SOCIAL MEDIA AS A TOOL FOR BRAND AWARENESS AND

MARKETING

PROJECT REPORT

Submitted by
ALAN DANIEL

Register No: VJC20MBA03

Under the guidance of

DR. ANISH JOHN A

In partial fulfilment of the requirements

for the award of the degree of

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

of
APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University

VISWAJYOTHI DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES

VAZHAKULAM
JULY 2022

1
 DECLARATION

I undersigned, hereby declare that the project report titled “Social Media As A Tool
For Brand Awareness And Marketing”, submitted in partial fulfilment of the
requirement for the award of Degree of Master of Business Administration of APJ
Abdul Kalam Technological University (KTU) is a bonafide record of work done
by me under the guidance of Dr Anish John A (Assistant Professor), Department
of MBA, Viswajyothi Department of Management Studies, Vazhakulam. This
report has not previously formed the basis for the award of any degree, diploma, or
similar title of any University.

20-08-2022 Alan Daniel

2
 VISWAJYOTHI COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING &
TECHNOLOGY, VAZHAKULAM

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the report titled “Social Media As A Tool For Brand
Awareness And Marketing” being submitted by Mr. ALAN DANIEL,
VJC20MBA03 in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the Degree
of Master of Business Administration, is a bonafide record of the project work done
by Mr. Alan Daniel of Department of Management Studies of Viswajyothi College
of Engineering and Technology.

Dr. ANISH JOHN A Dr. CYRIAC JOSEPH

Assistant Professor DEAN & HOD

3
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to extend my sincere gratitude towards all our personages who have
helped mein this endeavour. Without their active guidance, help, cooperation and
encouragement, I would not have made headway with this project.

I extend my gratitude to Dr. Cyriac Joseph, Dean and HOD of the Department
of Management Studies, who is a constant source of inspiration and whose advice
helped me to complete this projectsuccessfully.

I express my sincere thanks and gratitude to my guide Dr. Anish John A, Assistant
Professor, Department of Management Studies, for his valuable guidance and
supervision forcompletion of this project effectively.

I take this opportunity to thank all the faculty members of Viswajyothi College of
Engineering & Technology, Vazhakulam, and all those who helped me directly or
indirectlyby their timely advice and encouragement in the fulfilment of this work.

Finally, I express my deep appreciation to all my friends and family members for
the moral support and encouragement they have given to complete this project
successfully.

Date: 20-08-2022 ALAN DANIEL

Place: Vazhakulam

4
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

SI. NO TOPICS PAGE NO

1 INTRODUCTION 2
1.1 Background study 2
1.2 Objective of the study 5
1.3 Limitations of study 5
2 LITERATURE REVIEW 7
2.1 Social media 7
2.1.1 Facebook 8
2.1.2 Twitter 9
2.1.3 YouTube 9
2.1.4 LinkedIn 10
2.1.5 Telegram 10
2.1.6 WhatsApp 11
2.1.7 Instagram 12
3 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 15
3.1 The role of social media 15
3.2 Marketing through social media 16
3.3 The power and value of social media 20
3.3.1 Sarnoff’s Law 20
3.3.2 Metcalfe’s Law 21
3.3.3 Reed’s Law 22
3.4 Factors to determine whetther social 23
media impact brad awareness
3.5 Offline versus Online network 25
3.6 Importance of Social Media monitoring 28
and management tools
3.7 Online branding 28
3.7.1 Challenges of online branding 31
3.7.2 Brand equity 33
3.8 Traditional advertising channels 34
4 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 38
4.1 Research purpose 40
5
 4.1.1 Descriptive study 40
4.1.2 Explanatory study 40
4.1.3 Exploratory study 41
4.2 Qualitative research 42
4.3 Source of data 43
4.4 Data collection methods 46
5 DATA ANALYSIS 49
5.1 Itronic business portfolio and E- 49
commerce strategy
5.2 Social media strategy and branding 51
6 FINDINGS, SUGGESTIONS AND 59
CONCLUSION
6.1 Findings 59
6.2 Suggestions 59
6.3 Conclusion 60
7 BIBLIOGRAPHY 63
7.1 Reference 63
8 APPENDIX 67

List of Tables

Table No Title of the Table Page No

1 Social media metric 24
2 Comparison between Offline and Online Social networks 26
constructs
3 Five rationales for single case design 45
4 Itronic online demographics statistics 56

6
 List of Figures

Figure No Title of the Figure Page No

1 The dynamics of social in the social network sphere 16
2 Social media sales funnel 19
3 A network representative of Sarnoff’s Law 21
4 Metcalfe’s Law 22
5 Reed’s Law 23
6 Proposed framework for the theoretical framework of the study 36
7 Research Process of the project 39
8 Itronic source of Sales Online vs. Offline 50
9 Itronic Facebook promotion 51
10 Reasons for following Brands on social media networks 55

7
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Today social media is extremely competitive. New apps have emerged with
recent technology in order to develop social environment. New apps have
enabled learners to get new user experience and increase adaptability. As
new spectrum like 5G has emerged result in lowering the data cost and
improving better communication for netizen. The purpose of the study is to
provide an overall outlook of social media apps and improve customer
experience provided by the former. From this study we have concluded that
social media is considered as a marketing tool helps in creating brand
awareness among netizen. The result from the research suggests that social
media has various dimensions and has significant impact on user experience
of a netizen.

0
 CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1
1. INTRODUCTION

This chapter introduces the subject of the study which is the social media and
also outlines the motivation of the study including aims and objective of
the study. This is also followed by definition of research problems and
limitation of the research.

1.1 Background study

The rise of social media has attracted a lot of attention to businesses and
people participating on the networking scene. However, there is very little
comprehension of the phrase when it comes to providing a precise
explanation of what social media actually is. On how social media differs
from the related but interchangeable concepts of web 2.0 and user-generated
content, managers and academic researchers appear to disagree (Kaplan and
Haenlein: 2009).

The origins of social media may be traced all the way back to the early days
of the internet, from which it can be deduced that similar ideas have their
origins. Usenet was established in 1979 by Truscott and Ellis from Duke
University as a global discussion forum that let users to send open messages.
The talks on Usenet, a cross between email and web forums, are threaded
using contemporary news reader software (http://nzblord.com/usenet/).
User-generated content first became popular in 2005 and now includes a
wide range of media material. It encompasses all forms of digital media
technology, including wikis, digital video, podcasts, blogs, forums, and
social networking sites. Therefore, user generated content is the culmination
of all of the ways that individuals utilise social media (Kaplan and Haenlein
2009).

Tim O'Reilly first used the term "Web 2.0" in 2004, but ever since then, it
has been challenging to define. Web 2.0, however, is all about sharing

2
information and working together online. The two key characteristics that
Coherently, Alexander, and Levine (2008) highlighted are Micro content and
social media are crucial in separating web 2.0 initiatives from the rest of the
web. With the help of the micro content function, authors may produce little
bits of material, each of which explains a key topic or subject. The
components are designed to be reused in many settings and are smaller than
webpages. Examples of these works may be found in wiki changes, blog
posts, Picasa photos, YouTube comments, and other places.

A claim has been made that software developers and end users began to use
the World Wide Web in order to continually alter contents and applications
in a participatory and collaborative manner, in addition to the description of
web 2.0 provided above. In actuality, web 2.0 is regarded as the foundation
for the development of social media. In light of this, Kaplan and Haenlein
(2009) define social media as a collection of internet-based programmes that
build on web 2.0's theoretical and technical pillars and permit the production
and sharing of user-generated content.

Since the concepts are intertwined, there will always be controversy about
who can correctly define the words, and as a result, many social network
users and management will continue to use the term "social media"
interchangeably. It is reasonable to assume that this is a transformation of
the networking community, which initially emerged in the late 1970s. The
changes appear to take on various names and shapes as a result of the rapid
improvements in technology, but the fundamental aspects remain largely the
same. Marshall McLuhan shares this viewpoint, saying that social media is
the framework that evolves with new technologies rather than merely the
image contained within the frame.

(http://thinkexist.com/quotation/it_is_the_framework_which_changes_with
_each_new/152871.html).

McLuhan was a philosopher, whose work is viewed as the cornerstones of

the study of media theory, as well as advertising and television industries.

Marketers have conducted study on the best ways to improve current and

3
potential consumers' relationships with producers (companies) over the
years. The debate was first started by Grönroos (1994), who declared a
paradigm shift from the marketing mix to relationship marketing and came
to the conclusion that marketing is a multifaceted social process and that the
traditional 4Ps are no longer valid due to changing business trends like
alliances, networks, and strategic partnerships. Morgan and Hunt (1994),
who proposed that commitment and trust are necessary for a successful
connection between a firm and its consumers, introduced the fascinating
aspect of the discussion (Morgan and Hunt 1994). The interactions between
the business and the customer ought to be an ongoing process, on continuous
discrete basis with a view of seeing a customer as a relationship partner
(Grönroos 2005: 21).

A personal interest in social media and a desire to look into the effects and
connections between social media and brand recognition from a commercial
standpoint served as the driving forces behind this study. Even while social
media and advertising have been studied (Palmer & Lewis: 2007, Tuten
2008, Webber 2007), the effects of social media on brand recognition from
a commercial viewpoint have not. This is evident from a cursory examination
of the literature. However, the closest research that examined social media
networks and branding was Harris and Rae's (2011) paper, "creating a
personal brand through social networking." However, Harris and Rae's
approach was limited to exploiting social networks to develop one's own
personal brand. In his Harvard Business Review essay, Dutta (2010) also
examined the effects of social media from a human perspective. Due to the
lack of information on the effects of social media on brand awareness from
a commercial perspective, this study will look at those effects as well as the
difficulties associated with their implementation. Recently, Facebook's
influence and increase in market value in terms of brand equity have been
seen. An expert claims that Facebook's market valuation increased to $3.71
billion as a result of the popularity of social media, which increased the
company's user base and advertising income
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16789785).

4
Obama made good use of social media during the US presidential campaign
in 2008, and he later established a reputation for himself online. The purpose
of the study is to investigate how social media affects branding as a
marketing strategy and to ascertain if traditional advertising channels like
print and radio have become obsolete as a result of social media.

1.2 Objective of the study

 To understand the usage of social media networks to create brand

awareness.

 To study the effectiveness of social media in terms of reachability could

potentially reach many people.

1.3 Limitation of the study

 This research was conducted using a cross sectional data from a small
scale company and therefore did not provide enough longitudinal data
(Longitudinal data are data sources that are collected over a period of
time through repeated contacts with the same respondents) to arrive at
conclusive solution. The research should have also been conducted as a
triangulation study i.e. qualitative and quantitative research. This would
have provided data from both the consumer point of view and the
company point of view but because of limited resources the study was
conducted as a single case study to serve a purpose.

 The findings cannot be generalized to include all the companies that use
social media, therefore these findings in the study are only related to the
case company because different companies use different social networks
like LinkedIn, YouTube etc., and also some might have social media
strategy with different objectives.

5
 CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

6
2 LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter's goal is to conduct a critical examination of the literature on

the theoretical notions of brand awareness, traditional marketing channels,
and social media. A theoretical foundation for the study will be developed
through the literature review. Palmer and Lewis' (2009) article, An
experiential, social network-based approach to direct marketing, and Ralf
Beuker and Erik Roscam Abbing's (2010) paper, Two Faces of Social Media:
Brand Communication and Brand Research, serve as the study's key sources
of information.

2.1 Social media

Over the past several years, social media has grown significantly in
popularity, and as a result, other conventional media have seen a fall in both
profitability and popularity. Palmer and Lewis (2009) made the argument
that the mainstream media outlets have recently experienced several
difficulties that have forced their closure as TV earnings have declined.
Palmer and Lewis link the effectiveness of these conventional media to the
expansion of social media in branding and marketing. Due to competition
and the challenging economic climate, businesses have cut back on spending,
particularly on advertising, which has moved online. Companies (brands) are
allegedly steadily changing their advertising goals to better suit today's
consumers, according to a 2011 Forrester research report by Ernst.J, David
M., and Cooperstein, Dernoga M. The modern consumer is computer savvy
and obsessed with social media.We are thus brought to the notice of social
media networks by the expansion of social media network services in brand
management and marketing. The researcher will first describe social media
before outlining the networks that are influencing the discussion.

7
Different social media networking services have evolved over the last few
years, and there are now many social media channels that link individuals
with one another. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Flickr are the
most commonly used social networking sites. In reality, the most popular
internet marketing platforms used by businesses to build brand recognition
or just interact with customers are Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

In contrast to the other three networking sites described above, LinkedIn

primarily focuses on building relationships from a professional standpoint
and is gradually evolving into a B2B channel. However, only the top five
social networking services are examined for the sake of this study.

2.1.1 Facebook

Since its introduction in 2004, Facebook has grown to over 800 million
active members, 350 million of whom use Facebook via mobile devices (as
of September 2011). A typical Facebook user is said to be connected to 80
local community sites, organisations, and events, and has at least 130 friends.
The website supports more than 70 different languages. Its primary function
is to create and preserve connections with people in social or political
contexts, or even just among friends and family. The most effective
instrument for marketing nowadays is Facebook. A brand-new tool for
marketers and interested creative agencies was introduced by the firm in
April 2011. It is a type of web platform (Portal) that enables marketers and
creative design companies to create brand promotions on Facebook. With
this new tool, businesses like Financial Times and ABC News may now
produce dynamic commercial graphics or advertisements, making Facebook
a direct competitor of Google in online advertising.

8
2.1.2 Twitter

Jack Dorsey founded Twitter in March of that year, and it became live in
July. Twitter requires users to stay connected to the most recent information
on the topics they find fascinating, unlike Facebook where users may share
many items with their friends. To participate in the chats, one must locate
the public stream that interests them. There are 140 characters in each tweet.
There is no restriction on how many tweets one may send in a day, and one
can still follow the tweets even if they don't tweet at all.

Businesses can now share information or news with a large online audience
that follows them more quickly thanks to Twitter. From a strategic
standpoint, this has aided businesses that use Twitter to position their brands
and collect business insight from customer feedback to strengthen their
market intelligence and more effectively target customers with pertinent
services and products or strengthen business relationships. By directly
engaging the platform's engaged audience, Twitter has enhanced direct sales,
customer relationship marketing, and brand recognition.

2.1.3 YouTube

In order to allow people to publish, view, and share videos with others across
the world in an educational and inspirational way, YouTube was established
in February 2005. A vast range of user-generated video material is displayed
by the firm using Adobe Flash Video and HTML5 technologies. YouTube
serves as a distribution platform for content produced by individuals and
advertising alike. Every day, more than 3 billion videos are seen, with more
than 400 million of those views coming from mobile devices (2011). More
than 800 million individuals are thought to access YouTube each month to
view and exchange video.

Similar to the proverb "a picture is worth a thousand words," images are
shaped in people's minds through images. As a result, more companies are
now embracing YouTube for their marketing and advertising operations.

9
This has given YouTube a competitive edge in internet marketing. This type
of brand promotion has seen breakthroughs from a number of businesses,
particularly when the films have gone viral. The majority of these viral hits
may be ascribed to the brand marketer's skill and ingenuity in entertaining
the audience and encouraging them to share the videos with others.

2.1.4 LinkedIn

Although it began in 2002, LinkedIn was formally introduced on May 5,

2003. In order to exchange expertise and insight in the more than one million
LinkedIn groups, many professionals have signed up for the platform in
recent years. With more than 135 million users in more than 200 nations and
territories, the corporation runs the largest professional network on the
internet in the world. There are reportedly more than 2 million LinkedIn
Company Pages for businesses (as of November, 2011). French, German,
Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish,
Swedish, English, and Turkish are among the 14 languages that are now
offered.

Companies have access to a multitude of information on LinkedIn, most of

which are user-provided through their profile data, such as firm name, job
title, and company size. LinkedIn uses this information for member-targeted
advertising. Companies must pay a charge in order to market their goods and
services to specific LinkedIn users or LinkedIn affinity groups. The classic
instance is the success of Cathay Pacific Airlines, which asks its followers
on LinkedIn to promote the business in messages posted on their official
profile. The business has been able to do this through raising brand
recognition within its target market segment.

2.1.5 Telegram

A cross-platform, cloud-based, freemium IM service, Telegram is available

everywhere. In addition, the service offers extra services including VoIP, file
sharing, end-to-end encrypted conversations, and video calling. It debuted
on iOS on August 14, 2013, and on Android on October 20, 2013. While

10
Telegram's operating centre is situated in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, its
servers are dispersed throughout the globe in five distinct data centres.
Various client apps, including official ones for Android, iOS, Windows,
macOS, and Linux, are available for both desktop and mobile platforms
(although registration requires an iOS or Android device and a working
phone number). Additionally, the Telegram protocol is used by various
unauthorised clients as well as the two official web twin apps for Telegram,
WebK and WebZ. Except for the server, which is closed-sourced and
proprietary, all of Telegram's official components are open source.

End-to-end encrypted chats are an optional feature of Telegram. ISPs and

other network users cannot access data since cloud chats and groups are
encrypted between the app and the server. Users have unrestricted access to
text and voice messages, phone and video conversations, documents with a
maximum file size of 2 GB, animated stickers, contacts, and audio files. A
user can subscribe to channels.

The number of active monthly users on Telegram topped 500 million in

January 2021. With 1 billion downloads worldwide as of late August 2021,
it was the most downloaded app internationally in January 2021. The number
of active monthly users on Telegram topped 700 million in June 2022. The
next month saw the launch of Telegram Premium, an add-on paid
membership with a number of added features.

2.1.6 WhatsApp

The American business Meta Platforms is the owner of the freeware, cross-
platform, centralised instant messaging (IM) and voice-over-IP (VoIP)
service known as WhatsApp Messenger, or just WhatsApp (formerly
Facebook). It enables users to exchange photographs, documents, user
locations, and other material in addition to text and voice messages, phone
conversations, and video calls. The client application for WhatsApp is
available on PCs and works on mobile devices. To join up for the service,
you must have a mobile phone number. WhatsApp developed a separate

11
business app called WhatsApp Business in January 2018 that can connect
with the main WhatsApp client. The client application was developed by
Mountain View, California-based WhatsApp Inc., which Facebook
purchased in February 2014 for around US$19.3 billion. By 2015, it had
become the most widely used messaging service in the world, and by
February 2020, it had over 2 billion users. By 2016, it has supplanted other
Internet communication methods in places including Latin America, the
Indian subcontinent, and significant portions of Europe and Africa.

2.1.7 Instagram

In 2010, Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger launched Instagram, a social

media platform for sharing photos and videos. Facebook Inc. eventually
purchased Instagram, which is now known as Meta Platforms. Users of the
app may upload media that can be altered using filters, arranged by hashtags,
and categorised by location. Public or pre-approved followers may share
posts. Users may examine trending material, like photographs, follow other
users to add their stuff to a personal feed, and browse other users' content by
tag and location.

When Instagram first launched, it set itself apart by restricting content

framing to a square (1:1) aspect ratio of 640 pixels, which matched the width
of the iPhone's display at the time. This limitation was loosened in 2015 with
the upgrade to 1080 pixels. Additionally, it included messaging capabilities,
the ability to publish multiple photographs or videos, and a feature called
Stories that was comparable to Snapchat, its major rival, which enabled users
to submit their material to a chronological feed with each entry being seen
by others for a 24-hour period. In January 2019, 500 million people daily
utilised Stories. When it first debuted for iOS in October 2010, Instagram
garnered a lot of traction, registering one million users in just two months,
ten million in a year, and one billion by June 2018. For almost $1 billion in
cash and equity in April 2012, Facebook Inc. purchased the service. The
Android version was launched in April 2012, and then in November 2012, a
12
feature-limited desktop interface, in June 2014, a Fire OS app, and in
October 2016, a Windows 10 app. Over 40 billion images have been
uploaded as of October 2015. Although Instagram is frequently praised for
its popularity and impact, it has also come under fire for its claimed
censorship, policy changes, modifications to the user interface, and user-
uploaded offensive and illegal content.

13
 CHAPTER 3

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

14
3 Theoretical framework

3.1 The role of social media

Social media networks are programmes that let users create private websites
that other users may visit for the purpose of exchanging private information
and communicating (Palmer and Lewis 2009). Online tools, platforms, and
media that promote cooperation, communication, and the sharing of material
are referred to as social media, according to Palmer and Lewis.

Although communication is the central feature of social media networks,

Fauser et al. (2011) contend that not all platform types are equally ideal for
all marketing goals since the majority of platforms are not equally well suited
for information, cooperation, or even relationship-building (Fauser et al.
2011). Social networks are generally used for peer group or community
contact and the exchange of ideas that are of interest. However, Gummesson
(2002) asserts that the only way for a company and a client to establish and
sustain a long-lasting relationship is through regular conversation started by
the marketer on the interactive social networks (Gummesson 2002: 10). On
the other side, Janal (1998) suggests that information providers (marketers)
are the ones who are constructing their own communities with their social
network constructions, therefore staff members and outspoken members of
these constructs drive conversation. Additionally, those that speak up
become the thought leaders (Janal 1998: 214- 215). This leads to the
development of a partnership between the marketer and the online customer
or prospect. This indicates that there wouldn't be any significant involvement
within the online communities without communication among the
communities and the brand, which in this case is the company. As an
illustration, the graphic below depicts the type of interaction that occurs
inside the boundaries of the social sphere.

15
Figure1: The dynamics of social in the social network sphere: (Adapted from
Fauser et al 2011)
However, the challenge for businesses looking to engage with social
networks is how to manage the communication environment within the
network to ensure the safety of their brand image. Palmer and Lewis (2009)
come to the conclusion that a real social network should make its users feel
as though they are part of the community; otherwise, they may become
resentful. As a result, setting up internal roles, processes, and rules in line
with corporate goals is the first stage in a company's successful use of social
technology.

3.2 Marketing through Social Media

In a larger sense, the study's theme is social media as a tool for brand
recognition and marketing, however it is crucial to first define the term
"marketing" that is included in the study's title. The American Marketing
16
Association therefore defines marketing as an organisational function and a
collection of procedures for developing, disseminating, and providing value
to customers as well as for managing customer relationships in a way that is
advantageous to the company as a whole and its stakeholders. (2012)
Marketingpower.com

The terms "organisational function, and methods for generating,

communicating, delivering, and exchanging offers that have value for
clients" are the important phrases in the description given above. Brand
awareness, advertising, public relations, and other elements of these
activities are mentioned in the description above from the standpoint of an
organisation. As a result, for the sake of this study, we only concentrate on
one aspect of marketing, namely brand awareness or brand management as
a method of giving value to customers, as already stated in the American
Marketing Association's definition of marketing.

Internet marketing, according to Chaffey et al. (2003), is the use of the

Internet and other associated digital technologies to accomplish marketing
goals (Chaffey et al. 2003, 1). Social media networks, a class of internet
applications, may be used to achieve these marketing goals. Platforms for
social media networking are a tool for marketers (Qualman 2010: 28). This
suggests that Facebook, Twitter, and other online platforms are ways to carry
out marketing tactics. Therefore, it is crucial for marketers to choose
platforms that are compatible with their marketing goals. A sound marketing
aim helps marketers to bring in new clients while keeping the ones they
already have by satisfying their needs.
Chaffey et al. (2004) provide three more recommendations on how to use the
internet to accomplish the "processes."Identifying how the internet can be
used for marketing research to find out customers‟ needs and wants

 Expecting the contribution of internet income

 Customer happiness through electronic channels; in this context,
contentment refers to the site's usability, performance, and capacity to
define the level of related standard customer care.

17
(Chaffey et al. 2004, 318)

One of the many benefits of online marketing is that there are no regional
restrictions on the internet, and information can be accessed quickly and
cheaply. In addition to being cost-effective, the marketer may investigate
new suppliers for a fraction of the price of past searches. In other words, all
online marketing research is extremely cost-effective (Gay et al. 2007, 129).
However, Gay et al. (2007) are quick to highlight certain significant
weaknesses that internet marketing has. The first issue is that information
collecting across international borders may be hampered by linguistic and
cultural barriers. Second, it may be challenging to confirm that the
respondent is the person the marketer believes they are (Gay et al. 2007,
129).

Social media networks allow for the development of relationships between

the brand (marketer) and the online networking community. Knowing
when and where to network effectively is crucial for businesses if they
want to draw in quality leads and keep their relationships with the right
clients strong. From a commercial standpoint, streaming may be done by
concentrating on the appropriate online groups using the appropriate social
networking platforms. This procedure is comparable to a sales funnel.

The metaphor of the funnel, which is wide at the top and narrow at the
bottom, is used to track the sales process. The numerous individuals that a
business believes may require its goods or services are at the top of the
funnel, and as a result, it attracts them to its social networking platforms.
Sales that a business makes by giving its goods and services to those who
appreciate them are further down at the bottom. In the "Internet jungle,"
consumers are streamlined from various social networking sites according to
their preferences into the marketer's domain. The sales funnel is illustrated
in figure 2 below.

18
Many businesses today use social networking platforms that are trustworthy
to their current and potential customers to advertise. According to Kotler et
al. (2006), each firm has a considerably different marketing role. They
believe that small organisations don't create formal marketing groups at all
and instead acquire their marketing ideas from managers, salespeople, or
advertising agencies (Kotler et al. 2006).

Marketers utilise networking sites in an effort to get users into their own sales
funnels. Once the right audience has been attracted, the goal is to maintain
the relationship in order to keep the customer and also to satisfy the customer
in such a way that they become unpaid marketers by recommending the
brand's offerings to friends, family, coworkers, etc. As a result, the chain can
expand significantly from a small client network to a very complicated
network.

Figure 2: Social media sales

funnel:(http://socialmediatoday.com/SMC/176665)

19
3.3 The power and value of social networks

The relationships in a network can develop into incredibly complex patterns

(Gummesson 2002: 4). Therefore, contact between the online marketer and
the client must be formed on the social media platforms that are appropriate
for this type of connection to be established on a B2C level. A firm may opt
to go online for a number of reasons, including to develop or build a brand,
increase contacts and sales, or to save money by introducing other
procedures that reduce the expenditures the company is already spending.
Whatever the motivation for a firm coming online, understanding the
function and worth of the network is crucial.

Three value-governance laws that are relevant to social networks and

communities are listed below. These laws emphasise the value of a
connection exhibiting very intricate patterns. Although Sarnoff's law and
Metcalfe's law were not created by their creators expressly for social media
networks, they have nonetheless gained popularity due to the similarities
they have with the organisational structure of these networks.

3.3.1 Sarnoff’s Law

David Sarnoff, a businessman from the United States and the father of
commercial radio and television networks, is credited with creating this rule.
He was the National Broadcasting Company's founder (NBC). The Sarnoff
law was developed to compare the worth of a radio station to its audience
size. According to this theory, a network's worth rises in direct proportion to
the number of listeners it has. Therefore, compared to a network with only
10 members, a network with 100 members is thought to be 10 times more
useful in terms of reachability (Evans 2008:51). According to this notion, the
more individuals who are connected to a brand through a social network, the
greater the influence.
The figure below is an evidence of how this law applies to networking of
individuals.

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 Figure 3: A network representative of Sarnoff’s Law;
socialmediaonline.com

3.3.2 Metcalfe’s Law

Robert Metcalfe, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) alumnus

who co-invented the Ethernet and founded the networking company 3com,
is credited with creating this law. Many of the network impacts of
communication technologies and networks, including social networks, the
internet, and the World Wide Web, are characterised by the network. The
legislation specifies that a service's value to the community increases with
the number of people who utilise it. This regulation may thus indicate that
each new user accepted or added to the networking site increases the value
of the user's profile in purposes of the law. (Evans 2008: 51).

People like to associate with and talk about the things they value and enjoy
most with their friends and loved ones. The chain of connectedness is
extended to other people by sharing, which in this instance may be done on
the social networking site. This may suggest to marketers that the rise is a
result of customers being more satisfied with their goods and services. The
growth in network chain has an effect on how far the message may go, as
seen in figure 3 below, which confirms the notion.
21
 Figure 4: Metcalfe’s Law; Source: mshare.net (2012)

3.3.3 Reed’s Law

Reed's law states that a big network's functionality may significantly rise
with network size. David P. Reed, a computer scientist at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT) who specialises in computer networking,
created Reed's law. The active social networks are covered by this law. The
law highlights the effect on network value by identifying and assisting
member groups. A well-connected network promotes the development of
powerful subgroups and communication flow, which increases the emphasis
on pertinent and significant information inside the networks (Evans 2008:
52).

By giving each individual added to the network the chance to be in a position

to connect with each other, the supportive group of the members may be
established. With each new individual added, there are more new
connections, which leads to the emergence of additional subgroups. Figure
5 below illustrates network connection.

22
 Figure 5: Reeds Law: Source; socialmediaonline.com

3.4 Factors to determine whether Social media impact brand

awareness

It is important to assess the effect social media has had on a marketer's brand.
The customer should be able to identify the brand of the marketer and
validate their prior brand awareness. Although the level of brand
understanding among consumers cannot be assumed, an appropriate
analytical approach should be described. Here is a table by Dave Evans
(2008, 145) that analyses the social media brand awareness statistic.

23
Table 1: Social media metric: Evans.D, Social Media and Marketing(2008,

145)

Target Interpreted Information Underlying Metric

Knowledge

Audience Who`s reading aggregate profile

Unique visitors Page views, visitors info, blog Web Analytics: Unique
mentions, click analysis, traffic visitors
patterns, source of traffic via
Referrer measure

Influence Memes(thoughts, ideas etc.)and Time on site, blog context,

intensity overtime review polarity

Engagement Clicked on length of stay Time on site, pass- along,

conversation comment-to-postratio,
blog mentions, reviews,
bounce rates

Action Conversions Pass-alongs, conversions,

reviews

Loyalty Trends: subscribers, repeat Pass-alongs,blog

visitors, referrals mentions, time on site,
bounce rate

Audience and unique visitors: How effectively the brand is recognised by

the audience should be given top priority. To build brand recognition, a
marketer must make an effort to convey the brand regularly. An online brand
with a strong reputation will draw in more customers. The marketer has
access to information on the level of exposure that their goods and services
have on social media. This is significant since it might lead to sales. The
marketer should monitor how many people visit their websites on a monthly
basis. He should eventually be able to ascertain how promotions and other
initiatives affect the new followers. It is also possible to track whether the
visitor is a friend to your already existing audience or not.

24
Impact: A marketer should determine if their influence is good, negative, or
neutral on their audience. The type of comments individuals write can be
used to evaluate this. The information gathered will allow marketers to make
modifications as needed. Negative influence might emerge from consumer
unhappiness with the brand. On the other hand, if the marketer is not
engaging with the audience as required, there may be a situation of
dominance. A marketer should be able to follow the comments made by the
audience in order to gauge influence.

Engagement: The proportion of people who really respond to the marketing

message may be used to gauge the amount of engagement. Only via the
consuming process can strong consumer involvement be developed.
Downloading, reading, viewing, or listening to digital content are all
examples of consumption in this context. Without first ingesting it, one
cannot share what they consume (Evans with McKee 2010: 16). It's critical
to determine how frequently a marketer's message was retweeted or how
many people clicked on their like button. A customer's level of engagement
is an obvious sign that they are interested in what the marketer is selling.
Action and Loyalty: This may be demonstrated by the frequency with which
the target audience responds to the marketer's messaging. The type of
messages the audience posts might reveal whether or not they are devoted.
Customer loyalty may be assessed by the types of reviews they provide for
the goods or services. A devoted consumer consistently buys more of the
marketer's goods and services, and is typically kept on staff by the business.
These devoted individuals will probably engage in unpaid marketing and
eventually spread the word about the advantages of the marketers' goods and
services.

3.5 Offline versus Online network

Action and Loyalty: This may be demonstrated by the frequency with which
the target audience responds to the marketer's messaging. The type of
messages the audience posts might reveal whether or not they are devoted.
Customer loyalty may be assessed by the types of reviews they provide for

25
the goods or services. A devoted consumer consistently buys more of the
marketer's goods and services, and is typically kept on staff by the business.
These devoted individuals will probably engage in unpaid marketing and
eventually spread the word about the advantages of the marketers' goods and
services.

Sometimes significant portions of internet consumers are already familiar

with the products or services of the marketers in the real world. For instance,
the Coca-Cola Company, a well-known soft drink company with over 40
million subscribers, maintains a Facebook profile. The table 2 that follows
compares how offline and online conceptions are different from one another.

Table 2: Comparison between Offline and Online Social networks: Source:

Wordof mouth communication within online communities: conceptualizing
the social network (Brown et al; 2007).

OFFLINE ONLINE
Tie Strength
Definition The intensity of a social relation The intensity of interactiveand
between pairs of individuals personalized relationship
between an
individual and web site
Dimension   Online websitereciprocity
Importance attached tosocial relation
 Frequency of social contact  Emotional web sitecloseness
 Type of social relation

Homophily
Definition The degree to which pairs of The congruence between a
individuals are similar in terms of user’s psychological attributes
certain attributes and web site
content
Dimension  Matched demographic/lifestyle  Shared groupinterest
attributes  Shared mindset

Source
credibility
Definition Perceived competence of the perceived competence of the
individual source providing web site and its membership
information
Dimension  Source bias(trustworthiness)  Site trustworthiness
 Source expertise  Actors‟ expertise

26
Relationship strength is determined by the degree of connection; weak ties
are those created with casual acquaintances, whilst strong ties are those with
dependable friends and family. Due to the high amount of trust that people
have among themselves, word of mouth would have a much greater impact
on strong links than weak ones. Regarding this, marketers are likely to have
solid connections with the customer referrals they receive, which may
ultimately result in a purchase of their products or services.

Homophily: Unlike tie strength, which emphasises relational links,

homophily focuses on the similarities between members in terms of things
like age, social standing, education, and gender. People who have similar
characteristics are more likely to identify with one another than those who
do not. The aforementioned characteristics are evaluated in a physical
setting; but, in an online setting, they may be reduced, concealed, omitted,
or even fabricated. (2007) Brown et al. Brands designed to meet a certain
demand would only appeal to a limited demographic. For instance, only
parents of young children who use diapers would be interested in internet
advertisements for diapers.

Credibility of the information source is a measure of that source's knowledge

and skill. In this case, an offline network may be biassed if a customer is
providing information on a particular item or service. When trying to
introduce a brand to someone who shares their interests, the customer might
not be able to accurately express the message about the product or service
provider. If the perceived quality did not match the service or product
delivery, a disgruntled client may potentially provide false information about
the product or service with the intention of damaging the reputation of the
business or the brand. On the other hand, if the information from websites is
provided by professionals, internet networks can be quite competent. Those
engaged in information exchange are also perceived to have high knowledge
on the product/service.

Online branding is significantly influenced by the reliability of the

information provided by marketing experts. The marketer should project an
27
image of exceptional high proficiency in providing solutions that will satisfy
the demands and desires of the client or potential client. This is due to the
fact that, if properly communicated to the target audience, a well-defined
brand is a "winning" brand that lives in the minds of its audience.

3.6 Importance of Social Media monitoring and management tools

The difficulty for companies is how to keep an eye on what is happening

while trying to govern the communication environment within the network
to ensure that their brand message and image are not compromised (Palmer
& Lewis, 2009).There are currently many different social media monitoring
solutions available on the market that are intended to aid in protecting online
reputation in acknowledgement of this management difficulty. Consider the well-
known web-based monitoring programme Crowd ControlHQ. This piece of
equipment can keep the business secure by keeping an eye on social media activity
and providing crucial facts in real time (http://crowdcontrolhq.com/). Therefore, the
firm thinks that by utilising such social network technologies, social media will
unavoidably take place in a clear and open manner, and that the brand will also be
safeguarded from any hazards. (http://crowdcontrolhq.com/).Even as these online
monitoring tools become popular with the companies who want to have control,
there is a danger of being seen by online communities as a sign of corporate
intrusion into what is perceived to be their own community space. A social network
group or community that is dominated by its individual members may be difficult
to control by a company (brands) and lead to resentfulness which then may eventual
harm the reputation of the business (Palmer & Lewis 2009).

3.7 Online Branding

It's crucial to first grasp what the term "brand" means before diving into the
topic of branding. As defined by the American Marketing Association
(http://www.marketingpower.com/ layouts/Dictionary.aspx?dLetter=B), a
brand is any name, phrase, sign, symbol, or other attribute that distinguishes
one seller's product or service from that of other sellers. Healey asserts that
branding is a process of ongoing conflict between producers and consumers

28
to define that promise and meaning, even if branding is about managing
brands. (6) (Healey 2008) Healey goes on to say that there are five elements
to branding as it is commonly used today: customer relationship, storytelling,
positioning, design, and price. Branding is becoming more and more popular
in the social media age due to new, creative uses, but there have also been
instances where it hasn't quite worked out. As a result, marketers are starting
to develop new effective avenues (Rooney 1995).

The master of service marketing, Grönroos (2005), identified two

characteristics that characterise branding from a service standpoint. He noted
the qualities of service as a perceived activity in which a client engages in
the first element, which is also consistent with Healey's (2008) comments on
the elements of branding (Healey 2008: 6). The picture that fits the desired
brand is included in the second part, according to Grönroos (Grönroos 2005:
286).

Consumers therefore become the major focus of any marketing brand

strategy due to the fierce competition for customers and the goal to develop
durable brand equity. Therefore, marketers must work hard to grab
consumers' attention and construct an impression in their minds that will
motivate them to tell their friends about the marketers' brand. Most of the
time, when they find something amazing and valuable, individuals are
always ready to share it. While connecting people in collective conversation
was the primary reason why Facebook, Twitter, and other social media
platforms were developed, marketers nonetheless found these platforms
appealing to market their goods/services despite the fact that their brands are
not always welcome in social media. In fact, some internet users think they're
obtrusive and inappropriate. (2011) Fournier and Avery Businesses have
discovered social media to be a location where they can quickly acquire
valuable, unfiltered client feedback. Due to this, social media may now help
increase brand recognition and inspire consumers to try new goods and
services, which may ultimately result in more sales, especially if a campaign
is successful in becoming viral (Barwise & Meehan 2010). A good brand
should often provide a solution to the prospective problem rather than trying
29
to outsell a rival in the market sector.

As a result, online branding is not just about a fresh brand making its way on
social media; in actuality, it is about an existing brand that can be copied
online. Due to this, it is important to have a solid branding plan in place for
both online and offline branding in order to promote all channels and provide
a mutually beneficial result (Martensen et al. 2004). Some businesses, like
Ford Motor Company's online venture, have been able to maintain the same
brands and values that customers have come to expect from their offline
brands. 100 Fiestas were distributed by Ford Company to online groups that
included bloggers, filmmakers, and social networks that documented and
shared online life. In this sense, the talks were steered by the audience rather
than Ford. This is how Ford was able to rank among the top five businesses
that successfully tapped into social media's branding potential
(http://www.fastcodesign.com/1663494/ideo-five-companies-that-
mastered-social-medias-branding-potential).
Barwise and Meehan’s, cite four fundamental qualities that companies
suggestthat great brands share;

 The consumer promise: - The website's and social media platforms'

material should express the same message, and the brand promise itself
should be pertinent and clear.
 Build trust by delivering on that promise: - It's critical to develop a
brand with a message that consumers will eventually believe. Honesty is
essential.
 Continual improvement: - The largest social media opportunity is in the
data collection that will enable continuous, small-step improvements.
Gaining feedback on a company's or brand's weaknesses from the internet
community might help to accomplish these adjustments.

 Innovating beyond the familiar: - Using social media to communicate

with the online community, gain new insights. (Barwise& Meehan 2010)

Any business choosing to utilise social media as a marketing tool should be

very careful about the decisions they make in light of these four

30
considerations. Since there are several social media platforms now available,
a marketer must select the best one for their desired target market. Knowing
the target audience is crucial since it helps you choose an application that
will work well for internet marketing. A marketer may choose to use several
social media platforms within the same group in some circumstances in order
to reach a larger audience.

In such cases, it is essential to make sure that all of the actions are coordinated
(Kaplan and Haenlein 2009). For instance, some businesses advertise themselves
online using many applications. In reality, using several programmes may be highly
taxing, which is why effective media plan integration is required. The reason behind
this may be a mystery. However, as marketers, we cannot completely rule out using
conventional media in our marketing plan. Additionally, as social media and
conventional media are both parts of a company's image in the eyes of its customers,
they must be connected. The availability of these networks for employees should
also be taken into consideration. Additionally, a team of workers should be chosen
to administer the company's social media channels (Kaplan and Haenlein 2009).
Social media networks are not perfect, but there are a few issues here and there that
marketers can manage and immediately anticipate or close off.

3.7.1 Challenges of online branding

The road for internet marketers seeking to build their businesses online has
not been simple. Since consumers also learned how to use brands for their
own means and purposes, marketers faced difficulties when they tried to use
social media. Social media may be compared to a "double-edged sword," or
a tool that can both enhance and undermine a company's reputation.
Although the main goal of marketers was to build relationships with online
communities on Facebook and other social media platforms, this has not
been easy for them because instead, people have come looking for deals and
have found forums to voice their complaints, as in the recent Netflix, Inc.
incident. a US-based on-demand online media provider that streams material
on the Internet. The business declared throughout the month of July 2011
that it will increase the most popular membership plan's price by 60%. This

31
caused a stir, and within a short period of time, their stock drastically
declined. The consumers, who had already done significant harm to the
business, forced the management to eventually abandon their strategy and
issue an apology (reuters.com, 2012). This serves as an example of how a
company's flaws and limitations have come to light as brand marketers no
longer have complete control over the dissemination of their messaging.

In addition to harm from online networking groups, a marketer might

potentially experience self-inflicted disaster. For instance, a firm is said to
be putting its image at risk if it creates fake consumers or utilises anonymous
users to influence social media debates about their goods and services. This
is viewed as a particularly unethical method of advertising one's goods and
services, and it might harm the business if the public learns about its
questionable practises (Aula 2010: 46). Despite all of these unforeseen
events, efforts have been taken to safeguard the company's reputation. In
reality, open source branding, which calls for cooperation, participation, and
socially connected behaviour, has made it possible for users to produce and
distribute branded material (Fournier & Avery 2011).
Therefore, there is a risk associated with bringing companies online since it
is possible to lose brand equity if the website has bad performance, a
confusing layout, or inadequate information. Chaffey (2004), page 358 In
light of this, it is probable that a newly established business may be in danger
of running into such problems as a consequence of seeking for less expensive
options for creating an online brand in an effort to reduce expenses. On the
other hand, large corporations that are willing to spend in social media
marketing and have sound strategy grasp the chance to replicate their offline
brands online. With this in mind, internet brand marketing may have a
positive Return on Investment (ROI), expanding into a larger market and
increasing brand recognition, which is likely to improve the company's
profitability curve in the long run.

32
3.7.2 Brand equity

The worth of a brand is what is referred to as brand equity. According to the

American Marketing Association, brand equity is determined by customer
perceptions of positive brand features and the benefits of brand usage
(http://www.marketingpower.com/ layouts/Dictionary.aspx?dLetter=B).

According to the definition, Keller claims that a brand's strength comes in

what consumers have come to know, feel, see, and hear about it through time.
Marketers are hence mandated to build strong brands by ensuring that
customers have the right type of experiences with the products and services
and their accompanying marketing programs. This is to ensure that desired
thoughts, feelings, images, beliefs, perceptions, opinions etc. become linked
to the brand (Keller 2001). Therefore the customers´ total experience is
created via the company´s different communication channel that is offline
and online networks. As the customer interact with the company via the
Internet, the experience must be consistent and in accordance with the
customers‟ offline brand experience. (Martensen et al.2004, 2)
In certain businesses and sectors, brand equity may be more significant than
in others. The four variables listed below, according to Lemon et al. (2001),
demonstrate when brand equity is most important;
 For straightforward decision-making and low-involvement purchases,
brand equity will be crucial. Take consumer packaged goods as an
illustration.
 When a customer's use of a product is widely observed by others, brand
equity is crucial.
 Brand equity is essential when user or generational experiences with the
product can be carried through.
 For credibility items, the importance of brand might be crucial for
determining quality before consumption.

Companies with strong offline brand equity should be able to recreate those
brands online by continually evaluating the quality of their web design to
make sure that customers think it is of the highest calibre. A bad site design

33
can hurt an already-established brand and have negative effects, while a good
one will have favourable effects. (2004) (Martensen et al., 2).
The classic forms of advertising are discussed in the next chapter. Indeed,
Evans (2008) correctly identifies social media as a these two are
complementary to traditional advertising channels, thus they work well
together (Evans 2008: 13).

3.8 Traditional advertising Channels

Traditional advertising channels are those vintage forms of media that were
in use before the internet. In order to motivate prospects to take action or
persuade current customers to keep purchasing their goods and services,
marketers have utilised conventional kinds of marketing over the years,
including sales promotion, media advertising, public relations, and direct
marketing. The purpose of this is to increase sales through branding. The
incapacity of these traditional media to reach sizable mass audiences,
according to Jaffe (2005), renders them non-viable. Jaffe asserts that these
conventional advertising methods are actually no longer in use (Jaffe 2005:
7). This is because some of these old pathways are still useful, and Calde et
al. (1998) and O'Guinn et al. confirm this claim (2009: 7). There are specific
situations, according to Calde and his colleagues, where traditional
advertising is more successful. It would have been preferable if there had
been a thorough comparison research that closely examined each
conventional advertising medium (Calder et al. 1998). The general view is
that traditional advertising techniques are ineffective nowadays due to the
growth of the social media phenomena and the strength of the internet unless
they are complemented with the effectiveness of online channels.

After reviewing the aforementioned literature, we consequently suggested

the theoretical framework for the study that is shown below. The two
competing media environments—the online, social media environment, and
the offline, conventional advertising media environment, which includes
outlets like TV, Print, and Radio—are depicted in figure 6 below. The

34
framework also identifies the main players in the media industry, namely
consumers and businesses. Traditionally, businesses or firms utilised
advertising mediums like TV, radio, and print to reach out to customers
before social media emerged as a marketing tool. However, the rise and
acceptance of social media has compelled all businesses, large and small, to
adopt social media strategies, with the majority starting their own online
communities to raise brand recognition. In the diagram, it is hypothesised
that as social media networks become more popular, the environment and
impact of conventional media channels decline. As a result, the traditional
media's shaded portion has shrunk while the shaded portions of social media
networks have risen Companies engage with online communities to get a
number of advantages, such as word-of-mouth marketing that helps them
build brand recognition and data collection on customer requirements and
preferences for segmentation.
Therefore, this study examines whether businesses can utilise social
networks to raise brand recognition as well as the efficacy of social media
compared to traditional media channels for advertising. It also looks at the
difficulties businesses have when putting social media strategies into
practise since, online, ownership of social networks appears to rest with
users, and this is why the majority of businesses set up their own online
communities to regain control.

35
 Figure: 6 proposed framework for the theoretical framework of the study

Source: Adapted from Palmer and Lewis, An experiential, social

network-basedapproach to direct marketing (2009).

36
 CHAPTER 4

RESEARCH METHODOLGY

37
4 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

According to Saunders et al. (2007), research is anything that individuals do

to learn more about things in a methodical way and broaden their knowledge
( Saunders et al. 2007, 5). This research was conducted in order to learn more
about the subject matter because of that "something." The term
"methodology" is typically used by researchers to refer to methodologies.
However, Reich (1995) offers a different perspective on this, defining
methodology as a coherent group of underlying assumptions and objectives,
procedures, and the results of applying the methods being understood and
assessed (Reich, 1995).
In reality, for a study to be considered rigorous, it must adhere to a well
defined sequential method. A good research project should follow a set of
steps in the research process. Despite the order in which these activities are
supposed to occur, Saunders et al. (2007) contend that this may not always
be the case (Saunders et al. 2007, 8). Instead, a researcher could choose for
a different study strategy.

This chapter will concentrate on the research technique employed and

provide justification for the selection of particular methodologies. This
section will provide a detailed explanation of the research's goal, strategy,
approach, and data collection technique. The procedures depicted in figure 7
below are the ones this study is set up to follow.

38
 Identifying topic/research problem

Literature review

Designing the research

Collecting Data

Analysing Data

Writing up project

Figure 7: Research Process of the project

After considerable thought about what to write about in the domain of social
media, the topic of the research, Social media as a tool for brand recognition
and marketing, was selected. The researcher concentrated on the usage of
social media networks by businesses to build brand recognition. Numerous
study issues were chosen from the topic to address various research fields. A
comprehensive literature study and theoretical framework were carried out
utilising a variety of sources, including relevant books, journals, and
electronic data. Additionally, the choice of the technique used in this
research was made possible by the research design, which served as a
blueprint for the whole procedure. A single instance company's certain main
data was gathered and examined. Finally, the entire project's writing was
finished, and conclusions were reached. We all know that preparing a project
is not a simple undertaking. Sometimes, the supervisor will find facts that
the researcher thought was significant to be completely unrelated. As a
result, there have been several additions and deletions in various sections
during the course of creating this project, which has resulted in its
completion.
39
4.1 Research Purpose

Any research must have a goal and an objective in order to be conducted.

Because of this, research is divided into three categories: exploratory,
descriptive, and explanatory. The way that study questions are organised is
what differentiates them (Saunder et al.2007: 133). Even though just one of
these three categories will be used in the project, there are some differences
between them that will be explored below.

4.1.1 Descriptive study

Studies that are more structured and try to characterise a condition, problem,
phenomena, service, or programme with a stated hypothesis or studied topic
are known as descriptive studies. For instance, it may reflect the lifestyle of
a neighbourhood or how people feel about a certain subject (Kumar 2011:
10). According to Saunders et al. (2007), this might be an expansion, a
precursor to, an exploratory study or an explanatory study. Before beginning
to gather data, one must have a clear understanding of the phenomena they
seek to study (Saunders et al. 2007, 134). In fact according to Blumberg et
al (2008), descriptive studies are often complex and requires astute research
skills to be designed and executed successfully (Blumberg et al. 2008, 207).

4.1.2 Explanatory study

Explanatory study is to determine and explain why and how two components
of a situation or phenomena are related (Kumar 2011: 11 and Saunders et al.
2007, 134). This kind of research aims to explain why specific events take
place the way they do. For instance, a researcher may gather information to
identify the causes of a rapid decline in sales of a certain commodity or
service. The recession may be affecting consumers' ability to make
purchases, or a new, superior product or service may be to blame.
A researcher must be diligent in the gathering, analysis, and interpretation of
data if they are to determine the cause and impact of the events. To connect
the phenomena being studied to larger social, economic, and political

40
processes, a theoretical framework is required. Theoretical knowledge may
be applied to forecast how findings will turn out. (Veal 2006: 4)

4.1.3 Exploratory study

Exploratory research has been employed in this project due to the nature of
the research investigation. The major purposes of this sort of study are to
ascertain what is occurring, to look for fresh information, to pose questions,
and to establish phenomena in novel ways. (Robson 2000; Saunders et al.
2007, p. 133) Instead of testing an explanation, this is being done to achieve
understanding (Churchill & Iacobucci 2009: 62). Exploratory research,
according to Blumberg et al., is beneficial when the researcher is unsure
about the nature of the issue (Blumberg et al. 2008, 200). Regarding the
research methodologies employed, this study is distinguished by flexibility.
Rarely do they employ in-depth surveys or intricate sample schemes; instead,
the researcher may occasionally alter the study process as the initially ill-
defined topic is refined into one with a clearer definition (Churchill &
Iacobucci 2009: 61). There are three techniques to perform exploratory
studies:

 A search of the literature;

 Interviewing experts in the subject;
 Conducting focus group interviews(Saunders et al. 2007, 133)

The manner interviews are done has both advantages and downsides when
using the exploratory research approach. This method's main benefit is that
it frees the responder from being restricted to a predetermined list of
responses, allowing researchers to get more detailed concrete descriptions.
As a result, the interview produces a pretty accurate representation of the
respondents' actual viewpoints. There are further drawbacks to this approach,
though. For this investigation, very competent interviewers are needed.

41
Second, their lack of structure makes it possible for the interviewer to sway
the outcome; this is because the interviewer's judgement about when and
how to probe affects the outcome
(Churchill &Iacobucci; 2009, 69).Exploratory is sometimes linked to old
biases because of subjectiveness, non-representativeness and non-systematic
design (Blumberg et al. 2008, 201).

When the results fail to exactly and properly reflect a demographic trait, they
are said to be non-representative. Since generalisation relies on
representativeness, when the findings are not representative, they cannot be
applied to a wider range of situations. However, sampling design may solve
the issue of representativeness by ensuring that the sample technique used is
appropriate and can yield results that are representative of the real scenario.
On the other side, the respondent's replies might raise the question of
subjectivity, which often results from an opinion held by either the researcher
or the respondent and biases the outcome. Non-systematic design biases are
research design factors that could occur by chance and this could be the as a
result of sample size or characteristics of the sample selected.

The aims of exploration can be achieved with either qualitative or

quantitative research, however exploration study mainly relies on qualitative
methodologies, according to Blumberg et al. (2008). (Blumberg et al. 2008,
201).

4.2 Qualitative research

Contrarily, the primary goal of qualitative research is to comprehend events

from the respondents' points of view and to record what individuals say and
do as a result of how they interpret the complexity of their environment
(Burns 2000: 11). This kind of study aims to answer the issue of why, rather
than how, specific events take place the way they do. Qualitative research
may result from any research strategy and is essentially non-numerical data
or data that has not been measured. It might be as simple as a few short
answers to open-ended questions in an online survey or in-person interview,
or it can be as sophisticated as transcripts of in-depth interviews and
42
document analysis. (Saunders etal. 2007: 470). However, qualitative studies,
according to Blumberg et al. (2008:193), are more likely to obtain
unexpected information than quantitative studies, which is why exploratory
studies frequently have more qualitative characteristics in nature. Qualitative
studies are typically less rigorously structured than quantitative studies. The
parameters essential to select the best approach between qualitative and
quantitative inquiry are further outlined by Blumberg et al. (2008: 194).
Blumberg and his associates advised that you should think about the
following issues:

 What is your research problem?

 Are you attempting to conduct an explorative, descriptive, casual

orpredictive study?

 What kind of objective or rather outcome are you expecting from

thestudy?

 What kind of information do you want to obtain and what do you

already have access to?

The case study technique was chosen as the qualitative research approach
because this study is an exploratory research that aims to investigate the
influence of the social media phenomena on marketing in terms of brand
awareness. The case study research advantages and its design constraints are
highlighted in the next section, which also provides an overview of the
research design and analysis used.

4.3 Sources of data

Yin defines a case study as an empirical investigation that examines a current

phenomena in its actual setting; when the distinctions between phenomenon
and setting are not immediately apparent; and when many kinds of
information are utilised (Yin 2003:13). The design chosen for this study is a
single case study methodology. Case studies are still a popular research
43
technique in the social sciences (Yin 2003:1). Before delving into the notion
of a case study, it is crucial to have a clear knowledge of what a "case"
actually is. A case may pertain to an individual, a family, an organisation, a
workplace, or a class. A case can be many cases, such as those involving
various businesses, schools, or professions, as opposed to being a single
instance like in the examples above (Saunders et al. 2007: 140). Depending
on what they want to learn, researchers might choose to use a single instance
or a number of examples.

A single example could be chosen because it gives the researcher a chance

to observe and examine a phenomena that not many others have thought
about. Yin (2003) provides evidence in favour of this viewpoint by
emphasising how single case studies are utilised to describe and investigate
circumstances in which complex interactions take place in a single
environment ( Yin 2003:14). On the other hand, multiple-case studies
concentrate on illuminating a circumstance through a variety of cases.
According to Gillham (2000), combining several cases is done to determine
whether the results of the first case also apply to the other situations (Gillham
2000: 1). However, because conclusions are made from a single point of
view, a single example has limits, particularly when it comes to the
generalizability of the results. Saunders et al. (2007) advise utilising many
examples to determine whether the findings of the first case occur in the other
situations and, as a result, the need to generalise from the findings, in order
to avoid such limitations (Saunders et al. 2007: 140)

From this perspective, a research technique used for this study is a holistic
single case approach since it gives the chance to observe and analyse a
phenomena that few have previously studied. Yin (2003) presents five main
rationales (Table 3) for adopting a single case design (Saunders et al 2007:
140). Yin (2003) defined a holistic single case design as a case study design
that exclusively looks at an organization's global character. (Yin 2003). As a
result, the example company may be viewed as an all-encompassing case
design in the field of social media strategy. The business was founded in

44
2010 as an Apple premium reseller in Vaasa, Finland. This indicates that all
of their goods, including computers, software, iPods, iPhones, and iPads, are
made by Apple. The store also offers a variety of items and services from
outside vendors. Bags, iPad and iPhone cases, laptop coverings, and other
accessories come in useful. The service section of this business has a stellar
reputation for offering support and maintenance for Apple goods. Three
people work for the firm. Multitronics, a subsidiary of Itronics Firm, is
located roughly 2 kilometres away from the parent company. The purpose of
mentioning Multitronics in this section will be covered in more detail later
on.

Table: 3 Five rationales for single case design; Source: Yin (2003)

1. when it represents the critical case in testing a well-formulated theory;

2. when the case represents an extreme case or a unique case;
3. a single case is the representative or typical case;
4. a single case study is the revelatory case; and
5. a single case study is the longitudinal case: studying the same single
case at two or more different points in time.

According to the following chart, the Itronic Company of Vaasa is an

example of a typical small business and a case study that highlights an
original use of social media and branding. Case studies are appropriate in
situations where the researcher has limited influence over the course of
events and in which the researcher is troubled by the existence of the why-
and how-questions. Explanatory in nature, these inquiries rarely provide
quantitative information. In addition to firsthand observation and interviews
with people interested in the issue, the investigation should also contain
background information on the information being looked at (Yin 2003: 8).
Understanding the role that social media plays in building brand recognition
as part of a company's marketing plan depends on knowing why and how. A

45
survey of the literature on the social media theory and the analysis of
previously published successful instances helped shape the kinds of
questions that are appropriate for this research. This study is conducted
purely based on secondary data source.

4.4 Data collection methods

Several data collecting techniques are adaptable for exploratory

investigations of management topics, and case studies survive on numerous
sources of data that arise from triangulation, taking into account the purviews
of qualitative research (Blumberg et al. 2008). And here is where case studies
have an edge since they let you combine multiple types of information, such
interviews, records, archives, and observation.

Yin (2003) added that by keeping the following guidelines in mind during
the research design, the value of various data sources may be completely
exploited (Yin 2003: 83, 97-105)

 Use of multiple sources of evidence

 Creation of a case study database
 Maintaining a chain of evidence

However, the goal of this study is not to go into further depth about these
concepts but to broaden the use of other data gathering techniques, such as
interviews, documents, archives, and observation.
Interviews: Unlike surveys, which are organised, interviews are the most
often utilised method for gathering data for evidence. Case study interviews
are frequently unstructured. Unstructured interviews for case studies might
take the shape of casual conversations with important informants, like the
senior manager of Itronics in this instance. However, reliance on a single key
informant might result in validity problems and prejudice. Furthermore,
semi-structured can be utilised to gather information for case study research,
according to Blumberg et al. (2008). The researcher wants to know the
46
informant's perspective on topics, and on the other side, the researcher also
wants to know if the informant can validate insights and information the
researcher already has from another source. These are the two major goals
of semi-structured interviews. (Blumberg 2008: 378).

Documents and archives: According to Blumberg et al. (2008), secondary

data and archives are a highly rich source of data that are infrequently used
in other research methodologies. Reports, articles, newspaper stories, and
internal memos are a few examples of documents. It is also important to note
that, although being a rich source of information, secondary data, or
documents, have drawbacks because they are written, which makes them
potentially objective and one-dimensional (Blumberg et al. 2008:378).

Data from consumer surveys, a database of users' online comments or

actions, and infographics are just a few examples of the types of information
that may be found in archives. Online data and reports from consumers were
used as documentation and archives in this investigation.

A excellent information source and research methodology in and of itself is

observation. It provides the study with additional data to supplement existing
data gathering techniques. The advantage of observation as a data source is
that it gives the researcher access to first-hand data via an informal manner.
According to Blumberg et al. (2008), a casual approach refers to the process
of gathering knowledge while actively participating in an organisation. The
customer information and customer actions were directly observed during
the visit to the company (Blumberg et al. 2008:379)
Any type of social research makes claims that it meets specific standards for
data collection and measurement. It is generally agreed upon that
measurements or the procedures used to make them should be as impartial,
trustworthy, and legitimate as feasible. Consider construct validity, internal
validity, external validity, and dependability while developing a case study
research study (Yin2003: 19, 33- 39).

47
 CHAPTER 5

DATA ANALYSIS

48
5 DATA ANALYSIS

Data analysis is covered in this chapter, which also links the theoretical
framework to the research's empirical component. The example company,
Itronic, and its primary operation are briefly introduced in the early portion
of the chapter. The second section covers social media branding and strategy
for the case firm.

5.1 Itronic business portfolio and E-commerce strategy

In addition to being an Apple Premium Reseller Partner, the business sells

80% Apple items and 20% goods made by other companies. The store
employs three people. The corporation works with its sister company,
Multitronics, as was already indicated in the previous chapter. E-commerce
and social media marketing are handled by a single individual who works
out of Multitronics for both businesses. Multitronics also houses the service
division, which is responsible for both firms' customer service operations. If
the workers that share responsibilities between the two firms are taken into
account, the actual number of employees is more than three. Itronic has a
website and an online store since it has embraced e-commerce since its
inception. The websites Hintaseuranta.fi and Pohjalainen.fi also provide
internet streaming, which has aided the business in building its brand.

Itronic solely uses Facebook for social networking, and section 4.2 discusses
the rationale for this choice. There are 1,445 people connected to the Itronic
Facebook account in total, and their locations are spread across. The bulk of
my Facebook followers come from inside Finland, but I also have some from
Brazil and Bolivia. As shown by Metcalfe's law, Sarnoff law, and Reeds law,
which apply to social networks and communities, this variety illustrates the
strength of the social network effect. These three rules emphasise the value
of strong patterns in relationships. A connection benefits a corporation more
in terms of enhancing exposure and brand recognition the more intricate it
is. Due to Vaasa's status as a university town and the presence of significant
multinational corporations like Wärtsila Oy and ABB Oy, the city's residents
49
are diverse and linked to it.
The figure 8 below shows that over 90% of the sales are made offline and
only between 5% and 10% of sales are through the company’s online shop.

Channels
Ofline
Online

Figure 8: Itronic source of sales online vs. Offline

According to Itronic management, the company's unique selling qualities,

which include the following, are what entice customers to purchase from or
conduct business with Itronic.

 Products quality

 Customer service

 Brand association

A distinctive capacity to draw clients and followers online is provided by the

company's strategic connection with Apple Inc. and Apple devices. This is
in line with one of the core characteristics that Barwise and Meehan list as
being shared by successful brands. They contend that a great brand should
fulfil its promise to the consumer, meaning that the website's content should
express the same message and the brand promise should also be pertinent
and clear (Barwise and Meehan; 2010). In terms of customer care, Itronic
lets its clients know when the latest iterations of Apple goods are available
in Finland-Vaasa. The Itronic store opened at midnight to start selling the
newly launched Apple device to clients as Apple introduced its latest edition
of the iPad 3.
50
 The information in the following part is presented in relation to the social
media and branding research question.

5.2 Social media strategy and branding

The roles and impacts that social media have on branding

The business has been utilising Facebook as a social network for more than
three years; it does not utilise Twitter, LinkedIn, or blogs. The corporation
claims that this is because of the demands made by Apple Inc. in their
marketing approach. Facebook is therefore used by the business for
marketing, and management believes it to be the best medium for raising
brand recognition.

The company promised all its Facebook followers to share the promotional link with theirfriends
online on Facebook with the possibility of winning an Ipad3.

Figure 9: Source: Itronic Facebook promotion

51
The Facebook online promotion run by itronic is seen in Figure 8 above;
more than 1,000 Facebook friends shared the promotion's link with their
online contacts. Given the size of the business and the amount of individuals
that are linked to their Facebook page, the campaign was a success.

Despite the fact that the business also employs other kinds of promotion like
newsletters, The corporation claims that Ikkuna and radio's internet channel
is more effective than radio's broadcast counterpart. Radio and print
advertising are more expensive than online advertising in terms of expense,
thus the return on investment is much more alluring.
The firm periodically employs pay per click through different internet
channels to advertise their website and Facebook in order to increase their
online presence. PPC (Pay per Click) is an online advertising approach that
maximises click-through rates by using keywords that are pertinent to the
company or its products in the topic title, subject phrase, or description.
When an ad is clicked, advertisers like Itronic, for example, pay the internet
publisher. Viral marketing, a form of advertising that makes advantage of
the impacts of social networks to create or raise brand recognition, is
becoming more and more significant to businesses. According to the
manager, viral marketing motivates users to share marketing messages they
post on their Facebook pages with their friends and family. Palmer and Lewis
argue that as the usage of social media marketing grows, traditional
marketing methods have become less effective at changing consumer
behaviour. This is done to demonstrate the strength of social media
marketing (Palmer and Lewis; 2009).

Apple Inc., through its partner financing programme, and Itronic, a premium
partner, both define Itronic's marketing approach and plan. Itronic receives
marketing funding from Apple. Apple directs resellers to focus more on their
online marketing strategies, but it is up to the resellers to put the plan into
practise based on the internet channels they discover to be most successful.

Social media may assist a small business in quickly reaching a target market
since the network effect allows the message to almost instantaneously reach
52
the target market segment at a lower cost than other conventional advertising
channels like print and radio.

Are traditional advertising channels still relevant today in the era of social
media?

According to the management, radio advertising is also successful in

reaching those who might not have the time or chance to browse online.
Because most people are believed to just read the first page of a newspaper
and do not have time to read the advertising, response rates for newspapers
and print media like newsletters are frequently lower than for other channels.
This reduces the likelihood that someone would respond. The results of this
study are in line with those of the study of Calde et al. (1998), which found
that conventional advertising is more successful in some situations. The
strength of internet channels must be added to traditional advertising
strategies in order for them to be effective in this day and age. Palmer and
Lewis (2009) come to the conclusion that firms expanding and changing
their advertising spending to online channels, whether in B2B or B2C as in
the case of Itronic, may have contributed to the closure of certain popular
print publications and revenue shortfalls in broadcast media.
However, because no one channel is overwhelmingly powerful, it is
necessary to employ both online and conventional advertising channels to
supplement one another. For maximum effectiveness, various advertising
channels should be connected. Itronic combines online advertising on
Facebook and other websites with advertising in the Ikkuna daily, on the
radio, and in newsletters. This is in line with Kaplan and Haelein's (2009)
argument that social media and conventional media should be connected
since, in the eyes of the consumer, they both contribute to a company's
overall image. The fact that small organisations do not have formal
marketing groups at all and instead obtain their marketing ideas from
management, the sales force, or an advertising agency is connected to the
Kotler et al. (2006) study.

53
Challenges facing companies using social media today for marketing

Small businesses face a significant difficulty in managing online customer

comments since some are very favourable and some are "business
damaging," which means that negative remarks may have an adverse effect
on sales and brand perception. Online complaints may have been made by a
rival looking to discredit the company's reputation or drive away consumers.
Small businesses like Itronic are concerned about the fact that internet
advertising do not have control over these remarks since they have fewer
financial and human resources to devote to undertaking online damage
management. However, the firm uses some feedback from Facebook fans to
make improvements, and as good customer service is also a component of
their USP (unique selling proposition), management adhered to the maxim
that failures should be learned from in order to grow the company. The
results support Barwise and Meehan's (2010) assertion that the largest social
media opportunity is in gathering data to inspire ongoing, small-step
improvements. Only through soliciting feedback from the internet
community about a company's or brand's inadequacies can changes be made.
Through interaction with the online community, social media may also
provide new insights.

Another challenge for small businesses using social media for marketing and
branding is maintaining continual engagement with online communities
through content and posts. According to research by Beuker and Abbing
(2010), online communities are more interested in fascinating material than
in conducting commerce, as seen in figure 10 below:

54
 Figure 10: Reasons for following Brands on social media networks;
Sourcebeuker and Abbing

When a company is operating with limited resources, it is impossible to

successfully connect customers with the community on a regular basis with
posts and contents since doing so requires an entire department that is solely
responsible for doing so. For instance, Itronic employs a single employee
that oversees their E-commerce as well as other crucial tasks for the
company.

Relationships with online followers, whether they are found on Facebook,

LinkedIn, or Twitter, are another consideration. These connections between
a company and a person who follows or connects with the company online
via social media are not always real and are not always motivated by a desire
to make a purchase from the company. This result agrees with Beuker and
Abbing's findings, which are seen in figure 10 above.

The table 4 below shows the demographics profile of Itronic typical online
customers according to the company’s snap shot of online statistics.

55
 Table 4: Source: Itronic online demographics statistics

Total percentage

Age 13-17 18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 +55

Women 37% 3.7% 3.7% 7.4% 3.7% 3.7% 15%

Men 63% 7.4% 19% 15% 15% 3.7% 3.7%

Men between the ages of 18 and 24 and women over the age of 55 are shown
to be more active online users of product information. According to this data,
males engage with items and are more active online than women. Similar
results were noticed in earlier months' online statistics, according to Itronic
Oy. This is in line with the finding of Consourcestantinides and Fountain,
which Palmer and Lewis (2009) highlighted, that young people use social
networking sites more often and consider them to be an essential part of their
way of life. In addition, a number of studies have revealed, in accordance
with Palmer and Lewis, that adults use social networking sites to interact
with others from their offline life, such as friends and relatives. (Palmer and
Lewis; 2009)

Barwise and Meehan also discovered that businesses view social media as a
location where they may quickly get valuable, unfiltered client data. This
provides small and large businesses with the essential marketing intelligence
to develop promotional tactics that are specifically targeted at a certain
market niche. Because print and radio are difficult to assess, conventional
advertising channels like those could not offer this type of data-driven
marketing.

It is remarkable, however, considering the influence and strength of social

media, that the business does not have safeguards in place to preserve its
brand name online and that the management feels helpless given the
association between its name and the well-known Apple goods. According

56
to Muniz and O'Guinn (2001), developing a brand's online following requires
striking a delicate balance between directing online communities in the brand
owner's interest and giving up some authority to the brand's online followers.
This is due to the non-intrusive relationship and common interest that those
who follow brands online have with the company.

Apple products are regarded as "hot brands" in terms of both goods and
services, thus the management of Itronics believes that brand management
online is unnecessary. Itronic's strategic partnership with Apple Inc. in terms
of goods and services is assisting the business online when it comes to brand
management since, from a theoretical standpoint, this is compatible with
Brown et al(2007) .'s assertion that source credibility is significant.

57
 CHAPTER 6

FINDINGS, SUGGESTIONS AND

CONCLUSION

58
6 FINDINGS, SUGGESTIONS AND CONCLUSION

6.1 Findings

The findings of the empirical framework coincided with the theoretical

framework based on the research problems. The study shows how social
media has become an important tool for marketing and creating brand
awareness. In fact it is foreseen that in the near future there will be a
paradigm shift from traditional advertising to social media platforms. The
study also identified some challenges the company has faced using social
media, unlike in the study where there have been so many challenges
reported. A personal observation made over a period of about two years now
found out that it is the manufacturers or the service companies that suffer the
brunt of the social network defamation of character most. The reason why
Itronic has few challenges with online communities can be attributed to the
fact that the case company is a reseller and hence all the complaints about
products would only be made to the manufacturer and not the reseller. It is
agreeable that though social media is effective it cannot be used on its own
without augmenting it with the traditional forms of advertising.

This is a very interesting study and even though it is not fully researched, it
is however worth replicating with a longitudinal data to fully determine
whether social media networks are really effective as the finding of this study
suggests. In social science data can be categorized into two types; data that
are collected at more than one point in time (longitudinal) and data that are
collected on one occasion. Therefore it would be important to collect the
performance data in termsof sales figures and brand equity over a long time
to determine whether social media networks are really effective than the
traditional advertising channels such as radio and prints.

6.2 Suggestions

Since this is a very important and new phenomenon it is recommended that

a further research to study this phenomenon would be appropriate. From a
59
companyperspective there is a huge potential in the social media and with
the resources that Itronic have got they should consider expanding their
social media strategies to include online surveys and Blogs for product
reviews, for example writing opinionated content on the blogs would enable
the company to initiate conversation which will enhance the level at which
people would want to engage with the brands. Itronic should measure its
social media marketing metrics, for example if they want to measure
awareness, they would need to monitor growth, likes, subscribers and brand
awareness. As for loyalty the thing to look at would be engagement,
influence and referrals. Engaging customers online to solicit suggestions
would also give the company insight to co-innovate.

The company can also use the power of social media to implement other
vertical services that could instantly bring value to the company in terms of
sales. The fact that the company is located in Vasa where there are
universities and international companies give it the potential to attract more
customers to purchase non Apple products, because Apple products usually
attract a large customer base. Therefore the online strategy should focus on
building a strong online community in Vasa that targets the universities and
the company’s community.

6.3 Conclusion

The study commenced by giving the background of the study and what
motivated the researcher to conduct the study on the topic of social media.
We saw how social media is slowly becoming an important marketing tool
which offers an companies‟ opportunity to engage with their markets and to
learn about customers‟ needs, important segments and profile unlike main
stream media i.e. radio or print channels. However, the implications are that
this is an uncontrolled environment that business do not have control over
and therefore it requires a robust social media strategy that also manages the
comments posted by consumerswhether positive or negative.

60
Even though they are becoming popular and effective marketing tools, Social
network sites can pose a threat as well as an opportunity to companies as
they can rapidly spread the views of dissatisfied customers‟ comments.
Social networks and the Web offer small and large companies new and
unique opportunities to engage with their customer and learn about
customers‟ needs in real time like never before. Evidence presented suggests
that the peer group online social network effect can potentially influence
purchase decisions because of its viral nature.

Social media alone cannot be effective without augmenting it with other

traditional media channels like radio, newspaper, or TV even though it is
widely reported that the effectiveness of traditional media and their use is
sharply falling. In general it is worth having a social media strategy in place
to manage the enormous challenges that social media brings.

61
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 8 APPENDIX

QUESTIONAIRE

Section A: ABOUT THE COMPANY & THE BUSINESS

1. First tell us about yourself, position or title in the business and how
longyou have been with the company.
2. What type of products and services does your company sell?
3. When was the company formed?
4. Does your company have an E-commerce website?
5. Does your company have Facebook account to promote its business?
6. How many people are connected to your company on Facebook?
7. Describe your typical customers, i.e. demographics, geographical
locationetc.
8. What is the percentage of your customers buying your products online
andthe percentage buying offline?
9. What is Itronic’s unique selling point online?

Section B: SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY & BRANDING

1. What are your major forms of advertising or promotion?

2. Since you have a website, do you use social media for marketing/brand
awareness?
3. How long have you been using social media to create brand awareness?
4. In your company, what are the benefits you get by using social media
foradvertising your company’s brand and products?
5. What challenges does your business face in using social media?

67
6. Have you ever encountered a negative comment(s) online about your
companyor products? If so, how did you deal with the situation?
7. What other ways have you used to minimize the impact of these
challenges?
8. What measures have you taken in ensuring brand security online?
9. Do you use any other forms of advertising apart from online advertising
-YES/NO
10. Please name these „other‟ advertising channels (e.g.TV, brochure etc.)
thatyour business also uses apart from online channels?
11. Do you find these advertising channels to be effective? If yes, please
explainhow?
12. If you are asked to rate the effectiveness of these „other‟ marketing
channels incomparison to social media networks, what would you say?
13. How do you incorporate the different kinds of marketing channels into
yourmarketing plan?

68
 Similarity Report ID: oid:10159:20957158

PAPER NAME AUTHOR

SOCIAL MEDIA AS A TOOL FOR BRAND ALAN DANIEL

AWARENESS AND MARKETING - ALAN D
ANIEL.pdf

WORD COUNT CHARACTER COUNT

17017 Words 91399 Characters

PAGE COUNT FILE SIZE

76 Pages 1.2MB

SUBMISSION DATE REPORT DATE

Aug 21, 2022 1:32 PM GMT+5:30 Aug 21, 2022 1:35 PM GMT+5:30

12% Overall Similarity

The combined total of all matches, including overlapping sources, for each database.
12% Internet database 0% Publications database
Crossref database

Excluded from Similarity Report

Bibliographic material Quoted material
Cited material Small Matches (Less then 40 words)

Summary