President, MWWPR. Passionate about boosting brand voices globally for over two decades.
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These days, audio is king. People are turning to voice-activated smart speakers, audiobooks, podcasts and now, Clubhouse, the popular voice-chatting app that’s been downloaded over 10 million times globally since it launched.
People like to express themselves and feel safe doing so on Clubhouse, primarily because of the app’s policy of deleting temporary audio recordings when rooms end (a caveat is that if a user reports a violation while a room is active, Clubhouse keeps the audio to investigate the incident, then deletes it once it’s done investigating the matter).
This transparency presents brands with an opportunity to give voices to their people in a relatively comfortable setting. They feel safe within the Clubhouse guidelines.
Clubhouse is a highly effective channel for brand activations. Currently, there are some brand accounts on the platform. However, most brands have been getting involved by leveraging their executives or influencers they’ve partnered with. With Clubhouse, those executives and influencers can organize conversations in “rooms,” share links to those rooms on other social channels and host immersive conversations that market and position them as thought leaders in real time. To maximize their success on the platform, brands should follow some general guidelines.
Practice Authenticity And Lean Into Culture
Brands should practice authenticity by organizing conversations on topics related to their business or causes they’re passionate about. For instance, this month, prominent female executives can host rooms to commemorate Women’s History Month, connecting the brands they represent to a major cultural moment. An analogous example is Pernod Ricard cognac Martell, which partnered with Karen Civil, a social media and digital media marketing strategist, to host weekly discussions celebrating Black female entrepreneurs during Black History Month. It was a great, genuine approach that was in tune with a timely, important cultural moment.
To determine which influencers they should partner with and which of their executives should speak, brands should identify who can bring the most expertise and relevance to a conversation in an engaging way. In particular, a key opportunity for brands looking to take off on the platform is to start building relationships with future audio influencers. Especially in these early stages, the people brands bring on board to Clubhouse conversations don’t need to have millions or even thousands of followers.
Add Value For Users With Unique Ideas
Brands need to brainstorm unique ideas that add value for users. These ideas don’t have to be consumer-facing or product-based. A fantastic recent example is Restaurant Brands International (RBI), the company that oversees Burger King, Popeyes and Tim Hortons, creating an open forum room for its executives to discuss its post-earnings call.
The general public typically doesn’t have access to this level of insight — hearing directly from RBI after its earnings results. RBI practiced authenticity and leaned into a timely event while leveraging Clubhouse’s strength as one of the few social platforms better suited for B2B brands (as well as brands in regulated industries). By simply switching the platform of this meeting, RBI opened itself up to an expanded audience and a new way of engaging with its stakeholders beyond the products it sells.
Brands should also think through how they’ll engage with users. For users, the chance to speak with an executive or influencer is a tremendous value add. For brands, the ability to open their communications up to two-sided conversations with audiences through the Clubhouse platform is a new experience. Brands could build in Q&A segments or host more free-flowing discussions to reinforce and encourage that dynamic with audiences.
Keep Traditional Media Implications In Mind
Clubhouse is a trendy setting where people who are extensions of brands are more accessible. By building the eminence of their executives and influencer partners on the platform, brands can position themselves to receive more traditional media opportunities, such as TV news appearances.
However, in building that eminence, brands need to prime their executives and influencer partners on savvy media relations strategies. The rules of engagement around public relations aren’t different on Clubhouse.
Part of the appeal of Clubhouse is that the app deletes its temporary recordings of conversations if there are no incident reports during active rooms. However, brands should assume that everything is in the public domain, no matter how “exclusive” their Clubhouse chats are. It’s no different than sitting down for a TV interview. I always tell the executives I work with, “Consider yourself live from the moment you enter the studio.”
Although the app prohibits users from recording conversations on Clubhouse without consent from all speakers involved, nothing can technically stop users from recording and sharing conversations. This happened recently when users live streamed Elon Musk’s conversation with Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev to YouTube. Spokespeople for brands shouldn’t say anything on Clubhouse that they don’t want to become public knowledge.
Brands Should Dip Their Toes In Now To Build For The Future
Brands currently using Clubhouse and other audio channels have the advantage of understanding the medium as it evolves. There’s a possibility that if Clubhouse opens its API, we could see recorded conversations linked to articles and integrated with other digital formats. For example, an article about exercise could link to an instant audio conversation on the topic.
By establishing these partnerships early on, brands can maximize their reach potential and drive the culture surrounding the app. Think about it with this analogy: What if a brand had formed a partnership with a TikTok heavyweight before TikTok took off?
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