Thanks for reading. What you’re saying about the toothpaste is dead on. If you have a strong need that a brand fulfills, then bam! you’re a fan. But the issue is that not everyone has that need, nor is it fulfilled in the same way. So if a certain toothpaste saves people from real pain/discomfort then I fully expect them to shout it from the mountaintops, but that won’t happen for everyone.

And you’re right. Recognizing the need is the hardest part.

@seobrian

Right on. Thanks for sharing your 5 brands. I think you make a good point in that it’s not “search” as in Google, Yahoo!, etc. but the mentality that really works. I completely agree that we need good content thats valuable to both the audience and brand. I think that providing actual value to people’s lives is the real next step. How can you make your brand that +1 in someones day?

My 5 brands:
Zvents
Coca-cola
Baja Fresh
Fischer Price
Tivo

Give me a call, find a engineer, and let’s get it launched

Devil’s Advocate though….
Your post highlights why Search is the medium of the future. Not the keyword query box set of results search engine but the underlying concept: you indicate what you want and we’ll give you exactly that (including some from advertisers that are of equal value to you though).

What I can’t stand is the inability for marketers to evolve to the fact that highly targeted advertising is good content, valuable to the audience and the business. Where “we’ve” gone wrong is that people don’t want radio ads, billboard ads, tv spots, display ads, email, or etc. because they do more to distract us and suck the joy out of life than convert us to new brands; they are incapable of showing me an ad for Sleep Train only when I want to buy a new mattress! Even social marketing will struggle because you can’t advertise to me what my friends like, that’s irrelevant to me. Advertising that way however, is exactly what the search model does:
I need to buy a mattress
I need gas
I want tickets to Foo Fighters
Where is the closest Baja Fresh
I need a new dress shirt

Here, here it is and by the way, consider these no less relevant and valuable alternatives

The hardest part is to realize who are actually those people who really need me (the brand I am), so I can give them more attention.

Thanks for reading! I think you’re both on to something when speaking about creating brand evangelists. That might be the natural progression from fans. The challenge then is how do you keep your evangelists and how do you help them spread the good word?

The good thing is, especially since the internet and new media enable global marketplaces, that there are enough people to go around, so to speak.

Companies need to focus on equipping their brand evangelists, so that they can be influencers with their circle of friends.

LinkedIn does a beautiful job of showing people how connected they really are, without having to know a ton of people.

Most things in life work best within some sort of hierarchy, and new media is no exception.

Fantastic post!