Social Media Marketing of Burberry - Research Paper Example

 Social Media Marketing of Burberry Social Media Social Media is a comparatively new phenomenon. A few years back no one could have thought that user-generated content when integrated by the Web 2.0 would have created such an gigantic structure. There has been an explosion of information on the internet with the coming of social media (OUP, 881). Before the advent of social media, the content was produced by ‘creative’ people working in various industries. But now anyone can display one’s skill (if there are any!!) through the use of Facebook and Youtube (Bonk, 281). There are numerous and complex definitions about social media networking. But the simplest and most useful one is that it is the usage of social media network such as Facebook, Twitter and Youtube for promotion of one’s businesses’ products and services. There has been a dramatic and significant change from traditional marketing to social media marketing. This change is reflective of the change in which people communicate with each other. A recent survey shows that two out of three internet users use social media (Vickery, 165). People are also spending more time on social networks than other internet facilities such as email. Social media is spreading like wild fire. A study shows that social media networks are growing three times faster than overall internet usage. This has huge implications on the advertisement industry. Even News Corp Rupert Murdoch acknowledges the power of social media and has said that – ‘Technology is shifting the power away from the editors, the publishers, the establishment and media. Now it’s the people who are in control’ (Klososky, 219). Today social media comprises of a huge crowd of blogs, websites, forums, chat rooms etc. but the key player that dominates the scene of social media is Facebook. Facebook has some outstanding numbers to its credit. For example, people spend 5 billion minutes interacting with each other via Facebook (Berco et al, 322). Each week one billions of links of other websites, photos and videos are shared by Facebook. All these statistics make Facebook a very dynamic place for marketers. The other key player is Twitter. This is micro-blogging site where a person can send messages of upto 140 characters either using mobile phone or computer. Its growth is also phenomenal like that of Facebook. According to the January and February records, Twitter grew by a staggering 1,382% (Singh et al, 118). Its popularity can be highlighted by the fact that lot of people came to know about Michael Jackson’s death through Twitter and not any other source. Social Media ‘Marketing’ Despite all the enthusiasm about social media marketing, it shouldn’t be forgotten that it is not a quick fix. The whole purpose of social media marketing is to build a long-term commitment by building a dialogue with the customer. The basic principles of marketing don’t change here. Consumers won’t buy a product just because a company has found a cost effective way to contact them. There are thousands of businesses on social media sites and the marketing concept of branding becomes even more important. Every business is unique so the most important thing before you a business starts on Facebook is that there is a strategy and plan for the business. It doesn’t have to be complicated, but the business should have idea about who you want to have conversation with. Here the concept of target marketing and niche marketing can be applied. One of the major advantages of social media sites is that the marketers don’t have to go the market segmentation. It is true that all people who ‘like’ certain company’s page may not be it customers, but social media sites definitely classify people among two categories: those who are informed and those who are not informed about the company’s products. It depends on the marketing how they are able to transform informed consumers into purchasing customers. These days businesses use social media to channel and influence public opinion (Tench, 10). There are many people employed for big companies who monitor Facebook discussions. These discussions generate useful information for the companies. But it is not only the big businesses that benefit. Many small businesses have established a nice profile for themselves. Fans of a small business can create a viral effect of advertisement for the business (Silver, 118). An important concept that occurs frequently in the world of social media is Word-of-mouth (Hollenses, 563). Some marketers try to use this phenomenon. Marketing firms intentionally adopt the technique of influencing consumer-to-consumer communication. Through a networked coproduction of narratives, marketers aim to manipulate the kinds of topics that are talked about. But Word-of-Mouth can also have a distorted effect on the message itself as there are continuous inputs into the original content. Facebook There are forty five million different groups on Facebook. The business groups are present there for marketing purpose. But it should be noted that traditional ways of advertising don’t work in the domains of social networking sites such as facebook. The approach should be very subtle and the product should be of vital interest to the customer. An advertisement shouldn’t look like a forced advertisement. Even social media sites don’t indulge in indiscriminate advertising, though they are in a position to do that. There are no pop-up ads on facebook and even Youtube provides its viewers the option to ‘skip’ and ad after five seconds (Beamish, 16). One of the major debate that occurs frequently in the social media advertising is the Return on Investment (ROI). Here also it should be realized by the businesses that Facebook ‘fan’ following won’t necessarily increase sales overnight, but show its gradual effect. Facebook marketing should be more about entertaining, informing and educating the customer rather than outright marketing of the products. A key aspect of Facebook is both business-to-consumer and business-to-business marketing. These depend on the quality and quantity of word of mouth generated in the conversations. The reach of Facebook is immense but the businesses can also target niche markets if they want to conserve their energy and money on more profitable customers. The efficiency of the social media lies in the fact that its marketing is driven by word-of-mouth. Hence the company doesn’t pay for the media but instead earns it through its superior content and reputation. Pros and cons of social media marketing Social media marketing is a unique opportunity for marketers of any company. But there have to be some precautions taken. Even though Facebook and Twitter are very economical for businesses, there has to be a proper strategy for marketing. The social media marketing shouldn’t be a half-hearted attempt. The other mistake that should be avoided is to think of social media as a shortcut to marketing success. Nothing can be farther from truth. The focus of the business should be developing a relationship with the people and then increase their client base. There should also be no overdependence over one particular tool of product promotion. This is because Web 2.0 is a world which is ever-changing with respect to its tools (Thomas, 139). Other feature of social media is lack of control over the company’s message. Because it is a shared network, the company should know that when they put a message out on these sites, they lose control over it. Instead of controlling the message, companies should participate in the conversation. But participation doesn’t mean abusing the system of social media for the purposes of advertising. Everything in the social media has a chance of having a viral effect and so if the reputation of a company is tarnished, then it shall be very hard to heal it in due course of time. If a company is successful in avoiding the above mentioned debacles, then there are many benefits which the company can take advantage of. It can improve internal communications among employees (Fitton et al, 111). The workers can have a quick collaboration regardless of the location. The most useful feature of a social media is its cost effectiveness which saves businesses lots of money which can be invested elsewhere. The social media is known for its viral effect. But this can also turn to the detriment of the company. For example, on March 2009, a YouTube video was released showing two Domino’s Pizza employees sneezing and coughing on a customer’s food. It got more than a million hit which indicates the level of impact such events have in the current world of social media. This episode ended with the company CEO’s apology (Sellnow, 161). The measurements for success The next question that arises is that how can the success be measured in the domain of social media. There may not be any visible monetary benefits but there must be a framework that defines success in Facebook and Twitter. There is indeed a framework which can measure the success of a company in social media marketing. If the company is on Facebook then following factors should be looked at – 1- The number of fans of the company’s page/group 2- What percentage of the company’s content is shared on facebook 3- The percentage of the traffic that is driven to the company’s website Similar parameters exist for Twitter. They are – 1- Number of followers. 2- Number of retweets on all links 3- Number of people who respond (@) to questions, polls, etc 4- Percentage of traffic directed to the website 5- Whether the company’s content is becoming a trending topic or not. The information gathered about above factors can provide an insight into the success or failure of marketing efforts. While the above factors may not generate sales in the short-term, they build up a momentum of demand for the company’s products and hence are desirable in the long term success. Burberry and social media Burberry is a 154 year old brand that has reinvented itself in the past few years. It has focused a lot on the Customer Relationship Management. The company focuses on organizing shows and other events for its customers throughout the world. Last quarter Burberry reported an increased in its sales and profits. The reason provided was the right strategy of the company in the social media marketing department (Haig, 120). Burberry has invested much of its resources into digitization of its fashion content, that in a recent interview, Angela Ahrendts describes Burberry, a fashion company, as digitized content media. This reflects the effort put in the website, in-store visual display and integration of cross-continental fashion shows. It is in a premium luxury segment and organizes ramp shows and road shows in every part of the world (Smith, 107). The strategy of Burberry is to actively engage its fans and followers on Facebook and Twitter in a simple conversation about its products. The participants are told about exclusive offers on the social media sites. It is this simplicity and dedicated effort which has further increased the popularity if the brand. In the current climate of global economic slowdown, it is necessary for a company to aggressively promote the brand by creating compelling content. This will make them stand out in the crowd and motivate consumers to buy their products. But Burberry hasn’t limited itself to any one social media site. It was the first anong a handful of companies to get itself included in the Google+. Burberry is a brand that is known for its elegance and style. It has carried forward this quality into the its Twitter and Facebook pages. When a person opens their page, he can see the flash images with music. There are many links provided from where people can shop. There is also a tab called Investors which guides the prospective clients to the company’s website and provides the information in detail. Along the bottom you can see a link to RSS that opens a page offering five different feeds form financial to corporate results and presentations. The visitor is then greeted by a streamed webcast which shows the CEO introducing preliminary results for the quarter. There are also other information files such as pdf slides present. There are other features such as Burberrt Live which acts as a hub for social media links comprising of Art of the Trench, a site set up by Burberry to interact with its customers. Burberry is also very active on the Twitter. It organized an event called ‘’Tweetwalk’’ in a London based Fashion house. This had a huge effect on the popularity of both Burberry and its designers. After this event they even trended worldwide on the platform. There were public conversations taking place during the show and the popularity was so immense that the topic trended on the charts and broke all records. What social media such as Facebook and Twitter have done to Burberry is that they have consolidated the customers of Burberry into one place. Today almost every person belonging to affluent sections of the society (Burberry’s customer) uses Facebook and Twitter. The relationship that Burberry maintains through its slick website and later through marvelous products is what makes it so successful in social media marketing. Recommendations Burberry has done a marvelous job with its Facebook and Twitter pages. But there are still a few features which when added can give immense benefit to the company. They are – 1- There should be a highly visible link on the profiles which guide the visitors to their company’s website. 2- There can be an indirect communication to the investors about the efforts of Burberry in engaging with customers. This can be achieved by providing a link on its Corporate New section which takes the visitor to the social media news room. 3- Post videos about the famous and reputed Burberry Foundation that would make the customers more informed about Burberry’s serious attitude towards CSR. 4- Burberry can provide with a weekly update or newsletter to those people who display interest and apply for it. This would show the company’s appreciation for curiosity of prospective customers. 5- Burberry’s own media site Art of the Trench can be further developed used as a very effective tool to monitor and record client feedback. 6- Closely monitor the discussions on Facebook and keep a tight control on any harmful news/rumor that can become viral and go out of control. Works Cited Berko, R. ICOMM: Interpersonal Concepts and Competencies : Foundations of Interpersonal Bonk, C. Empowering Online Learning. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 2009. Print. Communication Power . New York. Oxford University Press. Print. Hollenses, S. Global Marketing: a Decision-Oriented Approach. New York: Pearson Education, 2007. Print. Jarboe, G. YouTube and Video Marketing: An Hour a Day. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 2011. Print Klososky, S. The Velocity Manifesto. New York: Greenleaf Book Group, 2011. Print. Presents, 2010. Print. Sellnow, T. Effective Crisis Communication: Moving From Crisis to Opportunity. 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