Virgin Atlantic have announced a Travel social network as part of their 25^th Birthday, aimed at the ‘inspirational' travel market. Much like the BA Metrotwin, which was specifically created for the to London-New York traveller, the vtraveller is aimed at frequent flyers. Now I am not about to go about disputing the power of social media or the idea of having a branded social network. What does concern me is what brand owners think can be achieved through branded social networks and how long they think users will stick around for if they aren't properly supported, particularly if the branded social network's unique selling point (in this case sharing pictures and travel experiences) is not really unique at all!

A social network is a great way of getting your users together, but getting them there is only half of the battle - you have got to get them to stay as well. How? Social networks should address an unmet need, not replicate what works for others. A great way of driving engagement with your brand is by ensuring you provide feeds to share content with other social networks - it's not always necessary to reinvent the wheel, just hitch a ride with a passing juggernaut, in this case Facebook and Twitter!

When brands decide to create social networks they should try and keep the branding as subtle as possible and have something unique to offer, like HMV's Get Closer (full disclosure: Get Closer was LBi's work, not that I am biased!) or Disney's Disney Xtreme Digital. Get Closer offers music fans a unique sharing experience and exclusive music treats whilst the U.S aimed Disney My Page is aimed at providing a safe social environment for a pre-teen audience - a demographic many other social networks avoid due to the legal issues surrounding under 14s.

To get the most out of social media it is vital that you don't push your brand onto users but instead aim to pull in users voluntarily, giving them a unique (softly) branded experience in a comfortable social environment.  If you want an example of how things can go wrong when brands go against this advice just look at Habitat - you couldn't have missed the furore over their recent Twitter spamming, where an over-zealous intern used non-brand related hash tags that were trending in order to drive views of their tweets. Note: If I'm looking for Tweets about the Iranian opposition leader, I really do not want to know about your latest offer on garden furniture! 

Of course when managed well branded Twitter accounts can be a great example of how to use social media. Twitter enables you to follow users mentioning your brand and provides a great tool for monitoring your brand perception in a real world example. Where Twitter works best is when the brand has a legitimate reason to use it - on the DR end Dell have famously made millions from tweeting specific short-term offers whereas Innocent Drinks and ASOS have manage to drive terrific brand engagement simply by being themselves and talking to their users like real people.

It is more important than ever for brands to be considering how they position themselves within the social media sphere. Ultimately it's all about being believable - if you have no legitimate reason to exist within a social space then think carefully before you move. With so many social networks around branded networks have to ensure that they have a real reason to exist in the space before they invest, otherwise there is a risk all that investment will end up going into a network that users use twice and ultimately can't remember their password for.