It is widely known that sports are the most popular hobbies people cultivate around the world, jogging, golfing, cycling, swimming, surfing, triathlon and hundreds of other sports are practiced by ordinary people whose profiles vary as much as the modalities practiced. This leads to electronic gadgets, social media and the Web 2.0 that are transforming the landscape of the “weekend enthusiast” by empowering and connecting people from all around the world.
Read moreHow have blogs changed consumer behavior and how can marketers utilize blogs in digital marketing
How has the consumer behavior changed after the Internet became more of a social platform?Once the social aspects of the Internet came along a term called Web 2.0. was created. Web 2.0 indicates a platform that enables people to create and distribute all kind of content online (Berthon et al, 2012). Social media changed the whole nature of searching and sharing information.
Read moreHow to Solve the Conflict Between the Exclusivity Paradigm of Luxury Brands and the Open Source Character of Social Media Part 2
Based on the previous discussion about and comparison of the two concepts of exclusivity paradigm and the open source character of social media, the maintenance of exclusivity while opening their communication to millions of users emerged as main challenge for luxury marketers. As mentioned before, luxury marketers have pursued a very exclusive communication strategy targeting their consumers directly. By using social media this exclusive communication and targeting is watered down. This development is one of the most significant paradigm shifts within their history (Costa and Handley, 2011). Now every user can communicate on the brand publically.
Read moreHow to Solve the Conflict Between the Exclusivity Paradigm of Luxury Brands and the Open Source Character of Social Media Part 1
Social media has significantly restructured the communication of companies - influencing organizations, the consumer and brands all around. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram together register more than 2.7 billion active users who spend an average of 2.4 hours daily on these platforms (Adweek, 2014). This corresponds to 39% of the world’s population – illustrating the immense power of online users. Consumers are no longer search for information passively; they actively create content and moderate discussions on brands (Hanna et al., 2011). Nowadays, we are living in an era where corporate communication is democratized as the power over communication has shifted from organizations to consumers (Kietzmann et al., 2011). Brands had to realize that online branding is an open source activity controlled by the customer rather than by brand managers (Fournier & Avery, 2011). Posing simultaneously both an opportunity and a threat, this consumer empowerment has a significant impact on how industries operate – the luxury industry being no exception (Dubois, 2014). Due to the enormous increase of online users, digital marketing and especially social marketing has become a mandatory element for every company (Hanna et al., 2011). But why have especially luxury brands struggled so long to invest in social media?
Read moreFemale bloggers and the party crashers
In the ever-changing society, neither marketers nor consumers are behaving in the same way as they did 10 years ago, new rules have changed the game. Not only have the focus changed from marketing being a one-way communication, also the people performing the marketing have been alternated. Blogs have introduced the world to a new form of consumption, where young girls have become today’s entrepreneurs, but how did this happen?
Read moreDoes Social media marketing mean the end of traditional advertising?
The use of social media marketing is increasing rapidly among companies (King. et al., 2014). Much attention is paid to social media’s role in the marketing mix, not least in relation to traditional media (LaPointe, 2011). LaPointe (2011) states that it’s becoming more popular with marketing strategies that rely entirely on online tactics. At the same time, many marketers are still unsure of how to go about this ocean of platforms and opportunities called social media, as pointed out by DeMers (http://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2014/08/11/the-top-10-benefits-of-social-media-marketing/) and Hanna et al. (2011). Let us therefore have a look at what research has to say about social- versus traditional media! Could it be that companies are too quick with planning the funeral of conventional advertising?
Read moreThe temporary democratization of the fashion industry: An illustration of today’s fashion blogosphere
Fashion blogs emerged in the beginning of the 2000s and have grown exponentially ever since. Over time, the fashion blogosphere evolved from early non-commercial amateur street styles, inspirational blogs and personal diaries to successful lifestyle brands with celebrity bloggers, such as Hanneli Mustaparta or Chiara Ferragni. These style icons are now regular guests at the runway shows of the big fashion houses (Figure 1) and sit in the front row next to the global style authorities Anna Wintour and Suzy Menkes (Titton, 2010; Crewe, 2012).
Read moreOnline word-of-mouth and its key characteristics to manage it effectively
Online or electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) has been defined as “any positive or negative statement made by potential, actual, or former customers about a product or company, which is made available to a multitude of people and institutions via the Internet” (Hennig-Thurau, Gwinner, Walsh & Gremler, 2004, p. 39). Moreover, eWOM also includes opinions and share of information not only about products but also about services and brands (Jalilvand, Esfahani, & Samiei, 2011). In this post I will address the question: what are key characteristics of eWOM that companies need to know in order to manage it effectively?
Read moreSocial Media Monitoring – 3 reasons why companies should do it Part 2
In the first part I provided three reasons why companies can benefit from Social Media Monitoring. In this part I will present well executed best practices that reinforce these reasons.
Best Practice 1: Old Spice listens to its audience and gets personal
In 2010 P&G’s brand Old Spice launched a campaign, which is a great example of how Social Media Monitoring can serve as a basis for interaction with the customer. It started with a spot called “the man your man could smell like”, which aired a few days before the big Super Bowl game on Youtube and Facebook. It was 30 seconds long and showed an attractive man who talked about how everything is possible with old spice body wash. The spot became a viral hit, capturing 76% of all online conversations about male body wash brands, and reached 10 million views on YouTube in a few months (Effie Awards, 2011).
Read moreSocial Media Monitoring – 3 reasons why companies should do it Part 1
With almost three billion users in 2013, the number of people using the internet is enormous (ICC, n.d.). But what are all these people doing while they are online? Of course, the answer to this question depends on demographic characteristics, such as age and gender, but Social Media is certainly among the top online destinations. A research conducted by wearesocial.net in 2014 showed that in the beginning of that year, European internet user spend on average 40% of their total online time on Social Media, which accounts for up to two hours per day in some countries (Kemp, 2014).
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