The Impact of Social Media on Building Brand Image: Adidas Study

This report investigates the impact of social media on brand image, using Adidas as a case study. It explores the concept of social media marketing, different strategies employed by organizations, and the role of social media in building brand reputation. The research methodology utilizes a positivism philosophy, deductive approach, and qualitative research strategy. Findings indicate that social media significantly impacts brand reputation, creates growth opportunities, and enhances brand visibility. The report concludes by highlighting the importance of social media in modern marketing and its ability to foster meaningful connections with target audiences, ultimately contributing to a positive brand image and competitive advantage.

Research

Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................3
CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW .........................................................................................5
Concept of social media marketing..............................................................................................5
Different ways of social media marketing used in organisation..................................................5
Role of social media in building brand reputation and image.....................................................6
CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY .............................................................................8
CHAPTER 4 FINDINGS ..............................................................................................................11
Concept of social media marketing............................................................................................11
Different ways of social media marketing used in organisation................................................11
Role of social media in building brand reputation and image...................................................12
CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION and RECOMMENDATIONS.......................................................13
REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................14

Topic of the research – The impact of social media for building
brand image
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
Research Background
Social media is said to be a technology that is based on computer and helps in sharing or
exchanging thoughts, ideas, information and opinions by using virtual networks as well as
communities. This platform has significance in allowing an individual or an organisation to reach
to its potential customers in order to enhance market share as well as productivity within the
business (Canovi and Pucciarelli, 2019). The impact of social media in building brand image is a
very crucial aspect because through this kind of platform, customer base can share their opinions
as well as voice. By using various social media platforms, organisation has different approaches
in order to interact with its targeted audience.
Company Background
Within this research, Adidas is an organisation that is taken into consideration in order to
assess different aspects of this research. The respective organisation was founded in the year
1949 by Adolf Dassler and it was founded and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria. It is a
multinational company which is based in Germany and manufactures as well as designs clothing,
shoes and other related accessories. The company is considered as the largest manufacturer of
Sportswear within the Europe and is second largest throughout the world after Nike. Adidas is
the holding organisation for Adidas Group that includes Reebok Company of Sportswear,
Runtastic which is an Austrian fitness technology organisation and many more (Hanaysha,
2021). The company has also brought innovation within its existing shoe products as it has
introduced Sneakers and gear, cutting-edge Sportswear, etc.
Research aim – To analyse the impact of social media for building brand image. A case study
of Adidas.
Research objectives –
 To understand the concept of social media marketing
 To assess different ways of social media marketing used in organisation
 To evaluate role of social media in building brand reputation and image

Research Questions –
 What is social media marketing
 Explain different ways of social media marketing used in organisation
 What is the role of social media in building brand reputation and image?

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW
Concept of social media marketing
From the viewpoint of Gary Henderson (2020), social media has considered as an
essential element of the strategies of digital marketing for the organisation and various brands of
all sizes. The power of social media requires that an individual or an organisation should remain
updated with its ever-changing landscape. The effective strategies that were used by the
company few time ago will not generate the same level of output because of the changes in the
behaviours of the consumer, social media platforms and many more (Ibrahim, 2022). The
purpose of social media is mainly to develop a brand and along with it enhancing the visibility of
the brand. Social media extends an amount of exposure that is received by a brand and drives
the traffic and also facilitates in increasing customer loyalty. An organisation like Adidas having
a strong presence of social media permits a brand in developing its business and also helps in
declining the cost of marketing along with improving the sales operations. Another impact of
social media on developing brand reputation is that it offers market insight to the business which
can be used by it in improving its brand image. This computer-based technology not only
facilitates the organisation in interacting with their potential market share in a more sincere as
well as engaging manner, but also permits the company in giving a call-to-action facility to its
market base and along with it, this also helps in reinforcing deep connections with them towards
the brand. This kind of tool provide assistance to a business in chasing competitive advantages
over the competitors that are available in the market place (The Importance of Social Media
Marketing, 2022).
Different ways of social media marketing used in organisation
According to the views of Haylee Reed (2022), the days of billboards and magazines
have gone that are used in advertising the products and services of the organisation. The
technological world of content as well as digital marketing is now growing at a rapid rate. There
are various kinds of social media marketing strategies that are having their own strengths and
weaknesses. Some of the social media marketing types are discussed as under:
 Photo advertisements: Such kind of advertisements can be seen on the news feeds,
banners and sidebars. They are considered as a little bit easier in creation as compared to
other advertisements such as stories and videos. In this kind of social media marketing,

an individual or an organisation is to ensure that the photos are of superior quality. Photo
advertisements are really great for developing the brand awareness.
 Video advertisements: This is another type of social media marketing that is used by
many of the organisations as half of the users of social media watch full video if it is
under a duration of one minute (Pacauskas and et.al, 2018). Social media platforms like
Facebook, Instagram permits the businesses in creating small, looping video
advertisements that ca be used by the users in viewing the video advertisements in a
quick way. In this way, video advertisements facilitates an organisation in interacting
with potential customer base while scrolling through their feed.
 Stories advertisements: This type of social media marketing helps an organisation in
such a way that the users who view the stories advertisements for buying the products
and services of the company visit to the website of the organisation. Instagram is one of
the most common social media platform where the users view stories regarding
purchasing of products and services of the company. In this way, it facilitates the
company in building its brand image within the market place (Navigating Social Media
Advertising, 2022).
Role of social media in building brand reputation and image
As per the thought of Emily Pribanic (2020), Social media is crucial for organisations in
building their brand and plays a significant role in making meaningful connections with the
targeted audience through online mode. Businesses that are using social media for interacting
with their target base gets more favourable feedbacks regarding their brand. The role of social
media in developing brand is very important because with the help of social media, all the
customer base can share their opinion and voice. Through different platforms of social media,
organisations have multiple ways in order to connect with their consumers. Another main role of
social media is that it also humanizes the brand through permitting the organisations in
responding to the problems of customers, their feedbacks and the comments. It enhances the
amount of exposure that is received by the company and extends the level of traffic. The concept
of social media allows the organisations like Adidas in building more purposeful as well as
meaningful relationships and along with it, this also helps in knowing the future market share in
a better way. The another significant role of social media in building the brand image or
reputation is that it facilitates an organisation in getting engaged with its customer base and

identifying what public is saying regarding the business. This really helps the company in
developing positive brand value within the market place. Social media plays a role of attracting a
large number of potential customers of the organisation through different platforms like
Facebook, Instagram and many more that are used by the general public. It also provide
assistance to the business in reducing the entire cost of marketing as social network are
considered as a cost-effective way for getting the business in front of the existing market share as
well as potential customers (Role of Social Media in Brand Building, 2020).

CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research Methodology is a process in which the data or information of a specific
research is collected, arranged as well as analysed for framing better business decision. There are
different elements of research methodology and these are described as follows in context of
current investigation:
 Research Philosophy: It is defined as a faith regarding the way in which information
associated with event should be used, collected and evaluated. There are two types of
research philosophy and these are interpretivism as well as positivism. Interpretivism
philosophy refers to range of theoretical outlook that declares the process in which an
individual can gain the knowledge of the world (Park, Im and Kim, 2020). Positivism
philosophy is concerned with facts as well as experiences gained through observations.
Within existing research, positivism philosophy is used by the researcher because it helps
it in gaining the factual knowledge regarding research topic and also shows trends and
patterns of consumer.

 Research Approach: This process includes steps of broad assumptions for the detailed
process of data collection, analysing and conducting. There are two main variants in
research approach and these are deductive as well as inductive. Deductive approach
generally guides the data collection and analysis of the existing research and starts with a
theory-driven hypothesis. Inductive approach begins with a research query as well as
collection of verifiable information used to create hypothesis and query (Salem and
Salem, 2021). As per the current research, deductive research approach is used by the
investigators because it helps in explaining the casual relationships between the variable
and concepts. It also helps the researcher in getting straight to the point and therefore can
be time-saving for it.
 Research Strategy: It helps in researching the environment of business in which it is
operating and includes various strategies like experiment, action research, qualitative,
quantitative, case study, grounded theory, archival research, etc. Within present research,
qualitative research strategy is being used by the researcher because it helps in
concentrating on acquiring a lot of information that is possible from a comparably small
size of sample. This also enables the people in expressing themselves while giving
information and is more flexible as compared to quantitative approach.
 Choice of methods: This element is based on the selection of method to give solutions to
the problems of research that is conducted by investigators. It consists of three main
components and these are qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods. In this existing
research, qualitative method is used by the researcher because it helps in concentrating on
key parameters of gathering information with effective sources.
 Time horizons: This is considered as time-based parameter that decided the time taken
by an investigator in order to complete a research (Tuten, 2020). For developing as well
as formulating major investigation related to social media, it is significant to concentrate
on qualitative research.
 Data collection and analysis: It is the last stage of research methodology and at this
stage, investigator has to collect effective information for research which is an important
step for developing practices that are based on data. Data analysis is also crucial for
drawing interpretations in relation to specific information within a defined period.

CHAPTER 4 FINDINGS
Concept of social media marketing
From the above research, it is evaluated that social media has impacted the reputation or
image of the brand and also created various growth as well as expansion opportunities for the
organisations. In order to enhance the brand image or reputation, it is very significant to consider
different types of social media marketing. The main aim of social media is to build a brand as
well as enhancing the visibility of the company (Wong and et.al, 2020). Adidas has strong brand
value within the market place and is having a strong presence of social media that helps the
respective company in building its reputation and also facilitates in reducing marketing cost. This
results in improving the productivity, efficiency as well as profitability within the organisation.
Different ways of social media marketing used in organisation
There are different ways of social media marketing that are used by the companies in
order to enhance its brand value within the market place. Some of the types of social media
marketing includes photo advertisements, video advertisements, stories advertisements,
messenger advertisements and many more. Organisations use various social media platforms in
order to promote and advertise their products within the market place. It helps them in capturing
a large number of potential customers and thereby enhance the market share of the company.
Adidas is using various channels of social media marketing that helps the company in answering
the queries of their customer-base, sharing the photos of supporters and keeping updated them on
the new or latest products (Adidas Marketing Strategy, 2022).

Adidas has social media profiles on all the basic platforms like Instagram, Twitter,
Facebook, LinkedIn, Youtube, Pinterest and Tiktok in order to promote and advertise its
products among its market share for increasing customer-base and positive brand image.
Role of social media in building brand reputation and image
From above research, it is interpreted that social media has played a vital role in an
organisation in promoting and advertising its products (Yadav and Rahman, 2018). The
companies are using different types of social media marketing that helps the company in building
its brand value or reputation within the market place. The major role of social media within
Adidas is to create separate social media pages for the differentiated products which are targeted
for the various people.

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION and RECOMMENDATIONS
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
From above discussion of the research, it has been concluded that social media is a key element
within a business that helps in enabling the company in creating as well as sharing the content or
for participating in the social networking. It is essential for Adidas to indulge more into social
media marketing strategies so that goals can be attained properly (Zahay, 2021). This is an
effective tool that helps Adidas to build reputation and image. There are following ways that are
recommended for Adidas –
 This company must work upon increasing direct Traffic to website as it will help to
enhance the number of customer base (Zhong, Shapoval and Busser, 2021).
 Adidas is advised to gain Customer Insights because in this manner it is easy to know
more about needs of customers.
 Adidas must drive Sales by Increasing Brand Awareness and Fostering Brand Loyalty
REFLECTION
I have effectively completed this research work. This has helped me to analyse what actually is
social media role in Adidas. This research has helped me to increase my research skills. This has
also made me understand the importance of time management and team building. While
conducting this research, I have used secondary methods for collecting information and data. It is
seen that social media strategies are learnt through this research. This has made me understand
the effective e way for enhancing the ways through which Adidas can make more profit and
money. At the initial stage of research, I feared that I will not be able to complete the research
work. But gradually, it was seen that there are different research methodologies used while
completing the project effectively. It is seen that I have learnt a lot through this research. There
are several ways which have helped me to understand analysis of social media strategies within
Adidas. Moving along in the research project the next stage tablet where I utilised my
communication skills and time management skills for or collecting the primary data. I have
developed my communication skills and evaluated that they have improvised a lot while this
research work.