Ebru Uzunoğlu

Brand communication through digital influencers: Leveraging blogger engagement

The growing power of bloggers to influence their connected network has emerged as a new communication venue for brands. This study elaborates upon the role of bloggers in brand communication, and reveals how brands can engage with bloggers, currently considered as online opinion leaders, from the perspective of the two-step flow theory. Following clarification of the aims of the study, we report on in-depth interviews with 17 brand and digital agency representatives, selected because they regard communication with bloggers as an important strategy in increasing the influence of their brands among online communities. This exploratory study reflects current blogger communication implementations, and concludes with a discussion of seven major issues arising from the literature review and interviews (definition of bloggers, blogger selection criteria, digital integration, power of bloggers, long-term relationship building with bloggers, measurement, and budgetary issues in blogger communication). These areas represent relatively unexplored areas of blogger engagement from both an academic and managerial perspective. Based on the findings of the interviews, we propose a model which traces the influencer role of bloggers from the two-step flow theory perspective. This model is named as the brand communication through digital influencers model.

New opportunities in social media for ad-restricted alcohol products: The case of ‘Yeni Rakı’

The rapid diffusion and technological evolution experienced in the new format of the Internet, particularly social media, have forced many brands to keep pace with this ongoing process in order to engage with their customers. Social media utilize multiple Internet-based communication platforms, including, but not limited to, blogs and social networking sites. This paper aims to examine how social media can be used to interact with consumers in the case of ad-restricted alcohol products, providing a case study from Turkey. The explored case provides an example of a well-planned, creative campaign that successfully exploits the opportunities provided by interactivity. The analysis of an alcohol product is critical due to the fact that such products face many restrictions, thus calling for a more creative and efficient approach to the design and implementation of social media practices, and their integration into integrated marketing communication (IMC) campaigns. This case will contribute to the articulation of the best ways to shape both business-to-consumer and consumer-to-consumer dialogue and fruitful applications of this new IMC tool.

Introduction: Integrated Communications in the Postmodern Age

This book is intended for marketing and brand managers, market researchers, and in any field directly related to marketing and communication (Kitchen, 2010; 2013). It is proposed for postgraduate and under-graduate students, and other interested publics, who wish to develop their knowledge, insight, skills, and facility into integrated communications within the postmodern era — a topic of relevance everywhere, but particularly apposite as the setting for several chapters is in Turkey, a rapidly developing nation, an EU accession nation, and a nation enjoying significant economic growth in the global marketplace. The book is based primarily on the opinions, views, and expertise of significant authors in the field (see Contents).

The Effects of Engaging with Content Marketing on Business Outcomes for B2B Service Providers

The B2B service industry has traditionally relied heavily on its salesforce, but intense competition is forcing service providers to find ways beyond the salesforce to attract prospects and retain clients. In response, content marketing (CM) is one approach that has become important in B2B markets. According to a survey of 1,102 B2B marketers in North America in 2016 by Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs (Pulizzi and Handley, 2016), 89% of the respondents use CM, and 88% consider it an important component of their marketing program.

Fostering Interactivity through Responsiveness: The Case of Turkish Environmentalist Non-Profit Organizations’ Websites

The aims of the chapter are to reflect changes in the communications environment occasioned by technological developments, relay information on the relationship between responsiveness and interactivity, address the potential benefits of websites as facilitators of interactivity and responsiveness, and to reveal the potential benefits to Turkish environmentalist non-profit organizations (NPOs) of exploiting dialogic communication and responsiveness through websites. Given these aims, for success in communication, it is critical for organizations to understand changes in consumer behaviour. Today’s technological developments have created a new type of savvy, sophisticated, and well-informed consumer. They are no passive recipients of messages (Pickton and Broderick, 2005; Finne and Gronroos, 2009). Instead, consumers are eager to participate and become involved in every process, from idea generation to product development to brand performance. Furthermore, they now tend to rely on messages and recommendations from other individuals, rather than depending upon information from organizations. As a result of these changes, the ways organizations communicate with their target groups have been affected. Particularly, the integrated marketing communication (IMC) approach has evolved from the 1990s, involving brand-oriented communication in relationship building.