Marketing over Facebook Dissertation Writing Assignment (Dissertation Sample)

2.0. Chapter Two: Literature Review
According to Kotler (2003), the traditional marketing has since evolved and companies are focusing on customer acquisition and market share using the modern technology in place. They have engaged in the formulation of defensive marketing strategies that targets the methods of retaining the already existing customers and also using them to acquire more customers in the company by the use of social network sites. The chapter focuses on the use of Facebook as a social site in the e-commerce industry I the selected companies in the global market.
2.1. Introduction
The social network websites have of recent played a crucial role on the e-commerce in the market industry. Facebook has emerged as the best option for companies like topshop, H&M and Zara has utilized this site in interacting with their loyal clients and new customers in the market. According to Dave Evans & McKee, (2010) Facebook have recorded the highest number of users reaching one billion across the globe by the year 2011. Facebook has distinguished itself as a social network and also a regular website that is used by companies in marketing their products and services across the globe. Facebook has distinguished itself as a user-based website as compared to the other social network sites available on the internet. Initially, such website were only operated and updated by a single user where the visitors were only allowed to read. Facebook is currently networked in a manner that the users have the capability of building their pages and direct themselves on the usage. The interactive trait of Facebook has boosted its usage in the marketing industry as customers are able to interact freely with the manufacturers in the organizational market.
Clothing companies like H&M, Zara, and Topshop have used these characters in their respective facebook pages in interacting with both their loyal and new customers in the global market. These companies are always venturing into strategies that restructure their management on daily basis on their products in the market. Facebook has made them among the powerful online shopping targets by customers who value fashion. These is as result of the newest styles, editorial features offering style forecasts and fashion instructions, as they all tend to be the surest technique to stay in front of the fashion game in the clothing industry. Community-driven and relationship aspect are the last key characteristics of facebook that have made it a tool of marketing in the organizational market across the globe. Solis, (2011) states that Facebook works basing on the community concept as the user have common goals and targets. These have allowed the clothing companies mentioned above to make more friends and also reconnect with those previous friends whom the company had lost contacts. Relationship revolves around the company and the customers as facebook builds a strong bond of friendship that establishes a strong rapport and trust in all the parties. The social network sites provide an emotional factor to its users as the emotional security is assured to all the users of the social site.
2.2. Background information on Topshop, Zara and H&M
2.2.1: Topshop
Topshop Company is an international clothing company based in the UK. It is one of the British international clothes vendors that has specialized female clothes and fashion garnishes. It has established its stores in over twenty states across the UK as shown in the study conducted by Charles (2010). The company’s top trademarks comprises of Topshop, Evans, Dorothy Perkins, Miss Selfridge Burton, Outfit, Wallis, and Topman in the clothing industry. The company’s common products that are available on its Facebook pages include clothing accessories, casual wear, formal wear and other make-ups in the market. The new company’s strategy on facebook marketing has played a vital role for its tremendous growth in terms of customer base as well as profitability. It has been able to market all the clothing sets available in the company to all its online customers who are regular visitors of the company’s facebook page. This in turn has impacted positively by raising the current customer base, its net realizations and the overall growth of the company in the global clothing industry. It has previously recorded over 2.5 million followers on its facebook page that has been accompanied by huge percentage of the audience reacting to posts, a huge percentage of audience sharing content among other Facebook features. They have been also developments in Topshop’s reputation, image, and service and product delivery to the customers as reported by Carter (2012).
2.2.2 Zara
Zara Company is ranked among the world’s best fashion retailers as it has already set base in over 50 countries across the globe. It was established in the year 1975 and is the flagship of the Inditex commonly referred to Industria del Diseсo Textil, S.A. positioned in Galicia, Spain. It has over 2,700 stores across the world according to the previous research conducted in 2006 making it the second global largest clothing retailer. It operates several clothing chains namely Kiddy’s Class that deals with children’s fashion; Pull and Bear that has specialized in youth casual wears; Massimo Dutti that mainly handles quality and conventional fashion; Bershka that provides avantgarde clothing to its customers; Stradivarius that mainly deals with the trendy garments of the young women in the society; Zara home which provides household textiles to its clients and finally the Oysho that provides the undergarments (Bonache, J. and Cerviсo, 1996). The founder of Zara Amancio Ortega reveals that their major aim was to democratize fashion through provision of the latest fashion in the market in the medium quality and affordable prices to its customers across the globe. The firm applies vertical integration design that has given them an edge of the other market competitors as they have a relatively faster turnaround in the fashion industry.
2.2.3: H&M
H&M started as a single women’s wear store back in the year 1947 in Sweden and it has developed to an international company that offers all the fashion to the family household at large. The company’s brand names include COS, Monki, Weekday, Cheap Monday and H&M Home in the organizational market. The company’s business perception is to provide fashion and quality at all the prices for the children, men, women and teenagers. It also handles cosmetics and accessories that were incorporated in the business in the year 1975. Its market portfolio has evolved by the establishment of new stores in other countries across the globe as they restructure their market base. Use of catalogue and e-commerce has also played a crucial role in its overall growth and profit realization. Some of the countries that H&M has opened branches include South Korea, Turkey and Israel in 2010; Romania, Croatia, Singapore, Morocco and Jordan in 2011. Franchising has been the key strategy behind the setting up of the new outlets in the mentioned nations.
2.3. The type of people who use these companies on Facebook
Clothing industry is a wider sector that involves children, men, women and teenagers who are fashion oriented. The facebook pages of these companies are used by variety of people that range from children, students and those belonging to the working class in the society. Facebook is rated as a social site and its accessibility has made it easy for the current generation to access all that is within their reach via the page. The companies have specific targets that they give much concern while contacting their marketing strategies over the facebook page. For example, Topshop facebook page is used by people ranging from all the aspects in the society but their primary target are the students. This is evident through its repute with the scholars as one of its advertisements declares ‘WE LOVE STUDENTS!’ Weir (2009) adds that the company has set a cut rate for persons with a NUS card and the existence of special part in its web page that speaks about the students. This is also evident in its strategy of attending the scholar-shopping nights as well as campus excursions across the UK. Women and men ranging within the age of 15-35 years seems to be the major target of all the companies and the other people in the society who adores fashion in their lives. The presence of all the forms of wear namely casual wear, clothing accessories and formal in the companies’ facebook pages makes the page visitors universal. All the working class visits the page in search of new fashion on the formal wear that they should wear while going on duty and the casual wear that can be used while off-duty. The students especially the women who have been pointed out as being sensitive to fashion visit the page to look for the current invention in fashion. Those in campuses and colleges make their purchases here on regular basis as they usually engage in fashion show programs.
2.4. Current marketing tools on facebook
Topshop is the most powerful products on the sky-scraping street and tends to be the Arcadia group flagship product, the UK’s next largest vendor based in the UK. H&M, Zara, and French connection are the other key clothing company competitors also located in the UK market. The common products that are available on the facebook pages of these companies include accessories, casual wear, official wear and other make-ups in the market. The accessories include bags, purses, belts, hats, jewellery, sunglasses and umbrellas among others. According to Brown (2010), all these companies’ persists on creating their scores on the global style chart by 2015. The above clothing companies have displayed their fashion clothing ava...