Consumer Engagement Relationships in Social Media Campaigns By Shani Lewis A Capstone Project Presented to the Faculty of the AU School of Communication in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Public Communication Supervisor: Professor Caty Borum Chattoo April 29, 2013 Consumer Engagement Relationships in Social Media Campaigns COPYRIGHT Shani Rashida Lewis 2013 1 Consumer Engagement Relationships in Social Media Campaigns Acknowledgements To my parents, especially my mother and sister, who have supported me and helped me in times of need. I also want to acknowledge all of my friends from the American University Public Communication Program whom have truly inspired me. Finally, I also want to thank Professor Borum Chattoo for her patience in guiding me through this process. 2 Consumer Engagement Relationships in Social Media Campaigns Abstract The purpose of this study is to understand the connection of corporate consumer engagement in social media. It attempts to comprehend the success of social media campaigns through the use of consumer engagement by exploring how consumer marketing companies connect with their publics on social media on a daily basis. A review of academic and market-­‐based literature will highlight the historical and background components of social media and consumer engagement. In addition, this study will look at the relationships between companies’ social media pages and their publics, and how those relationships relate to companies’ social media campaigns. Best practices will be established on how to use those connections to develop successful social media campaigns. 3 Consumer Engagement Relationships in Social Media Campaigns Table of Contents Introduction Literature Review Consumer Engagement History of Facebook and Twitter Social Media Marketing Consumer Engagement in Social Media Marketing Social Media in Daily Use Methods Findings Mike and Ike Case Study Twix Case Study Interview Discussion Conclusion Bibliography Appendix Interview Questions Consent Form Interview 5 9 9 12 13 16 18 20 22 23 29 33 34 40 43 46 46 47 49 4 Consumer Engagement Relationships in Social Media Campaigns Introduction There are certain inventions that people have become accustomed to using in their daily lives. For example, the cell phone, which has since evolved into smart phones – including the BlackBerry and the iPhone -­‐-­‐ is an item that a large percentage of people within the United States now use on a daily basis. Later when the cell phone began to reach the height of its popularity parents felt the need to allow their children to have their own cell phones so they could easily reach their children. Once a wide range of age groups had their own cell phones people began to say, “What did we do before cell phones existed?” The cell phone became so pertinent to our daily lives that if someone were to forget their cell they would feel lost or incomplete without it. The same has been said about the Internet and search engines, and now social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter. These sites have become part of our daily routine with many people checking their social media pages several times a day. Not only do people use social networking sites to connect with old and new friends, but also to follow popular celebrities or favorite companies. Companies need to reach consumers, and over the years methods to engage customers has evolved as people, trends and technologies advance. As the United States spent $144 billion on advertising in 2011 (Kantar Media, 2011), it is clear this industry needs to evolve with the times. One of the most recent and important shifts in advertising and brand “consumer engagement” is the formal social media campaign. Consumer engagement is the dialog between a brand and its consumers to offer an honest experience between the two parties as it relates to the 5 Consumer Engagement Relationships in Social Media Campaigns brand’s values. This is a long-­‐term connection that needs to be enhanced over time (Ippolito, 2012). The goal of consumer engagement is to create a meaningful consumer impact and generate either a change in behavior or attitude. Consumer engagement is the resulting impact of a brand interacting with its consumers through a variety of marketing initiatives (Fuse, LLC). The broad universe of social media sites – Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Pinterest -­‐-­‐ are participatory and have changed the way people interact with one another within the last decade because of the rapid pace in which people send and receive information. The number of social media platforms available has significantly increased within the past six years, which allows for companies and organizations to promote their brands and connect with their publics through social media. It is of great interest to communication researchers and strategists to understand the relationship between a company and its publics via media due to widespread use of these sites. With the rise of social networking between 2004 and 2006, companies realized that young people, in particular, were easily accessible through these networking sites because of how often they used them (McClelland, 2012). With an average of 250,000 people registering to use Facebook daily, the most common uses of social media are social networking sites (SNS), such as Facebook and Twitter, which are popular media amongst companies. Not only is Facebook used, but Twitter also has a large following. Many companies and organizations have more than one Twitter account: one for the company in general, one for media, one for human resources, and so on. This allows the companies to segment themselves and target tweets to niche audiences. Advertising on SNS enables consumers to engage in some kind of social interaction by commenting, liking or passing 6 Consumer Engagement Relationships in Social Media Campaigns along information to their social connections. Understanding social relationship variables that affect consumers’ behaviors in SNS could help marketers to identify influential individuals in social networks and to effectively incorporate social media as an integral part of a social media campaign. Social media are an extension of communications and are often characterized as sites where participants can produce, publish, control, critique, rank and interact with online content (Papaslomou and Melanthiou, 2012). In addition, social media provide a new platform for marketers through the use of popular SNS. In 2010, 71 percent of the top-­‐
500 companies used Facebook, 59 percent used Twitter and 50 percent used blogging (Van Noort, 2012). These sites allow for a larger audience to view a company or organization, and interact with them. Relationships are the foundation of SNS, but there is no handbook that exists that can help an organization maintain its social media presence (Waters et al., 2009). The purpose of this study is to understand the connection of corporate consumer engagement in social media. It attempts to describe the success of social media campaigns through the use of consumer engagement. Based on observations from case study analyses and an in-­‐depth interview with a social media marketing expert, the study explains how companies use social media on a daily basis. The case study analyses will include campaigns from Twix and Mike and Ike. These case studies all involve some version of a “falling out” from characters of the product as the basis of the campaign. In addition, the case study analysis will look specifically at the companies’ Facebook and Twitter pages to see how the companies interact with their consumers. Additional insight is offered through an interview with a social media professional. By exploring how consumer marketing 7 Consumer Engagement Relationships in Social Media Campaigns companies connect with their publics on social media on a daily basis, best practices will be established on how to use those connections to develop successful social media campaigns. This literature review will draw upon communication theories and their relevance to the problem of how to create a successful social media campaign. The theories will include diffusion of innovation and the two-­‐way communication model. Diffusion of innovation (DOI) theory poses that some innovations diffuse quickly and widely, whereas others are weakly diffused or never adopted, and others are adopted but subsequently abandoned (Rogers, 1994). In addition, it is a social theory in that it recognizes that diffusion occurs only when a new innovation becomes a social norm. The two-­‐way symmetrical communication model depicts public relations orientation in which organizations and their publics adjust to each other (Lattimore et al., 2007). This study focuses solely on consumer marketing companies based in the United States. It will dissect characteristics of the social media campaigns from Twix’s and Mike and Ike’s Facebook and Twitter pages, and what rules other marketers and communicators should follow due to the results of these campaigns. Past social media campaign examples will be used in the literature review, highlighting pros and cons of each operation including New Balance, Oreo, Lululemon, American Apparel, and Walmart. Based on existing scholarly research, this literature review will analyze how different companies plan social media campaigns. This information will be used to pinpoint areas for future scholarly research to help other communicators prepare and execute social media campaigns. First, I will begin with a review of relevant literature and research in the fields of consumer engagement, the history of Facebook and Twitter, social media marketing, consumer engagement in social media marketing, and social media in daily use. Following 8 Consumer Engagement Relationships in Social Media Campaigns this, I will discuss the methods of this study, which include case study analyses of media campaigns from Twix and Mike and Ike and one in-­‐depth interview with a social media expert. This will then be followed by the findings of my research. Finally, I will discuss conclusions that can be drawn from the findings and propose best practices of consumer engagement for the use of social media campaigns. Literature Review Consumer Engagement In the context of the digital era, the term “consumer engagement” typically includes the ways in which consumers and constituents engage with brands, companies or organizations through digital channels, such as the brand’s website, blogs, social networking sites, and videos. Additional aspects of consumer engagement are public relations, traditional advertising, retail promotion, and sports music and event marketing. Along with consumer engagement, experiential marketing and digital and social media both have an important place with consumer engagement efforts because they use two-­‐
way consumer dialog. Experiential marketing is a concept that integrates elements of emotions, logic, and general thought processes to connect with the consumer (Hauser, Experiential Marketing Forum). The use of experiential marketing in addition to digital and social media make consumer marketing unique because consumers can engage with a company or product in a new and different way. As will be explained below, this can give a brand faster and more effective access to connect with consumers and allow both brand and consumer to become collaborators on new products and marketing efforts. Experiential marketing allows consumers to become active participants in marketing. Well-­‐planned and executed experiential marketing can result in a positive 9 Consumer Engagement Relationships in Social Media Campaigns change in consumer behavior, such as purchasing a product, and attitudes, such as changing a brand preference. In addition, experiential marketing are usually associated with consumer events, such as sampling and live demonstrations where consumers can touch and use a product. This type of marketing allows consumers to engage and interact with companies in a sensory way. With these personal experiences, customers connect to brands better and the customers can make better, informed purchasing decisions (Hauser, Experiential Marketing Forum). In a case study from Fuse Marketing, Fuse developed a program to complement New Balance’s brand re-­‐launch and connect with college student athletes to help generate buzz about the company. The campaign created personal advertisements in college newspapers and magazines and New Balance college representatives delivered more than one million pieces of the brand’s collateral to 33 campuses in 11 different markets. From this, 130,000 college students entered the New Balance sweepstake on the company’s website, which was the number one program referral to newbalance.com. Consumer engagement can be measured in a number of ways such as quantifiable metrics like number of consumer replies, or in qualitative measures like personality of a brand’s interactions. The following is an explanation of a communication theory that relates to consumer engagement. It is important to understand this theory because of the use it has when creating a strategic plan for a social media campaign that involves consumer engagement. Two-­Way Symmetrical Communication Model The two-­‐way symmetrical communication model, described earlier, depicts public relations orientation in which organizations and their publics adjust to each other and 10 Consumer Engagement Relationships in Social Media Campaigns focuses on the social science research methods to achieve mutual understanding (Lattimore et al., 2007). This model is one of four public relations models developed by James E. Grunig and Todd Hunt, which has enriched scholars’ understanding of how public relations is practiced. The other three models include press agentry, public information, and two-­‐way asymmetrical. Press agentry is the model in which information moves one way, from the organization to its publics. Public information is similar to press agentry in the sense that it is still one-­‐way communication, but the intent is to inform, rather than to promote and publicize. Finally, two-­‐way asymmetrical involves public relations practitioners using surveys, interviews and focus groups to get feedback from the publics after the company delivers its message. However, the company is more interested in having the publics adjust to the company and not the reverse. Of the four models, the two-­‐way symmetrical offers the best value for both the company and its publics, particularly in the current digital age. It shows balanced self-­‐
interests with the interests of others in a give-­‐and-­‐take process that can waver between advocacy and collaboration (Lattimore et al., 2007). As discussed earlier, consumer engagement relies upon two-­‐way consumer dialog, meaning the company needs to hear from its consumers and vice versa. In two-­‐way symmetrical communication, the company or organization wants to adjust itself to the way its publics describe the desired company. In this situation, the customers learn about the company and the company receives feedback from its publics. From this, the company then decides what it needs to do. If the company takes action based on the publics’ feedback, then the company is performing two-­‐
way symmetrical communication. This model can be used not only in traditional media campaigns, but also, on social networking sites. 11 Consumer Engagement Relationships in Social Media Campaigns History of Facebook and Twitter The two most popular social networking sites in the United States and around the world today are Facebook and Twitter. Although social networking sites all tend to have similar goals, which is connecting people around the world to others and create interactive, bilateral communication, the two forums are different. Both networking sites are popular but as of 2012 Facebook had more than 800 million people (World Geographic Regions, 2012) signed up with an account and Twitter had more than 288 million monthly active users. In addition, both sites are used differently and came to be the products they are today in different ways. Mark Zuckerberg, then a 19-­‐year-­‐old Harvard student, started Facebook in 2004 (Philips, 2007), which was made originally only for Harvard students. Within one month nearly half of the undergraduates at Harvard created a Facebook account, which eventually caused Zuckerberg to extend the audience to just college students and then to all people around the world. The idea of Facebook bore a strong resemblance in functionality to an early social media site called “Friendster,” which allowed users to follow their “friends” and watch as they change and update their lives in front of you on the computer screen. Now on Facebook, users can also send gifts and messages, and leave comments, pictures, and videos on friends’ walls. From its humble beginnings as a way to keep up with friends, Facebook is now used in companies as well; thus, while people socialize and connect with friends on Facebook, they are also connecting with brands and products. Now worth more than $5 billion, in 2005 (Carlson, 2011) Evan Williams, who used 12 Consumer Engagement Relationships in Social Media Campaigns to work for Google, and several other Google employee ex-­‐patriots started Twitter. Williams and the other original workers named their company Odeo with the intentions of launching it as a podcasting company, but had to re-­‐work the idea once Apple launched its own podcast platform and changed the company name to Twitter. Eventually, Williams came up with the idea of microblogging where people can share information but only in short bursts of a 140-­‐character window. This differs from a Facebook status update that gives users space in 420 characters and slightly less than a text message that allows 160-­‐
characters (Picard, 2011). Twitter not only allows people to write about what they are doing, but also users can stay up-­‐to-­‐date with the most interesting news stories in the media. Businesses use Twitter for two-­‐way communication between its employees and its customers, to enable companies to respond to customers in real-­‐time. Where Twitter is specifically a microblogging website for people and companies to post short facets of information, Facebook is more complicated. On Facebook, companies and users can create long status updates, share videos and pictures, and develop friendships. In sum, Facebook is an ongoing social relationship builder, whereas Twitter is a here-­‐and-­‐now website that discusses trending topics and keeps people informed (Visual Scope Studios, 2012). Because Facebook and Twitter are now commonplace in businesses, these businesses can now use social media marketing as a way to keep consumers interested in a product or brand. Social Media Marketing In its broadest sense, “social media” refers to the means of interactions among people, in which they create, share, and exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and network (Alqvist, et al., 2008). Now, however, we tend to think of social 13 Consumer Engagement Relationships in Social Media Campaigns media primarily through interactions and understanding of the most-­‐used social media channels, such as Facebook and Twitter, among others. From a consumer advertising perspective, social media is used extensively for marketing purposes – as digital networks where consumers, usually young adults and teens, further extend their relationship with brands online (Fuse, LLC). These relationships are usually made on SNS such as Facebook and Twitter, and the level of a relationship can often depend upon the connections users have with a company or between other SNS users. Connections and relationships are important to people in life and on SNS. The connections we make with others can explain what type of person someone is and what their interests may be. Van Noort and colleagues (2012) conducted an experiment measuring how likely people are to forward a marketing message received from a good friend or family member (strong tie) versus a schoolmate or neighbor (weak tie). Their study revealed that when it comes to social networks, people are more likely to follow or believe in a posting/message made from a strong tie than a weak tie (Van Noort et al., 2012). It was only a matter of time before social media and social networking sites became popular for companies and organizations. For example, earlier in 2012 Oreo started a 100-­‐
day campaign to celebrate the cookie’s 100th birthday. Facebook fans of the cookie could be part of the birthday celebration by taking pictures, eating the cookie, and posting the pictures on Oreo’s Facebook page. Oreo’s campaign, called “OREO the Daily Twist,” was a national campaign to illustrate history-­‐making moments through the eyes of Oreo Facebook fans (Diaz, 2012). Each day for 100 days, a new ad would be made featuring the 14 Consumer Engagement Relationships in Social Media Campaigns illustration of an important milestone submitted by the Facebook fans, which would then be posted on Oreo’s Facebook page. This was a successful social media campaign because it not only celebrated Oreo’s birthday, but also incorporated creativity allowing all users to find their “inner child,” and interact directly with the organization. The campaign was successful both in terms of generating revenue and on Facebook with more than 30 million page “likes” (Diaz, 2012). This illustrates how social media campaigns are effective ways to promote consumer marketing companies. Diffusion of Innovations As previously explained, the diffusion of innovations (DOI) theory explains how some innovations diffuse quickly and widely, whereas others are weakly diffused or never adopted, and others are adopted but subsequently abandoned (Rogers, 1994). Because companies using social media and SNS as a form of marketing are still generally a new idea, many companies are unaware of how to properly use SNS to successfully promote and market on social media pages. With the example of Oreo and the success it developed from its campaign using Facebook, other companies have a case study on which they can base their next social media campaign. This is an idea that can be emulated by hundreds of other companies by utilizing the DOI theory. DOI goes through a five-­‐step process: Knowledge, persuasion, decision, implementation, and confirmation. In the first step, individuals need to be exposed to an innovation, and in the second step, the individual needs to actively seek information about the prospective innovation. In the decision step, the individual weighs the advantages and disadvantages and decides whether to accept or reject it. If the innovation is accepted, the 15 Consumer Engagement Relationships in Social Media Campaigns process continues with the fourth step where the individual implements the innovation and determines its usefulness. Finally, the individual reaches the last step where he or she confirms whether or not to continue using the innovation (Rogers, 1994). Based on the tenants of the DOI theory, the success of the Oreo campaign can help other companies decide if conducting a similar campaign would be a beneficial innovation if well implemented. Additionally, the concept of social media marketing can be used to incorporate consumer engagement on SNS and other social media pages. Consumer Engagement in Social Media Marketing Brands and companies are not only looking to increase profit and awareness of themselves amongst their publics, but to also deepen engagement with its customers and prospects, through digital marketing’s clutter and audience indifference (Beckner, 2013). Social media marketing on social networking sites allows companies to participate in consumer engagement. Not only can companies talk and respond directly to customers and publics, but also promote events that would move social media marketing beyond the Internet. In order to gain strong consumer engagement from a company’s audience through social media marketing, media experts need to know which channel best suits the targeted group. It is important for marketers to know the age range of their audiences and to conduct background research to determine what social media sites are used most often by those key publics. For example, there is a higher percentage of millennial (people born between 1980s-­‐2000s) who use Facebook more frequently than people from Generation X or the baby boomer generation. However, there is a higher percentage of Generation X-­‐ers that use LinkedIn compared to millennial and baby boomers (Liu, 2012). If a company is 16 Consumer Engagement Relationships in Social Media Campaigns intending to reach out to college students, it would make sense to connect with them using Facebook as opposed to LinkedIn, which is used primarily by people from Generation X. Recently beer, wine, and spirits companies have tried to stay in touch with their brand fans and find new customers through social networking sites. Cindy Liu’s research examined the level of engagement of alcohol brands’ on Facebook pages, and found the highest consumer engagement levels were from Heineken and Jack Daniel’s Whiskey in January and July of 2012. In January Heineken posted 29 times and received consumer engagement more than 3,500 times. Jack Daniel’s Whisky posted 28 times and was engaged with more than 2,600 times. In July the number of posts for these companies decreased significantly and the level of engagement more than doubled (Liu, 2012). When it comes to types of engagement on a digital medium, Calder and colleagues describe two types of engagement: personal and social-­‐interactive. Personal engagement involves individuals reading newspapers and magazines in a Web based format. Social-­‐
interactive engagement refers to socializing with others and participating in a discussion on a website. When it comes to social-­‐interactive engagement social media users not only enjoy the experience intrinsically, but also extrinsically as they participate and socialize with others. Seeing that audiences enjoy socializing in general outside of the Internet, people who follow a popular brand on Facebook or Twitter will not only enjoy learning and reading about the company’s products and campaigns, but also participating in conversations with the company and other social media followers for that company. From this information we find that consumer engagement can also affect social media marketing and that the two components work well together on social media websites. In addition, the concept of companies using social media and creating company 17 Consumer Engagement Relationships in Social Media Campaigns pages on SNS is an example of how the DOI has helped companies connect to their publics directly on a daily basis. Social Media in Daily Use There are different types of social media and each website requires users to work differently on each. Facebook and LinkedIn are SNS, while Twitter is a microblogging site, and YouTube is a content community. Within each of these social media exists user-­‐
generated content (UGC), which is an important means of communication through which consumers express themselves and communicate with others online (Smith et al., 2012). UGC can be in the form of a tweet when using Twitter, a status update on Facebook or a video post on YouTube. Use of UGC can help communicators understand how specific social media channels influence brand-­‐related messages consumers create. Like other types of marketing skills including word-­‐of-­‐mouth, UGC, which originated before the use of the Internet and social media, has become less demanding due to the increased accessibility of technology. For instance, in China, there is a higher percentage of Internet content that is user-­‐produced than is professionally produced (Smith et al., 2012). In the Smith and colleagues’ (2012) journal article, the researchers also discuss marketer-­‐directed communication and how likely brand-­‐related UGC is used across major social media sites. For example, Twitter, which hosts a high number of consumer-­‐marketer exchanges, is a site where users ask for information then respond to comments. Meanwhile, Facebook allows consumers to post similar content as on Twitter directly to the company or brand pages, which offers easy access to marketers, low-­‐risks for posting, and takes a minimal amount of time to ask a question or respond to a comment. Meanwhile, producing 18 Consumer Engagement Relationships in Social Media Campaigns a YouTube video takes significantly more time, resources, and technical skill, making it a less desirable method to communicate to marketers. Using two popular brands as subjects, Lululemon and American Apparel, and following their communication interactions with consumers, Smith and colleagues (2012) were able to find out how likely brand-­‐related UGC was used amongst Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. In the case of Lululemon, marketer-­‐directed brand-­‐related UGC was lowest for YouTube garnering zero use, but there were significant amounts of marketer-­‐directed brand-­‐related UGC on Lululemon’s Facebook and Twitter pages. American Apparel on the other hand, did not show any marketer-­‐directed communication across Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube. When comparing the two brands’ use of social media, American Apparel only has one Facebook page where it posts information and users sometime post pictures; however, these images never generate any reaction from the Facebook page administrators. Comparatively, Lululemon has several Facebook pages where the page administrators regularly respond to posts and comments. Twitter shows similar uses of its pages from each brand, with American Apparel broadcasting promotions and job opportunities, but not responding to consumers, while Lululemon asks its followers questions and offers tips. As discussed earlier in this literature review, interactivity is necessary to keep social media going, especially on SNS. One-­‐way communication does not help garner relationships with an audience and will not keep potential and actual consumers of the product interested in developing a relationship with the brand. Although it is important for brands to have visibility on the Internet and in social media, consumers who bond with a 19 Consumer Engagement Relationships in Social Media Campaigns brand on and offline are more likely to promote a brand’s campaign and designate it trustworthy and reliable in the future. Methods Within the context of the digital era’s social media marketing and consumer engagement, the present study attempted to answer the following question: Does the level of interaction between a U.S.-­‐based consumer marketing company and its followers on social media sites affect the level of success for its social media campaign? To answer this question the study employed a mixed-­‐methods design using both case study analysis and an in-­‐depth interview. The case study compared two companies’ use of Facebook and Twitter for their corresponding social media campaigns. Research compared these two case studies to analyze the extent to which the strategies and tactics conducted helped the growth and success of the social media campaigns. The two case studies are Mike and Ike’s breakup rebranding campaign and Twix’s rivalry rebranding campaign. A breakup campaign is a trending tactic where companies create fake emotional relationships with real or fake characters of that company. The idea is to make the breakup public to garner attention from the company’s target audience and keep that audience invested in the breakup. Breakup campaigns are not meant to solely publicize that a friendship, work partnership, or romantic relationship ended to an audience, but also to showcase the back and forth arguments between each character involved in the breakup. For example, when famous celebrity couples breakup thousands of people spend time reading articles in magazines about the details of these arguments, which are now often displayed on social media sites, making it easy for audiences to follow the breakups. Furthermore, breakup campaigns also allow for companies to receive more attention when 20 Consumer Engagement Relationships in Social Media Campaigns new products are launched. These new products may not have received the same amount of attention without the campaign. The study also conducted an in-­‐depth interview with a communication professional that has unique expertise in social media marketing; the interview was structured to ask questions to ensure the interviewee’s understanding of communication and gather information about the interviewee’s perspective of social media campaigns. Research for the case study occurred during a three-­‐week period to identify how Mike and Ike and Twix connected with its Facebook and Twitter followers on a daily basis. Between March 8th – 29th the research counted the number of times each company posted on the social media sites per day and per week, the number of follower response posts, and the number of initial posts on the social media sites from the followers, and the number of response posts from the company. Additionally, the research looked at the types of posts and compared the number of image posts to verbal posts from the companies, the number of questions suggested by the companies, and the average number of follower responses to a post. This research also examined all response posts from the companies during the three-­‐week period and broke down the types of responses provided. This portion of the research investigated whether the responses from the companies were business standard or evoked by some form of emotion. Furthermore, the research then analyzed if the posts from the companies were viewed as helpful or interesting to the followers by looking at the reaction comments to the company or if followers liked or re-­‐tweeted the company’s response post. Moreover, the research looked at and compared the overall concepts of the companies’ campaigns because of their similarities. 21 Consumer Engagement Relationships in Social Media Campaigns The interview conducted took place via Skype only using audio as per the interviewee’s request, which lasted about 20 minutes, and was recorded and later transcribed. In addition, Srinivas Rao, the interviewee, agreed to and signed a consent form to take part in the interview. Rao is a social media strategist and blogger who founded BlogcastFM, a one stop resource for online businesses and entrepreneurs as it hosts hundreds of interviews from successful and nationally known business owners, bloggers, and published authors. In addition, Rao was featured on Probloggers’ annual list of 40 Bloggers to Watch in 2011 and is a regular contributor to the adage 150 blog (About BlogcastFM). Information gathered from this interview helped fill gaps found in previous research in regards to social media campaigns and consumer engagement. Findings During the three weeks data was collected on social media responses from Mike and Ike and Twix, both companies posted the same number of Facebook statuses per week, averaging about six posts each week. However, Twix received, on average, 355.1 response posts for every one post, while Mike and Ike only received 33.8 response posts for every one post. When it came to Twitter, Mike and Ike tweeted an average of 11 times per week as sampled from the same three-­‐week period and received 11 re-­‐tweets (a tweet from one entity posted again by a different entity) each week on average. Twix did not have an official Twitter page. 22 Consumer Engagement Relationships in Social Media Campaigns Mike and Ike Case Study Mike and Ike, a candy owned by the company, Just Born, which has been around since 1940 needed to find a way to rejuvenate its brand to keep young people interested in the chewy product. Not to mention Mike and Ike had fierce competition with other non-­‐
chocolate, chewy candies such as Starburst, Skittles, and Sour Patch. So in April 2012 Just Born, with the help of a communications firm The Elevator Group, launched a $15 million, yearlong campaign targeted at teenagers 13-­‐17 years old (Newman, 2012). And the strategy? To create real identities to the unknown characters Mike and his business partner Ike, and have the two “breakup” to start an ongoing battle about who audiences preferred: Mike or Ike. To set up the breakup campaign, Just Born and the Elevator Group made a goal to double its revenue within the next couple of years (exact number of years not specified). In order to increase revenue the Elevator group thought teenagers (the target market) would be more interested in following a public breakup like any other celebrity couple or partnership (Mike and Ike head for gay divorce in new ad campaign, 2012). Because this is targeted at a younger demographic, the tactics used to reach out to the audience were a stream of social media pages including Facebook, Twitter, tumblr, and YouTube. Both the Facebook and Twitter page for Mike and Ike often posted links to Mike and Ike YouTube videos and to its tumblr page, which connected all four media pages together. The research showed Mike and Ike’s Facebook page released six posts per week, nearly one post every day, with at least one day that went without a post. From the three-­‐
week sample period there was a total of 610 response posts (Facebook comments) shared 23 Consumer Engagement Relationships in Social Media Campaigns across 18 different posts, which averaged to 33.8 responses per post or 203.3 responses per week. Of the 18 posts during the three-­‐week period the four most commented posts incorporated a bright, focused image, and three of the top five most commented posts were interactive posts where the audience was asked to participate or answer a posed question. For example, the fourth most commented Facebook post was from March 16, 2013. The post was a picture of a painting, which was distorted because someone added a box of Mike and Ikes to the image. Along with the image was a post that asked audiences to guess which famous artist’s birthday it was that month, as reflected in figure 1. Although most people responded the correct answer as “Van Gogh,” the Mike and Ike Facebook team did not respond to let Facebook followers know if Van Gogh was in fact the correct answer. Figure 1: March 16th Mike & Ike Facebook post. 24 Consumer Engagement Relationships in Social Media Campaigns Another post that received a significant amount of comments was from March 18, 2013, which received 61 responses. This post had a picture of an adolescent boy (a headshot) with a partial corner image of a Mike and Ike candy box. March 18th’s post is different from other posts because the images are not normally of people so it captured the audience’s attention. In addition, the post said, “Have you noticed anything new about Mike and Ike lately?” As most posts seem to be in the voice of an unknown third party (possibly a corporate member), this post makes it seem as if the voice of the posts and other posts is from this adolescent boy. Furthermore, based on the responses from the March 18th post the Mike and Ike Facebook fans thought that Mike and Ike were either reuniting or that there was a new Mike and Ike product. Meanwhile, Mike and Ike’s Twitter page only received seven total responses to its posts (tweets) in which there were 33 different posts during the three-­‐week time frame. Mike and Ike’s Twitter page averaged 11 tweets per week and had 35 re-­‐tweets, an average of 11.6 re-­‐tweets per week. Many of the posts on the Mike and Ike Twitter page were similar to posts on its Facebook page because the Twitter page used the same images posted on Facebook. Almost all tweets from the Mike and Ike page that shared an image received at least one response while tweets without images rarely received any responses, which shows Mike and Ike Twitter followers were more engaged if there were images. For example, the Mike and Ike Twitter page tweeted two times on March 12, 2013. The first tweet used only words which said, “Ike just blogged about #VeniceBeach,” which then provided a link to the blog. This post did not receive any responses from Twitter followers. However, a second post from that same day, which incorporated an image and also an action from the audience 25 Consumer Engagement Relationships in Social Media Campaigns generated three re-­‐tweets, noted as a “Favorite” tweet by two followers, and received a direct message from one other follower, as seen in figure 2. In addition, this image was also posted on the Facebook page, but comparatively did not generate as much attention on Facebook. Plus, asking audiences to complete a task seems to encourage consumer engagement. Figure 2: March 12th Mike and Ike Twitter post Even if the Mike and Ike Twitter page did not request an action, followers would often participate in some form of engagement by either re-­‐tweeting the post or noting it as a “Favorite” post. For example, on March 17, 2013 the Mike and Ike Twitter page posted, “Maybe #luck will bring Mike and Ike back together #Happy #StPatricksDay,” and also incorporated an image of green Mike and Ikes in the shape of a clover. From this post there 26 Consumer Engagement Relationships in Social Media Campaigns were three re-­‐tweets and it was also noted as a “Favorite” post three times. This shows that images cause followers to be engaged when it comes to Twitter. Unfortunately for the company, the Mike and Ike Facebook page did not have any original or individual posts from its followers nor did it respond to any comments made by Mike and Ike fan page followers. However, the Mike and Ike Twitter page responded directly to one comment made by a Twitter follower shown in figure 3. This showed the company did intend to make an effort on some level to connect to its audience. However, the Mike and Ike Twitter page did not reach out to any other follower that mentioned it in a post nor did the page respond to any other follower that sent a direct message to the page saying that the two characters should reunite. Figure 3: March 13th Mike and Ike Twitter post Of the posts on the Mike and Ike Facebook page 94.4 percent contained an image or video while only 44.4 percent of the posts were interactive in the form of a question. Of that 44.4 percent, five of those posts were in the top five highest responded posts, one of which simply asked followers to name their favorite Mike & Ike flavor. 27 Consumer Engagement Relationships in Social Media Campaigns The images posted on the Mike and Ike Facebook page were often artistic close ups of the candy or a box of the candy. For instance, on March 11, 2013, the posted image took five red Mike and Ike candies and lined them up right behind each other. Each red Mike and Ike candy was a slightly different red color and the candies were also in color order with the picture in focus on the first, darker red candy and the other lighter red candies out of focus as shown in figure 4. In another situation, there is an image of a Mike and Ike box sitting on the beach with the waves in the background. The box of candy is in focus while the waves in the background are out of focus, giving the picture an artistic look as seen in figure 2 above, which was also seen on the Twitter page. Figure 4: March 11th Mike and Ike Facebook post The two videos posted on the Mike and Ike Facebook page during the three-­‐week time period were very different. The first, posted March 19, 2013, was a 16-­‐second clip of a 28 Consumer Engagement Relationships in Social Media Campaigns teenage girl explaining that she thought she saw both Mike and Ike together. The other video was a minute-­‐long trailer about Mike and Ike reuniting. Also, questions asked on the Facebook page were mostly open-­‐ended questions such as, “What do you think Mike is doing on the West Coast again?” or “Have you noticed anything new from Mike and Ike lately?” These questions do not have right or wrong answers. Only one posted question had a right or wrong answer, which can be seen above in figure 1 about which artist’s birthday it was that month. On March 29, 2013 Mike and Ike announced on Facebook the two were back together and ended their feud. In October of 2012, Mike and Ike’s Facebook page had more than 300,000 likes, which increased another 600,000 likes by the end of March, 400,000 shy of one million likes. The Twitter page, which was less popular, reached 2,497 followers by the campaign’s end. Twix Case Study Twix chocolate bar, made by Mars Limited, was created in 1967 in the UK, but not made available in the US until 1979 (Hasan, History of Twix Candy). Just two months after Mike and Ike launched its rebranding campaign using a “breakup” strategy, Twix commenced its rivalry campaign between the two sides of the Twix chocolate bar. Mars Limited decided to unveil a new global campaign in which they created characters for the Twix bar creators. The story was that the Twix bar was originally one bar but accidentally broken in half by the twin brother creators. From there on out, the two decided to make their own chocolate bars, but ended up making identical chocolate bars (Nudd, 2012). Audiences are supposed to pick a side in this rivalry and decide which chocolate bar is better. 29 Consumer Engagement Relationships in Social Media Campaigns The campaign creators came up with the idea because audiences often enjoy rivalry even when it is falsified. Mars Limited wanted this campaign to reach global markets and took to doing so by developing a commercial in which voiceover is used entirely so that other countries can do voiceovers for their prospective countries. In addition, Mars incorporated a Facebook page (several different pages for different countries) where the commercial and other related Twix information could be posted (Wentz, 2012). Twix strategically used one social medium as opposed to several. Research from this case study showed Twix, similarly to Mike and Ike, released 6.3 Facebook posts a week or nearly one post per day, but often left one day Facebook free. Using the same three-­‐week timeframe, Twix received a total of 6,746 response posts from followers, which saw an average of 355.1 comments per post amongst 19 different posts from Twix or 2,248.7 comments per week. From the 19 Facebook posts during the three-­‐week period, every post incorporated an image, but zero videos. And of the five most commented on posts four were interactive and required some form of response. For example, the fifth most commented post came from March 25, 2013, which generated 457 comments. The post was a wide image of essentially two pictures split down the middle. On the left side was the left Twix bar alone in its wrapper on a beach. Above the left Twix the picture said, “Sun Kissed Beach.” The same was done on the right side of the picture with the right Twix in its wrapper alone on a beach with the words, “Sunny Waterfront” above it as shown in Figure 5. The post asked its fans, “Where do you want to go for spring break? Pick a side.” The respondents of this post said, “Both,” “Right,” “Left,” “Waterfront,” or “Beach.” In addition, the voice of this post was from a third party who was neither the right nor left Twix. 30 Consumer Engagement Relationships in Social Media Campaigns Figure 5: March 25th Twix Facebook Post Similar to the Mike and Ike campaign, Twix did not have any original posts on its Facebook wall from its followers nor did it respond to any of its fans’ comments. On the other hand, all of the posts from Twix contained an image, but only 26.3 percent of the posts involved questions. Only five Facebook posts from the sample used questions, and of those five, four of them had the highest number of responses from followers. One of the top responded posts asked the audience to unscramble a message shown on a refrigerator and post the message on the Facebook page as shown in Figure 6. The post used another image to attempt to draw attention to Facebook fans and used a third-­‐person voice, seemingly someone from the corporate offices. In response to the post, most fans left comments to the answer on the puzzle, “Twix is delicious,” which was the correct answer though there was no response from the Twix Facebook page itself to confirm it. This is another example of consumer engagement, as the post required a response from fans. Furthermore, this post received 1,811 responses. 31 Consumer Engagement Relationships in Social Media Campaigns Figure 6: March 13th Twix Facebook Post The previous Facebook examples for Twix differ from the three lowest commented posts because of the level of interaction required from Twix Facebook fans. All three of these posts used a bright and bold image, however the actual words of the post did not request any kind of action from the audience. For instance, on March 10, 2013, the Twix Facebook page posted an image of a clock using Twix bars as the minute and hour hands. The actual post said, “Today, we are all time travelers.” This does not automatically make audiences think that there needs to be some form of response to this right away since it does not ask the audience to specifically do anything. Another low-­‐interactive post is from March 20, 2013. The post says, “Twix is in full bloom. Happy spring,” with an artistic image of a Twix bar in front of a vase of yellow flowers. All responses were random and not necessarily related to the post nor did they 32 Consumer Engagement Relationships in Social Media Campaigns show any interaction between Twix Facebook fans. Responses either talked about the weather or the fans’ love for Twix chocolate bars in general. March 10th’s post had 49 responses and March 20th’s post had only 53, which are low considering the average number of comments for each post was more than 350. The Twix rivalry campaign is expected to last one year and is likely to come to an end by the summer of 2013. Interview The in-­‐depth interview took place April 1, 2013 with BlogcastFM host, Srinivas Rao, who has interviewed more than 300 bloggers, authors and entrepreneurs on his show. During the interview Rao provided his insight on social media campaigns and how to go about conducting those campaigns and the relationships that go along with them. Regarding the role of social media in the communication profession, Rao said, “It’s technology underlying all of it. What still matters is human interaction. You’re still dealing with real people and sometimes I think people forget that.” Rao later explained it could often be more difficult for companies to create a relatable persona when it comes to marketing corporate brands versus marketing personal brands. In Rao’s opinion, the two defining components to developing a social media campaign are the objectives and the experience you want people to have from your campaign. The connection made between a public and an organization or company can affect what kind of experience the audience has with the campaign at hand. In addition, Rao noted several times throughout the interview the importance of developing relationships and how relationships built between two entities, or relationships not fully built, have a direct correlation to how others will talk about another’s social media campaign. 33 Consumer Engagement Relationships in Social Media Campaigns Toward the end of the interview Rao went over his best-­‐learned lessons since he incorporated social media platforms into his professional life. He mentioned that from his experience, companies often want to know how to gain the most amount of attention from their campaign or receive the most views from an audience. However, Rao said, “I think the question is how do I get the most loyal group of attention. You’re better off with five people who will sing your praises and walk through fire for you than you are with a thousand whose responses are sort of lukewarm.” This concept appeared to be difficult in Rao’s opinion for companies to understand, as their end results tend to be metrics driven. Discussion The purpose of the case study analyses was to get a deeper look at the interaction levels between companies and their publics on social media sites. In addition, the case study analyses were meant to see what caused people to respond or not respond to different posts based on the information provided within the posts, such as images, videos, questions, and so on. Rao’s interview was conducted in order to gain insider perspective on how social media campaigns work from a communication professional who has previously conducted several social media campaigns. The Mike and Ike case study attempted to draw in its younger target audience by producing eye-­‐catching posts that emphasized its images and posed questions to the teen publics to garner further engagement on its social media pages. It was clear that the use of images plus requests of responses from the audience further enhanced the consumer engagement levels. For example, as discussed earlier on the Mike and Ike Twitter page, followers did not respond to tweets that did not have any images or questions. With further research on the corporate side of this campaign, public relations specialists may have found 34 Consumer Engagement Relationships in Social Media Campaigns that the target audience (teenagers) respond better to and are more interested in social media posts that encourage the use of images. In addition, noting the low number of participants that followed Mike and Ike on Twitter and looking at the age of the audience, it seems likely that the targeted age group did not use Twitter in comparison to other social media sites such as snapchat or Facebook. Snapchat is a new social media site, which is almost entirely based on images. Another implication to the Mike and Ike case study was the voice used on Facebook and Twitter. Both voices on each page appeared to be similar and sounded as if it were written by someone in the corporate offices. If the goal of the campaign was to increase the sales revenue of the product and reach out to the teenage audience, a social media page could have been written from the perspective of that audience. Also, the characters of Mike and Ike were not developed enough besides learning that one likes art and the other likes music. Because the two characters were supposed to be in a fight it would have been more interesting to the audience if the characters really were arguing via social media and if the voices of the posts were Mike and/or Ike. This may have acquired further attention from teens to the social media campaign. Because the voice was from a corporate standpoint, at times the teen audience did not feel as if the idea to reach out them was genuine. Throughout all the comments and responses on the social media pages, particularly the Facebook page, several Mike and Ike Facebook fans commented on the fakeness of the campaign. In the case of the Twix social media campaign the company’s Facebook page earned more fans than Mike and Ike and received far more comments and responses from each post. Compared to the Mike and Ike campaign, which wanted to reach out to a specific age 35 Consumer Engagement Relationships in Social Media Campaigns group, Twix not only reached out to all age groups, but also reached out to consumers on an international level because there were Twix Facebook pages conducting the same campaign in other countries like Italy and Spain. Although the Facebook page did not incorporate the use of videos, it did not appear to hurt the success of the campaign. The images looked very cohesive throughout using similar backgrounds and formats. A video may have thrown off the look and feel of the page and may not have been necessary for the campaign. The only video that may have been necessary was the initial commercial that explained the start of the rivalry. In addition, the voice on the Facebook page seemed more or less corporate, as it was not from the view of the Twix sides (right or left) or from the Twix brother inventors. However, all posts appeared to be whimsical and entertaining. Creating a voice for characters in this case may have deterred older audiences who may have felt the page was only for adolescents and teenagers. Making the voice neutral made the Facebook page inviting for its publics. Like the Mike and Ike case study, the research showed that images generated higher levels of consumer engagement than without images. Because all the posts from the Twix Facebook page included images the majority of the posts received high numbers of comments. However, if all Facebook posts used images, than there would need to be a differentiation between some image posts over others. Similar to the case with Mike and Ike, posts from Twix that asked questions or required some form of response from the Facebook fans received hundreds of more comments than those posts that did not engage in consumer participation. 36 Consumer Engagement Relationships in Social Media Campaigns Both case studies showed that using cohesive images throughout, creating a voice appropriate for the target audience, and incorporating questions or tasks to generate responses social media fans and followers increases and deepens the level of consumer engagement. However, one aspect that was lacking in both campaigns was responses to the publics. People who like and believe in a company often want to feel as if they are part of a campaign process. Talking and responding to publics who post response comments to a company makes those publics feel as if their voices matter. That would encourage more people to write comments on company social media pages with the hope of getting a response back from the company. For example, when people send tweets to celebrities or companies they follow on Twitter and they get a direct message back from that celebrity or company the follower is elated because that person feels as if their comment was significant enough to harvest a response. In addition, if other followers see that the celebrity or company sometimes responds to its followers, those followers are going to try to send tweets or other messages that garners a response. The two-­‐way symmetrical communication model comes into play in this situation showing how applicable and necessary the theory still is today. Both Mike and Ike’s, and Twix’ social media pages used two-­‐way communication in the way that each page asked a question that required a response from its publics. However, the company social media pages did not appear to react to comments or adjust its way of communicating with the publics or incorporating the publics’ ideas, if any. This is known as two-­‐way asymmetrical communication (Lattimore et al., 2007). Using two-­‐way symmetrical communication would mean that the company social media pages responded to comments from fans and followers and adjusted its publics while its publics adjusted to it. 37 Consumer Engagement Relationships in Social Media Campaigns These case studies were able to learn and develop how to conduct a breakup campaign by looking at past breakup campaigns like the Barbie and Ken operation. On Valentine’s Day 2004, Mattel announced publicly that its iconic couple, Ken and Barbie, split up after 43 years together (The Barbie and Ken break up: a marketing story, 2011). Mattel wanted this breakup to be a shock, similar to the reaction to the breakup of any well-­‐known Hollywood couple. There was no known plan for how long the breakup between the dolls would last at the time or if the dolls would ever reunite again as a couple. However, the campaign was meant to give the pair space and develop individually as single “people.” As this campaign took place before the start of social media and the use of social networking sites there were not many venues to allow audiences to check in on the status of Ken and Barbie’s relationship. Mattel did however create a website dedicated to Barbie and Ken (www.barbieandken.com) and launched a poll for the website fan visitors to vote if Ken and Barbie should get back together, which showed most fans said, “yes.” Unfortunately for fans, it was not until July 2010 that Mattel started using social media sites for Barbie and Ken to begin reaching out to each other via foursquare, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube together (The Barbie and Ken break up: a marketing story, 2011). At first Barbie use her social media to allow audiences to participate in scavenger hunts where she would post the clues on the social media pages as seen in figure 7. However, Ken used his social media as an attempt to woo Barbie back. 38 Consumer Engagement Relationships in Social Media Campaigns Figure 7: Barbie and Ken social media pages The campaign even had rumors start that Ken was using online dating sites to find his new Barbie. Besides reaching out on social media, Ken also rented out billboards declaring his love for Barbie. The campaign also launched an online web series called, Genuine Ken: The Search for the Great American Boyfriend. These efforts eventually attracted Barbie’s attention and the couple got back together on Valentine’s Day 2011, just before Toy Story 3 movie came out in theaters, which featured both Barbie and Ken (Swallow, 2011). Between 2008 and 2010 sales of the Barbie and Ken dolls increased 6.8 percent from $1 billion to $2.5 billions when the rumors of the two getting back together ensued. This campaign increased sales of the Barbie and Ken dolls but only after people thought the two were getting back together (Swallow, 2011). The original breakup in 2004 and the hiatus in between did not necessarily help product sales for Mattel. 39 Consumer Engagement Relationships in Social Media Campaigns Regarding the interview from Rao, it is apparent he values the importance of interacting with people on social media sites as a conversation. Rao discussed building relationships with publics prior to creating a social media campaign, which seems to be a smart analysis on his part. As in the case of Mike and Ike, the company did not seem to have developed relationship with its publics, which is why it may have come off as disingenuous at times based on some fans’ reactions to posts. In addition, Rao discussed in his interview that the quantity of followers or fans on social media sites is not nearly as important as the relationships built with those fans and followers. Although Twix’s Facebook page has more fans than Mike and Ike’s social media pages does not mean that one campaign is more successful than the other. Success is built on the support gained by the target audiences in the long run and if those audiences continue to endorse a company. For instance, if the Mike and Ike page only had 50 fans on its Facebook page, but every fan commented on the page every month and had back and forth conversations with Mike and Ike and with the page’s fans, it would be a more successful relationship than Twix’s if Twix had three million Facebook fans, but no comments. In reality, Twix did have more fans and were slightly better at encouraging consumer engagement on its social media than Mike and Ike did for its campaign. Conclusion The objective of this capstone project was to determine how company relationships with its publics on social media sites affect the end results of a social media campaign. Based on the relevant literature on consumer engagement, social media sites, social media marketing, and social media campaigns from communication practitioners, this capstone project helped established ways to conduct real social media campaigns. This project 40 Consumer Engagement Relationships in Social Media Campaigns identified the strategies and tactics that were beneficial to certain campaigns and which ones did not help or hindered campaigns. Aspects to incorporate in a social media campaign are bright and focused images to capture the audience’s attention, while also incorporating posts that require an action from the audience. Additionally, two-­‐way symmetrical communication is key to building relationships with targeted clientele and developing consumer engagement. Creating a dialogue on social media pages makes fans and followers of the social media pages feel important and it also helps each entity in the relationship learn and understand more about the other. For instance, the followers get to learn more about the company in general and what kind of values it has, in addition to its mission. From this the followers may feel more connected to the company, which may cause these followers to tell his or her friends about the company and its relationship with its publics. On the other hand, the company can learn more about the perspective of its company through its fans and followers. The company can discover gaps and/or issues that exist with its publics and can try to correct the issue in the future. This capstone project conducted an audit on both Mike and Ike’s, and Twix’s social media usage and the affects is had on the consumer engagement presented on each company’s social media pages. From this, strengths and weaknesses were demonstrated allowing us to learn what changes needed to be made in the future for each site and what other aspects needed to be incorporated for other similar company social media pages. This capstone project is significant because it looked at how companies’ social media usage on a daily basis and the relationships developed through those social media 41 Consumer Engagement Relationships in Social Media Campaigns pages affected a social media campaign. Additionally, the project goes through important elements to necessary to conduct a campaign and reach out to the campaign’s publics. Moreover, it discusses the power research can have on the way a social media campaign is managed. It is not only about how to talk to targeted publics through social media sites, but also which mediums are relevant to certain audiences. Furthermore, knowing whether or not a company has the means to focus on one social medium or more is helpful in controlling the message and creating a more successful campaign. Some limitations noted throughout this study were the number of in-­‐depth interviews as there was limited access to communication professionals who were well versed in the topic and/or had experience conducting social media campaigns. Additionally, the time period used to conduct research was fairly brief and different results may have been produced if the time period was longer than one month. Future research that may need to be conducted is to look at social media campaigns that are not only breakup campaigns. Because the case studies had similar strategies, looking at other case studies that were not focused on rivalry may draw different results for how to conduct other types of social media campaigns. Finally, further research should be completed to look at not consumer-­‐based such as nonprofit organizations or governmental agencies companies that want to conduct social media campaigns. A study focused on social media campaigns for other types of companies and organizations would undoubtedly be beneficial in the future. 42 Consumer Engagement Relationships in Social Media Campaigns Bibliography Alqvist, T et al. (2008). Social media roadmaps: exploring the futures triggered by social media. VTT. http://www.vtt.fi/inf/pdf/tiedotteet/2008/T2454.pdf. Beckner, S. (2013). Engaged customer firs, mobile payment second. Loyalty Unleashed. http://loyaltyunleashed.frontflip.com/engaged-­‐customers-­‐first-­‐mobile-­‐payment-­‐
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against-­‐right-­‐bar-­‐141922. Phillips, S. (2007). A brief history of Facebook. The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2007/jul/25/media.newmedia. 44 Consumer Engagement Relationships in Social Media Campaigns Picard. A. (2011). The history of Twitter, 140 characters at a time. The Globe and Mail. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/technology/digital-­‐culture/social-­‐web/the-­‐
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113. Swallow, E. (2011). Mattel launches digital campaign aiming to reunite Barbie and Ken. Mashable. http://mashable.com/2011/02/04/reunite-­‐barbie-­‐ken/. The Barbie and Ken break up: a marketing story. (2011). Blog. http://blog.oskoui-­‐ oskoui.com/?p=2331. Van Noort, G., Antheunis, M.L., Van Reijmersdal, E.A. (2012). Social connections and the persuasiveness of viral campaigns in social network sites: Persuasive intent as the underlying mechanism. Journal of Marketing Communications, 18:1, 39-­‐53. Visual Scope Studios. (2012). What is the difference between Twitter and Facebook? http://www.visualscope.com/twitfb.html. Waters, R.D. et al. (2009). Engaging stakeholders through social networking: How nonprofit organizations are using Facebook. Elseiver, 35:2, 102-­‐106. Wentz, L. (2012). Mars CMO Bruce McColl unveils global Twix campaign at Cannes. Advertising Age. http://adage.com/article/special-­‐report-­‐cannes-­‐2012/mars-­‐cmo-­‐
bruce-­‐mccoll-­‐unveils-­‐global-­‐twix-­‐campaign-­‐cannes/235575/. World Geographic Regions. (2012). Facebook Usage and Facebook Growth Statistics. http://www.internetworldstats.com/facebook.htm. 45 Consumer Engagement Relationships in Social Media Campaigns Appendix Interview Questions 1.
2.
3.
4.
Can you just tell me your name, your age and your occupation? Where are you from/where do you work? What role do social media play in the public relations profession? What is your experience in social media campaigns? a. Number of years? 5. What are the steps to developing a social media campaign if any? 6. Do you think it is important to build a relationship with an audience prior to starting a social media campaign? a. How long would that take? 7. How do you determine what type of medium to use when conducting a social media campaign? a. What factors go into that decision? 8. Do you believe there is a direct correlation between a company’s social media relationships (or relationships in general) and the end results of a social media campaign? (In regards to consumer engagement and social media marketing) 9. What have you learned since you incorporated social media into your company/profession? 10. What makes a social media campaign “successful”? 46 Consumer Engagement Relationships in Social Media Campaigns Consent form Consent to Participate in Research
Identification of Investigators & Purpose of Study You are being asked to participate in a research study conducted by Shani Lewis from American
University. The purpose of this study is to gain additional insight into social media campaigns
and its use of consumer engagement. This study will contribute to the student’s completion of
her master’s Capstone project.
Research Procedures
Should you decide to participate in this research study, you will be asked to sign this consent
form once all your questions have been answered to your satisfaction. This study consists of an
interview that will be administered to individual participants in an agreed-upon meeting place.
You will be asked to provide answers to a series of questions related to public diplomacy and
nation branding, and interviews will be audio recorded with your permission.
Time Required
Participation in this study will require one half hour of your time.
Risks
The investigator does not perceive more than minimal risks from your involvement in this study.
Interview subjects will be asked to discuss personal views and professional views about
successes and failures of social media campaigns’ initiatives and strategies. However, you will
not be pressed to answer any questions they do not wish to.
Benefits
Potential benefits from participation in this study include helping to establish a more
comprehensive understanding the effectiveness of social media campaign initiatives directed
toward American audiences. These findings should help inform both practitioners and scholars in
this field.
Confidentiality
The results of this research will be presented to faculty and students in the School of
Communication at American University. All data will be stored in a secure location
accessible only to the researcher. Upon completion of the study, all information that
matches up individual respondents with their answers, including audiotapes, will be
destroyed.
Participation & Withdrawal
Your participation is entirely voluntary. You are free to choose not to participate. Should you
choose to participate, you can withdraw at any time without consequences of any kind. You may
also refuse to answer any individual question without consequences.
47 Consumer Engagement Relationships in Social Media Campaigns 48 Consumer Engagement Relationships in Social Media Campaigns Interview (Excerpts) It’s technology, but underlying all of it, what still matters is human interaction. You’re still dealing with real people. And sometimes I think people forget that, so they’re trying to create this persona and I think that’s why personal blogs and personal brands, believe it or not, are much better at embracing this technology than big company brands because it’s such a shift in the way (companies) are used to doing things. I think what it comes down to is defining two things: you objectives and the experience you want people to have. In fact I think the experience matters more than your objective because if the experience is good, the objective kind of takes form in a different way. Like I think you’ll exceed your objectives. So I would say really, the fundamental questions you have to ask yourself is, “what experience do you want people to have?” because at the end of the day the whole thing is fueled by people, the technology is just a facilitator. Because if you have no connection to a group of people at all, and you basically are just trying to hammer them and get their attention by interrupting them, then your response at best will be lukewarm. I absolutely think there is a correlation between the relationships you have with people and how they’re going to talk about you. I think our tendency is to look at all these tools and say how can I get the largest bit of attention possible. And I think that’s the wrong question to be asking. I think the question is how do I get the most loyal group of attention. You’re better off with five people who will sing your praises and walk through fire for you than you are with a thousand whose responses are sort of lukewarm. You can buy attention, but buying attention doesn’t result in a genuine connection. 49