Just finished the first session at the Innovation Marketing Conference, which was a presentation by Russ Klein, the CMO of Burger King. Short presentation, about 30 minutes or so, with a couple of key themes. The biggest “a-ha” that came out of the session was the idea of “social currency.” Rushkoff defines “social currency” thusly:
“Social currency is like a good joke. When a bunch of friends sit around and tell jokes, what are they really doing? Entertaining one another? Sure, for a start. But they are also using content — mostly unoriginal content that they’ve heard elsewhere — in order to lubricate a social occasion. And what are most of us doing when we listen to a joke? Trying to memorize it so that we can bring it somewhere else. The joke itself is social currency. “Invite Harry. He tells good jokes. He’s the life of the party.”
Think of this the next time you curse that onslaught of email jokes cluttering up your inbox. The senders think they’ve given you a gift, but all they really want is an excuse to interact with you. If the joke is good enough, this means the currency is valuable enough to earn them a response.
That’s why the most successful TV shows, web sites, and music recordings are generally the ones that offer the most valuable forms of social currency to their fans. Sometimes, like with mainstream media, the value is its universality. In the US right now, the quiz show “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” is enjoying tremendous ratings because it gives its viewers something to talk about with one another the next day. It’s a form of mass spectacle. And, not coincidentally, what is the object of the game? To demonstrate one’s facility with a variety of forms of social currency! Contestants who can answer a long stream of questions about everything from sports and movies to science and history, are rewarded with a million dollars. They are social currency champions.”
It is currency, like the greenback, that we exchange with those around us as part of our everyday interactions. In other words, “social currency” is the stuff we talk about with our friends, and colleagues, and family.
Burger King’s Klein centered his presentation around this idea of social currency. (It was, in fact, a central them of BK’s investor road show as part of their IPO.) Is is the core of how they market. In his words, the reason BK markets is invoke the “Did you see that?!?!” factor around the water cooler. They see their marketing as a means to add BK memes to the “social currency” supply.
What other organizations do you think are very accomplished at adding “social currency” to the environment? Who gives us things to talk about?
Bonus question: In particular, do you agree with Klein’s assertion that Burger King is accomplishing its goal in this area?
Chris
The recent Business Week story on Burger King did not paint an attractive picture for investors – http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_15/b3979057.htm.
Is it not possible that Burger King’s emphasis on “social currency” is nothing more than a lame excuse to hide their failure to win out in brutal, head-to-head competition with the likes of McDonalds and Wendys.
Just a thought.
Chris:
The next time I send you a joke, please don’t call me. I am merely trying to entertain a friend, b/c well, I like brightening people’s days.
Also, I would have enjoyed “Millionaire” even if I was on a deserted island with only a satellite dish and a wide screen.
Rushkoff and Klein’s comments remind me why many of us are leery of “The Marketing Guy.” They often use so many words to say so little.
Having typed all this, the BK ads ARE entertaining. Did you see the one where…? Now, please invite me to your next party.
Okay, Chris, I’ll bite: obviously social currency is a big part of the success factor for many blogs. People read the big names as much for something to talk about as to be informed themselves.
I like the phrase though… I’ve been thinking a lot lately about related forms of currency and interaction. Links are, for instance, a form of currency. As are goodwill, expertness, etc. The whole model of giving things away in order to make money down the road depends on social currency.
Why is customer service at Starbucks consitently great – while the service at most other take-out joints sucks?
You go to Starbucks and the energy is positive, the service friendly, and experience somewhat consistent from store to store. You go to Bruegger’s and there is no energy to speak of, the service is chaotic at best, and the…
Why is customer service at Starbucks consistently great – while the service at most other take-out joints sucks?
You go to Starbucks and the energy is positive, the service friendly, and experience somewhat consistent from store to store. You go to Bruegger’s and there is no energy to speak of, the service is chaotic at best, and the…
Search 2.0
Whatever business you’re in these new search engines will have a profound effect on how people find you on the net. We all know, findability, like location in retail, is what it’s all about .
From read/write web, Search 2.0 vs Traditional Search
Se
Chris,
I was happy to find your post while searching for a book somebody mentioned on “social currency”. I didn’t find the book but your post more than sufficed. What struck me is the dateL June 2006, that is 2+ years ago already. It never fails to amaze me how long ideas take to flow through into widespread adoption.
I’m very much looking forward to catching up and hearing you speak at the “Business of Community Networking Conference” in Boston, March 24-26. http://snurl.com/as2ib No doubt your ROI topic is essential. See you then.
Wasn’t a lack of “social currency” one of the reasons newspapers began failing? They no longer provided what everyone needed? Can’t remember where I read this, but it definitely made an impact.
Can people have social currency in a different sense? For example if you have 1,000 friends on FB, and the ability to get these friends to go out to an event, would that ability increase social currency? Also, if I had a friend with great social skills and girls always wanted to hang out with him, would those skills/demand be considered a form of social currency for another friend who wants to meet women?