Pierce Mattie Public Relations New York

Last week Pierce Mattie and I got to talking about how social media has changed brand consumption and consumer expectations, noting that it has had both pros and cons. Pros being that it has made brands more accountable (if you mess up, expect it to become a trending topic on Twitter), more transparent (if you are lying, consumers will be quick to find out) and more pull and less push. Cons are that it has created a generation born of immediate gratification (God help you if you don't have someone immediately answering a fan's question on Facebook), high expectations, lacking brand loyalty and give new meaning to the term Generation "D"...no not digital; I'm talking about Generation Discount.

I like the personable aspect of social media and how it has transformed talking TO a computer (on the phone) into talking ON the computer. We seemed to have finally found the answer to "Press 1 for..." with "Hi @reallycoolbrand, I'm having a customer service issue, can you help?" and receive an answer much quicker than navigating a phone system to finally land in the right department after being transferred around 5 times. I like being acknowledged publicly by a brand as an important and valuable consumer. And I further like hearing about up and coming brands just by reading my friends status updates or tweets.

Yet there seems to be an entitlement factor in there. For example, there's the expectation that all brands should discount their product...and 20% is not enough anymore--heck that's not even considered a sale thanks to daily deal sites like Groupon...50% off is where it begins. And brands fall into the rut of always giving it away, holding contests and discounting because they are afraid if they don't, they will lose their new consumer-base of I'll never pay full price again shoppers. (Guess what? It's still about customer service once you get them in the door, that's what makes them come back! Really!) There's the expectation that brands need to be transparent 100% of the time..to which I say that there really should still be that barrier between a brand owned by its name vs. consumers thinking they own the brand. I'm fine with 80% transparency and call the other 20% the mystery that keeps me curious and wanting to learn more still about the brands I love.

So as a person who lives, eats and breathes social media, do I think it has ruined how consumers consume brands? I'm not entirely convinced. I definitely believe there are some definitive cons, but I think the transformation from corporate business into a connected, social business has been a benefit us all.

What do you think? Tweet us @PierceMattiePR.