The closing scene of The Social Network movie captures an importance of a brand’s perception and how communication impacts it.

Mark Zuckerberg in the interview to The New Yorker have said that he is not planning to see the movie and responded, “I know the real story.”

So, let’s assume the movie is a fiction. The scene still gives a short and sweet lesson on brand building and communications.

The final dialogue in the movie is played between Mark (Zuckerberg) and Marylin Delpy. She is a junior associate at the law firm that is settling Mark’s legal battle between his business partner and three other gentlemen who are claiming to be owners of the idea that later became known worldwide as Facebook.

The conversation is very brief. It’s a late evening in one of law offices. Marylin passes the room finding Mark playing alone on the Internet. He is asking her, “What’s next?” She serenely replies that lawyers of both parties are drafting a settlement agreement, it will be presented to him and he will have to pay a little extra. He questions “Why?” in a manner in between of surprised and indifferent. Marylin proves he would loose the court jury in his first 10 minutes. She depicts and summarizes that it is all about LIKEABILITY. Period.

Through out the movie Mark is portrait as insanely egocentrically idea obsessed young geek, with a little experience in relationship building at its broader sense who has built an influential digital empire and during a legal dispute sessions is over defensive, uncooperative and firmly locked.

Likeability is a connector. I like you. I like this idea. I like this design. I like this city. I like this ambience. It is easy to make decisions when you like something or someone. It’s instant.

Likeability is perpetual and contagious when there is a fusion of tangible and intangible assets. In the context of brands tangible assets are everything that relates to brand concept, proposition, experience, impact and execution. Intangible assets are a collection of particles how a brand behaves at various touch-points and everything in the air you feel about the brand.

The trick is that a chemistry of likeability works when both tangible and intangible qualities are switched on. You may have the best product proposition and technically justify all aspects of tangible assets, but alone it won’t have much impact, is just does not connect.

A communication management – through out all stages of a brand development and through out all levels of organization and across different stakeholders – properly targeted, segmented and synchronised does help enormously making a positive brand perception, a fusion between brand’s tangible and intangible assets.

Resume:
- High likeability = Positive brand perception = favourable outcome
- Low likeability = Negative brand perception = unfortunate outcome