Social media, but different this time

I find myself talking way too lot about social media.

Why is that? Agreeably they're big and attract large crowds, but the again, is 300 million users on FB really that big if you compare to total global population?

Reason why I talk a lot about social media is because a lot of articles are being published about social media that trigger thoughts. So again today: I found this article in Warc about Coke being the best user of Facebook, followed by Starbucks. Not sure what the criteria are. If it is total number of fans, than hell yeah, Coke should by far be biggest and best since it has by far a bigger user base than Starbucks.

No, what attracted by attention is the clever way Starbucks are using Facebook: to distribute coupons for their ice cream! It serves at least 3 objectives. they reward their fans on FB, which I assume are loyal consumers. They sample a new product line, generating at the same time traffic to their stores.

This is what separates the men from the boys. This is real marketing, not just playing around and experimenting. That's social media as part of an integrated marketing strategy and not just social media for the sake of social media. Starbucks, I am impressed.