Social Media's Role in Brand Building - Research Paper Example

?Building Brands with the Support of Social Media Individual Assignment Teacher’s 25 October Executive Summary This dis provides a detailed insight into the way companies build brands using social media as a tool and support. Focus of the paper rests on three main aspects of brand building, namely brand awareness, brand image, and brand attitude. The paper analyzes case studies of successful brand building using online support and recommends ways to achieve better brand building by making better use of social media. In the contemporary age, competition between companies has increased manifolds with the availability of variety of choice to the customers. In order to increase its profitability, it is imperative that a company finds ways to build the brand. Social media’s role in brand building cannot be overemphasized because of its widespread usage and availability, and cost effectiveness. Analytical section of the paper discusses the Hierarchy of Effects, 1 Foot Cone Belding, and the elaboration effect. Final analysis elaborates likelihood model that can provide companies with assistance in building brands using social media provided that it enables customers to use attitude formation towards the offerings of the brand. Overall Recommendations are for companies to pay attention to characteristics and features valued by customers in their products and services as tweeted by the customers on social media websites, and engage with the customers to find best ways to realize their expectations. Table of Contents 1. Introduction 4 2. Social Media 4 3. Brand 5 3.1 Brand Awareness 5 3.1.1 Foot Cone Belding (FCB) Grid 5 3.2 Brand Image 7 3.2.1 The Hierarchy-of-Effects (HoE) Model 7 3.3 Brand Attitude 8 3.3.1 The Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) 8 4. Branding in the Age of Social Media 9 5. Recommendations 10 6. Conclusion 11 List of References 12 1. Introduction Use of social media as a tool for brand building is the latest trend and a progressive concept. This trend is commonly observed in higher grade companies particularly in the technologically advanced countries (Nassar, 2012). The following document discusses how social media has helped companies in building brands. The first part of the paper discusses the different sorts of social media, and the tendency of social media to influence and spread businesses and brand’s name. 2. Social Media New Web technologies have revolutionized the way to approach branding for the forward-thinking companies. In the recent years, companies have gained direct access to the customers using such social media services as Google+, Twitter, and Facebook. Number of users of social media services is growing with time. In addition, these potential customers exist on pages published in social media in a variety of languages, thus allowing brand awareness to penetrate globally. Companies use social media to gain information about their customers including their age, current location, social networks, and hobbies. On the other hand, customers create awareness about brands on social media (Chauhan and Pillai, 2013; Li and Bernoff, 2011). With the growing number of users, social media’s role is being more clearly defined with the passage of time. Consumers are increasingly relying on social media for information, leaving the traditional media as a source of information behind (Mangold and Faulds 2009). Social media websites are aware of their potential to strengthen brands. An example of this is the release of brand pages by Google+ in November 2011 (Sullivan, 2011). 3. Brand In conventional terms, “brand” means a company’s way of differentiating between itself and its competitors. A brand is conventionally understood as the registered name of a product or service whereas its definition extends beyond that to include a variety of features like a term or a symbol (Hart and Murphy, 1998). Brands serve as signals that trigger perceptions in the minds of consumers regarding the image of a brand shaped by organization’s values. Brands tend to find and make best use of ways to reach their customers not only to develop bonds with them but also to create brand awareness. 3.1 Brand Awareness Brand awareness is related to the customers’ capability to identify a certain brand among a range of products or services. Brand awareness of the customers is an indicator of the popularity of an organization. The accessibility of it makes knowledge effective (Brucks et al., 1988). 3.1.1 Foot Cone Belding (FCB) Grid Vaughn’s Foot Cone Belding matrix provides a unique approach to study the implementation of research and attitudinal information in planning customers’ behavior and influencing it so as to make informed decisions (Zajas, 1999). The grid shown in Fig. 1. has four quadrants that help in the identification of behavior and decision making of the customers. In addition, the matrix suggests effective ways to plan methods that if implemented help brands by way of promotion of brand awareness. Fig. 1: Foot Cone Belding (FCB) Grid (Stone and Desmond, 2007, p. 315). FCB Grid characterizes products into two fundamental types from the standpoint of involvement of the manufacturer; high involvement and low involvement. High involvement products or services are those that are complex and expensive. Their high value imparts the need for a longer cognitive process for the manufacturers. On the other hand, low involvement products consume lesser time because of less likelihood of customers to evaluate the branded products. High involvement and low involvement products require demonstration of different competencies on the part of the manufacturer. While brands impart the need for manufacturers to offer incentives and make a lot of information about high involvement products publically available, low involvement products require emotional appeal and irrational thinking of manufacturers (Zajas, 1999). Unlike FCB Grid, other HoE models believe in the existence of just the high involvement products functioning through a rational thinking. FCB Grid is more suitable for creating brand awareness because 80 per cent of the products belong to the low involvement category identified only in this matrix (Dahlen et al, 2010). FCB Grid takes into account the level of importance customers are likely to give a product. Its assessments of future aspects that can trigger customers’ motivation adds to its suitability for creating brand awareness. 3.2 Brand Image According to Keller (1993), there are two fundamental elements of a brand; brand image and brand identity. Brand image is defined as the attributes and characteristics of a brand and the way brand is identified among the customers. Brand identity is primarily related to the way an organization introduces its brand to the customers. 3.2.1 The Hierarchy-of-Effects (HoE) Model The Hierarchy-of-Effects (HoE) Model includes numerous theoretical processes which reflect the process of advertisement’s working. In order to make marketing of a product successful, it is important that customers follow the think-feel-do sequence of the cognitive-affective-conative stages (Dahlen et al., 2010). Customers are motivated to transit from brand awareness to the purchase of the product after passing through the three stages. The cognitive stage triggers a motivation in the customers thus producing brand awareness. However, the assumption that all customers pass through the sequential stages logically is the major limitation of the HoE model. In reality, a customer following the sequence is not sure to follow the emotional appeal thus created. A host of psychological and external factors can influence the customers’ behavior (Pickton and Broderick, 2005). The merit of HoE model is that brands are supported through creation of brand awareness. 3.3 Brand Attitude Brand attitude can be defined as the overall evaluation of a brand by a consumer (Olson and Mitchell, 1981). The concept of brand attitude is of global evaluation based on mixed reactions to the beliefs or stimuli related to the brand (Murphy and Zajonc, 1993). Brand attitude is a central component that is considered in relational exchanges and brand equity (Lane and Jacobson, 1995). 3.3.1 The Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) The Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) of processing and persuasion in advertising is a very effective framework that talks about the power of social media to foster brand building. ELM proposes a single model for everything ranging from cognitive processing to attitude formation (Lantos and Craton, 2012). ELM suggests that the cognitive routes are peripheral and central route to persuasion and identifies three attitudes, namely, positive, neutral, and negative (Copley, 2004). A marketer should remember while maintaining a brand that the role of celebrity endorsements in high ELM is inconsequential because customers adopt a rational approach toward the product. However, celebrity endorsements can have a favorable impact on the development of brand attitude in the low ELM. A limitation of ELM is that it overemphasizes the role of personal involvement in persuasion while there could be other factors in the external environment associated with persuasion as well. Social media websites have introduced features like Like and +1 to serve as a communicational strategy depicting the companies’ attempt to get the cognitive response from the customers for improvement of their products’ features, improving customers’ attitudes, and building brand image. 4. Branding in the Age of Social Media Branding in the age of social media takes place in unique ways. An organization can use social media to establish and strengthen a brand in a number of ways. To understand support on the Internet, companies obtain new vocabulary, that particularly clarifies the ways favored by the customers. Some important terms include likes, +1, fan pages, and retweet. A “Like” on Facebook indicates the support of a user (Bushelow, 2012). Although the value and tendency of Likes to generate profit is subjective, yet digital communications experts commonly consent that positive engagement of people with a brand adds to the significance of the products and services offered by the brand. This popularity translates into increase in sales. +1 in Google+ is the same as a Like on Facebook. Fan pages play an important role in the promotion of a brand. Companies use fan pages to promote advertisements, content, and promotions cost effectively. Twitter provides its users with the option of retweeting to establish a certain piece of information or tweet as worthy of attention. Organizations use retweets to learn about customers’ needs, and identify strengths and weaknesses of their products and services. Starbucks provides an example of this. Starbucks has created resonant social objects through recognition of the communities in different channels and customizing its craftsmanship to address their needs. For example, Starbucks used Facebook as a platform where it could reinforce personalization and service by sharing customers’ experiences and stories, introducing discounts for participation, and offering personal control for the loyalty programs. Similarly, Starbucks used Twitter as a platform where it could combine humor, service, customer recognition, incentives, and other opportunities. Starbucks has introduced free coffee offers for the promoters of the reusable tumblers on Twitter’s new Promoted Tweets in order to promote recycling. These Promoted Tweets help Starbucks gauge whether it has crossed the bridge to resonance. Promoted Tweets that lack resonance with the customers eventually disappear. Chris Bruzzo, the Vice Persident of Starbucks brand emphasized on the role of social media in propelling the Free Pastry Day, driving over a million locations all over the country (Gallaugher and Ransbotham, 2010). 5. Recommendations Brand building on social media can be improved by following these recommendations: The first step in achieving success in brand building on social media is to ensure that the social objects are related to the company’s constituencies. Companies need to listen and pay attention to the tweets and statuses of the users of social media websites, thus playing the role of an anthropologist. Companies should observe cultural components, and things being valued in these statuses and tweets. After understanding what customers value, companies should join the conversations in person. “Companies have attempted to humanize their brands and products over the decades through mediums and spokespersons, of course. The difference now is that the act of humanizing a brand through a static avatar, compelling bio, and pat participation in social networks is not enough to earn the attention and trust of desirable consumers, who themselves have become influential in these channels” (Solis, 2010). However, the good news is that customers’ online behavior shows their willingness to be loyal to the brand. Companies find the responses of customers to be consistent in the valuable opportunities which promote exchange of information, response to it, and eventually the action. 6. Conclusion Application of the said frameworks leads to the conclusion that social media is an effective tool for building brands. This paper considered a variety of theories in support of the brand building role of social media. Use of social media is a great way of building brands. In order to achieve this, companies to pay special attention toward improving brand awareness, brand image, and brand attitude among the customers. This can be achieved by prudent observation of the features and characteristics of their products or services liked and disliked by customers on social media websites. Also, brands should make effort to engage with the customers over social media websites to work out innovative strategies of fulfilling the customers’ needs and meeting their expectations. List of References Journals Brucks, M, Armstrong, GM, and Goldberg, ME 1988, Children’s use of cognitive defenses against television advertising: A cognitive response approach, Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 14, pp. 471-482. Bushelow, EE 2012, Facebook Pages and Benefits to Brands, The Elon Journal of Undergraduate Research in Communications, Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 5-20. Chauhan, K, and Pillai, A 2013, Role of Content Strategy in Social Media Brand Communities: a Case of Higher Education Institutes in India, Journal of Product & Brand Management, Vol. 1, No. 22, pp. 40–51. Gallaugher, J, and Ransbotham, S 2010, Social Media and Customer dialog Management at Starbucks, MIS Quarterly Executive, Vol. 9, No. 4, pp. 197-212. Keller, KL 1993, Conceptualizing, measuring and managing customer-based brand equity, Journals of Marketing, Vol. 57, No. 1, pp. 1 – 22. Lane, V, and Jacobson, R 1995, Stock Market Reactions to Brand Extension Announcements: The Effects of Brand Attitude and Familiarity, The Journal of Marketing, Vol. 59, No. 1, pp. 63–77. Lantos, GP, and Craton, LG 2012, A model of consumer response to advertising music, Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 29, No. 1, pp. 22 – 44. Mangold, WG, and Faulds, DG 2009, Social Media: The New Hybrid Element of the Promotion Mix, Business Horizons, Vol. 52, No. 4, pp. 357–365. Murphy, ST, and Zajonc, RB 1993, Affect, Cognition, and Awareness: Affective Priming with Optimal and Suboptimal Stimulus Exposures, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 64, No. pp. 723–39. Nassar, MA 2012, An Investigation of Hoteliers' Attitudes toward the Use of Social Media as a Branding Tool, International Journal of Marketing Studies, Vol. 4, No. 4, DOI: 10.5539/ijms.v4n4p93. Olson, J, and Mitchell, A 1981, Are Product Attribute Beliefs the Only Mediator of Advertising Effects on Brand Attitude? Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 18, No. 8, pp. 318–332. Zajas, JJ 1999, Measuring Brand Communication: Return on Investment, Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 16, No. 6, pp. 616 – 628. Textbooks Copley, P 2004, Marketing Communications Management: Concepts & Theories, Cases & Practices, Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann. Dahlen, M, Lange, F, and Smith, T 2010, Marketing Communications: A brand narrative approach, West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Hart, S, and Murphy, J 1998, Brands: The New Wealth Creators, New York: Palgrave Macmillan. 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