Business Communication - Honda and Social Networking Tool - Assignment Example

Leading header: Business Communication - Honda and social networking tool     Your name: Rosemary Li   Course name: MMH299    Professors’ name: Mrs T. Chia Date Executive summary The rapid growth of social websites or networks such as YouTube, Facebook, and MySpace….etc in the past years has been nothing sort of extraordinary. Social networking website were once regarded as nothing more than a passing ‘trend’ but these social networks website are recording new visitors month after months at astronomical proportions; Facebook in particular currently boast of 60 plus million unique new subscriber each month. The effect of these have made certain companies to begin to notice the potential of these social networking websites as a mode of reaching out to their customers through this new advertising medium, and these companies have already begun advertising efforts in these social medium. In order for companies to advertise in these social medium, their spending in term of money on this form of advertising in social networks is relatively small compare to other efforts. This paper will establish why Honda Company has largely relied on Facebook to do business as an advertising medium; also the paper will attempt to review the advertising methods that are in place. Keyword: Honda Company, Facebook Table of Contents Introduction Company Profile Social Impact and Trend of Facebook Marketing and advertising of Honda Competition Benefits of advertising on Facebook Cost of advertising at Facebook Conclusion Reference List Introduction Social network websites or community-based websites have to the forefront of the online world in advertisement, although there have been other forms of advertisement both offline and online, that tried to connect customers, none of these advertising medium have succeeded as much as advertising in Facebook, which boast over 60 plus new customers. This paper will provide some relevant background information on the history of Honda Company. The reasons for selecting Facebook social network as a means of advertisement by Honda in particular will be described in the paper. Beside Facebook providing a platform for different people to interact and communicate with each other, it has displayed a potential for Honda Company to easily reach it targeted customers through advertising. In this social medium, Honda Company has already created multiple method of advertising in Facebook social network, for example the creation of product groups that consumer or people can join on Facebook. This paper will try to find out the criteria used in advertising in social networks, and in doing so (Charlton, 2009), existing methods that have been used by Honda company and other relevant metrics used to measure the effectiveness of social websites in reaching out to their customers will be reviewed. Since Facebook social website have emerged to the forefront only recently, there is no academic literatures that has discussed community-based social website in depth, this paper will relied on company’s websites, business journals, articles and other relevant websites-websites that are exclusively on community-based social network news such as Mashable- will be used to provide the balance information on this topic. Company Profile Honda has its operation in Japan and was established in 1959, the establishment of American Honda Motor Co., was the first international subsidiary. Honda company has devoted in it operations the advancement of human mobility ( Honda, 2011), and during the preceding years, the company has yielded diverse products such as: fuel cell electric vehicle, fuel cell electric vehicle technology, humanoid robotics, and walking assist devices, and thin film solar cells, In addition to designing and developing of motorcycles, power equipments and automobiles. Based on the company beliefs in technology to address the needs of different people, it is the mission of the company to develop new innovative products that predict and satisfy evolving needs of customers with different background, while meeting the society’s demand for safer, more efficient, cleaner and sustainable means of transportation ( Honda, 2011). Since the creation of ‘Facebook page- Honda brand’- in August 2009, many of Honda funs have shared hundreds of stories, videos, pictures and moments showing their dedication and love of Honda. Recently, the company’s fun page reached a million fan marks; the company will be celebrating with their fans by showing some personalized love back. Each day during “"We're Fans of You Too" Week, the company has plans to pay tributes to its fans with some personal appreciation. In the past, many fans have shared their love of the company in some amazing ways, and the company has been able to show their love back. For example a fan page fun curved Honda logo into their lawn, the company reciprocates the same by carving the fan’s name into their main entrance, and this is one of many examples Honda has shown it appreciation to their customers ( Honda, 2011). Social Impact and Trend of Facebook A study was conducted by Society for New Communications Research and was completed by 356 company’s directors and CEO’s on the impact of Facebook to their businesses. According to the findings of the study, most companies nowadays are using social media such as Facebook to deepen their customer’s intimacy, before; the impact of social media to change behaviors of its customers, and its potential to impact decision-making processes was overlooked by many companies. Nowadays, Facebook has created a disruptive shift, and most companies have seen the emergence of an era of Business-to-Person (B2P) communications driven by Facebook has emerged as a new model of doing business in most companies. Facebook has evolved to take influential and important shape in economic environment and business, the social media has dis-intermediated many long-standing communications – Public Relations, Traditional Marketing Practices and selling beliefs which have guided most companies in the past on how they support, collaborate and interact with their customers. Facebook has created an environment in which companies have started experiencing diminished control over their reputation of their products, brands and services and the wisdoms of their customers has increasingly dictate the rules of reputation selling and management. Through Facebook platform, customers have a platform for discussion of their experience, knowledge and ideas. In addition, Facebook has continued playing an important role in the professional lives of decision-makers, because professionals nowadays are using Facebook platform to make decision on their products and services. The social nature of Facebook in decision making has increased rapidly, changing dynamic of customer relationship management, communication and marketing, and connecting professionals to each other. In today’s international environment of a vast network; over one billion people have access to the internet, four billion have phones with data capability, and more than five hundred million customers are sharing billions of pieces of content thanks to Facebook platform. Through Facebook, information has the capacity to travel faster at a velocity never been experienced before, Facebook platform has facilitated vast connections, interaction and also it has enable people to be connected anywhere and at any time of the day. In addition, it has created a virtual community around the globe which has changed the way companies do business, and it is in itself a new ecosystem, which is creating communities within communities that are beyond the control and manage of most organization. Traditionally in most companies, making decision was all about trust in work environment and this depended on a number of factors; one of those factors was proximity, with the used of Facebook in companies, proximity has superseded the trust factor by like- mindedness. Marketing and Advertising of Honda The most dangerous thing a company can experience is a group of dissatisfied customers, in the past companies were not aware of their customers issues until they have made losses or their sales declined ( Clemons, Barnett, & Appadurai, 2007), but nowadays companies have been able to cultivate relationships with their customers online through the use of Facebook platform, and same time they can work with their customers to share development and plan partnership. According to Honda marketing strategies, they can learn the comment posted to their Facebook fun-page at same time the company has the opportunity to inform and educate their customers; the company usually bring their customers into the process and discussion of various brands and content co-creation. Also, Honda Company has been able to make heroes out their customers, they have created an interactive platform that has enable the company to share best practice in marketing and at same time learn first-hand from their customers on the effective way of marketing and advertising. There are several ways companies can advertise and market their products on social network websites, but the following are methods in which Honda Company have adopted the use of Facebook fun page to market and advertise their products ( Clemons, Barnett, & Appadurai, 2007): Business Pages The Honda Company has created a company profiles that has enable it to interact with their clients; Honda has been able to compile a list of clients or “fans” and through these fans in the company profile, the company is able to send updates, items, news, discount information for entire clients or special offers. Through Facebook platform, it has enabled the company to instantly communicate with list of clients who are willing to purchase the company’s products and services that are offered on sales ( Clemons, Barnett, & Appadurai, 2007). Focused Advertisements This is another way in which Honda Company has been able to advertise its products and services through the social media platform. Through this means the company has been able to purchase ads that target subsection of Facebook’s fan base ( Clemons, Barnett, & Appadurai, 2007),. The experience and information that is collected from its users has been incredible, in return the company is able to use these information later to develop advertisement that will be used to target various clients depending on variety of factors including age, education, sex, relationship status and keywords. Although these advertisements are being charged for a fee, the returns for the company have been realized; it has been noted the company has increased its sales revenue since they started advertising at social network website ( Clemons, Barnett, & Appadurai, 2007),. Facebook Beacon Honda Company has able to use the power of word-of-mouth in advertising their products into the digital age. Facebook beacon work like this: the company fans in their fan page allow their friends to their personal profiles and keep track of one another’s actions through the new feeds available at Facebook website. Things like pictures or user’s profile updates will trigger people’s minds that will make them want to look at Honda fun-page. Also, Facebook platform has enable Honda Company to see the many users interacting with the company websites. Through these interactions with the customer, the company has been able to promote their products and services, and at same time they have been able to generate buzz each time their product is being purchased through the social network media; this way it has help the company to gain ground in the market place. Competition Social networks have significant grown in size and market dominance particularly for large players. Nowadays, large players are characterized by large customer’s base, the use of range of formats, and retail concentrations. Most of Honda competitors have also realized the power of marketing and advertising in social network websites. Therefore, competition here is a matter of fighting form competences: these are processes or activities that raise the company competitive advantage ( Clemons, Barnett, & Appadurai, 2007), Honda Company have realized competition with its rivalries is as much a race for competence as it is for market power and market position. The goal of the company has been focusing its strengths on competencies that can affect the company negatively. Anon (2004) developed a framework, in time companies will develop key areas of expertise that are distinctively to the company and critical to the growth of the company. For example, consumers have trust in Honda Company brand, and the heart of the company lies in the services they are offering to their customers. At moment, the company has approximately one million fans on Facebook profile as a result of customers trusting their brands. Leadership is another competence which the company has concentrated on. Honda has a strong leadership in retailing sector, and this has enable the company to enter retailing market with easy, in addition providing efficient and customized services and this is based on the good relationship they have with their customers ( Clemons, Barnett, & Appadurai, 2007). Benefits of advertising on Facebook With more and more companies turning their operations towards Facebook as a marketing platform. Nowadays, traditional media marketing using radio, newspapers, TV, direct mails, email campaigns, web brochures etc, are clearly outdated. With Facebook being widely used by companies, passing information of a company’s product has become easier and faster, besides Facebook is a low-cost marketing platform for Honda Company when you compare it with other mode of marketing, in addition, Facebook has a wider reach and is and effective medium to reach a large crowd of clients, many people nowadays uses social network websites to find business solutions. The following are the benefits of using Facebook in marketing company’s products and services (Weber, 2009). Targeted advertising The main reasons why Honda Company has choose to use Facebook as an advertising medium, it has enable the company to reach out to the target clients or customers. Facebook website has a large catalogue of user’s information such as employment information, gender, like and dislikes, among others. Facebook social network has a huge market -600 million plus, and its results can be measured and used to improve the market strategies of a company. Also Facebook has the capability of tapping a large client base with precision and speed that is prohibitively more expensive for traditional media such as newspapers, radio, TV….etc. the company advertisement can help drive its customers to content that is relevant to the company website, for example, Honda Company usually add their upcoming events in the Facebook fan page- they can RSVP, or add a video applications concerning their new product or existing one that will deliver more content that will target their clients (Weber, 2009). Audience Size Facebook has a large audience size since everyday new subscribers are increasing by the day. Advertising in Facebook has become fruitful as it has let the Honda Company to broaden its horizons (Weber, 2009). . In addition, Facebook has provided the company with endless possibilities into wider geographical locations. In Facebook customers have the ability to choose the products they want to buy, and which fan page they want to view on Facebook is solely depends on the customer’s decision and this sort of heady empowerment has but naturally, worked wonders with consumer psychology. Just like an offline supermarket with numerous products on display, clients at the fan page can browse at will the type of product they feel like buying according to their preference. Honda Company has been able to reach it targeted audience through creation of advertisement and business pages in their Facebook fan page. At the Facebook page, an advertisement will have an impact of being seen or get noticed by new customers when seen by many people, since Honda Company has more than one million existing fans at their Facebook page and most of these visit their pages regularly. The company new advertisement will stick into their minds, and this way some of them will tell their friends about that new product that has been released into the market (Weber, 2009). Cost-effective When you compare Facebook with other traditional marketing media, it would require large amount money in planning, investing and time to reach half the market size that is covered by Facebook in a matter of hours. This is why Honda Company has is using Facebook as their choice to advertise their products. In Facebook the cost for advertisement is not fixed, but the companies usually pay for the amount of clicks they receive for their advertisements. Therefore, Honda Company has been able to utilise their “bid estimator”, the company has been able to compare the cost of their advertisements with other traditional media (Weber, 2009). Cost of advertising at Facebook Money Facebook social network doesn’t have official advertising option that is available to their clients or advertisers, but the most widely used form of advertisement is “banner advertising”, and this form of advertising its cost will range from 1 pound to 20 pounds per every a thousand impressions the company receives from the people visiting their fan page, also it will depend on the level of targeting. In addition, Facebook have introduced ‘a pay per click’ advertising program and tend to cost the company which advertise at their website a minimum of 0.02 pounds per every click. Alternatively, a company can send viral videos of their products and this is usually an excellent way of generating widespread awareness to your clients more quickly, but campaigns such as this tend to be more expensive; it tends to cost some few pounds for the development of the ad and seeding the advertisement ( Wilson, J. (2009) Time The cost of unofficial ads on Facebook social website is mainly time, it will take time and effort to create an impressive profile, add their clients and interact with them and the company will also find the need to respond to messages that are being posted at their profile page, and update their profile from time to time, and so on (Golder, Wilkinson, & Huberman, 2007). If the company is promoting their existing product or a new product, it will only make sense if they use ‘friends adder’- this is a program that is available in Facebook that will automatically send out friends or clients requests, in a day as many as 400 requests can be sent and this will cost the company not more than 30 pounds per friends adder. When you compare the time spend to do all this with traditional method of advertising, it is much cheaper in term of time spend; an amount that would take a long time to add manually, for example by the use of mails to send new products to various customers. Conclusion Even though this paper attempts highlights the importance of social media particularly Facebook social network, there still important work to be done on the whole issue of social networks, for example, advertisements on Facebook social network that went beyond the traditional method of advertisement started recently as 2007. In the next four to five years, researchers in the same topic will have information or data that will enable them to study the phenomenon. One limitation for this study was the use of successful cases of Facebook that were used to draw successful criteria for social network websites. Another limitation for this paper was qualitative approach that was used to determine the criteria for success, here time constrain was an important factor. In addition, the paper used mostly focus on secondary research that lacked valid quantitative measures. Finally, the time taken to complete this research was too short and materials were limited. References List Anon (2004). Case study IV: Tesco Implements the business engine network to gain full control of its IT project portfolio, Journal of Database Marketing & Customer StrategyManagement, Vol. 12 Issue 1, pp.66-73 Charlton, G. (2009). The power of social media for customer service. Retrieved from http://econsultancy.com/blog/3707-how-to-use-social-media-for-customer-service  Clemons, E. K., Barnett, S., & Appadurai, A. (2007). The future of advertising and the value of social network websites: some preliminary examinations. doi: 10.1145/1282100.1282153  Golder, S., Wilkinson, D., & Huberman, B.(2007). Rhythms of Social Interaction: Messaging within a Massive Online Network. 3rd International Conference on Communities and Technologies,London, UK: Springer London. Honda. (2011, April 29). Honda Celebrates Crossing the One Million Fan Mark on Facebook by Thanking Fans and Showing Some Reciprocal Love. Retrieved from http://www.honda.com/newsandviews/article.aspx?id=6016-en  Weber, L.(2009). Marketing to the Social Web: How Digital Customer Communities Build Your Business. New Jersey:John Wiley & Sons.  Wilson, J. (2009). Social networking: the business case – [IT internet]. Engineering & Technology, 4(10), 54-56. Retrieved from http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=5161986&isnumber=5152893   Read More