In your opinion, how does social media enhance brand perception?
From your own experience of using social media, has Vodafone been able to enhance brand perception through this medium?
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Well when you go on Facebook or other blogs and forums, you see these adverts with company's brand on the side of the screen. Usually I just ignore them but now and again, I will notice a brand like Nike for example and it'll remind me that i need to buy some new trainer for instance. I haven't really noticed Vodafone on the social media sites that I go on!! Does hotmail count as social media? i see alot of O2! so i would say that Vodafone could do more to get their presence known
ReplyDeleteI don't think I would have ever noticed vodafone's online presence if not for a friend on facebook 'liking' the brand, which made it appear on my home page. Anything else that i have seen of the brand online has been purely through an active search by myself, so I don't think awareness-wise Vodafone has done enough in getting itself out there.
ReplyDeleteI do believe that once you become aware of Vodafone online and view how they market themselves that their presence enhances the brand image. I especially like how they use the online platforms to link their offline activities such as music and sports events
Again, I have no experience of Vodafone in this field ...but in a wider context I feel that engaging with customers through social media is of great importance to brands like Vodafone. Being alligned and affiliated with Facebook ect automatically improves brand perception and allows them to benefit from Facebook ect's success too.
ReplyDeleteInteresting point you make Latimer about how they link their offline presence to what they do online! Being a fairly brand orientated person, I do feel that using social media can enhance brand perception. I persoanlly like Vodafone's YouTube page.
ReplyDeleteI also would say that brand perception can be enhanced not only through corporate advertisements online but through other methods of engaging with the brand such as customer support services online and online promotions...
Social media can do a lot for the value of a brand, depending on its message and content. For instance, the new Nike tv advert has been all over the place (facebook, youtube etc) with millions of views, and is obviously a very expensive and high quality piece of advertising. This then reflects back on the brand.
ReplyDeleteI, however, have never seen any of vodafone's social media. So it's either not being invested in enough to be visible to myself, or the content is too bland to be noticable.
Yes it think it does make a brand be percieved more favourably. A good social media presence in my opinion is a great means of opening a dialogue between the public and a company.
ReplyDeleteI think my perception of a brand can be increased through social media although this depends exclusively on whether the content is of interest to me.
ReplyDeleteThe medium can doubtless increase perception of a brand and in my eyes does this by firstly increasing awareness or creating a 'buzz', this, depending on individual reaction to published content can then create a wave of positivity and increased perception (or conversely, decreased perception) the speed that this can reach people is of course increased by social media. - check the now hugely influential 10:10 climate change campaign or MIA's recent online video for Born Free for successful examples.
From my own experience and without seeing figures I would be unable to comment on whether Vodafone have enhanced their presence through social media as I've had no exposure to them.
Personally I think that when brands do social media right it demonstrates their commitment to their customers and shows that they are keeping up with consumer's new ways of communicating....honestly I think that social media can damage a brand's perception and reputation if it's handled as a mere marketing/promotional stunt...
ReplyDeleteThe great thing about Vodafone's use of social media, is that it allows its customers all over the world to communicate but also place a special part for people in similar regions to communicate...as well again from the Irish vodafone facebook page, they constantly update it with the latest news - both vodafone and student related...and it also gives consumers a new way to interact with the brand and get answers to their problems faster than traditional methods...i've even had some of my phone problems fixed by recommendations by other users
I can't comment on the second question but can on the first.
ReplyDeleteSocial media activity can have a vast impact that ranges from building to destroying brands!
Nestlé for example have been villified on social media networks for unethical activity. Blogs, twitter and facebook groups are all rife with activity. However companies like Apple get so much positive mention (which coincidently their own technology allows people to comment with ease on social networking sites)that an already large brand grows exponentially through word of mouth.
SM also allows SME brands to have a share of the marketplace that in other marketing mediums they might not have been able to afford. This is particularly potent in niche markets
The small amount of experience I have of brands and social media had all been positive so far. You feel somewhat more involved with the Company, receiving details of new products, etc, first. The ability for questions to be answered almost instantly has been a major plus for me, as has the opportunity to receive discounts and the like.
ReplyDeleteVodafone's use of social media has yet to impact on me.
I am a fan of Vodafone's Facebook page and have even entered some of their online communities to get suggestions from other Vodafone customers. I do think that this medium enables organisations like Vodafone to enhance brand perception. The way it enhance brand perception is through engagement with the customer on a channel that the consumer is regularly interacting on/with. As social media is fundamentally more about relationships, I beleive we are seeing organisations coming across as more human and personal! It almost feels like when you get greeted by a hot store assistant when walking into a shop.
ReplyDeleteI don't think branding is that important or indeed welcome on social media platforms. One of the initial attractions to say Facebook was the relative lack of advertising. Of course this has changed, but I still find I ignore most of the peripheral advertising to be found on these sites. In truth I would rather they weren't there at all. I have to say that I haven't (like many others) particularly noticed a heavy Vodafone presence on Facebook (which is the only Social Media platform I regularly frequent
ReplyDeleteBrands that create a high amount of brand loyalty often have pages (groups on facebook for example) where their products are rated and discussed. A brand with a strong image and certainly a strong customer base, like Apple, have people raving about their products all over social media sites.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting how brands use youtube to promote themselves. I think companies like to think that they are percieved as innovative and "up-to-date" by promoting viral videos.... haven't seen this from vodafone, but the t-mobile dance in liverpool street station is a classic example, especially as they use live performance as a means of social media.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQ3d3KigPQM&feature=channel
I cannot recall coming across Vodafone within social media
ReplyDeleteThe only interaction I have had with Vodafone is the youtube viral video where the two F1 drivers have to build a car without the help of their engineers. I thought it was a really clever video and only watched it in the context of being a fan of F1 (not Vodafone!). As a result a do perceive the Vodafone brand in a better light,
ReplyDeleteI only saw this video as it was posted on Facebook and the ability of companies to use this medium to specifically target certain users (in this case F1 fans) is a powerful tool.
Sorry, in summary I think one way in which social media sites allow a brand to be better perceived is by affiliating themselves with specific industries and then aiming these advertisements to specific users who they know will be interested!
ReplyDeleteRead this post on a law firm's blog and athough its about the brand perseption from a recruitment view point it may be of interest here. brand to me is not only about the clients and customers you attract but also the employees because lets face it they build the brand before it goes to the public. At the least it made me think of this project.
ReplyDelete'Social networking and business: beauty or the beast?'
June 2010
With the new generation Y workforce knocking at our doors, would it help if businesses were more supportive of the use of social media or should personal mobile devices be left at the door on the way into work? With the pace of technology development, like iPhones and Blackberrys, we have to especially consider the fact that, not only have this generation grown up with this type of information at their fingertips, but have also been born into a culture that knows nothing different.
Attracting the right young people who want to work with and for your business is a tough job. It requires an in depth understanding of who they are and what makes them tick…or does it, when it comes to social media? Through our CSR activities, in particular our project “The i in online”, we have seen a real shift in the way young people perceive social networks and actually how they interact with them. To ensure businesses are able to maximize young people’s potential at work, it is necessary to understand their reliance on social media. There may almost be too much thought process put into understanding why generation Y would need to use social networks, when really there isn’t a thought process for them, as its part of their DNA; totally embedded in their mindset without thinking.
For companies though, embracing this DNA approach to using social media to promote your business and enable staff to interact on a familiar platform, can be fairly daunting. Training employees on the good use and potential pitfalls of social media in the workplace, does help to reduce risk and informs them of the consequences of not thinking twice before posting something which could potentially damage the business or them as an individual. Social networks are advantageous in the fact they are viral, but this can therefore have quicker and more damaging affects if it does go wrong and there aren’t procedures in place to pick up the broken glass.
By blocking or screening employees’ access to social network sites employers may be stifling creativity, if not infringing human rights. Conversely, without any controls at all, businesses put themselves and their employees at risk. So, are having policies, procedures and practices in place the answer to maximise the value and creativity of social networking, whilst also exploiting the business opportunities?
Speechly Bircham’s CSR team are exploring the use of social networks to see where the benefits are. The main aim for us is to better communicate what we currently do as part of the CSR programme via different channels. We also aim to build a stronger community both internally and externally which we hope will raise awareness of the opportunities which CSR can offer. There may well be other benefits to social networks which we aren’t aware of yet, but time will tell and anyway, I am sure generation Y will redirect us if we miss the point…
Social media is obviously a great tool for company promotion in that it is accessible, easy, quick and gives the consumer the feeling that they are directly interacting with the company.
ReplyDeleteIt is understandable why firms use social media for brand promotion as it puts them in biggest shop window of them all-the internet. But in terms of brand perception, I think that it can only help to enhance brand perception as gives people forums to discuss products/services, and gives the feeling that firms care about what consumers think and that they actively wanty feedback to help improve their product.
I also think that for new firms, who may have very limited operating costs, social media can be a very cheap and quick way to launch a brand, and create brand perception at the most very basic level before maybe using other more traditional forms of promotion to further enhance the brand. For example, around 4 or 5 years ago, Myspace became a very important tool for up and coming musicians to promote their music and be heard across a large audience, with relatively little effort or costs. For some artists such as Lily Allen, her huge following on Myspace was arguably what got her name around the industry and was a precursor to her signing a record deal, which then pushed her into the big time.
From her success, Myspace became a talent pool, for which bands used the pages to promote their brand and hopefully enhance it in the process.
With regards Vodafone, my experience of their social media work is limited but their youtube video using Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button to build their F1 car was a very clever and well made advert, which sticks in your mind and so therefore does the job of being an effective advert.
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