- Internal Code :
- Subject Code : CTEC104
- University : Kent Institute
- Subject Name : Communication
Communication and Technology
Executive Summary of Burberry Analysis
This report discussed the impact of social media on business and understand its role in setting up of an online communication channel for Burberry. Burberry is a luxury clothing brand which is located in Australia and its management team had intended to make use of social media platforms for a better outreach in the global and domestic market. The report also discussed the characteristics and advantages of social media in businesses which include the benefits of these platforms as a means of advertisement, communication with customers and sales for businesses. The report also discussed some of the risks associated with the use of social media in businesses which include loss of privacy and security issues. These platforms are also prone to various cyberattacks which can cost the company its reputation. The report aimed at forming recommendations for Burberry which include using Instagram as a platform to advertise the various products manufactured by the company. The company can also make use of some help of the many influencers available on this platform to advertise their products to the millions of followers held by these influencers. The company can also make use of Twitter as a means of communicating with its customers.
Table of Contents
Communication and Technology.
Executive Summary.
Introduction.
Objectives.
Information Analysis.
Background of Social Media Communication.
Characteristics of Social Media Communication.
Advantages of Using Social Media Communication.
Risks Associated with the Social Media Communication.
Impact of Social Media Communication in Current and Future Business Organizations.
Findings.
Recommendations.
References.
Introduction to Burberry Analysis
Web 2.0 has offered companies and businesses to make use of the internet of a platform to develop, share and collaborate with other companies in the market. The internet has played an important role in digitizing businesses and expanding their markets globally without location possessing as a barrier. Many companies have adopted newer technologies to restructure their business plans and cater the global market. Companies have started making use of mobile applications and websites along with stores to provide their customers the freedom to shop while being in any part of the world at any part of the day. Another strategy which has played a major role in helping ventures and businesses reach new heights has been social media. Social media as a platform has not only led to being a medium of communication between people all around the world, but as also served as a medium for online businesses to digitally advertise their products and also interact with its customers. According to Pourkhani, Abdipour, Baher and Moslehpour (2019), social media has helped businesses explore the cultural landscape of the people’s web and these social media platforms have given a transparent platform to share their views and opinions. This has helped ventures receive constant feedback from their customers and accordingly alter their strategies and marketing plans. Hence, following the benefits which social media offers to businesses, Burberry which is a luxury clothing brand in Australia has decided to make use of this platform for a better market growth. This report aims at understanding the various advantages and risks associated with social media in businesses and formulate some recommendations for Burberry.
Objectives of Burberry Analysis
The objectives of this report revolve around the growing impact of social media over different sections of the society. Social media has helped ventures to reach out to their current and target audiences, nurture and engage with them. Burberry, which has been one of the leading brands offering luxury clothing has also stepped forward to make use of social media to expand their current market and serve the global demand. Hence, the main objective of this research is to research and understand the effects of social media over businesses such as Burberry and its various advantages and risks associated to it.
Information Analysis
Background of Social Media Communication
Social media has been a key participant in helping business excel in the digital age. Business are concentrating on developing social media applications, also known as SMAs which are used as channels to help establish communication between businesses and its customers. According to Wang, Pauleen and Zhang (2016), these applications have offered a combination of media capabilities to provide a platform for enterprises which can assist them grow a better market following three broad perspectives. Firstly, these applications have helped companies advertise their businesses better and provide the latest information to their customers instantly and also set up communications with suppliers and partners in the distribution channel. Secondly, these social media applications help in the innovation process of an organization as they assist companies in generating new product ideas, innovating existing products and facilitate constant learning and feedback. Companies are also able to gain insights to market gaps and identify industry trends. Lastly, these social media communications have also helped companies establish communication with other ventures in the market to enhance knowledge sharing and enabling an enhanced collaboration.
Characteristics of Social Media Communication
According to Carr (2016), the characteristics of the role played by social media in business can be understood by analysing its presence and importance in different sections of a business. Considering the role played by social media in product development and design, it has helped companies enhance the procedures followed to launch a new product or innovate existing products as it has impacted the ease of connectivity between these organizations and its consumers. The cost of product development has drastically reduced as companies no longer have to rely on surveys and conferences to gain feedback and insights of the market and the consumer needs. The supply chain management of these companies has also been enhanced by social media. The main areas of supply chain management in which social media has made organizations rely more on them than traditional ways are data mining, data sharing and collaboration. Employee involvement has been experienced more than ever before as these social media platforms have also acted as means of internal knowledge sharing which has helped companies follow the opinions, ideas and concerns expressed by their employees. Customer engagement has always been the main focus of companies while incorporating social media platforms in their businesses. These companies have been able to communicate with its customers inside the market and also influence the conversations around their brands. Effective levels of customer engagement can help companies strengthen their brand loyalty and influence other customers in the market.
Advantages of Using Social Media Communication
Some of the advantages of social media communication are listed below:
- Social media platforms have acted as a major source of influence of target groups. According to Veldeman, Praet and Merchant (2015), 85.9% Belgian companies out of a sample of 92 companies had accepted social media as a source of influence and has possessed higher levels of usefulness than industrial enterprises.
- Social media has also helped businesses attract customers through constant communications and feedback which has helped them build a better customer loyalty.
- Business can make use of social media to increase revenue by setting up customer networks and advertisements and developing brands.
- Companies can also focus on expanding to international markets and simultaneously exchange ideas with other ventures in the market, both global and domestic (n.a. 2020).
- Social media can also assist businesses by increasing the online traffic over their company website by posting attractive offers over these platforms. Social media platforms are the most convenient way to let users know about the latest offers and discounts are social media users tend to use these platforms often throughout the day.
Risks Associated with the Social Media Communication
Although social media has offered many advantages to the business sector and has helped businesses outperform themselves in comparison to their business performance using traditional communication channels it has also been prone to many drawbacks. Social media has been influential in many sectors of the society but has also contributed to some of the major drawbacks faced by it. Similarly, social media in businesses too have some disadvantages associated to it. According to Williams and Hausman (2017), the various risks associated to the use of social media for businesses can be classified into five main categories namely technical risks, human associated risks, content risks, compliance risks and reputational risks. Technical risks relate to the various trends in cyberattacks caused online which aim at injecting malwares and spam. If cyber-attackers gain authority over the social media communication channels held by the company, it can lead to serious consequences including lack of reputation for the company. Risks related to content include information loss, loss of intellectual property belonging to the company and exposure to confidential information. Compliance risks include the various copyrights violations, identity theft, violation of laws such as inappropriate privacy measures and data integrity and the inability to control the rights in accordance to the rules of the organization. These risks can lead to the degradation of the reputation held by the company in domestic and global markets and lead to loss of trust among its customers.
Impact of Social Media Communication in Current and Future Business Organizations
The impact of social media over current business organizations have been evident irrespective of the business sector. Every business sector including the ecommerce, automobile and telecommunications has been making use of social media platforms to enhance their business structures and as a means of communication with their customers. According to Owen (2020), there are at least 71% organizations ranging from small to medium businesses which make use of social media platforms as a means to market themselves. 52% of those post content on a daily basis on these platforms to communicate and share information with their customers.
The success rate for businesses in the future and usage of social media platforms will be co-dependent. According to Chen and Lin (2019), the marketing competition of the future would lay a greater emphasis on the brand community marketing strategies such that they can provide a better sensory simulation for its customers. Many companies have been relying on the usage of chatbots as a channel of communication between their customers and the company and the constant research and innovations being carried out on AI can together generate a more reliable and user-friendly method of communication channel between the customers and the company.
Findings of Burberry Analysis
The findings of this repost suggested the key points related to the usage of social media platforms by businesses. Many companies have been using social media platforms as a medium for sales, communication with its customers and advertising. These platforms have helped companies increase their brand awareness through online posts. They have also assisted companies in gaining an increase website traffic by sharing links to various products and services available on their websites to their social media platforms. Generating leads has also been one of the key benefits of using social media. Lead generation forms as important benefit of social media for businesses as many of these platforms offer advertising formats which are primarily focused at generating leads. Apart from advertising and generating leads, these platforms also play a major role in the sales performance of companies. But although the use of social media in businesses is linked to many positive outcomes, it does bring along some of the major drawbacks. The internet is prone to cyberattacks with attackers using different trends to attack these platforms. Apart from cyberattacks, social media platforms are prone to other risks to such as data breaches, security and privacy issues. Also, these platforms are used by only a certain section of age group, hence businesses also need to make in efforts to reach out to every potential customer in the market so as to maintain a healthy competition.
Recommendations on Burberry Analysis
Since Burberry is a clothing brand, it can benefit to great extents from the usage of social media platforms for its business. The most widely used social media platform for clothing brands has been Instagram. The number of monthly active user for this platform have been estimated to be 1 billion (Clement 2020). Since the platform provides a highly visual medium in comparison to other platforms, it can be suitable for a clothing company such as Burberry. This platform has been a useful tool in fashion promotion as companies have been assisted by social media influencers on this platform. These influencers are followed by millions of other users, hence a single post by these influencers can help the company spread their word to a huge range of people. The company can also use other platforms which focus more on serving as a medium of communication between companies and its customers. Twitter has been the preferred choice by companies who intent to setup communications with its customers. After setting up the best social media platforms which are suitable for the company, Burberry should lay focus on the content creation and the curation plan keeping its target audience in mind. The company can also automate the process of uploading their content on these social media platforms using various software tools available in the market. The company should also actively interact with its audience through comments on posts, answering customer queries and appreciating its customers.
References for Burberry Analysis
Pourkhani, A., Abdipour, K., Baher, B. and Moslehpour, M. 2019. The impact of social media in business growth and performance: A scientometrics analysis In International Journal of Data and Network Science. 3(3). pp 223-244.
Wang, W.Y., Pauleen, D.J. and Zhang, T. 2016. How social media applications affect B2B communication and improve business performance in SMEs In Industrial Marketing Management. 54. pp 4-14. DoI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2015.12.004
Carr, P. 2017. Whole enterprise social media for business performance In Phantom Ex Machina. pp 25-35. DoI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44468-0_2
Veldeman, C., Van Praet, E. and Mechant, P. 2017. Social media adoption in business-to-business: IT and industrial companies compared In International Journal of Business Communication. 54(3) pp 283-305. DoI: https://doi.org/10.1177/2329488415572785
n.a. 2020. Social media for business. [Online]. Available at: https://www.business.gov.au/marketing/online-presence/social-media-for-business
Williams, S.P. and Hausman, V., 2017. Categorizing the business risks of social media. Procedia computer science, 121, pp.266-273. DoI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procs.2017.11.037
Owen, M. J. 2020. Social Media for Business – 2020 Statistics You Need to Know. [Online]. Available at: https://assetdigitalcom.com/social-media-and-small-business-latest-statistics-2020/#:~:text=(Un)Surprising%20Social%20Media%20Statistics,BILLION%20users%20across%20the%20globe.&text=71%25%20of%20small%2Dto%2D,52%25%20post%20at%20least%20daily.
Chen, S.C. and Lin, C.P. 2019. Understanding the effect of social media marketing activities: The mediation of social identification, perceived value, and satisfaction In Technological Forecasting and Social Change. 140. pp 22-32. DoI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2018.11.025
Clement, J. 2020. Instagram - Statistics & Facts. [Online]. Available at: https://www.statista.com/topics/1882/instagram/
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