Branding in the Age of Social Media by Douglas Holt Analysis

In “Branding in the Age of Social Media” the Author Douglas Holt suggests that branding strategy needs to be revised after the introduction of social media. Branding in earlier times was simple as there were few outlets and branding platforms like TV, Newspaper, and Radio. In the modern age the champion of any movement, in any current affair topic gains fame by social media.

Companies should attract those champions and pick the support of the crowd culture. This article has many examples of how targeting crowd cultures helped businesses gain popularity quickly. Douglas Holt shared a sharp analysis of brand marketing and promotion with the help of digital and social media. He introduced the idea of cultural branding in place of typical branding practice. Some points can be challenged (like the overuse of McDonald’s and Coca-Cola branding) but his concept of cultural branding gets the reader’s attention.

Some key points are very beneficial in marketing. These key points are as follows:

• The first key point is never to compare the success of your brand against social influences, it should be compared to how this branding influences your business. The traffic and organic customers directed to your business should be the aim of any brand. If your brand is very active on social media but no customers are attracted to the business, the social media campaign is futile and needs improvement.
• The second point is developing the purpose of your business and sticking to it. The brand purpose will be the basics of the brand’s cultural branding. By using the examples of Red Bull and Old Spice, the author explains how these brands did well in social media branding by delivering their purpose to the people. This point however has an exception as mentioned in this article by the Jack Daniels example, how sticking to their true purpose negatively affected their business.
• Always participate in the community building. Commenting on hot topics of the community increases the social traffic that is attracted to the social media campaign and eventually pays in large amounts. Always pay attention to the well-known people in the community and highlight them in your social media campaign. For example, although Tumblr is not a brand in the general case, they have dedicated special campaigns to these well-known community members and executed special events in their appreciation.
• To brand effectively on social media, bands should target Crowd Cultures. Crowd cultures are the real essence of digital media. The branding model needed in social media campaigns is still in progress. Digital crowds serve effectively and they introduce an innovative and productive culture. Brands should adopt and focus on digital subgroups within the community to create value and customer engagement towards the brand.
• Introduce popular culture and amuse your audience through social media infographics and ads. The author explained this concept by the example of Cherry Blossom’s ad, which said “Something special is coming your way” and Alka-Seltzer’s ad which attracted the customer attraction by saying “I can’t believe I Ate the whole thing”
• Be innovative in creating ideas for your brand, using others’ ideas and plagiarizing their concepts can be harmful and may result in the failure of your social media campaign.
• Use YouTube effectively to promote your brand. As the author described the example of PewDiePie and how he gained popularity by making interesting and thought-provoking videos, he even bypassed KFC’s subscribers by two hundred times, by investing very little cost.