This is Part 2 of a three part series of blog posts discussing approaches brands are using during the 2010 World Cup. These approaches include new product introductions, social media campaigns, and creative brand communication activities.
Now, let’s have a look at the social media campaigns surrounding the event.

Danish butter brand Lurpak recently launched a website called Bake Club. This tool offers baking fans an opportunity to connect online with others who share the same passion. At the same time, it allows Lurpak to connect with its consumers and demonstrate what the brand stands for. In other words, the site allows Lurpak to build brand knowledge, one of the four pillars of brand equity.

A recent study found that 75% of women say social networking sites have little influence over their purchasing decisions 1. According to the study, among all the factors that have a bearing on mothers’ purchasing decisions, price (47%) ranks the first, followed by quality (45.7%) and “other” (3.5%). The fourth highest factor was brand (2%).

While companies find their customers are spending much less money during the economic downturn, they turn to Twitter to help build their brands, promote their products or services, and keep in touch with both loyal and potential customers. This article takes a closer look at how businesses can Twitter up brand equities.

In the digital age of information overload, brands may find that their target markets are becoming more and more difficult to reach with traditional advertising and communications methods. A recent trend is for companies to utilize online and social media to increase brand awareness (Please see previous news on Sunkist, Unilever, and Twitter). But marketers from Sunsilk have found a unique human channel to promote their products— flight attendants.

In this digital age where music and the virtual world dominate most of the younger generation's daily lives, marketers have to change and adapt their strategies to reach their target market. Recently, the American soda brand Sunkist has initiated a brand repositioning. They are now aimed at trend savvy teens and young adults. "Sunkist fans are young adults who are mobile, live online and love music ― we just can't rely on traditional marketing," said Derek Dabrowski, Sunkist's brand manager. "To reach this target, you need multiple touch points with engaging content."

“Twitter”, the popular social media tool, is today’s new Internet phenomenon. Twitter originally started off as a simple micro-blogging site for letting your friends know “What are you doing now?" in 140 characters or less. Recently Twitter has exploded into a mass media platform and has awakened a lot of companies to how social media can be used to communicate about their brand.