Diageo is treating the social networking phenomenon as more of an opportunity than a threat as it tries to adapt its advertising model to reach out to the emerging generations of consumers, the company's chief information officer (CIO) and business process director told delegates at Forrester Research's IT Forum EMEA 2007 in Edinburgh today.But, alongside the benefits on offer, Diageo also recognises that operating in a virtual world can present its own unique challenges too, such as people pretending to be what they're not, specifically when it comes to age and alcohol.
The company, which is the umbrella brand behind favourite tipples such as Baileys, Guinness and Smirnoff Ice, says that it now has a presence on Second Life and is happy for employees to use similar non-corporate tools to responsibly promote the company's offerings, particularly as they can't access the site from the company's network. Just so long as they stay within certain boundaries.
