The Cobra Beer example: How to successfully operate a Facebook fan group

So having received a round-up of the daily newspaper content at work the other day my attention was drawn to a particular curry related item released by Consensus Action on Salt and Health,

“curries could have as much salt as sea water”

I thought this was an interesting statement that could question the love of curry especially on the Cobra Beers’ ‘we love curry’ fan page.

I’ve been watching the page with interest. It's one of the early examples of a brand entering the social media space and connecting on a large scale with consumers about a common subject from the their Indian routes, curry. The page currently has over 61,000 fans and keeps its loyal following active by referencing curry related events, programs and articles that appear across different mediums. Cobra’s social media team seem to do a good job of collecting curry related content from external sources (no pun!) and then creating discussion and dialogue with their fans. It’s the great fusion of beer and curry that’s been enhanced by the bringing together of information and recipe ideas to the page.

With all the fan page’s success and solid performance in social media, I thought I would give the team a chance to prove their worth by posting the high salt information released in the popular newspaper on the wall for all to see, questioning if we should still love curry now knowing this high salt content.






As you can see, the message that I posted was fairly straight talking and without too much emotion as I wanted to see how and if Cobra would actually respond to my challenging message, especially with the sheer numbers of fans.

It took only a working day (If we take into account the bank holiday weekend) for the team to visibly respond to my comment on the Facebook group. And here’s the key for answering questions in social media; if someone posts a question, leaving it open and unanswered is a dangerous game to play. It looks like you are either inexperienced in social media and don’t recognise the importance of a response or are in social media just for the sake of it and don’t know to respond – thinking that this is just a conversation to be had between fans.

This is what Cobra responded with,







By addressing me personally, the message seems like a direct conversation with me, a good start. The appreciation for the comment also proves that Cobra welcome this type of comment and their fan’s opinion. And the response itself seems positive and suitable; they come up with a beneficial solution for all to see, to enjoying curries cooked at home.

What Cobra and their team have proved to me by this response is that they are still on top of their game in terms of interacting with their fans and creating an experience. This is impressive as their group totals over 61,000 and to be individually responding to comments is good management of a large social media operation.

A further example of the group's activity are the calls to action posts such as,

"Did you know that Queen Victoria ate curry every day? We’re now looking for the modern day “King or Queen of curry” so if you eat curry everyday then let us know! Just email drspice@redconsultancy.com"

With a competition rewarding the most dedicate of curry eaters.

Check out we love curry by Cobra on Facebook to see good, live brand representation in action.