Bacon is more than the smoky, salty, savory strips of deliciousness that garnish our breakfasts and more refined cocktails (the Mitch Morgan). It’s the subject of deep and meaningful philosophical debate (just ask Sir Francis Bacon or Thomas Bacon), the center of the acting universe (Kevin Bacon), and the bane of well meaning but conflicted vegetarians everywhere (A friend of mine in engineering and strict veggie calls it “the gateway meat”). It is also an example of how a brand can actually succeed on a social network, using it to drive retail sales and build awareness.
Now, I’ll be honest. I really have some questions about social networking as a brand platform - it’s not right for everyone, and in some cases is worse than a waste of money, it’s a public failure. But, the makers of Bacon Salt, a line of seasoning salt that makes all food taste like bacon (and is kosher, to boot!), it was the cornerstone of their success.
They launched their business by finding users of MySpace and Facebook who said that they love bacon on their profiles. There are at least 35,000 people who say that on MySpace, and the I love bacon group has almost 2500 members. While some would scoff and say that’s not much, others would point out that 2500 is far better than the majority of branded fan pages do. And in the case of Bacon Salt, it propelled them from zeros to heroes in no time.
“We basically launched the product on MySpace and Facebook… the week we launched, we had orders from everywhere” said Dave Lefkow, co-founder and bacon genius. So many orders, in fact, that they couldnt handle the volume of work.
Now, obviously, anything with bacon is going to succeed wildly. (possibly with the exception of the bacon flavored tuxedo available at archiemcphee.com). What is interesting in this case, is how social networking helped this particular brand, and why. The only brands that will do well on a social network are those that people want to align themselves with. Social networks are about branding oneself to friends, colleagues, and that ex-girl or boyfriend from college. Bacon is not only universally adored, it’s a little campy and fun, and it’s something that people want to associate with.
So if you’re thinking about bringing your brand into the social networking space, dont just think about the costs, and risks. Stop for a moment and think about if the brand is something people can relate to, and want to identify themselves with. It might save you a lot of hassle, and give more time for the eating of delicious, hickory smoked bacon.
