Why did I just become a fan of Coca Cola?

Posted by Katie Noonan

Love those holiday season polar bears? Turn your nose up at a can of Pepsi? Well, now you can show your love of Coca Cola products by becoming a Facebook fan of the Coca Cola page.

My enthusiasm and excitement over what could be with the new and improved Facebook fan pages has now subsided leading me to wonder, what’s the point of it all? That’s right, what existentialists ask of life, I am asking of a Facebook fan page-cause for concern about my own depth, but I digress.

Facebook fan pages allow organizations to have direct conversations with consumers, but that’s nothing new. Twitter has provided consumers with that service since its inception. Currently on the Coke page, there are discussions about favorite ad campaigns and products, fans have uploaded photos and videos, and the new stream feature allows people to comment on Coke in real time. It’s cool, sure, but beyond that, I’m not sure how far brands will be able to take Facebook pages in its current form.

Once people have visited the page and decided to become a fan, there needs to be something extraordinary that keeps them coming back. Videos and photos are neat to look at once or twice, but in order for fan pages to be worthwhile, they need to go beyond that direct contact with consumers that Twitter already provides, and provide users with something more.