Social networking is moving firmly out of the consumer market and into the business market.

There ae increasingly pressing business reasons to capitalise on social networking.  Below are 5 key reasons to boost a companies involvement with social networking:

• the power of recommendation – almost 40% of us trust our friends recommendations completely (this drops to about 10% for brand websites) – linking with social networking sites can build brand trust and engagement
• the power of the transient – short, personal, time linked tweets from brands and companies that we know has a street crediblity and vibrancy that traditional media lacks. A good example of this is Mission Pie, one of their bakers started sending out tweets about new pies and also alerts to interested customers about poetry readings and other events – they now credit their business growth to their growing band of followers.
• the power of the personal – social networking allows and encourages two way conversation, brands can build up rapport with consumers who want to get involved
• the power of engagement – Facebook and Twitter can help employees in large companies interact and share ideas in a more informal way, helping ideas to flow more quickly – they can even share and create with consumers
• the power of serendipity – geo-networking will allow brands to provide personalised location and time relevant information and incentives

But the real power is the mobile revolution – currently 140 million of us use our mobiles for social networking but this is forecast to increase to 600m by 2013.

So get twittering!

Continuing our series of favourite kids brands it was fascinating to juxtaposition the brand & media inspirations for the different generations of kids. Literary classic Roald Dahl was the choice of Joss Clayton and as both a book and movie franchise, these fantastic stories continue to captivate audiences today as witnessed with the recent ‘Fantastic Mr Fox’. However it is clear that today’s children are equally enthralled by the interactive world demonstrated by Anna Eggleton’s choice of Club Penguin. This website has a huge following and provides kids with a uniquely engaging means to stimulate their imaginations and socialize with their online peers.

“Roald Dahl is my official favourite kids brand – I love the books and as a brand I would say it perfectly communicates the way in which children are naturally drawn to the gross, weird and cheeky bits of life. The fact that they have a dual appeal to both kids and adults is of course a plus from a sales / endurance point of view but for me these were the books that it were ok to laugh with, be revolted by and quote. They are 100% un-naff and champion the child, not the parent.” Joss Clayton, Marketing Analyst

“Club Penguin is an MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game) involving a virtual world containing a range of online games and activities. Using cartoon penguins as avatars, players waddle around, chat, play minigames and participate in other activities with one another in a snow-covered virtual world. Where else can your children learn how to use a PC, earn money, look after pets, buy and sell items of clothing? They can even undertake missions to become secret agents. For the children a great mix of constantly changing fun and interaction (you play and meet other people online). For parents it represents a safe place for your children to pick up those all important computer skills (as well as the bonus of some peace and quiet!).” Anna Eggleton, Director of Closeness