male 16 to 24 year olds. Nearly half of the microblogging universe [is comprised of] women, and the startling uptake of this technology in the 45 to 54 age bracket demonstrates how industry leaders are embracing the social mediums.”

“People do want relationships with brands, but they want it on their terms. Understanding the various social relationships of consumers across various brand categories is the key to communicating on social platforms,” he says.