I hope by now that regular readers of this blog are familiar with our KUDOS framework (link of course provided for n00bs). However, just recently Leo and I have been questioning the ‘D’ in KUDOS – what do we mean exactly by ‘Desirable’ when it comes to social media? Currently we understand desirability to…
…mean that both the brand and the audience actively want it
Great. But that doesn’t really get to the heart of desirability. In fact its in danger of being a cop-out. To just wave one’s hand and say ‘oh yes the widget must be ‘wanted” is to say very little at all.
So, as I said, Leo and I have been considering its deeper and more specific implication when it comes to social media. ‘Desirable’ refers to the virality of the social media activity; how should the activity be seeded? – in which locations will the social media activity build not just interest but genuine engagement? Now Iain suggested here that this is just an adjunct of ‘Shareable’. True it is, until you consider this: how did yo-yos or tamagotchi’s or poggs (remember them?) become so massively popular in playgrounds up and down the country in my youth. The answer; one kid was playing with one and every other kid went ‘wow I really really want that, i must do everything in my power to own one too!’. Its only a thought at the moment and we’re still trying to refine it but I thought i’d share our evolving approach to KUDOS. Any input would be welcome…
I think the key is partly define ‘Desirable’ against ‘Useful’. Useful social media activities meet certain needs, which is simple enough to get a handle on. ‘Desirable’, I think, should be seen as the compliance step *after* ‘Useful’ – ie: once you’ve ensured that your social emdia activity meets the needs of your stakeholders, how do ensure that *your* social media activity is the one that they will chose to embrace. There will, odds-on, be more than one brand undertaking social media activities to meet needs: The ‘Desirable’ in KUDOS is about ensuring that your activity stands out and is the one people chose.
Furthermore, it may be worth seeing ‘Desirable’ as the frivolous but engaging twin to ‘Useful’. You wrote a post recently, Matt, about how some of our snarkier, funnier blogposts get more attention than our serious ones. We don’t, strictly, *need* to be entertained, but we *want* to be. Thus, ‘Desirable’ in KUDOS is about fulfilling ‘wants’ in addition to ‘needs’.
This is, of course, all about Lacan….
*Nods vigorously*
Yes its no good having *a* yo-yo; you have to have the *right* yo-yo (i.e. the one all the cool kids have). And why do the cool kids have it? Well, because its the coolest*.
*For ‘coolest’ read ‘best’
“*For ‘coolest’ read ‘best’”
But best what? Function? Form? Aesthetic?
Ok you’re right ‘best’ is a little vague (to say the least). But then when asked why we *want* something usually it is because at the heart it is the ‘best’. Now, ‘best’ might mean ‘highest quality’, ‘prettiest’, ‘most effective’ and even ‘cheapest’. But in some sense the reason we prefer it is because it is best (at meeting the needs/criteria we judge ‘best’ by in a given situation – and this is always in flux). Now, how do you go about working out what makes the ‘best’ SM, the most desirable SM? Tricky, in fact arguably the ‘D’ in KUDOS really is the hardest stage to get right…