Facebook is a huge success, we all know that. But are major brands being blinded by the sheer volume of people using the channel?

First it was Levis who started using Facebook’s latest “like” functionality to allow people to share the type of jeans they are buying, or wearing. The style of jean would be sent out to all that person’s friends letting them know what jeans that person is likely to be wearing out down the youth club (do these still exist for the Facebook generation?) that evening.

Now, maybe it is just me, but I would take this as a “don’t buy these jeans” alert. The last thing I want to do, and sharing my metrosexual side here, is turn up on a night out with my friends where we are all wearing the same clothes. Maybe it is just a British thing?

The latest of the major global brands to look to Facebook to steal a march on the competition is McDonalds. The social media giant’s highly anticipated location updates, which are just round the corner, look likely to be the cornerstone of a new way for people to interact with the burger giant.

Sorry, but again maybe it is a cultural thing, but to go around sharing with your friends and family that you are in McDonalds again would fill me with dread. It is one location that, no matter how strong a guilty pleasure a quarter pounder with cheese is, I would not want to share across Facebook, not even for 50p off.

Brands such as the two I have singled out above need to be sure to think carefully about how they roll out campaigns internationally. There will always be cultural stereotypes and idiosyncrasies that will make it difficult to ensure a global social media campaign is successful in all countries. Local teams with local knowledge are important in avoiding the brand becoming a local laughing stock. One answer is to create country specific Facebook pages that will enable these individualities to be a positive and not an opportunity to poke fun.

Image via Wikipedia

Once every four years the whole country goes a bit crazy for a few months. Flags get attached to cars, people with little or no interest in football suddenly get wrapped up in pub debates about who exactly should be England’s third-choice goalkeeper, and businesses the length and breadth of the country rack their brains as to how best tap into this collective delirium.

Yes, 2010 is a World Cup year. Having been starved of an England appearance in a major football tournament for four long years, this summer’s tournament in South Africa is already looking set to be one of the most heavily branded and marketed ever. Adidas, Coca Cola, Emirates, Hyundai, Sony, Visa, Budweiser and McDonalds are amongst the official sponsors and partners.

However, being an official sponsor means you have to observe FIFA’s draconian rules. Doing your own thing and not even mentioning the World Cup can open a bit more creativity. Toshiba will refund the price of your TV if England win the tournament, whilst Currys show a little less (or is it more?) faith by giving ten pounds cash back for each goal scored by the Three Lions. James Hall at The Telegraph has already looked at these in more detail: they’ll only be worth analysing if England win the tournament, scoring a bucketful of goals along the way.

Online, Sure are heavily promoting their ‘last eight’ sweepstake, which mentions nothing about a World Cup. It vaguely mentions ‘your team’ in ‘South Africa’, but everyone knows what they’re referring to. Pepsi have combined their offline and online marketing in an attempt to derail official tournament partners Coca Cola. Africa-themed TVCs featuring Leo Messi and Frank Lampard run concurrently with the www.MAXITLEGENDS.com video competition and a digital game called Football Hero. Pringles have targeted their 3 million Facebook fans with a Peter Crouch endorsed ‘Pringoooals’ mechanic – cheesy, but ingenious and 100% unofficial.

Offline, the Sun has gone down its tired jingoistic route, recruiting former England manager Terry Venables. Yawn. More effective are Kit Kat’s Cross Your Fingers commercials and billboards, mixing a unique brand identity with football (again, without mentioning the World Cup once). Facts and figures are behind Nestle’s marketing drive – the last World Cup in 2006 resulted in a 16% sales hike for four-finger bars and a 38% boost for Chunky. This might explain why Nestle have doubled the amount of money invested in the campaign.

Ultimately, it comes down to ROI. How much money are you going to make back from the investment you’ve put in? If you’re banking solely on the fortunes of a football team, I wouldn’t expect too much.