Social media is fundamentally transforming marketing through consumer-generated content and the all-powerful practice of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM). Young vloggers, often referred to as YouTubers or creators, with vast numbers of dedicated followers, utilize their celebrity status and social media channels to spread marketing messages for products directed to even younger audiences. Though not all videos and images are sponsored, it is difficult to recognize which ones are, especially for gullible tweens ages eight to twelve. How ethical is this practice and what should we as marketers do about it?
Read moreAre Social Media Marketer’s Claims of the Health Benefits of Exercise Accurate?
Social media has emerged as one of the most prominent, if the most prominent, forms of marketing and advertising today. Although nearly every conceivable product that is manufactured is also sold over social media, clearly some products have been more heavily promoted through this channel. In this way, thousands of exercise institutions such as gyms, yoga centers, or at-home fitness programs are in operation that have used social media to advertise the health benefits of their systems. However, because of conflicting opinions on exercise and the growth of a significant amount of questionable exercise practices, it is not easy to exactly determine just how truthful and ethical the issue of social media in this context of exercising is for improving health conditions.
Read moreHow sales’ is lagging behind marketing when it comes to sales education.
Despite significant changes to the way we go about buying and selling with the rise of the internet; sales and marketing are separated in their responsiveness to the change, and sales is getting left behind.
Read moreReactive Viral Marketing
“Word of mouth marketing” may sound familiar to you, but have you ever heard of the term “e-word of mouth marketing” or “word of mouse marketing”? It is related to the term “viral marketing” which is a phenomenon due to digitalization and modern forms of communication. Nowadays more and more companies and brands are engaged in creating viral marketing campaigns in hopes that their content will create a buzz and go viral (Kostić et al., 2015). Dove and Evian are best examples for brands that have undoubtedly created viral marketing success stories. With over more than 200 million views the first month both companies have done a great job in using that modern marketing technique (Ankeny, 2014).
Read moreHow leveraging your fans and the influence of celebrities can make your brand a great success
The internet offers vast new opportunities for brands to gain momentum. One brand that benefited from the many possibilities of the web is eos, a small challenger brand that managed to reach the leadership position in an over-invested market (Juniper Park, 2014).
Read moreThe manifestation of the ROPO-trend in the travel industry - How to successfully incorporate e-commerce strategies to perform offline
ROPO – research online, purchase offline – a trend, you might be familiar with. It is seen as the result of the development of the Web 2.0 phenomenon. Since the 21st century the web space has become more dynamic and is characterized by its user interactivity as well as network connectivity, highly affected by the rise of social media and content-sharing initiatives (Bell et al., 2014; Berthon et al., 2012). In a business context, companies experienced a shift from presenting themselves solely on their websites (used for information sharing) to a more customer-centric approach - being omnipresent and mediating between product and consumer – welcome in Web 2.0 (Bell et al., 2014).
Read moreBranding through social media – What makes a social media campaign successful?
Social media has drastically changed the way companies promote and communicate their brands and products. Using social media within the marketing-mix is no longer new to marketers and brand managers. Nevertheless, this does not mean that every social media campaign turns out to be a great success. In fact there is a fine line between the message you as a marketer intend to send and how the customers perceive or interpret it in reality. The power to influence the brand image and its reach remains no longer with the brand managers themselves, but has shifted onto the customers that are now able to alter the brand’s image through social media (Fournier & Avery 2011)
Read moreHow Consumers almost have Unlimited Power in the Sharing Economy
Lund – It is great that nowadays everything and everyone can be rated. But, there also is a seam side to this: the customer almost gets unlimited power. In the peer-to-peer economies, service-providers for companies such as Uber, a taxi alternative, and Airbnb, a hotel alternative, are scared to death to make the slightest mistake. This article describes the journey of consumer power through the rise of the internet and web 2.0and implications of this power in the sharing economies.
Read moreHow Should Brands Manage Anti-brand Attacks On Social MediaHow Should Brands Manage Anti-brand Attacks On Social Media
The evolution of consumer power in the web 2.0 era has completely changed the game of communicating with consumers in the virtual world. Moreover, brands are facing threats in the new dimension, due to negative e-WOM (online word-of-mouth) and online anti-brand communities. In this article, we examine the origin of consumer power shift, anti-brand community formation and mechanism, accordingly, recommendations in relation to managing online anti-brand attacks are provided to give managers a practical playbook.
Read moreHow to succeed in viral marketing? Focus on the message and the strategy!
The aim of this paper is to illuminate the key attributes of successful viral marketing campaigns. Firstly, I discuss the importance of message in viral marketing and how different types of messages are affecting the consumer decision to spread the viral message further on. Secondly, two main types of strategies (random and placed) are analyzed and also their relation to different types of messages. Throughout the paper, the examples from research and practice are used for clarification of these attributes of viral marketing. Lastly, I summarize the most important findings.
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