Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Brand Communication Through Beauty Blogging
Brand Communication Through Beauty Blogging
Submitted By
Suraiya Mahnur
Student ID: 131012084
Summary ...................................................................................................................... v
2.1.1 Blogs/Blogging............................................................................................ 9
Reference .................................................................................................................... 20
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Acknowledgements
I would like to pay my deepest gratitude and deep respect to my Internship Supervisor
Assistant Professor Dr. Sarkar Barbaq Quarmal for his continuous support, guidance,
valuable suggestions and helping me wherever I needed throughout writing this thesis paper.
I really can’t thank him enough for the support he gave me to complete my report. The way
my supervisor helped me, I must say without his help it would’ve been impossible for me to
complete my report in a good manner. His continuous guidance, precious advice and
Last but not the least; I would like to express my thanks and gratitude to all my respected
teachers in Media Studies and Journalism Department. I would like to thank admin officer
Al Imran for his support and help. And I am grateful to my loving family, my classmates
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Plagiarism Declaration
1. I know that plagiarism means taking and using the ideas, writings, works or inventions of
another as if they were someone’s own. I know that plagiarism not only includes verbatim
copying, but also the extensive use of another person’s ideas without proper
acknowledgement (which includes the proper use of quotation marks). I know that
plagiarism covers this sort of use of material found in textual sources and from the Internet.
acknowledge that copying someone else’s assignment, or part of it, is wrong, and that
5. I have not allowed, nor will I in the future allow, anyone to copy my work with the
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Internship Report Approval Form
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Summary
This Study aims to present the current scenario of beauty blogging in Bangladesh and the
way brand communication is being done through the beauty blogs. Nowadays, no one can
imagine life without social media. Though, at the beginning social media, such as blogs,
social networking sites etc. were spaces to express feelings as well as to interact with other
people, it soon became a very effective business tool. Such aspect of social media has been
explored by many scholars in different countries in the world. But, that’s not the case in
Bangladesh. As, such there is a lack of existing literature and insights regarding the issue.
The present study is expected to make some contribution in fulfilling that knowledge gap.
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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background:
Social media are web-based communication tools that enable people to interact with each
other by both sharing and consuming information (lifewire.com, 2017). Boyd (2008)
provided a more precise definition of social media that reads:
Web based services that allow individuals to (1) construct a public or semipublic
profile within a bounded system, (2) articulates a list of other users with whom they
share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and those
made by others within the system. The nature and nomenclature of these connections
may vary from site to site”.
Nowadays, social media has become the part and parcel of our life. Now People can’t even
imagine their life without social media. Drew Hendricks (2013) on smallbiztrends.com
stated that, “Interacting with friends and family across long distances has been a concern of
humans for centuries. As social animals, people have always relied on communication to
humans have dreamed up plenty of creative solutions. The first recognizable social media
site, Six Degrees, was created in 1997. It enabled users to upload a profile and make friends
with other users. In 1999, the first blogging sites became popular, creating a social media
After the invention of blogging, social media began to explode in popularity. Sites
like MySpace and LinkedIn gained prominence in the early 2000s, and sites like
Photobucket and Flickr facilitated online photo sharing. YouTube came out in 2005,
creating an entirely new way for people to communicate and share with each other across
great distances.
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By 2006, Facebook and Twitter both became available to users throughout the world.
These sites remain some of the most popular social networks on the Internet. Other sites like
Tumblr, Spotify, Foursquare and Pinterest began popping up to fill specific social
networking niches.
Today, there is a tremendous variety of social networking sites, and many of them
can be linked to allow cross-posting. This creates an environment where users can reach the
communication.”
now spend up to nine hours a day on social platforms, while 30% of all time spent online is
now allocated to social media interaction. And the majority of that time is on mobile - 60%
of social media time spent is facilitated by a mobile device. And, not only in the US but
people from all around the globe spend a great amount of their time using social media.
According to Pew Research Center (2016), “A majority of Americans now say they get
news via social media, and half of the public has turned to these sites to learn about the 2016
presidential election. Americans are using social media in the context of work (to take a
mental break on the job or to seek out employment), while also engaging in an ongoing
effort to navigate the complex privacy issues that these sites bring to the forefront”.
As of 2016, more than Sixty-eight percent of internet users was social media users
(statistica.com, ND) Statista.com (ND) has estimated that the number of social media users
around the globe to reach 2.67 billion in 2018 which was 1.91 billion in 2014. It wouldn’t be
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an exaggeration to state that social media penetration worldwide seems to be ever-
increasing.” (statista.com)
Just like the rest of the world, numbers of Internet users and social media users have
subscribers in Bangladesh was 67.245 million at the end of February 2017 among which
63.120 million people use mobile Internet. Also, at the same time the number of mobile
subscriber in Bangladesh was 129.584 million (BTRC, 2017b). According to the UK-based
It can be seen that in last few years, social media has become one of the biggest
sources of news and information. Alongside, it has become a great place for doing business.
Many people from all over the world now do business based on social media and also
companies are now more active on their social sites more than before. Social media
networks are incredible resources for businesses looking to promote their brands online. The
platforms themselves are free to use, but also have paid advertising options specifically for
brands that want to reach even more new audiences. Newer social platforms, including
Snapchat, Instagram, Musical.ly, are also competing for their share of the
market. Accordingly, brands are jumping into social media with social media ad spend
expected to reach $36 billion in 2017 (socialmediatoday.com, 2017) And, many brands,
specially brands those related to beauty products, are doing their advertising through beauty
blogs.
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Beauty blogging is a relatively new phenomenon in the world of social media.
knowledge about hair, makeup, skincare and fashion. They don’t keep it to themselves,
though. Through personal blogs and websites, they share what they know with the world. So
basically, content that made by a beauty blogger is known as a beauty blog. All the beauty
bloggers have their own blog site where they post their content.
Beauty bloggers have to create a lot of contents, a lot. They blog about makeup, hair
styles, skincare products, outfits and pretty much anything else that falls under the category
of “beauty.” They take photos of hair and makeup, so some knowledge of lighting and
photography is important. And they make videos showing their readers how to create their
own looks. It’s a lot of work, but it’s done by people passionate about the beauty industry.
In addition to blogging, beauty bloggers have to keep their social media up-to-date.
They post engaging photos to their Instagram and Facebook accounts. They tweet regularly
and often run YouTube channels. What’s the point of making amazing content if you don’t
share it?
Also, beauty bloggers collaborate with other artists in their community. Building
relationships with the other beauty gurus is super important. They often exchange content in
the form of guest blogging, they host events together and they visit local shops and salons to
It can be extracted from the discussion above that Beauty Blogging means not just
reviewing makeup product or uploading makeup videos, beauty blogging is much more than
that.
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Precise information regarding the first beauty blogger couldn’t be found, however,
probably it started around in 2006-2007 in the US and then it started to flourish. The first
popular Beauty Blogger on Youtube was Michelle Phan who is also owner of a company
and affiliated with various brands. According to Wikipedia, till 2016, In the YouTube
beauty community, there is a large number of more than 45,000 YouTube channels
specializing in fashion and beauty videos, such as beauty talks, makeup tutorials and other
suggestions.
Beauty bloggers have already become a very important group in the social media
world. Sophie Bianchi, digital marketer based in Hong Kong, states in her Huffington Post
Recently brands have started paying attention to these ‘Beauty Bloggers’ and rightly
so, as they should be a crucial part of their marketing and communications
strategy”.
Bianchi explained in the later part of the article why beauty bloggers have become
For decades, brands chose to be represented by celebrities in the public eye. This
strategy made perfect sense: stars are attractive and well-known. Who better to sell
a beauty product than the beautiful Scarlett Johansson? The problem is, consumers
grew increasingly skeptical of these endorsements. They could clearly tell that a)
Scarlett’s photos had been photoshopped and b) the celebrity was being paid to sell
the product.
Bianchi also noted that consumers turned to the beauty bloggers for unbiased and
truthful reviews of products and making purchase decisions regarding beauty products based
on their recommendations:
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Bloggers and vloggers have become huge influences in consumers’ purchase
decisions worldwide. In fact a recent poll by London Beauty Queen showed that 47%
of people had made “tons of purchases off the back of a blog recommendation” and
46% had made “a few”. Only 7% hadn’t made any purchases based on a blogger
The trend of beauty blogging has reached Bangladesh as well. Though beauty
have managed to create a significant audience/followers base. They continuously write blogs
and post videos on their YouTube channels. And, looking at the comments in such beauty
blogs, it seems that many young Bangladeshi women now follow the reviews that beauty
bloggers provide while purchasing any product. Like any other country, the number of
beauty blogger in Bangladesh is increasing fast. It is difficult say who started this for there is
no precise information regarding the first Bangladeshi beauty blogger. However, one of the
pioneers in beauty blogging in Bangladesh, Tansia Ayon, started her blog around the year
2010. In the years 2014-1015, the number of beauty bloggers started increasing rapidly and
currently there are many beauty bloggers who writes blogs and also post videos on youtube.
Ashfi Onadi, Umme Sumaiya, Nuzuma Shama, Farhana Niloy, Shahanaz Shimul are the
most popular beauty bloggers in Bangladesh these days. And, as people believe beauty
bloggers more than celebrities, many famous brands have started using beauty bloggers to
advertise their product. For example, Sunsilk Hair expert BD nowadays does advertising for
their Facebook page using few beauty bloggers. Another popular makeup brand Golden
Blogging is one of the most popular social media tool, and just like rest of the world
bloggers have influence over other social media users. In Bangladesh, such influence could
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Beauty blogging is a new phenomenon in Bangladesh. From the experiences in the
other countries, it can be assumed that beauty bloggers, just like other bloggers, have a
particular group of audiences and can greatly influence them regarding fashion and beauty
practices. As such, famous and popular brands are using them as ambassador’s. As a girl
interested in fashion and beauty as well as a Public Relations student, the researcher has an
interest in the issue that how much influence the beauty bloggers have on the makeover
decision-making of young women in Dhaka City and how they are promoting different
brands through their blogs. However, she couldn’t find any academic research regarding this
and decided to explore the issue which would satisfy her personal curiosity as well as
What is the perception of beauty bloggers among the women of Dhaka City?
What is the role of beauty bloggers in women’s makeover decision-making?
What are the tactics beauty bloggers do apply to promote different brands through
their blogs?
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1.4 Significance of the Study:
There is a dearth of research regarding the issue in focus. As a matter of fact, no such
academic study was found. So, the present study is going to be a ground-breaking
research work in this area.
The findings of the study would help brands to come up with better communication
strategies.
The study will be helpful for future researchers. They may use it as a guideline.
As it was mentioned earlier that no academic study was found regarding the issue in focus,
there is a lot to explore. However, due to time and resource constrains, the researcher will
limit her study within the Dhaka North and Dhaka South City Corporation area.
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CHAPTER II
LITERATURE REVIEW
In the chapter I, background of this research has been described. Definitions of the terms
used in this study and a review of existing literature is presented in this chapter. This
literature review will include both the global and national perspective about brand
a website that contains online personal reflections, comments, and often hyperlinks,
videos, and photographs provided by the writer; also: the contents of such a site.
particular topic and consists of articles and personal commentary by one or more authors”.
Aggregated blogs, etc. Blogs can also be categorized by genre, by media type and also by
Device.
Some blogs focus on a particular subject, such as political blogs, journalism blogs,
health blogs, travel blogs (also known as travelogs), gardening blogs, house blogs, book
blogs, fashion blogs, beauty blogs, lifestyle blogs, party blogs, wedding blogs, photography
blogs, project blogs, psychology blogs, sociology blogs, education blogs, niche blogs,
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classical music blogs, quizzing blogs, legal blogs (often referred to as a blawgs), or
dreamlogs. How-to/Tutorial blogs are becoming increasing popular. Two common types of
genre blogs are art blogs and music blogs. A blog featuring discussions especially about
home and family is not uncommonly called a mom blog and one made popular is by Erica
readers monthly. While not a legitimate type of blog, one used for the sole purpose of
2.1.3 Beauty Blogs. Precise definition of the terms “beauty blog” and “beauty
blogger” could not be found on the web. However, people’s perception regarding beauty
blogger was found. From those perceptions “Beauty Blogger” can be defined as “a person
who teaches how to do make ups, and take care of skin as well as reviews products and
company and its products.” Brand communication can be done in many ways, however,
nowadays one of the major tool of brand communication is using social media and beauty
Finding current literature for the thesis was a critical part due to the fact that the topic
researched is a new field of study. It was especially difficult to find any books with
theoretical framework on blogging and its effect on the purchase behavior of the consumers.
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Specially, any published research related to the issue in focus couldn’t be found in
Bangladesh. As such, it was quite challenging to gather on recent updates about beauty
blogs in Bangladesh. However, after extensive search some related literature could be found.
understood that beauty blogging is a rising phenomenon all over the world, and Bangladesh
is not an exception to this. Globally, over 50 million people watch more than 1.6 billion
minutes of consumer created fashion and beauty videos on YouTube (StyleHaul, 2014).
Fashion and beauty videos are a specific type of video blogging, or vlogging. Since 2006,
there have been over 14.6 billion views of these videos, with an average of 700 million
views per month in 2013. More than 45,000 YouTube channels exist specializing in fashion
and beauty videos. Consumers currently create ninety-seven percent of these videos (Beauty
on YouTube, 2014). In 2015, “in total 45.3 Billion views on beauty video, and 50% views
increase in beauty video on youtube. Pixability’s new study analyzes the YouTube practices
of 215 beauty brands and 182,621 independent YouTube beauty creators who create
(pixability.com,2015). This study was done in 2015, and it might be taken as obvious that in
last two years the number of beauty videos and views on them increased by a lot.
Sykes (2014) stated in her thesis paper "Making Sense of Beauty Vlogging" that
adolescent and young adult females are the primary viewers of fashion and beauty videos on
YouTube. Watching these videos not only provides women with information about new
products but also inspires new styles for daily looks. The personable and relaxed nature of
these videos allows the viewer to feel a more intimate connection with the vlogger. She also
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added, “Young women are not the only players within this space. Retailers feel the impact
on products featured in videos. A recent Google study showed that four out of every ten
apparel videos viewed led to the viewer visiting the physical or online store as a direct
response to seeing a video (The Role of Mobile, 2012). Marketing and advertising firms
Nowadays, teenager to middle age women love to watch beauty videos and it seems that
beauty bloggers have a good influence on their audience. And that’s why brands promote their
product through beauty blogger now a day. It’s a win-win situation for all the parties because the
blogger get paid by the companies, audience buy the product as they get a good review by the
blogger.
From Sanna Penttala and Heidi Saarela’s (2012) research “Study on the effect of blogs on
young women’s online buying behavior when purchasing fashion items from online stores”
Fashion bloggers can earn to hundreds of thousands of dollars per year, fashion
industry trade paper Women's Wear Daily reports. And the bulk of the money isn't
necessarily coming from brands paying for ads on their sites —it comes from brands
paying the bloggers to endorse their products in various ways. A clothing label
might hire a fashion blogger to style a runway show and tweet and blog about the
project; or to serve as a model in their ad campaigns and post the images on their
blog; or to simply endorse a product the way a celebrity would, by tweeting about it
or posting about it on their site. For such endorsements, brands might pay bloggers
four to six figures. While many experts say the value of the return on that investment
is unclear, some bloggers do have the power to cause an item to sell out by simply
tweeting a link to where followers can buy it (Buzzfeed Shift, 2012).
pages. Naturally when a blog discusses clothing and accessories, they must also be displayed
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in the blog through photographs and images. Fashion blogs are explanatory where especially
the products and their brand names are emphasized. Thereby, fashion blogs can also be seen
as a form of indirect product advertisement not only because of the content of the text and
images posted by the blogger, but as they include links to company web store where the type
and former model could be taken as an example in this regard. Hanneli’s interest in fashion
and style has driven her to different projects involving fashion. Her eye for style can be seen
in her blog www.hanneli.com, and it has inspired women across Europe. Her vast blog
popularity has caught the attention of different companies across the globe and has made her
a celebrity.
One of Hanneli’s collaborations was with Massimo Dutti, a Spanish high street
fashion company. She was hired to do an advertising campaign with her favorite picks from
Massimo Dutti`s clothing and accessory line of Spring 2012. Not only did she advertising
Massimo in their international campaigns but also adding videos and links of the company
in her own blog. It's a win/win situation for both as Hanneli gains a financial benefit and
further acknowledgement from the collaboration, Massimo Dutti gains the acceptance of a
celebrity blogger and updates their brand and company image with a fresh and current media
person. In addition, Hannelis popularity had enabled her to attend events like that of H&M
for Marni Spring 2012. She was highly photographed in the launching event of Marni for
H&M in Los Angeles, wearing Marni’s collection. She also picked her favorite style from
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Other examples of how much influence Hanneli’s blog has on the fashion industry
can be seen in the popularity of the articles written by her in international women's
magazines like Elle and Vogue. One of her recent statements in the Elle Finland was that she
"fans" Tory Buches famous ballerinas and tunics (Elle Magazine Finland, 2012). Statements
like these are part of current branding techniques for companies to gain acknowledgement
from famous bloggers and celebrities. They are part of indirect marketing.
As it can be sees that how much a blogger has influence on their audience and that’s
why writing blogs and making tutorials has become one of the very popular thing among the
young women. And Bangladeshi women bloggers are not lagging behind in this. They are
writing blogs as well as publishing video tutorials in you tube. An assumption regarding the
results of such efforts can be seen from the comments posted be the followers.
Fig. 1 shows a screenshot of a video tutorial released for Pohela Boishakh (Bengali
New Year’s Day) by Ashfi Onadi, one of the most famous beauty blogger in Bangladesh.
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Figure 2 shows the comments of the abovementioned video on youtube. So as we
can see most of the people wants suggestions from beauty bloggers and wants to know what
they use and from where they buy because people believe their recommendation.
Looking at the comments like “won’t you provide a hair-care tutorial this time, sis!”
[translated by the researcher from original Bengali comment] or “Sister, I have a lot acne
mark on my face. Can you give me any tips? My age is 14”, the role of and influence of a
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Figure 3. Screenshot of Sumayaa Meem’s Tutorial,
URL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mMvdpyXRRM
In the description shown in Fig 4, it can be easily understood that the blogger is
making suggestions by putting the sources of her fashion accessories. And again, the
comments presented in Fig 5 (e.g. You’re looking so beautiful; the dress is really beautiful,
where did you get it? I want to buy that dress) show the result.
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Figure 5, Comments on Sumayaa Meem’s tutorial
Brands used to endorse their product through celebrities before and still many brands
do the same. But, as social media is making huge impact everywhere and a large number of
people have account on social media even in a developing country like Bangladesh, brands
are changing their tactics. Alongside, using celebrities in their TVCs, they are also using
beauty bloggers to promote their products through social media. Many brands like Sunsilk,
Knor, Ponds, etc. are even producing specialized social media ads endorsed by beauty
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Figure 6, Screenshot of Sunsilk Page on Facebook
Internet as a strategic communication tool have also recognized the power of influential
members of this platform, i.e. bloggers, who share their brand experiences on a regular
basis. These digital influencers have an effect on the members of particular communities
gathered around similar interests. The influence of the bloggers in this case could be seen
similar to the opinion leaders which Katz and Lazarsfeld (1955) first introduced in their two-
step flow theory. According to the theory, certain people recognized as opinion leaders
interpret media information they receive and then pass it to others, thus increasing its
influence. In other words, mass media messages may not always affect the public directly;
as the two step flow theory states, opinion leaders mediate the transmission of information.
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Bloggers can be considered as digital influencers, similar to the offline opinion leaders
considered in two-step flow theory. These influencers can mediate messages and affect
communities in the digital environment, where messages can be disseminated rapidly and
easily with a potentially viral effect. Consequently, it is essential for brands to engage with
bloggers, online influencers, in order to attain authentic and trustworthy presence among
online communities.
blogs has been found. However, a study on Social Meida’s problems and prospects as a tool
of Brand Communication was found. In the study Bhuyan (2014) noted that the companies
doing business in Bangladesh to grab “the tempting economic benefits of social media”.
Also, he urged the companies to be consistent and active with their social participation to
minimize the risks associated with any adverse publicity. In order to do so, the author
suggested the companies to appoint executives who will be responsible for developing and
For the area of Brand Communication Through social media, more precisely- beauty
for having a proper understanding of it. It is expected that the present study will partially
contribute to that.
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REFERENCE
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Nations, D. (2017). What Is Social Media? Explaining the Big Trend. Available
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Hendricks, D. (2013). Complete History of Social Media: Then and Now. Available
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infographic.html
Moreau, E. (2017). The Top Social Networking Sites People Are Using. Available
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Bhuiyan, Mehdi Musharraf, “Only 14pc Bangladeshis have social media account”,
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http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2016/09/11/45530/Only-14pc-Bangladeshis-have-
social-media-account
Hussain, Ishtiaq “Mobile internet users now over 60m in Bangladesh”, Dhaka
Tribune, 31 August, 2016, Available from:
http://www.dhakatribune.com/business/2016/08/31/mobile-internet-users-now-60m-
bangladesh/
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Sachs, Justin (2016). The 7 Best Social Media Channels for Business Marketing.
Available from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/young-entrepreneur-council/the-10-best-
social-media_b_11654820.html
Penttala, S., Sareela, H. (2012). Study on the effect of blogs on young women’s
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https://www.theseus.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/49601/penttala_sanna%20saarela_hedi.pdf?s
equence=1
Sykes, S. (2014). Making Sense of Beauty Vlogging. These. Paper 75. Available
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Gleeson, B. (2012). 6 Ways Brands Build Trust Through Social Media. Available
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Paquette, H. (2013). Social Media as a Marketing Tool: A Literature Review.
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http://digitalcommons.uri.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=tmd_major_paper
s
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