A study into online fashion brands use of blogs in creating brand awareness in women aged 16-25
Citation
(2015) A study into online fashion brands use of blogs in creating
brand awareness in women aged 16-25, no. 78.
Abstract
The purpose of this research project was to investigate the new phenomenon of
businesses using online blogs to market their brand. The study looked at eight online
fashion brands, which all engage with popular fashion bloggers. It contributes to the
understanding of how a brand can use well-known bloggers to reach their target
market, whether the target population engage with blogs enough to create brand
awareness and to investigate the possibility of integrating blogs with other social
media sites to increase brand exposure.
The literature review provided a strong background for this research project. It looked
at the emergence of social media and the development of traditional marketing
techniques to incorporate this new two-way communication between businesses and
consumers. It then went on to look at the concept of blogging, the motivational
factors for blog engagement and the idea of brand community. An understanding of
electronic word of mouth and what brand awareness means added to the
understanding of this new marketing technique.
A mixed method research design was adopted to facilitate both statistical data and a
further understanding of consumer's views on the concept of using blogs to create
brand awareness. Quantitative data took the form of a questionnaire taken by the
required 16-25 year old female sample, with 107 completed. The qualitative data was
a follow up interview from the questionnaire sample, of which 6 interviews took place.
Google Drive data collection graphs were used and key theme tables helped to
identify and discuss upon the findings of the research in relation to the objectives
outlined in the introduction.
Findings indicated that whilst brands use of fashion blogs does not independently
create strong brand awareness, online fashion brands could still benefit from using
fashion bloggers with a strong social media presence to increase their brand
awareness.
This dissertation aimed to gain an understanding of this new way of marketing by
using blogs and social media to expose your brand and to draw upon key ideas that
can be useful for brands that wish to adopt this method in the future.