Last night, I searched information on the internet about global fashion brand. While I was searching, I was very curious…….how many super fans do some fashion brands have????
SOOOOOO, I searched it on facebook………to check how many facebook fans do they have?
9,940,407 people like Zara http://www.facebook.com/Zara
1,630,745 people like GAP http://www.facebook.com/gap
I am so surprised that ZARA has about 10 million fans on facebook. Moreover, I am thinking….can the marketers use facebook or other social media platforms to transfer first-time consumers into loyal consumers? According to Kotler’s model, there are different stages of relationship development.
I believe that loyalty program is widely used to keep close relationship with consumers. However, can companies use facebook to keep relationship with its super fans instead? Does it work? I am not sure but I believe that super fans are willing to have relationship with their favourite brands.
This comes back to the question of "What does it mean to LIKE?", the symbolic meaning of "Liking" something. It seems to me that a lot of the times, online users just press Like many different reasons. Some may be big fans, some may like it because their friends do it, so I think to use Facebook as a loyalty tool, may work, but it depends on the engagement of the users who click likes. I am a fan of Zara and Gap, but I do not have them in my "Like" list~ what about you?
ReplyDeleteNice work, Ellen. Just a small error, though... Zara has around 10 million fans on FB, not 1 million.
ReplyDeleteIf you take a look at the Zara Facebook page, it appears that the wall is heavily moderated. They delete many comments, and don't really get involved in conversations with customers on the wall. Is this the best way to manage a Facebook presence? I'd like to hear what others think on this issue.
If they are deleting comments, does that mean they are receiving a lot of negative feedback? If so, then I believe just deleting those comments is not the best way to manage it.
ReplyDeleteAnd i agree with Chun, that Liking something on facebook does not necessarily mean you actually really Like that product. Facebook does not automatically come with a dislike button.
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ReplyDelete@Hubba: "Spam"? ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments
ReplyDelete@Chun: I am not a fan of Zara but I like its fast fashion strategy that encourages me to visit its store frequently. And, I agree with you that clicking “like" button does not mean that u like this brand. For example, I "like" Cathay Pacific Australia" on facebook since I wanna know the latent sales promotion rather than loving CX.And, consumers "like" some brands on facebook, it does not mean that companies have relationship with the consumers. Instead, the consumers may have other purposes. Therefore, companies have to understand their consumers quite well, why do they “like” the brand on facebook?
@Wags, I clicked Zara’s info on facebook http://www.facebook.com/Zara?sk=info, the Description is “Help us keep this page clean by avoiding any indecent or harmful material including but not limited to: profanity, obscenity, illegal, off-topic or promotional content.
ZARA may remove User Generated Content that exceeds these guidelines and reserves the right to ban those users who intentionally and repeatedly ignore them.” ……………...
I think Zara really concerns the negative comments on its facebook page, Actually, I appreciate Zara’s action since it is one of the ways to protect the brand image and prevent spreading negative WOM. If not, it will be out of control and destroy the brand image.
@Steve: Thanks for your suggestion. I will think about it!!!!!
I think by liking a brand on facebook is developing personal relationship with the brand as brands will update their trends and people are able to comment. Deleting comments may not be the best idea for Zara to manage its brand image. It is preferable for Zara to just leave it there as there might be some other fans replying positive comments :)
ReplyDeleteThe model you showed was great, and I think something like that (being widely available) should be what SM marketers should strive towards. SM provides these great opportunities for relationship building, so use them!
ReplyDeleteRoss
@ Mary: I agree with you that facebook can develop personal relationship with the brand and encourage consumers to engage with the brand by interaction on Facebook. sometimes, brand is hard to touch and communicate but social media is like a bridge or a person that consumers can connect with the brand in other way.
ReplyDelete@ Ross: I agree with you that building relationship with consumers is important, it is good for companies and consumers that both can get what want in that relationship.
Can it be that they pay someone else just to like their page to give impression to the consumers?
ReplyDelete