Coca-Cola is making good on its promise to focus online communications strategy on social media by cutting down the number of official websites associated with the brand. A focus will be placed on Coca-cola.co.uk to provide information and corporate content, while Coke Zone will be the hub for consumer-interaction and branding. NMA first revealed that a number of FMCG brands were looking at this strategy at the start of the year, but it is encouraging to see Coke take physical steps to make it happen.

On Monday, Justin Pearse – editor of Reputation Online’s sister publication nma – discussed how big corporations and brands are still struggling with the idea of social media as they are unable to be nimble. He cited one particular consumer electronics brand as an example, saying that the company ensures that each tweet sent goes through a strict sign off process.

Using this as a benchmark, it’s no wonder larger companies have a mass of campaign and microsites for each brand on top of corporate sites. Then when you throw social media activity into the mix, as well as profiles for each sub-brand or sections of the company, things start to feel complicated. An immediate reaction is to apply processes to ensure that all communications are consistent, and more importantly, controlled.

It is understandable (and correct) that companies should want to feel confident about being in control of their communications, but ignoring social media or adding laborious sign off processes is not the way to do it. Instead, like Coca-Cola, brands need to assess their online communications strategies and determine where priorities lie. Ultimately, there will be some shift from redundant websites to social networks, as this is where customers are spending their time and consuming a large portion of information online each day.