Workshop: ‘Digital advertising improves brand image’

Consumers are accepting social media as a platform for marketing.

KARACHI: Digital advertising and social media have had a positive impact on consumers and help create better brand loyalty and brand image, according to Founder of Creative Social, Daniele Fiandaca.

Speaking at a workshop titled Digital and Social Media, organised by Pakistan Advertisers Society (PAS) on Wednesday, Fiandaca said that the western society, especially the UK, is much influenced by social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook which help corporate giants to “personally interact with their consumers”.

During his presentation, he said that according to a survey, 59% of Facebook users ‘liked’ some brand in April this year, as compared to 42% users in September 2010. This, he said, highlighted the growing trend of consumers accepting social media as a forum for marketing products and services.

However, he went on to say that mere interaction on social media “is not enough for the companies and does not bring any (monetary) value”. Therefore, firms should market themselves in a manner where not only the consumers interactively engage with them but they also take action to spend their money.

“We need to move from a world where we are marketing through companies to consumers to a world where consumers are marketing to and from each other,” he summarised.

Trends such as social gaming, location-based services, augmented reality, two screen and cultural artefacts are just some of the means through which corporate firms can reach out to consumers, he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 22^nd,  2011.