Interactive new media offer new opportunities to interact with consumers. Considering the importance of these interactions, communications taking place within this new digital space can have an important effect on the perceived brand personality. Research I am currently conducting as part of my MBA program focuses on defining important elements within interactive, social media that can contribute to the formation of brand personality and investigating those relationships.

Please help in the completion of the research by completing the survey: tinyurl.com/crossmediambathesis.

Transformation of engagement
When Howard Schultz returned to the CEO position at Starbucks in 2008, he stated rebuilding trust with the customers was the main priority for the company. At the basis of his approach: social media. “It has become paramount that brands understand that trust isn’t something you build through traditional marketing,” Schultz said. “You do that through integrating social and digital media. It is a science – as well as an art – to understand how to do this in a way that is authentic and genuine, and not just marketing. Because if it’s just marketing, (consumers) will see right through it.”

In recent years, social media has gone past the hype and became mainstream. In the U.S. for example, social networks and blogs now reach close to 80% of active internet users and represent nearly a quarter of total time spend online. Other countries follow closely, with users joining either local heroes and/or the global giants. But social media not only connects people with each other, but also with places they go, media they watch and items they like and buy. This phenomenon has great implications for business. As everybody and everything is connected and exchanges information real-time, organizations get flattened and leadership becomes more transparent. But arguably the biggest impact is that it has changed the old way of doing business forever.

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