THE ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA & DIGITAL MARKETING IN BUILDING BRAND AWARENESS 1

THE ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA & DIGITAL MARKETING IN BUILDING BRAND

AWARENESS :-

How can building through social media and digital marketing?

Mayur Kumar

MBA( I.B.)

University of Kota
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Abstract

This study provides an analysis of how an online business can increase its brand awareness through

internet marketing efforts. The analysis is focused on brand awareness through social media &

digital marketing. In the business society as it is today, Internet has become a necessary tool for

companies doing business internationally. In order for a company to be profitable and achieve

competitive advantage, it needs to be present in consumers’ minds. This can be reached by

increasing brand awareness of a certain product or a brand. This study proposes the roadmap to

achieve higher brand awareness by focusing on online tools (e.g. social media).Moreover, the

analysis shows that brand awareness can be enhanced through different methods, such as word‐of‐

mouth or recommendations. Therefore by putting into practice a social network strategy,

maximizing the brand presence in search engines and by giving a good customer service, the brand

awareness and reputation of the brand will be enhanced and thus will lead to company’s success.
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Introduction

New shopping methods have been developed in the last years due to a huge technological progress.

This has led to a rapid growth in online‐store shopping (Sharma and Sheth, 2004; Thompson,

1997), which allows consumers and businesses to reach products and services everywhere in the

world without physical presence.

Online retailers have had rapid development in the last few years; the number of webshops has

increased notably (Miyazaki and Fernandez, 2000). A few highly successful world‐famous

webshops have been on the internet for many years now, namely, Amazon and eBay. However,

everybody can be a potential retailer at some point in time: by either opening a web shop, which

has become much easier in recent years, or by merely selling a few personal items on one of the

online marketplaces.

This new trend allows that most products/services can be purchased fast, conveniently and from

home (Davison et al., 1982; Eroglu et al., 2003; Rosenberg and Hirschman, 1980; Sheth, 1983).

The key barrier of consumers for doing online shopping is security and trust (Gefen et al., 2003).

However, factors like high level of education or high income allow having a more favorable

perception of online shopping (Bigne et al., 2005), which in the end builds trust and loyalty. It is

added that long exposure to technology helps develop favorable attitudes towards online

shopping.
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There are a lot of factors influencing a consumer in the purchase decision process. Different

stakeholder groups are the influencers in this process (Frooman, 1999); therefore, it is important

to study their behavior to successfully run a business. Price is another important factor. Due to the

global financial crisis, consumers have become even more price‐conscious, which means

businesses need to be even more cost‐driven or more focused on building awareness and strong

brand equities. In this research study, the author analyzes how to increase brand awareness in the

digital world and how different stakeholder groups can help in the process. To apply theory into

practice, an analysis of a web shop called LinenMe is carried out.

LinenMe brand offers finest linen tablecloths, linen towels, luxury bed linens, curtains and

upholstery fabrics. The company´s headquarters are based in Surrey, United Kingdom; however,

the products are sold all over the world thanks to its online platform. To increase the research

accuracy, the case study is focused only on the Danish market. Moreover, the author finds it

interesting to focus only on the Danish market as Denmark is one of the countries where people

consume most organic products in the world and where organic products have the largest market

share (Panel Debate 2013, www.organicdenmark.dk). Besides, the sales of organic products have

been increasing compared to conventional products. According to organicdenmark.dk website,

Danes will spend even more money on organic products in the coming years. This can be a clear

advantage for LinenMe as the company positions its product as “green” and ecological.

As a company, LinenMe is very peculiar and interesting to study because it is approaching and

doing business in the Danish market without having any office or any employee present in

Denmark. Foreign companies could learn how to do online business in Denmark without the need
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of being physically present in the country, based on their business model. The company has several

dispersed employees and a family‐owned operations center in Lithuania, a country with old

traditions of linen‐ production. It is crucial to note, that the company is still driven by local

(Danish) consumer knowledge and understanding; it services consumers in Danish language.

Moreover, it employs people who are familiar with Danish culture, which is crucial to understand

as it affects the way in which consumers think and behave (Madupu and Cooley, 2010). This case

proves that Internet allows companies being present anywhere without having to have an office or

a representative person.
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Literature Review

Review of literature shows the previous studies carried out by the researcher in this field. Previous
studies are reviewed in order to gain insight into extent of research. There search problem can be
more understood and made specific referring to theories, reports, records and other information
made in similar studies. This will provide the researcher with the knowledge on what lines the
study should proceed and serves to narrow the problem. The main objective of the study is to
measure Brand Awareness of products among the people and the reviews are as follows:

Brand:

A traditional definition of a brand was: “the name associated with one or more items in the product
line, that is used to identify the source of character of the item(s)”(Kotler, 2000).

The American Marketing Association(AMA) definition of a brand is “a name, term, sign,symbol,

or design, or a combination of them, intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or
group of sellers and to differentiate
them from those of competitors”

Brand awareness:

Brand awareness in Marketing

“The power of a brand resides in the minds of customers” (Keller, 2008)

A brand is “a name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or a combination of them which is intended to
identify the goods or services of one seller or a group of sellers and to differentiate them from
those of competitors” (Heding et al. 2009, p. 9). A brand represents value for customers and
companies (Hakala et al., 2012). The role of brands has been changing over the history. They were
a designed means to get and conserve customers (Hatch and Schultz, 2009). However, nowadays
brands play a much more important role in the purchasing decision of a product (Kathuria and Jit,
2009).

Brands help in building emotional relationships with customers, which in turn brings tangible
returns for the whole organization in terms of customer loyalty and identification of the customer
to the brand (Kathuria and Jit, 2009; Hagel and Armstrong, 1997; Chaffey et al., 2000). One of the
top goals for any brand manager is to strengthen the relationship between customers with brands
(Gummesson, 2002). For any company, having a strong brand is a very valuable asset (Aaker,
1991, 1996; Keller, 2003; Aaker and Jacobson, 2001). However, in order to survive among its
competitors, a brand needs to offer something distinctive or unique (Farhana, 2012). Products can
be copied but not the brands (Christiansen et al., 2009).

Brands give a product a sense of uniqueness with regard to their competitors and develop and
create an attachment between the brand and a customer (Rafi et al., 2011). According to Kotler
(2006), a brand adds dimensions and differentiates a product in some way from other products
designed to satisfy the same need. Differentiation is an important factor that a brand should bring
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(Farhana, 2012). A successful brand is, therefore, an identifiable product, service, person or place,
improved in a way that the buyer or user perceives it relevant, unique and matching their needs.
Christiansen et al. (2009) indicate that “a valuable brand will endure in the customers’ minds”
(Christiansen et al., 2009, p. 322). Furthermore, the success of a brand results from being able to
sustain these added values among their competitors (de Chernatony & McDonald, 1998).
According to Farhana (2012), in today’s marketplace it is important to build, maintain and use
brands to achieve strategic advantage.

According to Macdonald and Sharp (2000), one of the main aims of marketing is to generate and
maintain brand awareness. It is easy to believe that marketers consider brand awareness and brand
recognition as two of their top objectives for their online marketing efforts (Hollis, 2005). Gulati
and Garino (2000) argue that nowadays companies hope to reach profitability more rapidly, and
the fastest way to reach global brand awareness is through online channels.

Internet marketing:

When talking about the internet or digital marketing, it becomes necessary to differentiate this
form from traditional marketing, in order to understand which are the most evident differences and
how will these differences influence the companies’ plan. This way, internet marketing is defined
as the process of building and maintaining costumer relationships through online activities to
facilitate the exchange of ideas, products, and services that satisfy the goals of both parties
(Mohammed, Fisher, Jaworski, & Paddison, 2003). On the other hand, digital marketing is broader
on its definition, being described as the process of finding the best way of achieving goals,
normally promoting a brand or service, through electronic connected media, what can happen
online, on the web, through specialist internet applications, or through mobile phone applications,
both network and Bluetooth connections (Redant, 2014). Having the mobile component as the
main difference, it may be concluded that digital marketing incorporates in its definition internet
marketing. Digital emergence implies new learning techniques about how to use it in favor of its
growth and evolution (Doukidis, Mylonopoulos, & Pouloudi, 2004).

Both web and mobile brought the opportunity for finer gradations in segmentation and increased
accountability of marketing actions (Mohammed, Fisher, Jaworski, & Paddison, 2003). Digital
also allows deeper personalization and broadcast and it can be interactive on many levels,
increasing financial and/or brand awareness returns quality and reducing implementation costs
when compared with traditional marketing (Redant, 2014).

Digital marketing was the beginning of shorter lifecycles in the marketing strategies development
and their stronger integration with business strategy and operations (Mohammed, Fisher, Jaworski,
& Paddison, 2003).

Online Brand communities:

Our society is facing a big growth of new electronic information and communication technologies
like Internet and World Wide Web, interactive multimedia communications, video conferencing,
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computer‐aided design, and virtual realities (Woolgar, 2002). Steve Woolgar (2002, p.1) argues
that “all these technologies are set to modify the nature and experience of interpersonal relations
and communications across a vast range of human activities”. He brings out the question whether
there are changes in how people behave and interact with each other as a result of new
technologies. And certainly there is. Electronic technology enables people communicate between
them via computers or via any kind of mobile devices (e.g. mobile phones) which is substituting
face‐to‐face interaction (Woolgar, 2002). Hence, people are forming groups to discuss and share
knowledge and opinions about certain topics. This is what we call “brand community”. In a brand
community, its members can provide and exchange information or feedback about common
interests (Kim et al., 2008). Baym (1998) suggests how it is possible to electronically create social
relationships built through improved community values. The huge development of social online
networks has brought new possibilities for companies to shift more focus to customers
(Sasinovskaya and Anderson, 2011). One of the main goals of companies is to make the consumer
familiar with a brand and that the consumer recognizes the brand, not just as a business tool, but
also as a way of living. According to Sasinovskaya and Anderson (2011), companies are recently
letting customers participate actively in the product design process and in some marketing related
issues. “Brand communities not only provide companies with an additional communication
channel, but also allow the possibility of establishing linkages to devoted users” (Ulusu, 2010, p.
2949). Online brand communities are extremely beneficial for companies that want to get feedback
or ideas from their customers, or just want to keep in touch with them as a way to retain and convert
them into loyal customers. Ulusu (2010) points out that social network is a highly profitable
marketing communication tool.

Muniz and O’Guinn (2000) define a brand community as a specialized, non‐ geographically bound
community, where members celebrate the brand that they support. They add that a brand
community is based on a structured set of social relationships connecting consumers to the brand,
or consumers to other consumers. Companies are extremely interested in learning about online
communities because they could help them gain competitive advantage and a cost‐effective
solution to reach customers (Muniz and O’Guinn, 2000). Relatedly, Schouten and McAlexander
(1995) argue that brand communities are a distinctive subgroup of society that self‐ selects on a
basis of a shared commitment to a particular brand.

Brands are social entities which are experienced, shaped, formed, and modified in communities.
Consumers generate their own brand meanings, which are then communicated back to marketers
and to the rest of the brand community (Brown et al., 2003). Brand communities include groups
of individuals who share a system of values, standards or representations, and who accept and
recognize linkages of membership with each other and with the whole (Veloutsou and Moutinho,
2009). Some customers feel identified and attached to certain brands. For them, a brand is more
than just a brand, it is a way of expressing personal values (Heding et al., 2009). Some customers
consider a brand as a part of their personality (Rafi et al., 2011). Customers finding factors to
identify themselves with brands influence positively brand attachment and brand attitude (Rafi et
al., 2011). According to Veloutsou and Moutinho (2009) brand communities are more formal than
brand tribes, which are looser in nature.

Heding et al. (2009) define brand community as a social entity in which consumers have the chance
to interact socially with the brand. Most recently it is taking place on Internet‐based settings like
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social media websites (e.g. Facebook and Twitter). A brand community occurs only when at least
two consumers interact with each other. Heding et al. add that brand communities have provoked
a change in negotiation power between the marketer and the consumer as consumers demand more
power when acting in groups.

Brand communities focus mainly on relationships between customers and the brand, the firm, the
product, and among customers (Algesheimer et al., 2005; Fuller et al., 2008; Sasinovskaya and
Anderson, 2011). These authors support the idea that brand community members can contribute
positively to product development, product design and to brand strengthening. Sasinovskaya and
Anderson (2011) suggest that it is convenient for companies that their members communicate
between themselves and that they have the freedom of expression, which will lead to a positive
online experience.

It can be said that, organizations with strong brand communities are more likely to build stronger
reputation over time (Abratt and Kleyn, 2012). Different studies have shown that, customers
involved in online brand communities have a strong impact on customer satisfaction and customer
loyalty (Griffin and Hauser, 1993; McKeen et al., 1994; Hagel and Armstrong, 1997; de
Chernatony, 2001). De Chernatony (2001) propose that companies should encourage customers to
share ideas and opinions in brand communities. However, brand owners need to pay attention to
what customers say about the brand as negative feedback might come out damaging the brand
image.

Some authors have affirmed that online brand communities are a big help for building strong
relationships with one of the main stakeholders group: customers. An emotional connection
between the customer and the brand might be made through a membership system as the member
can feel that he/she is part of an ”insider’s club” (Kozinets, 1999; Williams and Cothrel, 2000).

Online communities are becoming extremely popular in firm’s internet‐marketing strategies

(Hagel and Armstrong, 1997). Nowadays, people in general are using more social media than
before with the aim of engaging with others (Mauri and Villamira, 2011). Social networking sites
are key media for marketing and advertising purposes (Gerlich, et al. 2012). Facebook is one of
the most famous and popular social networking site. “… Facebook deeply penetrate their users’
everyday life and, as pervasive technology, tend to become invisible once they are widely adopted,
ubiquitous, and taken for granted” (Debatin et al., 2009, p. 83). Its creators define Facebook as “a
social utility that helps people communicate more efficiently with their friends, family and
coworkers” (website of Facebook creators). Facebook is the most trafficked social network website
on the Internet (Facebook Newsroom, Statistics). Ulusu (2010, p. 2950) writes in his article:
“Facebook is a unique social network that views itself as a social platform”. According to
Facebook Newsroom, its users spend more than 700 billion minutes per month on Facebook. The
main Facebook usage factors are social networking, writing on wall, entertainment, searching for
friends and free time (Ulusu, 2010). Facebook is being used by many companies as an efficient
advertising tool.

Some of the main Facebook features are instant messages, blogs, classified listing, interest groups,
music, public comments, images, videos, rankings, and e‐mails (Usulu, 2010). Facebook also
facilitates Facebook Ads which allow advertisers to create Facebook ads engaging the right target
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audience (Facebook Newsroom). These ads will be displayed on a right side column of the
Facebook page and can be based on demographic factors such as location, age, gender, or
education.

Facebook can be also used by companies to collect information about consumers and learn about
customers’ needs by inviting them to write feedback, or just by observing customers’
conversations on Facebook (Ulusu, 2010). Ulusu (2010) writes “Facebook has become crucial to
the competitive success of the organizations” (Ulusu, 2010, p. 2955).

Many researches about brand communities show that these communities are making consumers
being more attached to a brand and are benefiting consumers’ brand attitude (McAlexander et al.,
2002). Ulusu (2010) made a study analysis for brand and advertising engagement from Facebook
users. The results revealed that brand community engagement dimensions are more important for
male Facebook users than for females. Results also indicate that users are in general interested in
brand announcements on their Facebook page (Ulusu, 2010). Ulusu (2010) concludes his article
by affirming that Facebook users use Facebook mainly for social needs, like networking with
friends for example, rather than for brand engagement or advertising purposes.
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