Molson Canada Social Media Marketing Essay Example

given the potential impact on new customers. Competition is also a major issue for Nelson, facing both domestic competition from Labret Bear and international competition from Ellen NV, Enhances-Busch, and Separable. While Nelson holds a strong market position domestically, competition is considered high importance but low urgency. By effectively utilizing social media marketing, Nelson has the potential to increase its market share both domestically and internationally. Finally, profitability is rated as low importance and low urgency in the issues matrix in Chart 3.Nelson is dealing with fluctuating costs of input materials like barley, wheat, and aluminum. The price of barley had significant fluctuations in 2007. However, if Nelson can effectively market their product online, they can increase sales and offset these fluctuations in profit margins. The urgency and importance of issues are ranked in Chart 1. The strengths of Nelson include a strong market share, brand image, and revenue from brand loyalty. They also have opportunities in international markets, diversifying products/brands, and social media marketing. Weaknesses include reliance on a few product names and potential cannibalism. Threats include strong competition and commodity price fluctuations. In terms of market share, Nelson has a strong domestic position with 41% by volume in 2006 and 3.8% internationally as the fourth largest. Their brand image is strengthened by corporate social responsibility initiatives and community involvement like responsible drinking programs, charitable initiatives, and sports and entertainment sponsorships. Nelson's brand loyalty is built on over 200 years of establishment in Canada (Nelson Coors 2006 annual report, 165).Four Nelson faces a weakness in that it has a limited range of products, which may result in cannibalization of its product lines. Melon's main

markets are currently North America and Europe. However, there is an opportunity for Nelson to expand into Asian markets. Another opportunity for them is to diversify their product portfolio by offering non-alcoholic beverages. In terms of marketing, Nelson can capitalize on the fact that their competitors have not effectively incorporated social media into their strategies. The company also faces threats such as fluctuating prices of barley, wheat, and aluminum, as well as intense competition within the industry. Nelson has a strong presence in the Canadian market, with a 41% market share, but faces competition from Labret. Internationally, they rank fourth. The threat of new entrants is low due to high capital costs and the presence of established brands. The threat of substitute products is medium due to easy availability, high competition, and limited product differentiation within the alcohol industry.The buyers have medium bargaining power due to the availability of substitute products, buyer information, and little differential advantage. Additionally, the suppliers also have medium bargaining power because of fluctuating input costs. The graph below shows the constantly changing price for barley:

Graph 1: Barley Monthly Prices, October 2006 to December 2007
210 US dollars/metric ton
200
190
180
170
160
150
140
130
120
cot-06 Jan-07 Par-07 Gauge-07 NOVO-07 Feb.-08 (Barley Monthly Prices, 2007)

Furthermore, looking at the share prices of Nelson (TAP) from October 2007 to December 2007, it can be observed that there was an increase in stock price in mid-October when the Cold Shots Campus Challenge was launched. However, throughout the marketing campaign, the stock prices dropped until it was pulled in the end of November. This can be seen in Graph 2: Stock Market Prices of Nelson (TAP) in 2007 NYSE; http://www.Wackiness.Com/wick/TAP)

Additionally, in 2007, there were fluctuating input costs which may be a result of the fluctuating stock prices. It is recommended that Nelson takes advantage of the social media opportunity on Facebook since it had over 50 million active users in 2007, many of whom belong to the younger generation that Nelson wishes to target.Alternative 1 suggests a revamp of the Faceable initiative, utilizing the Faceable platform as a means to connect and build relationships with customers rather than for competitions. This alternative offers several advantages, such as the opportunity to build upon the existing Faceable group and targeting the 18-24 year old demographic. Additionally, if executed well, direct interaction with customers through Faceable can help foster brand awareness and loyalty. However, there are also drawbacks to consider. Customers may associate the new Faceable initiative with the unsuccessful Cold Shot Campus Challenge and react negatively. Furthermore, predicting the reactions of different parties and scrutinizing feedback from the Faceable group may be challenging, as some individuals may engage in pranks. Lastly, quantifying the results of this initiative is also difficult. In summary, Alternative 1 capitalizes on current Faceable groups and website, focusing on the 18-24 year old demographic, but potential negative perceptions from previous contests and uncertainties in feedback and results should be taken into account.

The unknown response from customers and future customers calls for the need to establish and maintain relationships, enhance brand awareness, and promote brand loyalty. However, it is challenging to trust the feedback and measure the results. As an alternative, Nelson has considered utilizing static sites like blobs or a static website. This option allows them to have control over the

content and their online perception. However, it fails to target the specific demographic of 18-24 year olds and differentiate from competitors who also have websites. Additionally, static websites do not foster strong brand loyalty. On the other hand, if Nelson decides to pull out of social media and concentrate on traditional marketing methods, it can create an online presence while sacrificing client relationships. Such a move also means facing competition with websites and lacking focus on the 18-24 year old demographic, ultimately failing to build brand loyalty.

Pros of Alternative 3:
1. Eliminates the risk of social media campaign failure.
2. Eliminates ethical issues related to the use of social media.
3. Eliminates costs associated with maintaining social media sites.

Cons of Alternative 3:
1. Competitors may gain an advantage if they successfully incorporate social media into their marketing strategies.
2. Does not take advantage of potential advertising opportunities in social media.

Decision Matrix Criteria and Weights:
Total Weight:
- Revamp Faceable: 0.4
- Static Web Pages: 1.9
- No Social Media: 2.3

IV. Implementation & Action Plan:
The effectiveness of social media marketing strategies depends on the company's goals and direction. These goals usually revolve around increasing brand awareness, visibility, feedback, or promoting a lifestyle. The issue with the Cold Shots Campus Challenge was that it was perceived as promoting irresponsible drinking behavior.

Instead, the new Faceable initiative should aim to create a space where consumers can share their experiences with Nelson products. This space will primarily consist of user-generated content such as photos, questions, and stories, but will be monitored by Nelson Canada. It will also serve as a platform for Nelson Canada to showcase their community involvement activities, new products, and sponsorship initiatives.The Nelson Canada Faceable page

will serve as a platform for Faceable users to engage with Nelson products, share experiences, opinions, and perspectives. The page will primarily consist of user-generated content such as photos, anecdotes, and links. It will be monitored by the Social Media Marketing Specialist who will handle any requests, complaints, or comments. In addition to user interaction, the page will also be used to promote other marketing initiatives such as entries on the Nelson blob or the Nelson Canada website. Faceable analytics and Google analytics will be utilized to track brand growth and popularity. The implementation outline for this initiative includes the creation of the Social Media Marketing Specialist Position and Committee, defining the social media marketing strategy, creating a new Faceable page, and launching a contest to promote it.

Cheers to College Caption Contest e) Promote Contest using Faceable Ads Part II: Generating Knowledge from Social Media (ongoing) Part l: Re-launch Faceable Initiative a) Hire a Social Media Marketing Specialist position within the Marketing Operations Department. This individual will report to the director of Marketing Operations and will be responsible for re-launching the Faceable page as well as the Cheers to College Caption Contest.

In the future, this position will be the representative of Nelson on the Faceable group and will be responsible for responding to Faceable inquiries, enervating some content for the Faceable page and for analyzing the impact of social media marketing initiatives. This position will also work with the directors of the public relations department, customer relations department, sales and IT department to ensure the Nelson brand is consistently represented across all mediums. This working group will be the Social Media Marketing committee

and will be responsible for evaluating the effectiveness of the marketing campaign.

In the future, this position would deal with social media marketing, relationship building ND maintenance of social media sites (Faceable, blob, Twitter, Youth, Flicker, etc.). 10 The next step is to define a social media strategy. This strategy will be developed by the Social Media Marketing committee and will require approval from the director of Nelson Canada.

The strategy aims to identify the desired values or lifestyle that Nelson intends to achieve through social media marketing. The strategy also involves developing methods to attain these goals. For instance, one goal is to promote responsible drinking habits, specifically targeting responsible drinking on college campuses. Another goal is to establish an informal online community where people can share opinions and experiences about Nelson products, and where suggestions or complaints can be addressed by a Nelson representative (the Social Media Marketing Specialist). Nelson can also solicit feedback from members of the Facebook group and consider their input when shaping Melon's social media marketing strategy. Once the Social Media Marketing Strategy is approved, the Specialist can create a new and official Nelson Canada Facebook page. The decision to create a new page instead of using the old one is due to the negative associations associated with the old Facebook page. A new page will give Nelson Canada more control over how Nelson is portrayed in the information box.

The creation of a new Facebook page will give Nelson Canada administrative controls and access to Facebook analytics, essential for tracking the success of their social media marketing campaign. This Facebook page will be internally maintained to ensure consistent representation

of the Nelson brand across all social media platforms, including Nelson Blog, Facebook groups, Flickr groups, etc., and to integrate their social media strategy with traditional marketing methods like television advertisements, billboards, and magazines. The next step is to launch the Cheers to College Caption Contest on the Facebook group. The objective is to increase awareness of the new Nelson Canada Official Facebook group and improve the brand image. The contest invites group members to write a caption or tag a photo that showcases a positive campus experience in a meaningful and humorous way. A professional advertisement photo will be provided by Nelson Canada's advertisement department. The winning tag and photo will be used in Melon's Responsible Choices program, and the winner will receive a monetary prize. The contest will run from January 2008 to March 2008, with winners announced in April 2008.

E) The promotion of the Cheers to College Caption Contest will be done using Faceable Ads and by posting messages on various Nelson Faceable groups, such as Nelson Canadian and Coors Light pages. Additionally, to generate awareness and participation, the Specialist will monitor the activity of Faceable groups using Faceable analytics and Google alerts. This will involve tracking response from Faceable users, the number of new Faceable group members, participation rate in the contest, and utilizing tools like Faceable Insights, Google analytics, and Google Alerts.