Social media (SM) strategies have gained major importance for the retailers in the last decade. The effective use of SM channels for marketing purposes leads to valuable information and insights about markets. However, many managers still fail to understand the importance of the possibilities of SM usage for strengthening brand perception. This might be due to the lack of commonly agreed SM success factors in academic research.
The purpose of this paper is to discuss SM success factors and to evaluate how the two world leading sports brands NIKE and adidas follow the application of the discussed success factors.
Based on a literature review, the authors summarized the most commonly discussed SM success factors. Data collection was conducted in a consecutive, two step approach, first extracting relevant data from the annual reports, and then withdrawing data from the companies SM channels through text mining.
The data was then analysed according to the success factors summarized from academic literature. Also NIKE’s and adidas’ accomplishments in achieving their goals set in the annual reports on SM were examined.
adidas achieves a higher success rate than NIKE in laying out their SM strategy. Both adidas and NIKE cannot entirely live up to their ambitions, underperforming on SM in practice.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
1.1. Purpose
1.2. Outline of the study
2. Literature review
2.1. SM strategy target audience
2.2. SM channel choice
2.3. SM strategy goal / purpose
2.4. SM content monitoring
2.5. Brand image & reputation impacted by SM communication
2.6. Interaction between organizations and consumers on SM
3. Frame of reference
3.1. Research gap
3.2. Research questions
4. Methodology
4.1. Research Approach and Research Design
4.2. Data Sources and Sampling
4.3. Operationalization
4.4. Data Collection
4.5. Data Analysis Method
4.5.1. Content Analysis
4.5.2. Data Analysis Tool - Leximancer
5. Data Analysis and Results
5.1. Data Analysis of the Annual Reports of adidas and NIKE
5.1.1. SM Strategy Target Audience
5.1.2. SM Channel Choice
5.1.3. SM strategy goal / purpose
5.1.4. SM content monitoring
5.1.5. Brand image & reputation impacted by SM communication
5.1.6. Interaction between organizations and consumers on SM
5.2. Data analysis of the SM channels - adidas
5.2.1. Brand image & reputation impacted by SM communication
5.2.2. Interaction between adidas and consumers on SM
5.3. Data analysis of the SM channels - NIKE
5.3.2. Brand image & reputation impacted by SM communication
5.3.3. Interaction between NIKE and consumers on SM
6. Conclusions and discussion
7. Limitations
8. Bibliography
Research Objectives and Key Topics
This paper aims to identify essential success factors for social media (SM) strategies and evaluate how the global sports brands NIKE and adidas apply these factors in their real-world communication. The study examines whether the companies align their stated strategic goals with their actual presence and engagement on social media platforms.
- Social Media Strategy and Success Factors
- Brand Image and Reputation Management
- Customer Interaction and Engagement
- Comparative Analysis of NIKE and adidas
- Methodological Application of Content Analysis and Leximancer
Excerpt from the Book
2.1.SM strategy target audience
One of the most important factors when looking at SM strategies is the target audience. Chaffey (2011) points out that managers have a habit of deciding which channels to use, such as Facebook or Instagram, before setting the target group. However, understanding the audience is an essential starting point to build a SM strategy (Chaffey, 2011). The target audience to be addressed builds the basis for choosing an appropriate medium to reach them (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010). Reaching out to customers in the most effective communication way, requires a company to conduct a thorough analysis of the operating marketing and segment its customers at the beginning of implementing their SM strategy (Chaffey, 2011). Organizations should be able to define the most relevant target group, and identify the percentage that this segment is involved in SM and Web 2.0 (Effing & Spil. 2016). From these insights SM channel choice can be derived as each group attracts a different media choice (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010). Therefore, it is relevant to understand the popularity among different SM channels when targeting specific audiences (Chaffey, 2011).
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: Outlines the rapid rise of social media in marketing and the resulting pressure on organizations to develop efficient, planned approaches to digital communication.
2. Literature review: Provides a theoretical foundation by defining social media strategies and summarizing key success factors derived from scholarly research.
3. Frame of reference: Defines the research gap regarding the lack of a standardized recipe for social media success and establishes the core research questions for the comparative study.
4. Methodology: Details the deductive research approach, explaining the use of content analysis for annual reports and Leximancer-based text mining for social media channels.
5. Data Analysis and Results: Presents the findings from the annual report analysis and the Leximancer data, providing a side-by-side performance evaluation of NIKE and adidas.
6. Conclusions and discussion: Synthesizes the results, concluding that adidas generally exhibits a more successful application of social media strategies compared to NIKE.
7. Limitations: Addresses the constraints of the study, particularly regarding sample size and the necessity for further research to improve generalizability.
8. Bibliography: Lists all academic and corporate sources used to support the theoretical framework and empirical analysis.
Keywords
Social media strategy, Social media success factors, NIKE, adidas, Digital marketing, Content analysis, Leximancer, Brand perception, Customer interaction, Online communities, Social media monitoring, Customer journey, Strategic planning, Digital ecosystem, Marketing management
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this research?
The research focuses on defining social media success factors and evaluating the practical implementation of these strategies by two leading sports brands, NIKE and adidas.
What are the primary themes discussed in the paper?
Central themes include target audience definition, social media channel selection, content monitoring, brand image management, and interaction mechanisms with consumers.
What is the ultimate goal of the study?
The goal is to determine if NIKE and adidas align their social media activities with the strategic goals declared in their annual reports and with success factors identified by academic research.
Which scientific method is employed to reach the findings?
The authors use a mixed-method approach: qualitative content analysis for corporate annual reports and quantitative text mining via the tool Leximancer for social media user comments.
What does the main body of the work cover?
The main body covers the literature review, the methodological framework, the detailed comparative analysis of the two brands' annual reports, and the empirical results derived from their Facebook and Instagram channels.
Which keywords best describe this publication?
Key terms include social media strategy, NIKE, adidas, content analysis, brand perception, and customer engagement.
Why did the authors choose 2016 for data collection?
The year 2016 was selected because it allowed the researchers to evaluate the brands' performance based on the strategic goals set forth in their 2015 annual reports.
How does adidas differ from NIKE in their social media approach?
According to the findings, adidas implements a more structured, customer-centric monitoring and community-building strategy, whereas NIKE tends to focus on a push-approach, often neglecting active dialogue on social media.
- Citation du texte
- Anna Lena Bischoff (Auteur), 2017, Validating the social media strategies of adidas and Nike on Facebook and Instagram, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/354477
