A study on the impact of social media marketing on brand awareness_ A case study of Iceland, London (GC01397)
Table of Contents
1.0 Introduction.
1.1Introduction.
1.2 Background.
Problem Statement
1.4 Research Aims and Objectives.
1.5 Research questions.
1.6 Significance of the proposed study.
2.0 Literature Review.
2.1 Introduction.
2.2 Social Media as a marketing tool
2.3 Brand awareness.
2.3.2 Factors that affect on a business’s brand awareness.
2.4 Impact of social media marketing on business brand awareness.
2.5 Theoretical Framework.
3.0 Research Methodologies.
3.1 Introduction.
3.2 Research Philosophies.
3.3 Research Design.
3.4 Research approach.
3.5 Data Sources.
3.6 Data collection method.
3.7 Data instruments and questionnaire designs.
3.8 Sampling Method.
3.9 Data Analysis Method.
3.10 Ethical issues.
3.11 Research reliability and validity.
3.12 Limitation.
4.0 Research structure, timetables and budgets.
4.1 Research Timetable.
4.2 Research structure.
4.3 Estimated research budget
References.
1.1Introduction
The aim of this paper is to develop a research proposal on a proposed research topic. The research topic is “the impact of social media as a marketing tool on brand awareness”. The chosen case study of this proposed is Iceland. This chapter discusses the background of the proposed study along with the research problems and rationales. Then, this chapter defines research aims and objectives with research questions. This chapter also explains the significance and scope of the proposed study.
1.2 Background
Social media as a marketing tool is one of the supportive tools in the current digital age to engage the personal level of the target audience with the brand. It is also a cost-effective and easier way of communicating a brand message in comparison to traditional marketing tools like newspapers and TV. The biggest benefit the marketer receives through social media marketing is iterative communication and gets instant feedback on brand decisions. Social media is considered as the highly traceable marketing communication channel that allows offers two-way feedback to the marketers to take instant actions as required to the brand message. The new and effective communication channels like Facebook, Twitter, and Blogs allow the marketers to create their brand visibility and awareness cost-effectively and faster than ever before. Unlike the traditional marketing communication message, the social media message spread out very quickly that may both positive and negative effect on the brand image of marketers. However, the dialog through social media marketing is open that creates opportunities for the marketers to gain valuable insights of their brand stands in mind of the target audience. Social Media Examiner (2016) disclosed market research has been replacing by attentive listening through the explosion of social media sites that influence marketers and their competitors to be more transparent. For example, social media as a marketing tool nowadays help marketers in developing brand differentiation strategies as well as the positioning process by defining the consumer perception about the competitor brands. As the dialog is very private and personal, monitoring this through social media can provide a more accurate and authentic picture of the customer perception about the brand proposition.
However, social media as a marketing tool poses some risks along with the great benefits to the brand awareness among the target customers of the brand. A brand cannot be hidden behind the corporate wall. Customers always make their purchase decision by reviewing and evaluating individually and seeking advice from opinion leaders. Thus, the brands should transparent. Therefore, a marketer must ensure that every single brand message is in line with the brand promise. In addition, it is essential for marketers to generate meaningful and relevant content to engage the audience with the brands. According to CAM (2012), when the consumers are seen as less responsive towards sales pitches and marketing messages, the marketers need to achieve the trust of opinion leaders and extend the power of word-of-mouth marketing. Nowadays brand risk is becoming irrelevant without market content and stronger customer engagement. Baicoianu (2012) stated that the target audience of a brand plays a significant role in shaping brand identities deliverables and values. Thus, it has been an issue for marketers to have “social media skills” to evaluate the effectiveness of social media as a marketing tool on brand awareness and use social media for engaging more target audiences than ever before.
Problem Statement
Improving brand awareness among the target customers has been a challenging issue for the retailer in the UK (Blackwell, M and Engel, K. (2016) Iceland has been facing challenges to gain sustainable competitive advantages with increased revenue growth and profits. The key challenges are coming from the big giants and competitors. The stronger brand images of competitors including Tesco, Sainsbury, ASDA and Morrison are giving hard time to Iceland to increase its brand awareness among the target audiences. According to Kollewe (2015), Iceland is facing an exceptionally challenging situation with its brand image and decreased sales down (4.4%) in 2015. It is also losing its market share because of new entrants mainly Aldi and Lidl. Advisorgate (2016) said Iceland is facing challenges to increase its brand image because of small business units and ineffective marketing activities. Ruddick (2015) said the frozen food retailer, Iceland, has been squeezed because of supermarket price war as well as the introduction of discounters named Lidl and Aldi. The market share of Iceland has decreased from 2% in 2015 to 1.9% in 2016 (Kantar, 2016). However, the main competitors of Iceland including Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury and Morrisons are also facing decreased sales and profits because of growth trends of Lidl, Aldi and Waitrose (Andre, 2016). Walker (2013) said this is a challenging time for Iceland to gain expected revenue and profit with increased brand awareness among the target customers. RetailWeek (2017) stated that Iceland is re-evaluating its brand image and proposition because supermarket promotions hit the lowest level for 11 years. Therefore, it has been a challenging issue for Iceland to increase its brand awareness among the target customers.
The key challenges for retailers are to keep up with all the latest social media marketing tools and their changes overnight and their impact on brand awareness (Baicoianu, 2012). In addition, brands have been irreversibly been affected by the growth of social media as a marketing tool. It has been also a challenging issue to gain customer loyalty and manage a brand with customer engagement, transparency, and adaption (CAM, 2012). Iceland is promoting its brand and products with the slogan “Mums Love It” mainly in digital marketing (James, 2014) and “Power of Frozen” in TV and printed advertisements (FoodBev, 2015). Andre (2016) said traditional marketing is not enough effective now to attract and increase brand awareness among the target audience. Therefore, it has been a factor for Iceland now to use digital advertising, mainly social media marketing to increase brand awareness among the attract the target and potential customers.
1.4 Research Aims and Objectives
1.4.1 Aims
The proposed study aims to analyze the customer perceptions about social media marketing and its effectiveness to attract the target audience towards a brand. Then, the proposed study will suggest the retailers including Iceland in using social media to increase brand awareness among the target audience…………………………
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