Promoting fashion brands through social media

Promoting fashion brands through social media The purpose of this study has been to research possibilities of promoting a fashion brand through social media, specifically Facebook. It would analyse its advantages as well as disadvantages towards fashion business. The social media is an Internet platform where people are free to discuss and communicate through different blogs and websites. The critical question is how consumer decisions are affected by other consumers recommendations. It is very important that businesses intending to join the online environment should thoroughly understand the online consumer market. For the marketing purposes, social networks represent unique opportunities of a constant contact with the consumers. Sales over the Internet have increased drastically over the last decade in both USA and Europe (Forrester Research, 2000). In December 2002, Europeans reportedly spent $ 15.8 billion in 2002, Whereas North Americans spent $15.7 billion. The rise in Internet sales was mostly effected by the sales of gar ments and toys (Blauw Research bv, 2003). Outlaw Freelancers is a small Amsterdam based fashion brand, and is a good example of the micro business. Their sales are done only through Internet, at their main web page (www.outlawfreelancers.com). Outlaws have decided to use new marketing ways, and advertise their brand through social network such as Facebook. In order to find out how the big brands on the market manage social media exposure, interview with NIKE and HM representatives was accomplished. From the interviews it can be seen that companies operate almost with the same structure, except geographically targeting consumers. In comparison with Outlaws, both NIKE and HM, have already established an image, and therefore in no need of a new one. The study has shown that social media power is not enough to push the brand on the market. After a 4 months observation of Outlaw Freelancers it was clear that social media was not enough to push the sales. However, it is crucial for established companies like NIKE and HM to use social media to communicate with its consumers. Due to the time limit, it was unfeasible to continue the Outlaws research of 4 months which could possibly lead to better results. The observation is relatively small and could have led to different outcome if the period was longer. The study has shown that for a new brand on the fashion market it is crucial to mix the use of traditional marketing as well as new Internet ways. Acknowledgements I would like to express my appreciation and thank to all those involved in accomplishing this thesis, including individuals and various organizations that will be mentions throughout the process. Thanks to my parents, Mr. And Mrs. Kaminskiy, for their unfailing support during the period of my entire course. Special thanks to my dear friend Louisa Chiejina, who stayed encouraging and positive through the whole process, and believed in me. 1.1Introduction Outlaw Freelancers is Amsterdam based fashion brand, which is represented by a collaboration of fashion and graphic designers who worked with the worlds largest fashion brands in previous. The brand was established in spring 2010, and represented by a simple but highly effective designs. The collection is entitled, Run, the old world is behind you! Inspired by the 1968 Paris student protests features a 12 piece line on mens t-shirts with the Outlaws signature bold, iconic imagery. At the moment the brand is concentrating only on online sales, which will follow by retail in the near future. The Vision of the brand can be refereed to as a glocal lifestyle and take inspiration from popular culture: art, music, design and modern European living. Outlaw Freelancers consumer are masculine, work and socialize in stylish fashionable cities. Their personal style is intuitive and daring, reflecting an independence of spirit. Creative provocative and rebellious, always modern. Being a new brand the company is trying to find a suitable marketing strategy. In the industry there are many marketing strategies that a company could use to promote its brand awareness such as: advertising, public relations, personal selling, direct marketing, sales promotion and word on mouth marketing, which all belong to the marketing communication mix, also known as a promotional mix. The six elements help companies to achieve customer loyalty and rise in sales. The marketing communication mix model was created Philip Kotler, whos knowledge is being used all around the world. Every element of the mix represents a different approach, which will be explained in the literature review. Outlaw Freelancers have adopted some of the strategies from the marketing mix, such as word of mouth, for its future success. Despite the use of marketing mix, the brand has decided to use the Internet also known as Web 2.0. Companies have widely recognised the power of the internet and broad scope it offers . The interactivity provide retailers with the potential to transform their customers shopping experience (Evanschitzky et al., 2004; Wol ¬Ã‚ nbarger and Gilly, 2003), and in so doing, strengthen their own competitive positions (Doherty and Ellis-Chadwick, 2009; Levenburg, 2005). The company uses the internet through social media sites like Facebook, to communicate with its consumers and prospective customers. Primarily, social networks were aimed to build communities on the Internet, of people with similar interests and/or activities. Social networking existed since 1995 and started up with www.Classmates.com. The project came out quite successful, and in the next few year there was a number of duplicates with the same content. But the official social networking success started in 2003-2004 with the networks such as: LinkedIn, Myspace and Facebook. The advantages of networking can also involve finding people with the same interest, finding the desired web page or any other information that can interest you related to your hobby or work. Usually, the web site allows you to post information about yourself (e.g. Date of birth, school or university you attended, hobbies etc.) from which other users can find you, and relate if needed. There are different types of profiles, you can either have your own private profile, or make a group which will be visible for everybody. As competition in the fashion markets intensifies globally, companys seek other and new strategies to capture both the interest and loyalty of consumers. Because the business environment is changing and is very dynamic in the fashion sector . Apparel companys would have to build their image and brand with supporting marketing strategies which will lead to growth in the long run and survival of the brand and what it represents (Marguerite Moore, 2003) For the marketing purposes, social networks represent unique opportunities of a constant contact with the consumers. It became a usual activity to talk about different companies and preferences, which either can break the companys reputation, or make it stronger. Social media marketing platform is growing extremely fast, therefore it attract spending more budget by the companies on advertisings that can be placed on these web pages. The major goal of Marketing is undoubtedly to satisfy the customers needs and make a profit along the way. Unfortunately, the needs of customers can differ tremendously from industry to industry. Therefore different approaches are required to meet all the different needs. Positioning the brand is about finding the right spot in customers minds in order to create the desired association. (Kotler, 2001, p.172) The thesis mostly concentrates Facebook as a form of social media network. It would analysis its advantages as well as disadvantages towards businesses and their marketing strategy. Nowadays news about Facebook appears very regularly, this is one of the fastest growing social networks and the most popular one. Launched 6 years ago, Facebook was a closed network for students only, allowed to sign in only with a student email address belonging to certain universities. Nowadays anybody around the world can join the network. The main advantage for marketing purposes, that ensured success of Facebook, is the transformation from the usual social network into a platform with web applications. Developers have created a program that allows anyone to create an addition to Facebook. Currently, there are more than 5000 web-based applications, among them games and promotions which are quite useful for enhancing the performance of services and advertising. After a convenient research Outlaw Freelancers have decided to use the social media website such as Facebook as a marketing strategy to take on helping promote the brand. (Salzer-Morling and Strannegard 2004) define the brand as the organisations principal asset and the core business activity. It is more than just a name or symbol and can be used to differentiate a retailer from its competitors . having a strong brand is a powerful marketing strategy to reduce uncertainty about evaluation of product and to increase the purchase intentions of online shoppers (Collins-Dodd and Lindley, 2003). Today more and more retailers use their websites and social media to establish their brand presence on the web and communicate with key audiences. The main purpose of this thesis is to find out whether social media, such as Facebook, can influence the Outlaw Freelancers brand awareness, and sales in a long run. There are a lot of surveys mentioning that traditional advertising methods are losing power, compare to the online word of mouth, therefore it is interesting to use a real life example such as Outlaw Freelancers, to observe whether Facebook can be effective. The remainder of this study/research is organised as follows. Chapter 2 looks at the literatures relative to the subject , while chapter 3 looks at the methods used to convey the research . Chapter 4 looks at the analysis gotten from the survey and finally chapter 5 will conclude the research. Aims and Objectives I. To find out if the social media such as Facebook can affect online sales of the small brand such as Outlaw Freelancers. Compare the use of Facebook of a big company like NIKE to a small brand such as Outlaw Freelancers. Find out what are the lessons that small business can apply. Analyze if it is effective to use only social media during the growth of the new brand. 1.2 Significance of study The purpose of this study is to explore how a small fashion brand tries to engage in the market using social media techniques. Upon completion of the study , the Researcher would have an additional knowledge in analysing how social media works and most especially in what kind of businesses. The study will identify problems that might occur using this form of marketing strategy. With research , interviews, sent out questionnaires and the presence of a focus group. The study will show in detail the impact of social media network such as Facebook on the business and its brand. The recommendation on findings made in the study will help Outlaw Freelancer, its owners and potential small businesses, more aware and knowledgeable on external factors out there that could endanger or improve their business future. Limitation of study Time constraints due to time it was unfeasible to have more personal interviews with managers of mostly fashion companies. Also questionnaire could be as extensive as the researcher would have preferred. Limited Research present research/survey available still represent a diminutive fraction of the individuals on social media site; Facebook and fashion companies that promote their brands through this medium. The sample is relatively small and might have a different outcome if the sample was larger. Limited response Some of the interviewees have busy lives hence are limited to a short time and would only be able to answer a restricted amount of questions. Data availability Some of the respondents were reluctant to provide some of the information. Chapter 2 Literature Review As the internet continues to grow more and more consumers organise their regular lives around the web. From education(online learning to shopping for groceries or in this context fashion goods. Over the years consumers have seem to increase their online purchase of fashion merchandises. That status has generated a body of research allied with fashion e-tailing. (Marchiniak, R. and Bruce, M. 2004) summarise in a chapter about e-tailing, they highlight that an ample amount of study done in the area shows cross channel shopping behaviour and issues with consumer behaviour. However further research show essentials like web site design , quality and fashion are most retailers approach to online strategy (Neil F. Doherty Fiona Ellis 2010). The aspect of web design is important to any fashion branding especially the Outlaws; a brand coming straight into the e-tailing market. In the terms of web site design, issues like the page design , interactivity level , and inconsistency across the si tes get consumers concerned and react ( Siddiqui, N., OMalley, A., McColl, J.C. and Birtwistle, G. 2003). In different literature , there are aspects that are needed for any company looking to promote its brand through the web or social media websites. Aspects like branding, promotions, and web design mentioned above. Branding is crucial to the final vision of any fashion company, whether big or small. Park and Stoel (2005) investigated the familiarity with brands on the internet alongside with previous experience of shopping. They suggest that this familiarity and knowledge about brands is likely to influence the way consumers react and most especially their purchasing power. It also influences their perceptions on the risk associated with shopping online. In other words there is some evidence that brand familiarity may stimulate engagement with online shopping (Jennifer Rowley 2009). In a research model by Park, he made up a hypotheses that, People who are exposed to a well-known brand name will perceive (a) higher value and (b) more positive store image, as compared to people who are exposed to a website with an unfamiliar brand name ( Minjung Park 2009) . The diagram in Appendix ( diagram from journal). goes on to show how Park describes the links between the brand, promotion, perceived value, purchase intention and store image. Although in the case of the Outlaw Freelancers there is not a store image. Moving on to promotions, which are very useful in cognitive evaluations when deciding on the product to purchase (Raghubir, P. 2004). They are important ways of keeping consumers informed about products and trends. They create a sort of awareness value to the retailer, let consumers know about their activities which might eventually lead to their loyalty and encourage them to revisit (Minjung Park 2009). Several research have shown and proven that promotions such as price promotions like discounts have a positive impact on the customers behaviour towards products.(fit it somewhere) However despite the increase in online sales of fashion apparel, research from scholars suggest that many individuals especially those in Europe are more reluctant to shop for garment over the internet. No doubt that issues like trying the apparel on and feeling the fabric hinges this process enormously . (Rene P. Spijkerman 2008) shows in details investigation from several resources (E buyersGuide.com, Kwon et al., 1991; Jasper and Quelette, 1994). He goes on to highlight the percentage and issues involving shopping on-line. In the same research conducted by Rene P. Spijkerman which intended to answer his main research question: How do Dutch fashion retailers use Internet sites (2004 2007) and if Dutch consumers appreciate web sites selling apparel? The research investigation includes the web presents of Dutch apparel retailers having at least up to 55 shops in the town/city. It was to no surprise that majority of the shops could be identified using the google search engine, althou gh others had to be searched through other websites or links. This highlighted a notable part to the researcher that the web presence of any retail business (fashion brands) and easy access was a crucial element, more over as companies like Outlaws intend to grow and be known, the ability to make its presence on the web would be a tough but promising challenge if successful. Finally at the end Rene comes to a conclusion that some Dutch retailers do sell on the Internet on their own site but the majority do not, despite the fact that they obviously put money and effort into their web sites. Others like Doherty et al. (1999) support Rene and suggest similar, proposing that the Internet adoption might not be a viable strategy for all retailers, as the likelihood of an organisation succeeding in their investment decision would be dependent upon the retailers specific internal and environmental inhibitors and facilitators. When all seems to fail, Word of mouth (WOM) is always another marketing strategy for firms to use. It has a greater impact on judgements and decision making than formal methods of marketing communications. Research has showed that this method helps attract new customers . even though others emphasis on branding and promotions Chapter 3 Methodology Research methodology A research process that includes a systematic set of steps and actions to answer certain questions, which usually include information from academic journals, books, different publications and web sites. A right set of methods will lead to the development of the answers. In this thesis few methods will be used to answer the main question. The most important field research is the actual observation and working with the firm Outlaw Freelancers a brand on the social media strategy, for the period of 4 month. It is crucial to observe the process as it goes, paying attention from the very start. The brand is a good example of micro business and it will be interesting to compare its use of the social media, to the big company like NIKE and HM, and the way they operate through Web 2.0. However, it needs to be taken into consideration that big companies already have an existing image, and in no need to build a new one. Their task is to represent the image in its best, and communicate with the consumers, making them a part of a social media building process. Small new brands, on the other hand, have an opportunity of building their image through social media and the word of mouth, which does not involve as much costs like marketing campaigns. An interview will be conducted with NIKE HM representatives, from the social media section, their answers are summarised in the analysis. The NIKE interview will be done in person, to increase the response of the interviewee. The questions will be very open and would be more like a conversation. The HM interview will consists of 7 questions, the questions will be set as an open questionnaire they will open questions with no fixed answers and seek to solicit opinions on particular issues. This questionnaire can be seen in Appendix. It will be interesting to find out how long the companies used social media, if they analyse the outcome and the reaction of users, if there are any costs involved in the process and how many people in the company are involved in the process of managing the Web pages. In order to find out if the users of Facebook pay attention to the fan pages of the fashion brands, another questionnaire will be conducted and sent to 50 users. The questionnaire is closed, with a set of questions in a fixed order, which generally requires the correspondence to respond by selection of one or more multiple choice options. The method ensures a rapid response, easy quantification, coding of data, and consequent comparability of response and guarantees coverage of the area of the interest to the research ( Brewerton et al, 2001. p.70) It will be interesting to see from the user prospective, if there is any attention paid to the updates and information that companies post. (See Appendix) After gathering responses from the following questionnaires, one might be able to compare the use of Facebook of a big company like NIKE to a small brand such as Outlaw Freelancers and find out if the social media such as Facebook can affect online sales of the small brand such as Outlaw Freelancers, which are the aims and objectives (I and II) of this project. All interviews, observations and questionnaires will help to examine and explore the links between the company, its branding and its promotions within social media context. All research, observation and scholars have shown that this elements are very essential ingredients to any company that wishes to participate in e-retailing and make its web presents. However, certain limitations may obstruct the collection data. The interviewees and recipients of the questionnaire are extraordinarily busy. They may not respond or complete the surveys independently. Chapter 4 Analysis 4.1 Analysis Outlaw Freelancers To answer the aims and objectives of this study, the observation was conducted with the Outlaw Freelancers brand. During the period of 4 months the researcher was given an opportunity to work on the social media strategy and advertise the Outlaws mainly through Facebook. Social media gives companies an opportunity of free marketing, the main difference between traditional media and social media are the costs of it. Traditional media have existed long before Internet took over. In a lot of cases it is still relevant, depending on the product and the company. It includes radio, television, newspapers, magazines, books and most print publications. Outlaw Freelancers is a good example of micro business, therefore it was interesting to observe the growth of it. Most of the main objectives that were created in the beginning of the observation were met. Creating a Facebook fan page was a first step. To attract the users to become fans came out as a difficult task, due to the lack of the name recognition. After some time mostly the friends of the brand started to notice, and adding the brand to their profiles. Another important trick that was used in order to grow fan base, was Facebook advertising on the right side of the page. Facebook advertising is meant to be paid for, and the price is depending on the location, occupation and ages that you are targeting, etc. The advertising helped the brand to grow up to 1300 online fans, targeting countries such as Netherlands, France, Belgium, USA and United Kingdom, people who are working in the fashion industry or are related to it by any means. To target different countries gives a brand an opportunity of the immediate international presents, which is important in the long run. Outlaw Freelancers Fan page: New posts of the brand are sent to the fans through the Facebook updates (the posts on the main wall) and message updates. The main web shop (www.outlawfreelancers.com) is linked with Facebook profile which is shown in the information box on the wall of the profile. The fans were constantly indulged in the conversations, which is an important part of the social media strategy. Facebook users like to feel important and noticed. The communication that is done by a brand needs to represents its tone. Preferably the selling part is better to leave to a costumer, which can decide for himself. The post were representing the Outlaws identity, they included different fashion and music events, art exhibitions, inspiring images as well as any kind of updates on the main web shop page. The right balance was accomplished from the beginning, therefore users felt comfortable to comment and take part in discussions. The calendar for updates was made in order to be more strategic, in this way users do not forget about the existence of the brand. To analyse the fan pages, Facebook created an overview graphs, which show the traffic that was drawn by users The main aim of the Facebook fan page is to draw more traffic to the main web-shop (www.outlawfreelancers.com) and increasing sales. The website analysis did not show much change in the first 2 month, where after that period traffic increased and t-shirts were selling, but in very small quantities. This 4 month observation has showed the first signs that the fan pages on Facebook might not be enough to advertise the brand, therefore traditional needs to also be used. Outlaw Freelancers SWOT analysis Strengths Individual networking Word of mouth communication Immediate Internet presence through social media Quality product Weaknesses Lack of name recognition Advertising only through social media Competition with established brands No guarantee of sale through social media Opportunities Rise in sales Brand expansion to wider range of products (e.g. pans, jumpers, ladies wear) Developing international presents Retail sales Threats Getting the right message across to the right target group Becoming price competitive Shifting trends 4.2 NIKE Field research: Interview with Lauren Jane McBridge who is working on Brand Communication within Northern Europe at NIKE, dealing with brand marketing through social media. Aim of the interview: In this interview researcher would like to find out the way big company like NIKE operates within the social media in comparison to a small company like Outlaw Freelancers. Lauren McBridge was contacted, who is being responsible for brand communication within Nothern Europe to find out the information the researcher was looking for. Social media at NIKE: At the NIKE headquarters in Hilversum, Brand communication department is responsible for social media in Europe, all the other parts of the world are covered in different headquarters such as United States of America and Russia. Lauren McBridge is mostly responsible for covering Northern part of Europe and countries such as: Denmark, Belgium, Sweden, Norway, Netherlands and Finland. NIKE uses few social media networks such as Twitter, Facebook and Hyves in Netherlands. The main network that is being frequently used is Facebook. Laurens main tasks include monitoring Facebook fan pages, analysing responses of the users, and overall looking at the success of different social media campaigns. The analysing process is made through graphs and responses on the fan pages, which calculate the number of visitors in the certain period, feedbacks and the highest ratings. After analysing the feedback the information is calculated and can be used in the next campaign, considering the information that have gotten the highest response. The success of the social media campaigns is also calculated through sales in stores as well as online. For example when a product is posted on a Facebook page, with a link to a web shop, NIKE is watching the response of the consumer online, as well as comparing it to the number of sales of that particular item. Taking into consideration that NIKE is a major publicly trade sportswear and the worlds leading supplier of athletic shoes and apparel, every country that NIKE is represented in needs a different approach in social media networks. Everything depends on the culture and sport events that are taking place. At NIKE there are usually one or two people who are involved in social media for each country, who update public profiles and give responses to the public when it is needed. This is relatively different approach that that of HM, where there is only one existing Facebook fan page. It contrast to NIKE here which admits on having various different fan pages, one for each country. NIKE Facebook pages can be updated quite frequently, sometimes even more then once a day, depending on the current situation with events. The content calendar is used in order to balance the posts. It is important not to be pushy or concentrating on sales as well as to keep the posts high quality, as every socia l media page carries the reputation of the global brand. Facebook users like to feel special, so the main task is to inform and generate interactions. Sometimes the response might come out negative, in which case it is important to reply in the right way, which will give the brand more credibility. A very similar method, is used by HM. It was demonstrated in the questionnaire, sent to the employee, when she was asked in question 5 about the companys reaction or response to negative comments. Her answer was as follow, If theres a need, we always do our best to respond. Facebook vs. Twitter and Hyves: The main social media website that NIKE is involved with is Facebook. It seems to be the most convenient network for the brand, with the biggest amount of users. Twitter, on the other hand, was used in the case of a big event (e.g. World Cup) which added the account a lot of followers, but did not come out as successful as Facebook. For the company the outcome is important, the attention of users, and Twitter did not show as much enthusiasm. Hyves, is the most popular social network site in the Netherlands, with mainly Dutch visitors, therefore it was essential to make a Hyves account for NIKE. Hyves is being used quite frequently and the content is different from Facebook, to keep the user interested. But then again, Facebook pages seems to draw more interest. A lot of countries all over the world have their own social networks, where they use mother tongue as the main language. The examples of those networks are Vkontakte in Russia and Mixi in Japan. Representatives of NIKE that work for social media for those countries monitoring the pages that are specially made for users of more localized networks. NIKE has few Facebook fan pages, depending on the audience they want to attract, for example male or female. The voice behind every post needs to be relating to the consumer. Therefore it is important to consider user differences in social network. Costs As much as social media can be considered a free of charge marketing, in the big companies like NIKE costs can be involved from time to time. There are special agencies that can be used to maintain Facebook fan pages, which includes clearing spam walls and any old tabs that are not used any more. It is important to include those agencies when the big events are coming up (e.g. Sponsoring Football games). Professional marketeers are able to figure out when is the best time to post certain information to get the best outcome. Most of the images that are used in the social media campaigns are sent from the global office in the United States, with the correct description. Here is the example of the new product post from NIKE Woman Facebook fan page : To summaries the post, it is clear that NIKE is trying to advertise the product, but after reading the information below the image, you become more informed where you can use the product, and relate to a sprinter like Allyson. Another marketing trick that NIKE used in this post is communication with the Facebook users. They are asking a question, and asking consumers to be creative with the ways to wear a product. By answering users feel important, and waiting curiously for the results, if their answer was the most creative one. This trick is used by a lot of companies who want to get on a more personal level with their consumers. Analysis 4.3 HM Following the interview of