This project will explore the importance of social media marketing for smaller local fashion and lifestyle businesses in the South-East area, highlighting how the quality of communication online can be a prominent factor in determining the success or failure of the business. The project will also research into how the online presence of a business affects the credibility of the brand through the customer’s eyes and whether some businesses fail due to the lack of knowledge in the area of online or social media marketing, and/or their perceived idea of cost for an experienced marketing agency.

1. 1
Research Portfolio
Ellisha-Jade White
BA(Hons) Fashion PR
Final Major Project (FMP)
FFM604

2. 2
Contents
2- Research Question & Project Proposal
4- So where did social media start?
6- So how does a consumer shop?
7- So how does that communicate in a digital marketing strategy?
8- So what is lifestyle marketing?
9- What is a millenial?
10- Questionnaire: So why do people use social media and what for?
11- So why are bloggers popular?
12- So how can all of this affect smaller local businesses?
13- So why set up a business in Southampton?
14- Case Study: Lee - Connery’s Barbers
15- So how does this reflect the effect of social media on business?
16- So why are these apps so popular, and how do you make yourself known as a brand?
20- So what is an ‘ASOS Insider’?
21- Focus Group: So how do people react to the social media marketing already used by
brands?
23- Case Study: Olive Clothing
24- So what do the big agencies do?
25- So what agencies are there in Southampton?
26- Appendix
29- Refferences
Could the creation of a local marketing and social media
management agency offering a unique, tailored service,
enhance the promotion of local independent businesses by
targeting a wider, tech savvy audience as well as offering
affordable advice and services?
This project will explore the importance of social media marketing for smaller local fashion and lifestyle businesses in
the South-East area, highlighting how the quality of communication online can be a prominent factor in determining
the success or failure of the business. The project will also research into how the online presence of a business
affects the credibility of the brand through the customer’s eyes and whether some businesses fail due to the lack of
knowledge in the area of online or social media marketing, and/or their perceived idea of cost for an experienced
marketing agency.
Project Aims and Objectives
The overall, long term aim of the project is to provide clients with a tailored service of online content for social
media that will enhance the business opportunities on offer and also increase the outreach and accessibility to their
customers through popular platforms, with impact and engagement through lifestyle branding. The overall service
provided to small local businesses, will aim to help them to connect effectively with the new marketing techniques
available through the strategic use of networking platforms and lifestyle apps (Such as Facebook, Instagram and
Twitter).
The ‘Digital Styling’ concept will be created: this will incorporate every element needed to successfully communicate
with the media/tech-savvy consumer and present the business well through online branding.
The objectives of this project are;
• To create the UK’s first Digital Styling agency focused on helping small businesses create a presence on
social media through simple, life-styling marketing and photography.
• To define, demonstrate and test the concept of ‘Digital Styling’ and how this will cater to a niche in the current
market, providing the client with a personalised service that uses photography, branding and online media content
creation and management.
• To create an informative and highly persuasive website featuring client testimonials, as well as a reasonable
pricing strategy based on research exploring competitive agencies and focussing on the uniqueness of this service.

3. 3
Project Narrative
The idea for this investigation was first sparked by personal observations
and by anecdotal evidence gathered over the past two years as well as
knowledge gained through working for larger PR agencies in London.
During the rise of social media over the past two decades and
developments related to digital media (Polonski,2014) it has become
clear that social media is increasingly used as a way to reach customers
as well as creating an inclusive lifestyle for some brands, and the
importance of having communication available online has become a big
part of a business’ strategy.
On-going research has identified a potential gap in the market based
on current companies trading, for a local professional agency that
encourages & enables small businesses to understand the importance
of social media within their strategy. Research will focus on how
customers respond to certain types of marketing and what encourages
them to purchase, as identified by Murray, 2013 as The ‘Shopping’
Self and The ‘Buying’ Self. It will also show how this type of marketing
can be affordable for smaller scale businesses and can help build
knowledge for those who struggle to understand the newest social
media developments. The proposed service will ensure that the client
is well informed and continually involved to ensure their brand is being
communicated correctly to the right customer, with as much face-to-face
contact as possible.
This project will seek to show an understanding of the mechanics behind
the new surge of interest in social media with around 90% of YoungAdults
using social media in 2015 (Perrin,2015) and how effective targeting this
can be within a whole business strategy (Clapperton,2009). It will also
help clients identify the real benefits for their businesses, evidenced
through theoretical and practical based research.
The project will be aimed at potential clients, with the research eventually
being formed into a proposal incorporated into the website, that will help
clients understand the service and the reasons behind the creation of
an agency local to them.
This project will enhance personal knowledge of my current area of
interest in the industry including social media marketing, branding,
photography and business enterprise. The research conducted will
show my understanding of the current marketing techniques and also
how this can help businesses improve marketing techniques as well as
demonstrating examples of work for a live project client, aiming in the
future to be self-employed and working with clients helping to develop
their brands and businesses.
Research and Development
This project will draw on informative research in areas including
consumer behaviour, business enterprise and social media marketing in
published books and online articles; specifically, publications will include
Social Media Strategist by C. Barger, Creating Value by L. Oswald
and Emotion and Reason in Consumer Behaviour by A. Chaudhuri.
Research will incorporate relevant theories on consumer behaviour
such as Belk (1988), Murray (2013) and Holt (2004) and on branding
such as Kapferer (1994) to help gain a better understanding of how this
relates to the digital aspect of marketing. Useful websites such as CIPR,
PR Week and WGSN will also be used to study the current trends in
PR and marketing and giving a more up to date insight into the industry.
Primary research will be essential to finding out the demand for social
media marketing in the local area (Southampton), so conducting
interviews with small business owners that currently do use social
media, and those who do not will give a more specific and focused
understanding of the local market. Case Studies will be conducted,
including Olive Clothing and Connery’s Barbershop, to compare the
successes of businesses using social media marketing to analyse how
it affects the business overall.
To help link the research to developmental work, two live clients will be
used to test/put into practise the research conducted, which can then be
used to analyse statistics and reflect upon what works and what needs
improvement for future clients. These clients are Re:So Southampton,
an student-led entrepreneurial boutique run by Southampton Solent
University, selling a range of stock including clothing, home-wares and
beauty products; and the second client is a privately owned beauty
shop opening in March 2016 called ‘Fabulous’, selling hair extensions
and prom accessories. The work for this client will be a complete blank
page, with profile and all services including photography and digital
styling included in the project.
Timeplan
Due to the nature of the primary research and investigation being with
live clients, the developmental work will continue throughout the whole
project to ensure that this fits with the clients’needs, as well as gathering
enough evidence and research. Pre-Project time in January will be
spent refining ideas and concluding on the direction of the research.
A week-by-week plan has been created to ensure there is enough time
for all of the scheduled work, as well as a Gantt chart, showing the
overall timescale (See appendix).
Anticipated Outcome
The intended outcome is to have a basic working website at the end of
the project that can then be developed in the future, shown to potential
clients to inform them of the services, with the aim to start trading in
June 2016. This will be made using a host site (Weebly.com) as it is
affordable, and gives a lot of freedom for design without having to use
an expensive website designer at the start. The agency will promote the
use of Digital Styling and this will be shown through a site containing an
informative and persuasive sales pitch, examples of work for live clients
with testimonials and research case studies. A Digital Styling Tech
Pack will also be created for internal use when taking on or analysing
a client’s business, based on the research of who and what should be
targeted, to assist the agency in constructing a tailored strategy. A live
blog will be created to give an insight into the agency and will also be
used to give a personal portfolio of blogging skills and to connect with
other brands and bloggers in Southampton. Business cards and social
media profiles for the agency will also be created, taking into account
the creativity element of the agency making sure they represent the
brand well.
Virtual Outcomes:
Website, Social Media profiles, Live Blog
Physical Outcomes:
Business Cards, Digital Styling Tech Pack

4. 4
2000 - Friends Reunited
Sparked by the curiosity of the whereabouts of old school friends,
this initially small site grew to 2.5 million users in under 2 years
(Wikipedia,2016). In 2010, a recorded 23.8 million users used
the site, but after 16 years, the site closed in February 2016 after
failing to keep up with the pace of newer social networking sites.
2003 - Myspace
Now with around 125 million users, Myspace was one of the
preteen choice sites for online interacton. Due to critics calling
the layout ‘chaotic’ (Contributors, 2016) the site underwent a
major redesign in 2008, but had already been overshadowed by
the simpler new site, Facebook.
2003 - Linkedin
This business networking orientated site stayed quiet for many
years, being classed as the dull cousin of other such fun sites. In
2013, around 300 million users were connecting regularly and in
January 2016, around 400 million people use the site to connect
with professionals in the industry, find jobs or keep in touch with
previous face-to-face business connections.
2004 - Facebook
With 1.59 billion active users around the world, Facebook is
undoubtedly the largest social networking site. Originally set
up for the minority of students at Harvard University, USA, the
site grew and is one of the simplest and most effective ways
to communicate with and keep up to date with friends from
around the world. Generating their revenue through sponsored
advertising, the site in 2015 was worth an incredible $245 billion
(La Monican,2015).
2005 - Bebo
The other most popular platform for pre-teens was Bebo (Blog
Early, Blog Often) and was originally more interactive than
Myspace, with 10.7 million users in the height of its career, and
was sold to AOL. But due to a fall in users the company was
sold again, for much like Myspace, it was unable to keep up with
other emerging social networking sites.
‘boards’ of images from around the world. These boards can be
viewed by your ‘followers’. The other unique thing about this site
is that you can link an image directly to the webpage it came
from, making it easier to link the marketing directly with sales. It
collects around 100 million monthly active users (Yeung, 2015).
2010 - Instagram
With a community of now over 300 million users (About us •
Instagram, 2016), Instagram has headlined the fashion and
marketing industry for its innovative ways of spontaneously
sharing images. A platform for storytelling, brands, celebrities
and consumers use the site daily to collect ‘likes’ and browse the
inspiring profiles of others, and has created a new type of career
for those lucky enough to have around 100,000 followers can
earn between $5,000-$10,000 per month.
2011 - Snapchat
Letting you view live stories from around the world, the appeal
of Snapchat grew due to the exclusivity of only being able to
view an image or video for a few seconds before it disappears
forever. Over 100 million daily users (Snapchat,2016) watch
their friends ‘stories’ and send and recieve fun photos using
‘geofilters’. Brands have also adopted this to give a behind the
scenes personal look, creating a new way for consumers to feel
included.
2013 - Vine
Similar to Snapchat, Vine allows short video sharing but uses
more of an Instagram format in the sense that users can share
videos that stay on their profile, and ‘followers’ can see their
videos on their live ‘feed’. The videos play on a loop, and have
encouraged budding comedians such as Dapper Laughs to
make a career from short 6 second videos. The app now has
over 200 million users as of December 2015 (Wikipedia,2016).
It is clear that the most popular newer apps/sites are those
that focus on image sharing rather than just social networking,
breeding a new generation of opportunities for brands to connect
with their customers and include the consumer in the day to day
life of the brand.
2005 - Youtube
At this time there were many ways to create expensive, high
quality videos but nowhere to share them easily, so Youtube was
setup as a video sharing site, and is now one of the top three
most visited websites (Abrief history of YouTube - YouTube5Year,
2005). Supported by advertising, the revenue made goes to
channels with large number of subscribers (influencers) and to
Youtube, with an amazing 1 billion people using Youtube in 2016
(Smith,2016).
2006 - Twitter
This year saw the creation of the little blue bird, and the ability
to share random thoughts with the world, as long as they are
under 140 characters, naturally. Defining what users share as a
‘short burst of inconsequential information’, the idea of ‘tweets’
was adopted by 140 million people by 2012 (Wasserman,2016)
reaching a total in January 2016 of 332 million users
(Wikipedia,2016).
2007 - Blogger
Originally founded in 1999, Blogger took off when bought by
Google in 2007. As a host site for individual blogs, this has
become popular among the start of the blogging trend, and
being fully customisable, gave users the chance to express their
own creativity from the base templates designed by Blogger.
Giving people their own voice (Blogger, 2016) enabled the site
to flourish and build over 700,000 users (Built With, 2016).
2007 - Tumblr
Tumblr, launched as a short-form blog, enables users to share
photo and video contents as opposed to focusing on a text and
photo based profile. Key words were used to help those from
around the world to search for posts and ‘follow’ a users page
if they like the content, displaying this on their ‘dashboard’. It
has become hugely popular, collecting 555 million monthly users
(Wikipedia, 2016).
2010 - Pinterest
One of the sites most popular for women (Mintel,2015) Pinterest
lets users ‘pin’ items to their ‘boards’ online, collecting different
Social networking has developed greatly in the last 16 years and it is important to look at what sites and mobile applications have been successful and
why. This will help to determine which sites are best used for different purposes or brands and identify why certain sites have been more successful than
others. The timeline shows which have developed more recently and which have succeeded in becoming the most influntial and for what reasons. Some
were developed purely for networking between friends and some were created for image sharing, and each of these could be used in a number of ways
to develop and become part of a brand strategy.
So where did social media start?

5. 5
It is evident that all of the different channels appeal to different target audiences, but it is also important to consider the reasons why, and
what benefits they have to tailor to the marketing strategy of each individual business. Comparing the current sites can help a client or a
brand decide which platforms are best to use, to avoid spending time creating content on a network that their consumers do not use or does
not fit the format of the branding.
Platform Original Purpose Evolving Purpose Main Audience Restrictions Traffic Impact
Engagement
Opportunities
Facebook
Networking with old school
friends, connecting with
family
Making new connections,
marketing small businesses
Male/Female
18-65
(Duggan,2015)
Posts do not reach the full
audience unless paid for,
Newsfeed shows selected
posts not all
Able to include website
link, able to post links into
comments or in posts
Able to talk to customers
through direct message and
comments on posts, RSVP to
events
Twitter
Sharing short insights and
thoughts quickly
Promoting fast offers/
opinions, following
celebrities
Male/Female
18-29
(Duggan,2015)
140 character counts on all
‘Tweets’, some content not
seen by all ‘followers’
Able to shorten links to use
less character limit, easier
to link to a site/product with
an image
Talking personally to customers
with a fast reply rate
Instagram
Sharing and editing
snapshot ‘in the moment’
photos
Styling photographs,
following inspirational
profiles, platform for new
brands
Mostly Female
18-29
(Duggan,2015)
High competition from
around the world, high
volume of content , external
links do not work in caption
text
Can generate a large
following, website links are
at the top of the profile in a
brighter text colour
Able to tag brands/customers/
places in posts to include other
audiences
Pinterest
Collecting images from the
internet in one place
Looking for DIY crafts,
mums and to-be-brides
collecting ideas
Female
30-49
(Duggan,2015)
Basic analytics system,
difficult to control copyright
of images
Able to link and image
directly to a product or
website page
Public boards viewed by users
followers, where brand photos
may be displayed
Tumblr
Simple microblog to share
text, images and videos, as
well as repost things others
share
Sharing images and short
posts, used for online
eccomerce for brands to
create a specific look
Female
18-24
(Hoelzel,2015)
Less control over design/
customization, unable to
self-host a personal site
Links to images can
be posted in the image
caption, simple call-to-
action
Brands images can be
reposted to users profiles with
original links to brand sites
Snapchat
Sharing a short video
or photo that disapears
completely in up to 10
seconds
Used by brands to give
an ‘inside look’ or provide
exclusive discounts/offers
Male/Female
18-24
(Hoelzel,2015)
Only available to post on
the mobile app, could be
seen as ruining fun element
of app by users being
spammed by brands
No links available so
limited direct traffic, more
for building a behind the
scenes opportunity
Can build interest for other
media sites, can include
consumers in brand videos/
photos shared
Blogger
Online journal that can be
customised with coding, for
sharing text and images
Documenting the lives
of bloggers, promoting
products through the online
influencers
Female
25-34
(Hoelzel,2015)
Limited customization, no
control over comments
posted by others on blog
posts
Links can be easily
posted and analytics
are geographically and
numerically displayed
Bloggers network at events, so
brands can target a group
Youtube
Video sharing site devoted
to amatuer, original content
Hosting official music
videos, beauty bloggers
tutorials
Male/Female
18-34
(Blattberg,2015)
Youtube can add adverts
at the start of a video at
random that could distract
potential customers
Links can be posted in a
video description, as well
as being displayed in a
video
Videos can appear in the
‘suggested videos’, showing
them to a new audience
Vine
Six second video on loop,
in a snapshot format
Comedy viral videos, clips
used on loop of short
happenings
Male/Female
18-24
(Hoelzel,2015)
Vine does not provide up to
date information on its own
site, does not support links
in captions/comments
Can give more details on a
product with a link directly
to website to purchase
Generating interest by showing
products in use
LinkedIn
Creating business
connections, professional
platform
Recruiting/Headhunting
new employees, looking for
new companies,jobs
Male/Female
30-49
(Duggan,2015)
Mainly business to
business contact rather
than promoting to
consumers
Can connect potential
investors or emplyees
directly to website
Communicating with other
industry professionals for new
business opportunities

6. 6
There are many factors that will influence a consumers decision to buy
a product or follow a brand, and as one of humankinds greatest needs
is to feel ‘wanted’ (Brogan,2010) it is essential for a marketing strategist
or business owner to find out what makes their customer as well as
consumers on a larger scale ‘tick’ in order to engage with the right
ones. The selection of sites for consumers to network is on is constantly
changing and evoloving, and this presents new ways for brands to reach
their customer, but it is also important to choose the right application for
the right consumer. A brand may have the best marketing campaign,
but if the wrong consumer is being targeted, the response will not be
as desired. Consumers associate with the brand and logo rather than
the product (Oswald,2015) so ensuring the brand has the right set up of
outreach to consumers, it will help the brand allign with the target specific
consumer. This can also link to Belk’s identification that the attachment
between consumer and possessions has to be understood before being
able to successfully encourage them to purchase. If the two ideas are
combined, associating with the brand and logo and attaching this to a
possession, an idea of what this means to the consumer starts to form.
If they value the brand and the personality attached to this, there will be
more of an attachment to the possession. Although, if consumers relate
to a brand name and/or reputation, this poses a difficulty for new brands
or small businesses that do not have a large recognisable brand image.
It would mean that to become recognisable, a well thought out brand
strategy would need to be put in place to ensure that what a customers
sees from the begining is everything the brand stands for and would not
change. This would then become the basis of what the consumer would
recognise in the future or how the brand would be remembered. A focus
on the product offered would also help the consumer recognise the type
of product connected with that brand, and when considering looking
for that certain product, the brand logo or name may be remembered,
creating a simple recognition process.
Electronic media encourages a more emotional response from
consumers and is more ‘involving’ than print media (Chauduri,2006)
as the content can be accesed from anywhere, at any time making
it easier for the consumer to be ‘involved’ 24
hours a day. Some consumers may not find it
neccesary to be involved with a brand every
day but when a customer feels he need to ask
a question or seek help, they are now able to
contact the brand immediately through digital
means from email to social media. This then
makes the customer feel more connected to
the brand and a good response would build the
relationship between the two, which could lead
to repeat sales. It also means that if a brand
is global, the customer can ask a question
or enquire at any given time, and the brand
can then respond without having to deal with
complicated time differences. Relationships
between the consumer and brand form when
“We cannot hope to understand consumer behaviour
without first gaining some understanding of the meanings
that consumers attach to possessions”
(Belk, 1988)
the customer is given a chance to feed back (Clapperton,2009) and
feel as if their voice is being heard and making an impact on the brand
they like or may not like. The spontaneous communications that social
media and online media enables, although non verbal (Buck, 1984)
gives consumers that chance to talk to the brand effectively and fast. As
long as the brand stays at the centre/core of the strategy (Oswald,2015)
incorporating the culture of engagement will keep the focus as well as
include consumers.
A theory explored by Arjun Chaudhuri in 2006 highlights the three main
influences on a person that could affect their personal opinion and
decisions and also choices when shopping. These 3 influences are:
- Envionment Surrounding Individual
- Characteristics of Individual
- Inherited Genetics and Biological Makeup of Individual
An example of an environmental surroundings influence could be the
job that individual has, for example something they can wear a personal
choice of clothes for or if they have to consider certain aspects like
having to wear smart clothing such as suits. These factors would also
include the geographical location of the person and how easy or difficult
it is to access certain things, places or shops, and also the cultural
differentces between the locations, for example a person living in a hot
country would have different needs and a different outlook on choice
to someone living in a cold, rainy country. It would also include the
characteristics and tastes of the person, for example the personal style
will differentiate between each individual, some wanting tight fitting
clothes or others opting for the baggy, oversized option. The inherited
genetics would focus on whether the person was tall or short, or had
a specific body shape, as the clothing would then have to tailor to the
customers personal needs.Aperson would consider each of these three
influences when making a purchase to make sure they were choosing
a purchase that was suibtable for them. Other influences included in
this could be the generational aspect of the individual, for example
millenials have grown up with technology as part of daily life such as
smartphones and electronic filled and fast paced social networking
(Haughn,2015). This would affect their choices and how quickly they
make a decision to purchase or to carry on browsing.
- Environment
Generation Y, Electronic social
networking, skeptical about marketing
due to being bombarded with adverts
(Haughn,2015)
Influenced by the ‘trickle-down’ effect
of influentials, wealthier classes and
celebritites (Noel,2009)
- Characteristics
Always comparing self to other
individuals, mainly online (Haughn,2015)
26% of 16-24 year olds use beauty blogs/
vlogs for inspiration (Mintel,2015)
Expects individualized attention from brands (Mintel,2014)
- Genetics
Wants brands to concentrate on authenticity, catering to different
shapes and size (Mintel,2016)
Women adopting ‘agentic’ adaptations to clothing, blurring the
lines between male and female orientated garments (Noel, 2009)
-
Environmental
Increased personal role in home improvements by 80%
(Noel,2009)
Internet makes it easier to read reviews and compare price and
specifications (East, Wright, and Vanhuele, 2008)
- Characteristics
Over 80% of buying decisions un US households are made by
women (Noel, 2009)
- Genetics
Changed body image after having a child, may not shop at the
same brands as previous
Put off by patronizing, sympathetic adverts (Mintel,2014)
So how does a consumer shop?

7. 7
Each person reacts to marketing differently, but down to a basic level of
thinking in human nature, the shopping mentality can be split into two
personalities. The ‘Shopping’ Self and the ‘Buying’ Self (Murray,2013)
are both traits of the same individual, but are influenced by two seperate
sets of thinking. One personality, the ‘Shopping’ Self, responds the
needs of what that person is buying and the rational thinking behind
making the purchase. This one would ask themselves questions such
as:
Do I really need this?
Will this perform the way I want it to?
Can I afford this?
This leaves less room for convincing a customer to buy and relies simply
on the performance and the usefulness of the product in question in the
opinion of the consumer. If the customer deems the product to be too
expensive and could find a cheaper alternative, this ‘self’ would make
the rational decision to look for a better offer, as there is not such an
emotional reaction to product that is just a necessity.
For example a product such as school shoes would respond to a need
in the parents eyes, and this need would change from customer to
customer depending on the specific requirements. One may need a
black pair of pumps and one may need a black pair of loafers, which
would narrow down the choices but would still eventually come down to
which they consider to perform the best or last the longest. Marketing
for this product would be based purely on the performance of the shoe
and what benefits and durabilities it offers the consumer. The price
would also effect how the customer views the value of the product. The
internet can satisfy the shopping self (Murray,2013) as the customer
can browse information and reviews about the product, making sure
they have all the answers to their questions before they purchase. This
would satify the parents need to know whether the investment they are
going to make will keep their childs feet warm, comfy and strapped in
for as long as possible.
In this situation however, the child would be hunting with the ‘Buying’
Self in action. This self responds emotionally to the task of buying a
product, so the child would be concerned with the behavioural aspects
related to the school shoe. This self is influenced by the attitudes and
emotions connected to the brand and design rather than functionality,
aiming to score the most points in style, satisfaction and desirability.
This child would be asking questions such as:
Will my friends like this pair?
Is this shoe ‘cool’?
Will this look pretty enough?
How many other people will be wearing the same shoe as me?
This in turn could be problematic for the parent as style does not
always mean affordable or durable, so combining the two ‘selfs’ could
cause conflict. The childs emotional response to one pair could mean
the parent thinks rationally about the same pair and discards them as
not being a good investment or not being fit for purpose. Marketing to
the ‘Buying’ Self would concentrate on making the product seem as
desirable and sought after as possible, being on trend and promoting
the brand name, causing an emotional response from the comsumer.
So how does that communicate in a digital marketing strategy?
Brand Emotion
This relates to how the brand feels, ralating to human behaviour. Is the brand happy, quirky, strong,
energetic, relaxed?
Coca Cola - Friendly/Relaxed Pepsi - Fun/Lively Dr Pepper - Exciting/Bold
Brand Personality
This also takes on a human emotion but in a different way. This would relate to different personality
traits such as being reliable or sophisticated. This helps to build the relationship between the
customer and the brand, as this personality would be communicated accross all platforms of
marketing, especially digital, keeping the consitency ensuring the customer feels the brand is
genuine.
The ‘Buying’ self is more influenced by what it follows or sees, making it perfect to persuade when
the consumer is browsing online. There are three main factors that would appeal or contribute to
an individuals ‘Buying’ Self in a digital marketing concept (Murray,2013) all collating to make up the
perception of the brand and/or the product on offer.
Brand Narrative
Following the story of a brand can make a consumer feel more included and in story form, this will
help customers to retain information about the brand. The customer can then follow the journey of
the brand and feel as if they are living the experiences at the same time. The customer then follows
the brand digitally and will become part of a loyal consumer fan base.
A customer can adopt the two ‘self’s’ at any given time, although by shopping online or through
browsing social media, they are more likely to be influenced by the attributes that attract the ‘buying’
self, causing an emotional response. All factors, especially photography, used for digital marketing
can target this ‘self’ by portraying the brand image and lifestyle using the right colours, names,
celebrities and personality, making digital marketing a much more subtle but persuasive way of
gaining customers.

8. 8
Like all types of advertising, products and marketing, it may take
a while for the customer to ‘get it’ (Clapperton 2012) so selling
the idea first and the product second will mean that once the
customer understands the idea, they will have a better chance
of understanding the product. Apps
such as snapchat provide a behind the
scenes look and brands such as Burberry
give consumers unprecedented access
(Mintel,2015) to make them feel as if they
were there. Brands would benefit from
actively meeting customers desire for no
pressure assistance before they have even
purchased a product, by providing them with
suggestions suited to them (Mintel,2014).
This all means that the customer considers
certain brands as part of their daily life,
especially when apps consumers use for personal networking
contain brand information and insights.
33% of women aged 18-24 look to social media for ideas and
inspiration for clothing (Minel,2014) making it part of a daily
routine to better themselves by looking to outside sources for
no-pressure interaction. Consumers have become accustomed
to ‘custom’ service, tailored to them personally including their
interests and hobbies. Creating a lifestyle that the brand fits into
helps consumers to imagine the product within their own lifestyle
and makes it a more relative product or brand and easier for the
consumer to relate to. Brands that consumers can feel familiar
with are the most successful (Mintel,2016) and companies such
as Wholefoods have realised that it is not only beneficial to market
their own food well, but posting about how to live an equally
healthy lifestyle has been extremely successful (Montesa, 2015).
Call-To-Action VS Lifestyle Content
Traditional advertising always asked customers to ‘do something’
like buy a product, but lifestyle marketing acts as a best friend,
offering advice or sharing content based on interests. 78% of
cheif marketing officers consider lifestyle marketing as the future
of markting (Holt 2015). When influencers and other consumers
are included, this then becomes a small ‘circle-of-friends’ rather
than a brand directing the consumer to buy a product. Giving the
brand a personality or a face brings in a more human element in
something that is otherwise almost completely robotic.
Popular high street brand Urban Outfitters use photosharing to
connect with consumers and become part of their daily activity.
#UOonyou is a ‘hashtag’ available to be used by consumers when
they post a photo of themselves in the brands clothing. This could
then be reposted by Urban Outfitters onto their official profiles,
and helps to ‘marry-in’ the consumers to an active role in the
brand. The Urban Outfitters Twitter account is used for customer
support as this is also a huge part of being able to connect with
the customer. Having a voice on social media and being able to
integrate the customer into the brand ‘lifestyle; and daily posts
has helped Urban Outfitters develop itself online (Johnson,2013).
Putting real time and thought into a companies social media
techniques could be an unmatched tool in the benefits it provides
for a business (Root,2015) and the rewards could be great when
it is done right. Content is ultimately
king, and having high-quality content
means repeat visits to the page and
regular customers (Dawson,2016)
that are ultimately interested in what
the brand is posting. It is the act of
reaching people based on where
they want to be rather than where
they are now.
But when do people check social
media sites about a brand lifestyle
while they are living their own kind of lifestyle?
According to the online posting site Buffer, the most Tweets
are posted between 11:00am and 1:00pm (local time) and the
early morning Tweets receive the most clicks and engagement
(Lee,2015).
“If you want lifestyle marketing to work for
your company, know how your company’s
brand aligns with consumers’ values and
become an extension of those values.”
(Holt,2015)
(Images: Urban Outfitters Instagram, 2016)
Weekend posts on Facebook between 1:00pm and 3:00pm collect
32% more engagement and the incredible engagement on Instagram
is consitent throughout the week at any time, with a small increase on
a Monday (Schauer, 2015). Pinterests most popular searched word/
tag is ‘DIY’ and 75% of usage takes place on mobile devices over the
weekends (Beese, 2015).
Strengths
- Able to reach a wider range of audiences whilst targeting specific
ones, as each platform can be used differently to cater to brand
specific consumers (Brogan,2010)
- Social Media is enjoyable and creates a customer network online
that can lead to repeat business (Clapperton,2009)
- Consumers feel up-to-date with the brand, feeling included in the
ongoings and growth that leads to a feeling of social advantage
(Heinonen,2011)
Weaknesses
- It is important to make sure the time invested in using social media,
adds value to your brand (Mauriello,2015)
- It has to be used as an addition to a traditional business plan, not
instead of (Clapperton,2009)
- Time has to be invested constantly into the brands social media,
as an abandoned profile can have a negative effect on consumers
opinion (Brookins,2016)
Opportunities
- It can be one of the best ways for brands to express and
communicate emotions, using marketing methods not as traditional as
they no longer apply (Sparks,2014)
- Can be used as a tool for the entire business rather than just
marketing or PR (Barger,2012)
- It is extremely cost-efficient for small brands and can help build a
fan base without major investment (LLC,2015)
Threats
- Sometimes it can promote a ‘scripted realty’, not realistic or
authentic to consumers (Mintel,2015)
- 63% of smartphone users are only interested in activities that take
under 10 minutes, shortening the attention span and in turn the length
of the content (Mintel,2016)
- The way Social Media is used is constantly evolving and changing
so cannot be used as a one time strategy (Kaufman,Horton,2014)
There are clearly many ways in which social media can be used to build a good relationship with the customer using cost-effective techniques,
but the perception of what is shown online could seem unrealistic. Consumers that use it for influential and inspiratonal purposes are more
likely to respond to lifestyle marketing as the subtle hints within the content will subconsciously be influencing their purchase decisions.
Having quality content is also a major key in the success of the brand online, as profiles that are not regularly updated can give the impression
the brand is not consistent in engaging with its customers. Aligning the brand with the customers lifestyles is also another key point, as if the
consumer is going to be continually engaged in a brands online content, it will have to meet their lifestyle choices and interests, giving them a
more personalised experience. Although for a brand to do this, it costs a lot of time and effort to keep the profles updated and relevant to the
growth and changes internally and externally and to learn the best techniques to use and which networks to be present on to reach the right
target customer base.
So what is lifestyle marketing?

9. 9
What is a millenial?
Aged 18-35
Shop Frequently - 42% shop once per week
81% own a TV
70% own a laptop
40% have iPhones
(Mauriello,2015)
Having grown up with the begining of the internet and constantly
being exposed to technology, the Millennial generation (Gen Y)
are the tech savvy, sharing generation that want to be talked to
by brands, not talked at (Mauriello,2015). Instead of just posting
photos and networking with friends, this generation use apps
such as Instagram and Twitter for ‘social surveillance’, wanting
to know what other people do and are interested in seeing what
others share from their lives (Heinonen,2011). This is the target
audience for some brands to concentrate on. They have to make
sure that millenials can see the value in that brand, instead of just
being marketed to, they have to feel like the brand ‘gets them’,
which can eventually turn into brand loyalty (Mauriello,2015).
Feeling up to date with the inner life of the brand gives more of a
social advantage (Heinonen,2011) , and encourages engagement
online aswell as for events .
Born between the 1980’s and early 2000’s, the lives of these
consumers have been electronically filled , with an ethically
diverse, socially networked environment (Haughn,2015).
Extremely good at self promotion, they are dependant on
technology during daily life, constantly compairing themselves
to others and expressing their dreams and emotions through
the use of images and video (Sparks,2014). Raised under the
pretence that they are special and can do anything, the ‘follow
your dreams’ mantra instills confidence and slightly unrealistic
expectations (Haugn,2015) within an economy that is surpassing
that of their parents, despite being currently less successful. Using
social media to voice concerns, these confident teens are less
likely to put up with work they find unpleasant and are skeptical
of any kind marketing due to being bombarded with marketing
and adverts. Adjusting faster to new technological developments
and being able to successfully multitask (Haugn,2015), means
they also surpass those businesses that are unable to keep up
with the new communication methods. But being dependant on
technology can be questionable in the eyes of more experienced
business associates that aren’t as used to being exposed to the
internet 24 hours a day. As Sparks (2014) mentions, the best way
for brands to communicate with this generation is to use the same
methods of image and video sharing, expressing emotions, as the
traditional marketing methods no longer work nor apply.
A platform that has been very successful in recent years (reaching
332 million users as of January 2016, (Wikipedia)) is Twitter,
that enables the use of the ‘social survielance’ by displaying a
persons every thought, movement or mood they wish to share.
Used conversationally, it is a match between sharing content and
info that a brand wishes to share, as well as sharing things others
are doing (Brogan,2010) via the ‘retweet’ function. Customization
is key, especially with marketing towards Gen Y as they want to
feel that the are ‘special’ to a brand, so the brand has to look and
feel like a personality.
Considering the importance of the personalisation of marketing
this target audience, it is also useful to consider whether face-
to-face contact (Heiler,2016) also makes an impact, and whether
these online techiques can be used to engage a customer offline
in a real time experience such as an event, where they are invited
online, as some consumers although reliant on communication
online, may not always become satisfied with a solely virtual
relationship. In addition to this, the importance in communicating
successfuly includes the need to speak the ‘same language’
(Heiler,2016) as the consumer, as social media is still considered
enjoyable and loyal customer/brand relationships and networks
can still be formed creating more repeat business. Not letting
the branding overshadow the content means the context and
personality aspect as ‘organic content’ performs best on apps
such as Instagram (Waber,2016) where a subtle logo or brand
element works best to show continuity. Consumers expect the
products to be shown or brought directly to them, wherever they
are, and the digital marketing aspect allows this personalisation.
In Germany, one brand has taken this desire for a millenials
personal experience to a new level, incorporating Whatsapp
messaging into their virtual communication channels. Outfittery
uses the messenger to allow customers the chance to place
orders or even speak to one of a 100 member strong team of
personal stylists (Mintel,2015). This gives the chance for the
consumers to gain more information on a product before they buy
it, as part of the overall customer services offered. It gives a direct
channel of communication, person-to-person, not only giving
the consumer the ability to call upon information, but also being
able to personalise offers and advertisements. This approach
to Whatsapp has also been used by Wehkamp and Cool Blue,
Netherlands, and could quickly catch on to be one of the main
channels of direct communication in the future.
In 2014, online retailer Zappos began targeting Instagram users
with personalized outfit reccomendations, based on their own
personal profiles and photos they post. Next OOTD (thats Outfit
Of The Day for non Instagram obsessed readers) and has been
a stratiegic response to the popular #ootd hashtag, used buy
peope posting their own daily style. This evolved into encouraging
customers to use #nextOOTD to recieve a personalised shopping
reccomendation from Zappos based on their own style and the
type of outfits they wear. As shoppers are looking for personalised
expriences more and more, Zappos has recorded that their
customers are happy to recieve their stylists input (Mintel,2014)
and has led to other elements of growth such as more customized
apparel and personalised suggestions for the online website.
Mintel reports that 35% of 18-24 year olds do not want to be
pressured by sales associates, so a style suggestion on Instagram
for example provides them with the personalised experience they
desire, as well as being an informal, non-pressure assistance.
30%
Of consumers
wanted better
descriptions
of products
sold online
(Mintel,2015)
“We indeed
observed that our
consumers are
constantly looking
for convenience and
like to be advised”
(Maurine Alma,
Wehkamp Brand
Director)

10. 10
To gain an understanding of what consumers use social media for and what apps they like the most, it is important to look for general trends, that can be specified in a more conversational setting. A survey
of 100 people in Southampton was conducted, with the intent on finding out the trends and habits of peoples social media usage. The questions were tailored to give instant answers to avoid confusion
and pinpoint the specific favourites, as well as how many times they check social media. With 69% of adults using social media (Ryan,2015) the audience for business are out there, they just need to be
tapped by finding out what interests the customer the most. The survey was shared on a Facebook group with over 7,000 members of all ages as well as groups for creative students and a Twitter page
for bloggers. The questions were tailored to not give a large amount of choice so that the consumer would have to choose their ultimate favourite answer, although one comment on one of the Facebook
posts suggested some people do not use social media for any of the reasons listed, and instead use it to engage in political conversations and to link up with other people that share the same opinions as a
community (Fig,13) so this shows that there are many ways people of different interest use the online sites to share.
Out of 100 people, the participants were mostly female at 87% (fig.8) showing that even
without answering a specific question, women spend more time online, as they had more
exposure to the survey as well as then spending the time to answer it. The majority was also
made up of 14-24 year olds at 51% (fig.7), fitting the millenial generation, with the 25-35
year olds coming in second at 25%. The survey could have been more exposed to people
on Facebook due to being shared on this site, however it was also shared on Twitter, so this
may not have affected the results. This also shows that people still use social media in a
very ‘social’ way, as 86.87% (fig.9) of people asked just used social media to see what their
friends are doing, which shows that there is still a large sense of community and friendship
online. Content for the younger adults, especially on apps such as Instagram needs to be
‘cool’ for people to engage with the content and share it (Ryan,2015) amongst their friends
and community online. It was essential to find out how often people use social media, as
this could affect the amount of posts they see, and for a business it would be important to
make sure that content is shared daily, as 44% of participants (fig.12) use apps daily. This
shows that consumers do feel the need to keep up to date with things around them and like
to engage in relevant stories to them (Ryan,2015), and even if they are not checking daily,
29% of participants check apps weekly, which would still contribute to the consumers seeing
the content. It has clearly become part of daily life for a large percent of consumers to check
these apps and sites. It would be interesting to explore whether consumers that think they
are only looking at what their friends are doing, are actually subconsciously looking at brand
posts through adverts of things their friends share.
There was a large difference in the reasons that people were interested in posts shared by a
brand, with no answer standing out as the obvious choice. Unusually, recipes and food ideas
was the most popular with 47%, showing that consumers want posts that link to their lifestyle
without pushing product all of the time. Holiday and Travel photos was the next most popular
with New Products in third, meaning that the escapism element of social media is something
that is largely interesting for consumers and would be helpful to explore further. a very large
percentage of 75% people (fig.10) answered Yes to having bought something they had seen
on a social media post, showing that consumers really do pay attention to what they see
and although the success rates are harder to measure, it is a successful sales technique.
Consumers want product with the right product message as well as enough information
(Ryan,2015) and 50% of participants (fig.11) did not mind whether the posts were lifestyle
based or plain product posts, although 35% agreed lifestyle was the preffered choice. It is a
benefit that could be recognised by brands as there are many inexpenpensive ways to create
quality content (Chaney,2009), but the idea could be further explored as to what reactions
consumers have to these types of images.
These results show that consumers do care what content they see and although some do
not use social media to look at brand pages, they will be exposed to the large quantitiy of
marketing based content that goes online. The amount of followers may not also be the most
important thing to a brand, as these consumers find communication important, so using sites
for customer service as well as building a consumer base is vital. It also shows that if people
are not always looking to social media for inspiration, there is still many other ways they could
be influenced for example print media or Television, showing that the use of social media
cannot be the only marketing strategy, but has to be part of a whole business structure.
Questionnaire: So why do people use social media and what for?

11. 11
Since the customer has always been and will always be the
main focus for any business, the use of social media enables the
customers voice and opinions to be magnified. This applies to
the new breed of social media influencers and influential blogger,
with a ‘voice’ that can stretch to millions of followers. The appeal
of these online celebrities thrives on the fact they are easier for
the customer to relate to, and document their daily activities whilst
making them look more appealing. These influencers also offer a
two way communication between brand and consumer through the
personal aspect of the influencer, using online word-of-mouth to
increase awareness (Libby,2015) which has become and integral
part of the marketing strategy. In 2015, Mintel recorded that 35%of
women used social media to seek out make-up tutorials online,
58% of which were between 16-24 year olds. The online industry
for influencers in beauty has become extremely popular with
some Youtube Vloggers ammassing millions of subscribers and
regular watchers. The new generation of millenials have grown
up amongst a new breed of celebrities, this including Youtube
Vloggers and Fashion Bloggers, they they look up to, and brands
now see this as a specific way to target their customers without
using direct traditional marketing techniques.
Although many bloggers are now paid to promote certain
products, these influencers will talk about products they like or
dislike regardless, so it is important for brands to have some kind
of control over this conversation (Marian,2009) by engaging with
the most influential.
Using the marketing model AIDA, it is possible to analyse how
these bloggers have become so popular and why they gain such
interest from the consumer.
(Images: thatpommiegirl.com,2016)
(Image: befrassy.net,2016)
The AIDA model (St. Elmo. Lewis and Raenaud, 1985) focuses on four main stages a person goes
through when making choices on purchasing a product, working in a funnel method. Social media
has changed the way marketers use their methods (Hanlon,2013), but this model is still very valid to
the way consumers buy products.
Awareness - Creating awareness and buzz around your product or brand
Interest - Creating excitement around the benefits of your product, causing a consumer to want to
research further
Desire - Using the emotional response of the consumers human nature, showing brand personality
and causing an emotional connection between customer and brand, moving from liking the product to
wanting the product
Action - Move the customer into interacting with the brand, not neccsserily buying a product straight
away but for example following the brand on social media, signing up to a newsletter or browsing the
website
Using this model, it is clear to see how brands and bloggers have become so successful in
collaboration.
(Image: That Pommie Girl Youtube.com,2016)
Awareness - Utilise brand social media pages, reach out to bloggers and vloggers
to tell them about new products, send influencers test products, Create specific
engagement marketing campaign with catchy hashtags
Desire - Blogger product reviews, Vlogger product usage in videos,
responding to customer enquiries via social media, using Twitter to ask
consumers about product opinions, sharing makeup tips for the product
Interest - Post regularly on social media using campaign specific hashtags, link
social media posts with influencers and bloggers eg, retweets of product reviews,
make campaign information and links available on website
Action - Visiting a website landing page for the campaign with more
information, signing up to brand newsletter for new products/makeup
tips, following brand social media pages, buying product, signing up to
recieve test product
AIDA Model for Bloggers and social media for a makeup/beauty brand
Due to the success of beauty vlogger and social media influencers, with millions of consumers
addicted to reading about their every move, it is clear that this is now an integral part of a marketing
strategy for a brand. Integrating the AIDA model also shows how starting with one idea of a new
campaign for a product and engaging with influentials can lead to specific consumer action that can
benefit the brand even if it does not lead directly to a product purchase. Raising the awareness of a
brand through using influencers and real people that the consumers trust, can gain a brand a large
amount of credibility in the digital world, building relationships between consumers and influencers,
and influencers and brands.
“These days social media celebrities carry more
influence than normal celebrities because people
can relate to them”
Jason Stein
So why are bloggers popular?

12. 12
So how can all of this affect smaller local businesses?
Since bloggers and influencers are such a big part of marketing,
and also fairly pricey depending on the amount of followers they
have, it is hard for small businesses that do not have a global
outreach or a large marketing budget to get in on the action.
“@weworewhat, told Harper’s Bazaar in May that she usually
charges between $5 thousand and $15 thousand for a single
branded Instagram post. At the time, she had 992,000 followers,
but thought she could raise her fees significantly once she passed
the one-million-follower mark (which she now has).” (Rutherford-
Morrison,2015)
Southampton is a City with a large population of over 245,000
people (Business and Investment in Southampton,2016) 40,000
of which are students (The Guardian,2015), there are many that do
have personal blogs, but trying to get recognised by these bigger
brands that pay the big bucks, could be distracting from promoting
the smaller brands that need the promotion from people that are
living or studying locally. Twitter page ‘Southampton Bloggers’ is
dedicated to promoting and connecting bloggers from the city and
reposts what they share about there likes, dislikes and events in
Southampton.
With a following of just over 1,200 (April,2016) this is a very
small percentage of the student population, and even smaller
percentage of the overall city population, meaning there is less
exposure for the local businesses. The benefits of having local
bloggers is the use of hashtags such as #southampton that when
searched for, displays a range of profiles (some run by the local
council) that show events and promote offers going on around the
city.
If bloggers from around the world can promote brands that aren’t
in their local city or even country, there has to be some way to
engage local brands with local people to utilise the local population
of people instead of trying to reach out into the vast areas of the
internet with no direction.
The Everygirl is an online blog with a number of contirbutors, dedicated to career driven and
creative inspiration. It features over 83,000 likes on the Facebook page, over 93,000 followers
on Twitter and a huge 390,000 followers on Instagram, with followers from all over the world.
One editor, Jessica, shared her ‘secret’ blog and how this has been her full time job as well
as taking part in posting on The Everygirl. Applebrides.com is Jessicas ‘local’ blog, dedicated
to brides and wedding posts from Northern Idaho, USA. She explaines how she makes more
money through this site than she did as a magazine editor, the site being her full time job, but also expressing how the
majority of people will have never heard of her website, as ‘everyone’ is not her target audience.
“The world wide blogging scene is pretty much saturated. It’s not impossible to grow a successful blog, but it’s hard to find
a niche and even harder if you want to make a living out of it. Local blogging is relatively untapped.”
Speaking of her own experience on failing to be able to find information on wedding venues and planners in her area, she
decided to take this upon herself to help other brides find what they need. This site has become a landing page for brides in
Idaho that want to keep the wedding close to home and be able to find information on the services they require. Showcasing
featured vendors and giving tips on wedding costs and places to stay, this has become a great way for local wedding vendors
to reach the exact market they need to via a platform they go to for advice and information, without using direct and pushy
sales techniques. Apple Brides has become a trusted source and not neccasserily known around the world with millions
of followers, but with a niche targeted market that can be used to benefit those looking for wedding information and those
providing it.
“Know your audience. This might be the biggest difference
between a local and national blog. The posts you see on Style Me
Pretty might not be representative of your small town (or maybe
they are?). Think about things from your readers’ perspective
and try to meet their needs. For me, I know my readers want the
nuts and bolts of planning a wedding; pictures of local venues,
price lists, a list of local photographers, etc, so I make sure this
stays at the heart of everything we do.” (English,2016)
The success of this website shows how important it is to be able to connect with the local community and how it is beneficial
to reach the right target market rather than always going for the larger bloggers, as they may reach a large audience, but this
may be completely irrelevant to your target customer.
(Applebrides.com, English.J,2016)
For some big global brands, appealing to the masses would be the right avenue to go down, but for local brands, this is not targeting the right
audience, because someone reading about your Southampton cafe in New Zealand may be great, but it will not help you get customers that
can actually walk through the door. Making sure to hit the local bloggers will give people somewhere specific to look if they need new idea
for somewhere to go for lunch in the local area. With a connection of local bloggers this also means that there will be more than one opinion,
which can be invaluable to word of mouth communication and customer trust in the brand, as one review is not as credible to a possible
customer as five would be. On the other hand, finding these smaller local blogs may be time consuming for business owners and they may
not know how to successfully communicate with these influencers if they do find them. This could mean that they are not reaching the network
around them that is available.
(Image: Twitter.com,2016)
(Image: applebrides.com,2016)
(Logo Image: theverygirl.com,2016)

13. 13
With constant advancments in online technology, this gives
business owners an opportunity for a low cost marketing
strategy, making 2016 a promising year for small businesses
(Toren,2016). In 2014, 1,035 new business start-ups were
launched (Platt,2015) and with such a large population,
theres no doubt that Southampton has a thriving amount
of new potential. A large network of potential investors and
funding opportunities have helped to encourage smaller
businesses to open. With over 400 cruise ships visiting the
city every year, attracting around 1.5 million visitors (Invest
in Southampton,2016) it is a city buzzing with opportunities
that will only gain momentum as new developments across
Southampton continue.
Discover Southampton is a website that showcases any event
that happens in the city, as well as giving support information
to anyone wanting to invest or grow a small business.
Networking events that run every saturday are available to
attend and are displayed on the site, as well as an extensive
list of ways to gain funding for a new business. Southampton
Business Start Up, Startup Britain and Business In You are
a small selection of numerous sites linked from the Discover
Southampton Business pages, and all offer services for
entrprenuers wishing to take a bite of the cities opportunities.
With a large range of ways to open a business, it is no wonder
this attracts so many people to get involved, but there can
also be a high rate (39.5 in 2014, Platt, 2015) of businesses
that do not thrive and eventually fail. This could be due to the
lack of experience in marketing to the right clientele amogst
other reasons. So if there is such a high population, and so
much on offer to help new businesses set up, why did so
many fail?
(Images: discoversouthampton.com,2016)
Many events are
on offer in the
local area for new
business and
existing businesses
to grow. The
S o u t h a m p t o n
Business Expo
happens every
year and is now in
its fifth year of showing. As an event that is free to attend, it
attracts people from all different industries and is a fantastic
opportunity for investors to seek new opportunities or for new
entreprenuers to find other like minded business owners,
as well as showcasing their product or service to the local
community. Seminars and guest speakers are organised
at the event to inspire and educate those interested, with a
networking cafe and designated networking areas available,
this is the perfect place for business people to connect.
A large list of well know business are set to attend such as
the Grand Harbour Hotel, Companies House and the Marriott
Hotel and Country Club, which can offer opportunities to
those wanting to be recognised by the bigger companies.
There is a large support network for businesses that open in Southampton and
entrepreneurs that want to start in the city, and with a large population, there is a high
chance that these companies will succeed. Events and networking communities all
help towrads a positive attitude with business to business communication, but the
business to consumer communication may be where the city is lacking. There are a number of Twitter profiles and Facebook (shown above)
that offer information on events going on and also new offers and promotions, but these do not have such a large following, maybe because
they lack a personal aspect and take more of a business approach, or maybe because they do not reach the right target audience. This could
be linked with the idea that people connect with people rather than just traditional marketing strategies, so a different approach could be taken
to maximise the potential of these small businesses, but getting the knowledge to these business owners may be where the chain of creativity
stops. If there is no network of influential people with opinions for the consumer to get involved in, they may just think that a brand is self
promoting and not actually delivering a valid representation. This could affect the small businesses that do start up, and even with the support
from the government and these organisations, they need to connect well with the customer.
(Images Above: b2bexpos.co.uk,2016)
So why set up a business in Southampton?

14. 14
arbering has always been a luxury
for gentlemen to enjoy, the promise
of looking good without entering the
feminine domain. Owner of Connery’s
Babershop in Southampton, Lee has
managed to capture his audience and build a
sustainable business through word-of-mouth
and social media marketing, using tools such as
Facebook to captivate his audience. He describes how most of
his trafficand customers come through Facebook and how it’snot
always just posting about the product or service you are offering,
it’s also about creating something people enjoy looking at.
Q.Why did you choose Southampton to set up your
business?
Because i lived here and i thought there was a gap in the market,
there wasn’t anything remotely close to what we do in
“If you can make people laugh,
that brings them to your page
anyway”
“Everything we get is through
Facebook”
Southampton. I thought it was the ideal place to start it!
Q. How long have you been trading?
Two Years!
Q. What sector would you consider your business
to be in?
The male grooming sector I
suppose.
Q. Who would you consider
your target audience?
Anybody looking to get a
good haircut really! We
are quite a mix and have a
mixed bag of customers really. We don’t do kids cuts
or OAPs or anything like that. Specifically because
we just want to keep the atmosphere in the shop
quite specific, anyone can say what they want while
they’re here, speak how they want. You don’t want to
be having kids running around and having to watch
what you say and things like that so that’s why we
generally keep it sort of for grown-ups! But it could be
anyone! We get a lot of guys that work in the bars and
all of the promoters, but then at the same time we get
solicitors and accountants and all that sort of stuff. Oh and footballers!
Q. So how do you currently reach your target audience/customers?
We do everything really, we have done word of mouth since we started,
we’ve never advertised. Facebook and people just generally coming off
the back of our reputation works.
Q. Do you consider online social media presence important in
local business?
Yeah definitely! As i say, everything we get is through Facebook. Our
website not particularly, Twitter not particularly, Instagram is okay but I
wouldn’t say we have ever had any business off the back of Instagram,
it’s more awareness. But definitely Facebook!
Q. Do you use social media already and if so how?
Well it’s mainly only Facebook and we normally put one post per
day sort of saying what times we are open until and if we’ve got any
appointments available, and everything else we just share funny videos
or pictures and stuff like that. We have found that works best. People
don’t want want to just keep seeing all day “We have a hair appointment
available” or “Come get a haircut”. If you can make people laugh, that
brings them to your page anyway, and they see your other stuff.
Q. How do you think social media has improved your business
trade?
It has massively! When we first opened a lot of people were checking
in (Facebook) or putting up photos of themselves saying “I’ve just been
to this place” was great and just kind of putting it out to all their friends!
Tagging their friends in (Facebook) posts and saying “You guys need
to come here”!
Q. Would you consider hiring someone to
manage your social media profiles for you,
for example Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or a
blog?
Potentially at some point down the road, I’ve sort
of got a five year plan for myself which involves
me not having to do any
work completely within
five years! Two years
into that I’m basically not
doing much already, but i
generally do all the online
marketing myself, I do all that side of it. But
when the time comes for me to step away
then yeah!
Q. For what purpose would you consider using other online
platforms that you don’t already? Would you consider using
something like snapchat or a blog?
Hmm, it’s tricky because you don’t know what the next big thing is
going to be do you. We have got a snapchat and we put a few pictures
on it but again it wasn’t anything directly sales, it’s more like us doing
stupis s**t or just making people laugh rather than directly advertising
at them. A blog is not something I’ve thought about doing before but i
suppose it could work maybe!
Q. If you were to hire a freelancer/agency to manage your social
media, do you think it’s important to have someone local with
more face-to-face contact?
I’d want someone local so they know the community, they know the
people, know the shop and the people that work here and get what
we actually do rather than someone sat in an office in Manchester or
London or wherever. I like to do a lot of business face-to-face because
you can judge that person and get to know if they know what you’re all
about. You put a lot of trust in them as basically you’re getting them to
promote your business which is an extension of promoting yourself.
Q. How much do you spend on social media/marketing currently?
Nothing.
Q. How much would you consider spending on social media/
marketing if you were to hire someone or to promote a Facebook
advert?
I have promoted an ad on Facebook before and not really seen any
benefits to it. If it was to get someone to do the online marketing, i
wouldn’t even know how much
that costs! Probably around £200
a month maybe?
Well that was very insightful
so thankyou very much for
your time Lee!

15. 15
So how does this reflect the effect of Social Media on Business?
“...I wouldn’t say we have ever had any business off the back of Instagram,
it’s more awareness.”
Without the ability to message through Instagram like on a Facebook
page, it’s difficult to track whether the engagement on the platform leads
to direct sales. For a business owner who may not have the time to track
the social media channels on a regular basis, it may be hard to differentiate
between the posts that are just used to raise awareness and those that
are generating an income. It is clear that Facebook is the main platform to
generate sales for Lee, but it is possible that with the help of knowledge
in that area, awareness on Instagram could be directed towards a more
sales orientated area. This could be a way to encourage owners like Lee
to branch out to new platforms or better use the ones they already exist on
with extra direction and strategic help.
“When we first opened a lot of people were checking in (Facebook) or
putting up photos of themselves saying “I’ve just been to this place” was
great and just kind of putting it out to all their friends! “
Social media is a great tool to create a personality online and to give
customers the option to get to know your brand before having been
there or bought a product. Creating word-of-mouth reccomendations is
extremely important especially for a business offering a service (like good
haircuts) and so having customer engagement online incorporating those
reccomendations, a wider audience is targeted. Although it doesn’t all need
to be about sales, building that brand online is how Lee could benefit from
outside help, to ensure the use of the profiles was maximising the benefits
and also to encourage storytelling for customers to follow. Having the feature
to geographically ‘check-in’ to a place on Facebook means that not only is
the cutomer spreading a good word, they are sharing an exact pinpoint
location of the store, which can then be viewed by anyone, meaning an
easier route for those viewing the post that are interested. This is already a
good way to build a customer base but this could be maximised by coming
up with ways for customers to benefit from sharing the information, possibly
offering a discount for those that ‘check-in’ online, giving the cutomer a
motive and also not costing the business much expenditure. Also if this has
proven an element of the online promotion that really does work, making
sure it reaches its full potential could be hugely beneficial.
“... it’s tricky because you don’t know what the next big thing is going to be.”
Common for many business owners, there is not the time to constantly
search for new ways to promote your product/service or to research the
trends coming up for digital marketing strategies. For some there may be
the time but not the understanding of how to use those new techniques or
incorporate them into their business strategies, and so even knowing the
trends may not help. With outside expertise from an agency or freelancer,
a business like Lee’s can benefit from the knowledge of new and upcoming
trends as well as the expertise in practice and how to make those new
advances work when tailored to the specific business. It could also mean
that Lee would have access to knowledge from the freelancer/agency that
he may not normally be able to find, from sources that are unknown to him
or that he would have to pay to see. Websites such as Mintel or WGSN
are only available through costly membership fees which could not be fully
effective for a small local business.
A business like Lee’s could benefit from outside help with expert knowledge
in the specific markting area, as using social media effectively is not always
just about making direct sales, but about involving the consumer in the
brand. It is also important to ensure that everything posted online always
fits with the brands core values and and is true to your brand rather than
just pushing content out (Licht/Parfrement,2016). Business owners clearly
realise there is potential in using social media to maximum effect but could
also be put off if they are not seeing immediate direct responses and growth
in sales. This is where an agency/expert could advise them on how long it
takes to build a brand and what platforms are right for their business. Not
all platforms will appeal to every business and finding out those that would
get the best return can eliminate chances of wasting time on marketing that
is not reaching anyone that is interested. For Lee, Facebook has been the
best way to connect with and gain new customers, but this could also be
used in an even more effective way. It would be difficult for Lee to pass on
the control of his social media channels to and outsider as this brand is an
extension of himself and his personality, which is why in his opinion it would
be more beneficial to have someone local that can easily get a good feel
for the brand values. It also shows how connected the owners feel to there
brands and how much they value the quality of service they provide their
customers.

16. 16
(Image: missguided.com,2016)
“First and foremost, you should start not with
an action but with a mindset: by seeing social
media as tools for the entire business, not just
as a marketing, PR or customer service tool.”
(Barger,2012)
These sites can be accessed by anyone,
anywhere at any time, giving unprecedented
access to other people lives at the click of a
button. This also means that for brands, it is
easy to access these sites but setting up official
pages. But it is managing these pages that
proves to be the difficulty, as a Facebook page
does not cost anything to set up, but the costs
include paying someone to create promotions,
contentandthetimetheyspenduploadingallthat
rich content (Clapperton,2009). These profiles
have to be relevant to consumers lifestyles, and
the brands have to consider how their social
media posts or blogs can improve someones
day (Brogan,2010) to ensure they are gaining
the most from their online prescence. The clear
tone of voice and consistant photo guidelines
(Johnston,2016) can separate a good brand
Instagram profile to one that simply pushes
product. The emotions consumers want to feel
from the content pushes into the lifestyle theme
and a brand can no longer just be a business, it
also has to be its own person.
The Lovemarks theory (Roberts,2006) explores
the idea of how consumers are now emotionally
attached to the brand as if it were a personality.
The goal for all brands is to reach the status
of high love and high respect, adding emotion
in addition to the high performance of the
product. Emotion leads to action, and people
are around 80% emotional and 20% percent
rational, so in a world of growth in consumer
choices, tapping into the emotional side is
targetting the highest percentage of a persons
thinking. Creating mystery within a brand also
taps into the consumers own dreams by being
iconic and having great stories associated with
it. “Psychological theory and common sense
converge to tell us that each and every purchase
decision cannot be the product of separate,
rational judgements” (Howard Roberts,2016)
Unknown
Known
Known For
Something
Known For
Good Things
Known For
Things That Are
Different
Known For
Things That I
Care About
TheJourneyfroma‘Brand’toa‘Lovemark’
There are steps take to get a brand to the
Lovemark stage, and this includes tapping
into things the customer cares about
emotionally, for example a sportswear
brand posting about healthy recipe ideas,
as this demonstrates a lifestyle approach.
This then engages a customer on a
personal level, and they will go to the
brand for more than just a product, it will
become part of their own lifestyle.
(Roberts,2016)
“To win a consumers trust
you have to get close to them”
Renzo Rosso (Roberts,2016)
Missguided launched a campaign with a number of social media influencers to attract those
that wanted to see the lifestyles of others, and were open to being influenced by this. Using the
Lovemarks Journey steps, it is possible to see how this campaign worked for this brand.
Unknown - As a brand that was already running by this point and fairly credible, to analyse this
campaign, a starting point would be that Missguided were not completely known to interact with
the influencer community.
Known - The campain became know to the followers of the brand and then on to the followers
of the influencers.
Known For Something - The consumer then linked the influencers posts to the brand and
campaign and it became know that the holiday ‘snaps’ were part of the brand.
Know For Good Things - The photographs and posts were all of good quality and engaging
content, through the use of styled photography and interesting product.
Known For Things That Are Different - It is unusual for a brand to send influencers to a variety of
countries for a campaign, so this was an element that became of interest.
KnownForThingsThatICareAbout-Consumersenjoycontentaboutthingstheylovethemselves,
and holidays are enjoyable for the majority of people. Seeing the influencers on holiday posting
everything from their outfits (using products from Missguided) to the food they were eating, this
tapped into the consumers desire to be on holiday eating nice food and enjoying the finer things.
This campaign was successful with the photos and individual influener profiles still displayed
on the website, it showed a different avenue to the brands marketing and engaged with a large
community online.
So why are these apps so popular, and how do you make yourself known as a
brand?

17. 17
Instagram Blogs
Nyane Lebajoa
Instagram Followers: 426,000
Southampton born blogger Nyane
has become a pinpoint staple to many
followers and brands, as a way to connect
the brand with her own personal style
online. Brands such as Lipsy (shown left)
to Misguided, who jetted her off to Ibiza
for a campaign, have gained invaluable
advertising and customer engagement
throughthepersonalalityofthisInstagram
sensation. Having the ability to ‘tag’ a
brand profile in her Instagram photos,
this gives consumers the chance to click
straight from a photo of a product they
like, to the brand page where they can find
the website link to then buy the product.
With reccomendations for products such
as His Smile teeth whitening and food
recipe inspirations, this profile shows her
own personal lifestyle preferences as
well as offering brand links that gives the
consumer endless chances to browse
brand products.
(Images: Instagram - @nyanelebajoa,2016)
Light and bright well style photographs
give the ‘perfection’ appeal of the
food styling aspect as well as being
Nyanes reccomendations based on her
personal experiences and preferences in
Instagrams famous square photo format.
Brand official pages tagged in her
photos are a great way to indirectly show
products as well as offering a direct link
to the desired product. It also shows
consumers the products in a ‘real life’
scenario.
Audrey Leighton-Rogers
Instagram Followers: 64,000
Twitter Followers: 8,155
The format of a blog is focused more
on the text that accompanies the
styled photography. English Literature
graduate and style guru Audrey uses her
personal experiences as a fuel to write
inspiring posts about life, love and career
aspirations and achievements, as well
as showcasing her Parisian chic style.
BrandssuchasPrimarkhavecollaborated
with Audrey to raise awareness of their
make-up range across her blog and
social media channels. Ultimately being
a writer, her fashion sense has been a
great addition to capture the attention
of brands, as well as the reader being
hooked by the emotional and very
personal nature of her writing. Her blog
features advice on health and fitness,
beauty, personal style and also interior
snaps and new purchases for her home.
With gripping content that keeps readers
able to follow her life as well as discover
new products, Audreys blog is the perfect
mix of creativity and lifestyle. Escapism
at its best.
Perfectly styled ‘messy’ photos show
the human aspect behind the content,
but also shows products with a clear
opinionated review that has not been
curated. Of course no one’s breakfast
actually looks that fancy, but blogs say
they do!
(All Images: befrassy.net,2016)

18. 18
Facebook Twitter
Burt’s Bees Cosmetics
Facebook Likes: 2,742,866
Since November 2011, Burt’s Bees have been
posting regularly to fans on Facebook, with the
page now collecting over 2 million likes. The
fun illustrations go with the overall branding
and show the quirky nature of the tone of voice.
Facebook allows short videos to be posted on
pages, so this brand take advantage of this
by posting short, fun cartoons that gain up
to 20,000 views. They also interact well with
bloggers, by posting the links to the bloggers
product reviews on their official page. The
ability for customers to comment on Burt’s Bees
posts also has a great benefit on the brand, as
customers post ‘selfies’ with the products and
also suggestions for new lip colours and praise
for the current products. The other function that
works well for many brands on Facebook is the
‘share’ button, allowing customers to share the
post with all of their personal ‘friends’ on their
profiles. This gives the brand huge word of
mouth exposure without spending any money,
and means promotions such as competitions
work well. Customers are encouraged to share
and comment on the post for a chance to win,
meaning that everytime they do, all of their
‘friends’ see the activity and the original brand
post, reaching millions of potential customers.
Consistent branding themes,
colour and tone of voice are
expressed visually through the
ability to customise a Facebook
page, as well as writing longer
decriptions for photos and
videos without overcrowding
the page.
Charlotte Crosby (Reality TV Star)
Twitter Followers: 2.77M
Social media has seen the rise in a new type of
celebrity, as being able to connect with anoyone
at anytime makes consumers feel closer to the
celebs. Reality stars are big business on sites
such as Twitter for the huge amount of followers
they gain. Promoting products as well as
collaborating with brands for campaigns boosts
the brands promotion but does cost a lot of
money. One simple Tweet from a reality star can
cost thousands, and amongst other business
ventures from Charlotte has earned her a net
worth of £1.1M (Reality TV’s Richest,2015).
Conversation between celebs is publicised
through the instant nature of the Twitter feed,
which can create great publicity if a star is
wearing a certain brand or product. Fans have
the ability to ‘Tweet’ anoyone by using their user
name for the chance to have a reply or to be
‘retweeted’ by their favourite celebs, creating
instant gratification and an addictive nature to
connect with those in the public eye. Celebs are
also able to add a brands Twitter ‘handle’ in the
post so that a customer can go straight to the
brand official Twitter page.
(Images: Facebook.com/burtsbeesuk,2016)
(Images: Twitter - @charlottegshore,2016)
Conversations between celebs
online makes other followers
feel incuded, as they see the
conversation happening and
can post replies or comments.
Twitter also allows photos so
brands can ‘retweet’ photos
of celeb tweets about them or
featuring their products.

19. 19
Snapchat Pinterest
Primark
Facebook Likes: 4,441,743
Instagram Followers: 2.8M
Twitter Followers: 157,000
Snapchat is a revolutionary app for mobile that
self destructs images and videos after they are
sent. Brands are using this one-time exclusivity
feature to send consumers offers and give
them an inside look into the business. Adding
to the personality marketing aspect, brands
such as Priark use this app to show consumers
the parties they host or attend, the offices full
of excited working staff and the new products
consumers want an exclusive look at just before
they hit the shelves. The fact that the consumer
has to pin point their concentration to those few
seconds or otherwise they will miss the content,
is what sets this appart from other apps. Their
attention is soley focused on that one brand,
instead of something that will be there forever
and they can view later. This app is free to use for
brands and for consumers, but the cost comes
in spending the time to have someone uploading
this content in store or at events, making sure
it is interesting enough for consumers to stay
tuned. The downside to this app is that there
is no way to directly measure how it influences
sales apart from tracking any discount codes
given exclusively on the app. Primark use it
as an expansion of the service they provide,
following them means the consumer gets to be
part of something.
Primark also cross promote
their social media channels,
buy using the snapchat profile
photo on the Facebook page, to
encourage consumers to follow
them on all aspects of social
media.
Nordstrom
Pinterest Followers: 4.4M
The main attraction for Pinterest is being able
to link an image from any website straight to
pinterest and save it there for a consumers
collection. The images posted straight to
Pinterest can be hyperlinked straight to the
webpage, so for a brand, a product photo can
be posted so when clicked on, it will take the
customer straight to the website or product
page to buy immediately. This is a great tool
for customers that like to impulse buy on things
they see online, as there is a direct link between
seeing the product and buying the product,
leaving less room or time for the customer to
be distracted in between. Being able to collect
pictures on ‘boards’ also means that brands
can show personality by pinning things that
customers may be interested in. Nordstrom
include boards for subjects like DIY and food
recipes as this will also appeal to their customer.
The customer then enjoys visiting or following
the Nordstrom page because they feel as if they
are interacting with the brand by viewing other
posts as well as browsing clothing and products
they are interested in. It is also a good way for
customers to compile a list of things they like
to save to purchase at a later date. If the photo
features the website link, instead of having to
purchase the product straight away, they are
able to save the photo with attached link to
purchase later.
The colourful boards catch
attention and also serve as a
distraction from the fact it is a
branded page that is essentially
trying to sell product, making
the consumer feel more
comfortable and not pressured
to buy something.

20. 20
It is clear that brands have used these new social media developments to create new ways to interact with the consumers, and consumers have developed a new desire to feel the brand
as a personality rather than just somewhere to buy something they need, but is this the furthest it can be taken or is there a different way these mobile techonology apps can be used to
interact with potential customers? One brand that had taken this to a new level is global online retailer ASOS. As a solely online brand, social media and online communication is extrememly
important, as this is the only interaction the consumer can have with the brand. Creating a personality online is successful, but ASOS have used real people as brand ambassadors, with a
profile for each ‘Insider’ that focuses on ASOS products as well as the ambassadors own lifestyle.
So what is an ‘ASOS Insider’?
ASOS have created a network of Insiders, that
use Instagram profiles to post outfit photos,
featuring only ASOS products. These outfits
can then be bought directly from the Instagram
post, using website links in the profile ‘Bio’ and
product codes on the images. The Insiders
profiles also link to a page on the ASOS website
where consumers can browse the products
featured in their outfits, like a trend board of
their personal style so consumers can buy the
exact items. This type of marketing takes away
the element of feeling left out, as if consumers
see designer clothing on a red carpet, the
majority of them cannot afford it. This approach
means they can buy exactly what they see for
an affordable price, as well as having a style
guru to look up to.
“..as a Student Insider, you have a unique
opportunity to engage with ASOS student
customers and inspire them through authentic
and useful content.” (Liu,2015)
The range of ASOS Insiders have all been
chosen for their unique style, and all show a
different way to style and wear ASOS products,
hitting a larger target audience from urban to
minimalistic. As these are a cross between
personalandmarketingprofiles,theyalsofeature
images that do not include any ASOS products,
and could just be a cafe reccomendation or a
holiday snap, keeping the personal aspect. In
simple terms, these Insiders are sponsored
by the brand to become an ambassador, and
example of an ASOS ‘personality’ in real life.
(Image: fashionista.com,2016)
(Images: Instagram- @asos_isabella,2016)
(Image: asos.com,2016)
Product
ASOS on trend clothing includes own brand
affordable products, and branded designer outlet
products, to cater to different customers budgets.
Most only have a small life-cycle adn trends pass
quickly in mass fast fashion. Assorted styles also
reach a range of customer personal styles.
Place
ASOS sells online only, so any social media that
can link to the website is beneficial to the brand.
The customer base is global so having Insiders
from different countries can appeal to more of the
potential customers, and showcases fashion styles
from around the world.
Price
Different price ranges from budget wear to
designer clothing covers a wide range of customer,
meaning the site could be visted by those looking
for basics or investment pieces. The own brand
low price element has helped to shape the brand
as a go-to site for affordable clothing.
Promotion
The main aim of the Insiders project is to raise
awareness of the different styles of dress sense
that the brand cater for using real life people.
The personal nature of the profiles makes the
customer feel like they are not being promoted to
and are more likely to engage in the content.
Customer Value
The products become more desirable when
an influencer that the customer looks up to is
wearing or promoting it, therefore, the value of
the products the Insiders wear, hold more to the
customer that an average purchase from ASOS.
Convenience
The Insider photos link directly to the ASOS
Instagram where there is a link to the websie to
buy the product. The convenience of being able
to order the product in only a few clicks means
that there is less fuss in the process and would
attract customers with a shorter attention span or
less patience when purchasing.
Cost
With the brand already well known for affordable
fashion, consumers would not consider dismissing
promotional content from ASOS based on the
price. The value of the product would also
increase due to it being worn by an influencer
and the credibility would add to this if the customer
was complimented for owning the product.
Communication
Having the brand name in the profile name leaves
no room for confusion on where the products
are from. The posts are shared and style by the
individuals but the brand is behind everything.
The human communication in the personal profiles
is more cooperative than an official brand page.
(Marketing Model 4P’s - 4C’s Robert F.Lauterborn,1990)