Impact of social media on Global Branding and Marketing
(Impact of social media Part 1 of 3)
Introduction to the Impact of social media
Impact of social media: In the past decade alone, technology has advanced far more than many of us perceived it would have. In turn, this technological change has forced our habits to transpire as well. This brings me onto the topic I will be investigating, which is ‘The Impact of social media on Global Branding and Marketing’
Why did I choose the
impact of social media as my topic?
The reason for this choice of topic is due to my fascination with marketing and branding in general. But also how your digital footprint is detrimental now to the underlying success or failure of your business. Of which many businesses still seem to neglect.
I would like to challenge those businesses whose beliefs are that social media (like the TP Creates SM) isn’t that important and try to persuade them to reconsider their opinion on the subject matter.
‘Sharing is central to how we live our lives today- it is not only what we do online but also a model of economy and therapy’ (Hjorth & Hinton, pp 1)
Breaking down this investigation further into certain key points I would like to analyse when conducting my research, five factors that I believe influence the answer to this question best.
The topics I would cover would be:
Positive effects of social media – in terms of both the average person and business
Negative effects of social media – in terms of both the average person and business
Newly established businesses starting off in this digital age; is it easier for them to brand and market themselves?
Already formed businesses who are trying to stay relevant in this new era of branding and marketing; is it possible to remodel their organisational structure?
Where this impact of social media is heading in the future
What would I need to know?
In order to actually understand this research effectively and precisely and then utilize this in my project. One would need to not only conduct primary and secondary research into different methods such as quantitative research like systematic surveys and correlations. But also qualitative research like ethnography and focus groups.
However, I would also want to show evidence of a large literature survey around this topic. Consisting of books, websites, magazines, and news articles which I can use to back up my thesis. This would help in understanding my first two points as they focus on the positive and negative arguments of social media. It would be greatly helpful for identifying important Authors whom I can use to back up my research.
Literature Survey
Obviously, you cannot understand a topic as complex as the impact of social media completely if there hasn’t been research conducted around the chosen area. For this reason, I would probably start by looking at books helping, you to understand social media and its trends.
One book I came across was ‘Understanding Social Media’ by Larissa Hjorth and Sam Hinton which discusses topics in depth such as: Approaches to Social Media, Social Media Visualities, and the History of Social Media.
All of which allows for a wider range of discussion to be made around the chosen project. This can provide me with evidence and quotes such as ‘In one sense, then, if all media are social, a history of social media could go all the way back to the first cave paintings.’ (Hjorth & Hinton, pp 36) helping me back up my subject matter.
More impact of social media books!
Other examples of books that correlate greatly to my project would be books discussing digital marketing strategies and marketing strategies in general. Which make up a huge part of the research behind the analysis of my topic.
So far I have found several books detailing these matters; such as Social Media Marketing by Tuten and Solomon. The book discusses the foundations of social media marketing & the impact of social media and breaks up social media into four zones. ‘Social Community, Social Publishing, Social Commerce and Social Entertainment.’ (Tuten & Solomon, pp 16)
This information would be appreciated when looking into factors 3 and 4 as it allows me to break a business’s digital marketing down and characterise them accordingly.
Other marketing strategies covering
impacts of social media.
Not only would it be helpful to know about social media marketing in depth. But it would also be important to know other marketing strategies. So that I could compare figures showing why social media marketing is better in some instances than other forms of marketing and how this affects the branding of a business.
For this reason, I have briefly read into the likes of books such as Marketing Concepts and Strategies by Dibb et al. The book discusses consumers buying behaviours and how these correlate to marketing in order to influence their spending patterns using techniques such as CRM.
CRM involves data capture about customers and their buying habits, analysis and profiling of such behaviours. This is so that tailored propositions and communications may be created in order to maintain an ongoing relationship and continue to interest customers in the company’s brand, products, and activities. (Dibb et al, pp 88)
Innocent Smoothies
Whilst researching different literature I came across a book about Innocent Smoothies called Great Brand Stories Innocent by Simmons. This book is about building a brand from nothing. Tying in nicely to an already established business that has started to understand the benefits of marketing on social media and the impact of social media.
The people in charge of Innocent’s social media respond quickly and appropriately to their customers. ‘If a customer has a genuine complaint it is dealt with accordingly, but if an individual tweets the company something they deem unnecessary, then the company will also respond back in the same, sassy way. It’s a social media technique that is working for them, with their quirky replies often generating a lot of engagement.’ (giraffesocialmedia, 20/03/20)
Gymshark
On the other end of the spectrum when viewing a business that I admire for quickly becoming one of the biggest names in their market in only a few years is Gymshark. Launching in 2012 they are ‘supported by millions of highly engaged social media followers and have customers in 131 countries’ (Gymshark, 18/03/20) and are continuing to grow at a rapid pace. Due to a large amount of investment and time in social media.
In order to grow as quickly as Gymshark did, they ‘searched social media for the top fitness Influencers. They successfully got many to agree to work with them and their brand. The deal was that Francis (gym shark owner) would send the Influencers boxes of Gymshark clothing, free of charge. In exchange, many Influencers agreed to broadcast themselves wearing the clothing, showing the products off to their legions of followers.’ (pmyb, 19/03/20)