SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY FOR
BRAND BUILDING OF
COOPERATIVES IN INDIA
ROLE OF BLOGS
Presentation by
Sanjay Kumar Verma
Nodal Officer, Coop-Connect
National Cooperative Union of India
BACKGROUND
 Cooperative sector one of the vibrant sectors of Indian Economy.
 Despite privatization, cooperative model has retained
significance.
 Neglect of brand building hindering cooperative growth.
 Credibility of cooperative sector is lacking.
 Public perception towards cooperatives still not favourable.
 Paper advocates for strengthening communication plank
through SM i.e. Blogs.
PUBLIC RELATIONS AND BRAND BUILDING
 Public Relations is considered important for brand building of
an organization.
 Public Relations is a two ways communication.
 Branding is an image building activity.
 Building and nurturing relationships is important in brand
building.
SOCIAL MEDIA AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE IN
BRAND BUILDING
 Definition of Social Media.
 Social Media is inexpensive and easily accessible.
 Difference between Commercial Media and Social Media.
 Social Media → Connect, Collaborate and Move ahead.
 Impact of Social Media is more profound than usual Public
Relations tools.
BLOGS AND BRAND BUILDING
 Definition and its nature.
 Interactive nature of blogs creates goodwill.
 Blogs engage customers through open forum of discussion.
 Blogs provide keen insights into working of an organization.
 Perfect tool for advocacy, lobbying and generating resources.
 Strong alternative to mainstream media.
CURRENT PR PRACTICES IN COOPERATIVES IN
INDIA
 Significance of Public Relations is not understood for brand
building.
 Two way communication is neglected.
 Public Relations strategies neglect brand positioning.
 Heavy dependence on commercial media.
 Cooperatives have yet to venture in the field of Social Media
IMPORTANCE OF BLOGS IN BRAND BUILDING
FOR COOPERATIVES
 The cooperatives are democratic organizations.
 Blogs symbolize freedom of expression, have participatory
character.
 Blogs best medium to expand business of cooperatives.
 Good content is key to success of an organizational blog.
 Blogs can captivate the hearts of readers.
 Blogs have made many organizations succeed through
dialogue.
Towards Model Building
 Challenge of building up participatory models for
cooperative sector in India.
 Brand-building through blogs is a new area.
 The nature of paper is exploratory.
Model Building for Business Organisations
 Coops face challenge to sell products
 Challenge for not only brand awareness but also for brand
positioning.
 Customer interactions key for brand building
 Community hubs on blog
 In post-liberalisation era one-to-one marketing is important
 Devising marketing and sales techniques through blogs important.
MODEL BUILDING FOR PROMOTIONAL
ORGANISATIONS
 Devising effective communication strategies for fulfilling
members’ expectations.
 Blog is effective communication tool for promotion.
 Blogs strengthen capacity-building programmes.
 Blogs effective for grass-roots projects/programmes.
 Blogs effective for advocacy and lobbying.
 Resource generation.
 Blogs effective in research.
REALITY AND WAY OUT
 Coops must evaluate their Public Relations strategies
 Coops must give importance to blogs in on-line communication.
 Coops can bridge gap between HQ’s and field offices.
 Blogs effective in connecting with other organizations.
 Blogs are an effective media channel.
 Blogs make cooperatives achievement-oriented.
REALITY AND WAY OUT
 Blogs are a crisis management tool.
 COOP CONNECT Forum and Blog.
 NCUI’s foray in cooperative education in schools
 Generating awareness for blogs.
 Pitfalls must be looked into.
 Technology for popularizing blogs must be understood.
CONCLUSION
 Online communications is no more a taboo.
 Coops must not lag behind
 With eye for future coops must take definite steps
Thank you