1. Social Currency
JOHN CHACKO
Sec A PGDM
13MG3127
© 2008 Critical Mass, Inc. All Rights Reserved

2. Social Currency as the degree to which customers share a brand or information
about a brand with others.
Social Currency is driven by Six Social Behaviors:
INFORMATION
CONVERSATION
ADVOCACY
AFFILIATION
IDENTITY
UTILITY
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3. INFORMATION : The degree to which people seek, receive & share information
about the brand
CONVERSATION : How often people converse about the brand
ADVOCACY : How much people promote & stand up for the brand
AFFILIATION : The level of connectedness people feel to a brand & surrounding
community
IDENTITY : The extent to which people use the brand to communicate who they
are
UTILITY : How much people interact with the brand & surrounding
community to extract practical value
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4. Forms of Social Currency :
Entertainment
Businesses can offer social currency in the form of branded
games, catchy songs or even a hard laugh. It’s
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5. Personal Value
Social Currency often comes by way and means of fame, status
or recognition. Brands can offer social currency of personal value
by offering content, rewards, benefits, and opportunities exclusive
to its VIPs.
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6. Utility
Useful social currency often comes in the form of branded utilities
such as mobile applications. Its functionality and sharing
capabilities make for a mutually beneficial exchange of
information between the brand and consumer and between the
consumer and their friends.
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7. Information
Information in the form of knowledge and thought leadership, can
be produced in various formats such as video interviews,
SlideShare presentations and blog posts. Brands can use this
form of social currency to educate or help their customers.
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8. Monetary Value
Monetary values of social currency are the digital equivalent of the
conventional sales promotion or PR activity. So it could be a free
taco from Taco Bell or a Foursquare deal or partnership badge.
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9. Where it fits
•Events: Brands often struggle with the closing the gap between intent and
action. Events present the opportunity to reward physical participation with
social currency- a mutually beneficial value to both the brand and consumer.
•Product Education: Brands often need to educate consumers about new,
underrated, complex or changed products. Product demonstrations and Live
Q&A video can be used as social currency to inform the misinformed or
uninformed.
•New audiences: Brands can find establishing credibility among new
audiences difficult to do. Social currency of any value can be used to introduce
new products, campaigns or promotions and establish brand equity with a
foreign demographic.
•Crisis Management: Social currency in the value of information can be used
to respond to crisis situations with valuable information and “news you can
use”.
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10. Thank you
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