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HELLENIC OPEN UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

Postgraduate Dissertation

Social media marketing and evaluation metrics: A case study in Tobacco Industry

Zygourou Afroditi

Supervisor: Bellou Victoria - Maria

Patras, Greece, July 2019

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Social media marketing and evaluation metrics: A case study in Tobacco Industry

Zygourou Afroditi

Supervising Committee

Supervisor: Co-Supervisor: Bellou Victoria- Maria Grougiou Vassiliki

Patras, Greece, July 2019 Zygourou Afroditi , “Social media marketing and evaluation metrics: A case study in tobacco industry”

“Special thanks to my supervisors, that guided me through this thesis with their valuable feedback and input. Also, big thanks to my lovely family and friends for their support and to my colleagues from Papastratos that provided me with all the necessary information. I dedicate this thesis to my father that had been my biggest supporter and my ultimate role model in life”

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Abstract

Social networking has been constantly increasing in popularity during the past decade. Millions of users have been using social media platforms, offering companies a new marketing vehicle and a significant opportunity. While companies have started incorporating social media into their media mix, the need to evaluate their social media campaigns and calculate return of investment is imperative, but still a vague area for many of them. The necessity of measuring social media performance becomes more important as companies invest more resources in social media than traditional ones. In this thesis, we define basic characteristics of social media and present the most popular of them. Additionally, benefits and risks from social media campaigns are analyzed. We also emphasize on how and why social media are being used for different business objectives and which are the necessary metrics a company should monitor in order to evaluate social media campaigns. The analysis moves further, by presenting a case study in tobacco industry, which is a heavily regulated environment and we explore the case of Papastratos that launched in 2017 its first social media campaign. We go through two major campaigns that aimed to increase awareness about several of the firm’s initiatives. We present the key metrics that were used by the organization for campaign and evaluation and how this affected business decisions. The main findings of this thesis is that social media helped Papastratos increase total awareness, share effectively corporate messages and reach effectively targeted audience. Content was very relatable to viewers, including employees in their everyday life and was very engaging and popular. Also, the metrics monitoring helped Papastratos extract learnings that were applied in the rest social media campaigns. As Papastratos is currently the only Greek tobacco company with heated tobacco products that uses social media for corporate awareness purposes, we cannot compare with similar companies for now. Future studies in tobacco industry will help set a framework for successful social media management in this area.

Keywords

Social Media ,marketing, metrics, awareness, tobacco industry.

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Περίληψη

Τα μέσα κοινωνικής δικτύωσης γίνονται όλο και πιο δημοφιλή τα τελευταία χρόνια. Εκατομμύρια χρήστες χρησιμοποιούν τις αντίστοιχες πλατφόρμες προσφέροντας στις εταιρίες ένα καινούριο μέσω διαφήμισης και μια σημαντική ευκαιρία. Παρότι οι εταιρίες ενσωματώνουν τα κοινωνικά δίκτυα στο σύνολο των ενεργειών προώθησης, η ανάγκη για αξιολόγηση αυτής της πρακτικής γίνεται επιτακτική από ποτέ, ωστόσο παραμένει σε πολλές περιπτώσεις ασαφής και αχαρτογράφητη. Η ανάγκη μέτρησης της επίδοσης του μάρκετινγκ κοινωνικών δικτύων γίνεται εντονότερη καθώς σε πολλές περιπτώσεις οι εταιρίες επενδύουν παραπάνω χρόνο και χρήμα συγκριτικά με τις παραδοσιακές μεθόδους. Σε αυτή την διπλωματική εργασία, ορίζουμε τα κύρια χαρακτηριστικά των κοινωνικών δικτύων και παρουσιάζουμε τα πιο δημοφιλή από αυτά, την δεδομένη χρονική στιγμή. Επιπρόσθετα, τα πλεονεκτήματα και τα μειονεκτήματα τέτοιων τεχνικών αναλύονται. Επίσης, δίνουμε έμφασης το πώς και γιατί τα κοινωνικά δίκτυα χρησιμοποιούνται για διαφορετικούς εταιρικούς στόχους και ποιοι είναι οι ενδεδειγμένοι δείκτες που πρέπει να παρακολουθεί η κάθε εταιρία για να αξιολογήσει τις ενέργειες της. Η ανάλυση εμβαθύνει περαιτέρω, παρουσιάζοντας μια μελέτη περίπτωσης στον κλάδο της καπνοβιομηχανίας ο οποίος διέπεται από πολλούς περιορισμούς και νόμους όσον αφορά τη διαφήμιση. Συγκεκριμένα, αναλύουμε την περίπτωση της «Παπαστράτος» η οποία λάνσαρε για πρώτη φορά την πρώτη της ενέργεια στα κοινωνικά δίκτυα. Θα ερευνήσουμε δύο σημαντικές ενέργειες που είχαν στόχο την αύξηση της αναγνωρισιμότητας διάφορων πρωτοβουλιών της εταιρείας. Παρουσιάζουμε τους δείκτες που χρησιμοποίησε η εταιρία για να αξιολογήσει αυτές τις ενέργειες και ερευνούμε πως αυτό επηρέασε άλλες αποφάσεις. Τα κύρια ευρήματα της εργασίας αυτής είναι ότι τα κοινωνικά δίκτυα βοήθησαν επιτυχώς την «Παπαστράτος» να αυξήσει την αναγνωρισιμότητα της και να προωθήσει επιτυχώς και αποτελεσματικά μηνύματα σε συγκεκριμένους πληθυσμούς. Το περιεχόμενο των ενεργειών περιελάμβανε πραγματικούς υπαλλήλους της εταιρίας μέσα στην καθημερινότητα τους και έγινε πολύ αποδεκτό από τους χρήστες, δημιουργώντας σχόλια και συζητήσεις. Η αξιολόγηση αυτών των ενεργειών έδωσε στην εταιρία πολύτιμη γνώση που εφάρμοσε και σε άλλες ενέργειες στα κοινωνικά δίκτυα. Μιας και η «Παπαστράτος» είναι η μόνη εταιρία στον κλάδο με προϊόντα θερμαινόμενου καπνού που χρησιμοποιεί τα κοινωνικά δίκτυα με αυτό το στόχο δεν μπορούμε να οδηγηθούμε σε σύγκριση με άλλες

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εταιρίες του κλάδου. Μελλοντικές έρευνες στην καπνοβιομηχανία θα βοηθήσουν ώστε να τεθεί ένα πλαίσιο για επιτυχημένο μάρκετινγκ κοινωνικών δικτύων στον κλάδο.

Λέξεις – Κλειδιά

Κοινωνικα δίκτυα, μάρκετινγκ, δείκτες αξιολόγησης, αναγνωρισιμότητα μάρκας, καπνοβιομηχανία.

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Table of Contents

Abstract ...... v Περίληψη...... vi Table of Contents ...... viii List of Abbreviations ...... ix List of Figures ...... x List of Tables ...... xi 1 Introduction ...... 1 1.1 Necessity of the study ...... 1 1.2 Objective of the dissertation ...... 2 1.3 Structure of the dissertation ...... 3 2 Digital Marketing ...... 4 2.1 The Web 2.0 ...... 4 2.2 From traditional marketing to digital marketing ...... 5 3 Social Media Marketing as a form of Digital marketing ...... 9 3.1 Social Media ...... 9 3.1.1 Facebook ...... 10 3.1.2 YouTube ...... 10 3.1.3 Twitter ...... 11 3.1.4 LinkedIn ...... 11 3.1.5 Instagram ...... 12 3.2 Definition of Social media marketing ...... 13 3.3 Use of Social media in Marketing: Benefits and Limitations ...... 14 3.3.1 Use of Social Media in marketing ...... 14 3.3.2 Benefits and Limitations of Social Media Marketing ...... 16 3.4 Path to effective social media marketing ...... 20 3.5 Social Media metrics ...... 24 4 Case study in Tobacco Industry ...... 31 4.1 Case study as research method – The case of Papastratos ...... 31 4.2 The history of Papastratos in tobacco industry ...... 32 4.3 Marketing in tobacco industry and regulations ...... 35 4.4 Use of social media for Papastratos ...... 37 4.4.1 Papastratos Facebook page: Key evaluation metrics ...... 37 4.4.2 “Pare Thesi” campaign in Facebook and LinkedΙn...... 41 4.4.3 Papastratos and “Smoke Free TIF” ...... 45 5 Conclusions and Limitations ...... 53 References ...... 57 Appendix ...... 61

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List of Abbreviations

ROI : Return on Investment B2B: Business to Business B2C: Business to Consumers WOM: Word of Mouth

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List of Figures

Figure 1: Proposed metrics of evaluation based marketing objectives ...... 25 Figure 2: Proposed metrics per social media application and objective ...... 25 Figure 3:PareThesi HR manager content ...... 43 Figure 4: Pare Thesi -QA Analyst Post ...... 44 Figure 5: Pare Thesi QA Analyst video ...... 44 Figure 6: Pare Thesi Customer Care supervisor ...... 45 Figure 7: Smoke Free TIF, "Smoke Free vision of Papastratos" video ...... 47 Figure 8 : Smoke Free TIF, "The vision of a future without cigarette smoke" video ...... 47 Figure 9: "83 years now, always something new begins in TIF" video ...... 48 Figure 10: "In 2 days TIF will have a different feel, the future is happening now" video . 48 Figure 11: "For 83 years TIF has been moving forward" video ...... 48 Figure 12 :“Smoke free TIF- Key persons” live broadcast ...... 48 Figure 13 : Papastratos people talk on camera" live broadcast ...... 49 Figure 14: "Fifth day of Smoke Free TIF" video ...... 49 Figure 15:"Municipality of Thessaloniki supports Smoke Free TIF", live broadcast ...... 49 Figure 16 "CEO of Papastratos” live broadcast ...... 49

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List of Tables

Table 1: Number of active users in millions ...... 9 Table 2: Papastratos Facebook page Fans Evolution ...... 37 Table 3:Papastratos Facebook page, June '17 -Sept. '18 ...... 39 Table 4: Engagement metrics for Papastartos Facebook page ...... 39 Table 5: Viral Reach for Papastratos Facebook page ...... 40 Table 6: Papastratos Facebook page Audience ...... 40 Table 7:Tobacco Industries in Facebook ...... 41 Table 8: Facebook Metrics for "Pare Thesi" posts in Papastratos Facebook page ...... 42 Table 9: Smoke Free Facebook evaluation ...... 50 Table 10: Sentiment analysis in total comments ...... 51 Table 11: Key metrics for Smoke free Content in Facebook ...... 51

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1 Introduction

1.1 Necessity of the study

Technology and Internet have massively transformed media. According to internet world stats (2018) 55% of total world population has access to Internet. This percentage rises up to 95% for North America and 85.2% for Europe. At the same time, social media penetration keeps increasing. According to Statista (https://www.statista.com/topics/1164/social-networks/) social network users were 2.46 billion for 2017 and are expected to reach 3.01 billion up to 2021. People can communicate with each other directly, easily and faster. Traditional one-way communication has been transformed into a two way multidimensional communication. Consumers can now interact with their favorite brands, but also between one another, so companies are no longer the only source of brand communication (Schivinski & Dabrowski, 2016). Consumers are no longer passively receiving messages in the marketing exchange process, but they are also co – creating content. Digital media, do not only serve research purposes, but also engage consumers with brands and each other (Hanna 2011). Social media enable individuals to create and share content in their network, so in a way the marketing sphere of influence is being extended.

According to Schivinski and Dabrowski (2016), there are two types of social media content:

 Firm Generated content  User Generated content

Firm generated social media content is considered to be an essential part of a company’s marketing mix and has been recognized as a phenomenon with large appeal. The popularity of social media marketing among companies is explained by the great capacity of reaching general public and by the viral dissemination of

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information. Brands aim to influence perceptions around their products, spread information and learn from and about their consumers (Brodie et al. 2013). On the other hand, the growth of online brand networks has enhanced communication among users (Duan, Gu and Whinston 2008). User generated content is triggering brand conversations and consumer insights. User generated content is highly influential, because it is perceived as trustworthy source by other consumers (Christodoulides, 2012). More than 50% of social media users follow brand pages in their fan pages and companies are increasing their spend and invest more in their social media in order to foster their relationships with consumers and interact with them. Consumers that follow their favorite brands online tend to be more loyal and more willing to receive brand communication. Additionally, the tend to talk more with positive tone of voice and get emotionally connected to a brand (Vries et al., 2012). As companies become more involved with blogs and social networks, the need to evaluate social media activities and estimate return on investment (ROI) has become an imperative. Higher sales and cost reduction are for sure some of the objectives of social media marketing, however these activities may also increase brand awareness, brand engagement and word of mouth. Social media can tackle all these objectives and the relevant set of the metrics is used depending on the social media type and the respective objective (Hoffman & Hodor 2010).

1.2 Objective of the dissertation

In the above context, in this study we will present key characteristics of social media marketing and present best practices. The aim of this dissertation is to address the following topics: 1. Examine the importance of social media in marketing both in terms of product marketing but also in terms of an organization as a whole. 2. Present metrics that are commonly used in social media marketing and address the importance of evaluation in social media marketing.

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1.3 Structure of the dissertation

In this dissertation, we initially define the term “social media” and present most common social media platforms and networks. We investigate the role of social media in marketing and the reason why they have become a popular practice among companies. Then, we also examine the relationship of social media and brand awareness, brand engagement and word of mouth. Metrics that are used to evaluate performance of digital campaigns in social media are also being presented, for some of the most popular social networks. Finally, we demonstrate the case study of Papastratos, a company of tobacco industry, that built an intensive social media strategy, mainly in Facebook in order to increase brand awareness, offer better customer care and promote innovative initiatives. We will focus on “Pare Thesi” campaign that was a really successful recruitment campaign for various job openings and “Smoke Free TIF” campaign, that promoted company’s innovation path and shared its vision for a smoke free future. Also, we will present key metrics that were used by the organization in order to evaluate the above mentioned social media campaigns.

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2 Digital Marketing

2.1 The Web 2.0

Web 2.0 is a term that has been around since 2005 and refers to the second generation of World Wide Web, which emphasizes in user generated content and interoperability. Constantinides and Fountain (2008) define Web 2.0 as below:

“Web 2.0 is a collection of open-source, interactive and user-controlled online applications expanding the experiences, knowledge and market power of the users as participants in business and social processes. Web 2.0 applications support the creation of informal users ’ networks facilitating the flow of ideas and knowledge by allowing the efficient generation, dissemination, sharing and editing / refining of informational content .”

The advent of Web 2.0 and its collaborative applications have simplified interaction among users more than ever. There are five main categories of Web2.0 applications (Constantinides and Fountain, 2008): 1. Blogs: Online journals that may also contain audio or video content. 2. Social networks: Applications where users create their profile and connect with other members in order to communicate or share personal content. 3. Content Communities: Websites that include particular type of content like video or photo sharing. 4. Forums/bulleting journals: Websites where people share opinions around special interests. 5. Content aggregators: Applications that give users the ability to customize and select the content they would like to access.

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Users themselves, as content creators is a vital factor of Web2.0 applications. Hence, in Web2.0 marketing era, decisions and preferences of consumers are mainly affected by content that cannot be controlled by marketers. Web2.0 applications offer multiple advantages to consumers like transparency, interaction with other consumers, access to reviews etc. This online consumer interaction is very powerful and can trigger purchases, create needs and even alter buying attitude in both online and offline world. Web 2.0 presents not only challenges, but also opportunities for companies. Getting and staying in touch with consumers has never been easier. Businesses can learn about their consumers’ needs and opinions and contact them in a personalized, one to one way. Recognizing the effect of Web 2.0 in consumer decision process, understanding the value it gives to consumers and the motives to use these applications are the first of steps of integrating it into corporate commercial strategies. ( Constantinides and Fountain,2008). As mentioned by Consoli & Musso (2010), the success of a brand that uses digital means is linked with its ability to build concrete and long lasting relationship with consumers. Web 2.0 enhances consumer and brand relationships in a bidirectional way, both before and after purchase. Consumers play an active role, inspire brands and this creates an emotional contact. The challenge of marketing is not about products, which in many cases are similar but around emotions and feelings (emotional marketing). Web 2.0 brings in an uncontrollable element into consumer decision making process and presents a new challenge for marketers that need to engage new practices in their overall marketing strategy, including PR, communication mix, consumer voice listening and one to one marketing. While Web 2.0 is technological achievement, it has sociological effects and revolutionary implications for business (Berthon et al., 2012).

2.2 From traditional marketing to digital marketing

Back in the industrial age, products were fairly basic and targeted towards anyone who could afford them. The aim was to increase productivity and produce higher

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quantity of goods at lower cost, so that these products would be affordable to larger audience. However, as welfare level improved and industrial revolution increased customer purchasing power, consumers begun to question products and services before buying them. Pre industrial society was based mainly in agricultural sector and artifacts. Both farmers and artisans used to sell their products in markets and the role of producer and seller was not separated from one another. Strong relationships between sellers and buyers were very important as the one to one interaction was inevitable. Products were produced manually, in low quantities and often customized. It was the advent of mass production and consumption made marketers adopt more transactional tactics. People moved away into big towns and manufacturers started producing in big quantities at lower costs. The need to find new markets to absorb the production, led to the development of strategies that are present even today, like sales, advertising and promotion. At that point, a transactional orientation of marketing had emerged and promotions and sales became more significant than building ongoing relationships with customers. Marketers realized at some point that in order to have repeated purchases and gain brand loyalty, a strong brand image and product differentiation was imperative. Another significant change was that companies realized the importance of market segmentation and the benefits of focusing in specific groups of consumers. Post industrial era, affected by the technological advancement, the growth of service economy, the increased competition and need of customer retention focuses again in relationship marketing (Sheth at al. ,1995). The first definition around marketing was presented in 1960’s by the American Marketing Association as the “development of economic activities that direct flow of goods and services from producers to consumers”. Kotler (2010) has developed and evolutive marketing concept from Marketing 1.0 to Marketing 4.0. Original concepts of marketing were designed around products and production (Marketing 1.0) and evolved in a consumer centric way, trying to reach and fulfill consumers’ needs (Marketing 2.0). Consumers are better informed and can compare among a vast array of products before they make a purchase. Therefore, a value of a product is equivalent to the worth a consumer attributes to it. Marketing 3.0 is the stage where companies shift from consumer to human centricity and balance profitability with corporate responsibility. Consumers are treated as humans, that have feelings, needs

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and aspirations that shouldn’t be neglected. Marketing 3.0 introduces emotional marketing with human spirit marketing. Marketing 4.0, also introduced by Kotler on 2016 (Kotler et al, 2016) is a “marketing approach that combines online and offline interaction between companies and consumers”. Marketing 4.0 is the evolution of marketing, that follows technology advancements and leverages data, so products and services can become personalized. The role of marketers is to guide consumers through their journey and lead them to brand advocacy. Marketing was significantly affected by Web 2.0 applications. They have shifted the power from a firm to consumers and communities. Content creation and user interaction puts the user in the center. (Berthon et al. 2012). From consumer’s perspective, the use of Web 2.0 applications offer multiple benefits, from cost reduction and convenience to efficiency and richer information. Individuals seek for others’ reviews, proving that peer’s opinion is more credible compared to firm’s advertisements (Tiago & Verissimo 2014). With a significant amount of consumers, passing information to others via Web 2.0 applications a customer’s worth is higher than the amount he spends. Consequently, brands need to take this into consideration and influence consumers via social media. (Kim and Ko, 2012). With the emerging popularity of social media among consumers, firms fell the need to participate as well. Prior to the advent of social media, firms utilized several marketing tools like television, radio, emails and informational sites in order to share information about their products. The web served as an advertising medium by sharing messages through page views and reaching a large amount of audience in short period. However, this approach is too broad to establish long term relationships with consumers and firms should establish new strategies that emphasize in content creation and word of mouth communication. New technologies have upgraded this communication into a mutual, two-way relationship and consumers can now respond to brands. Brands’ presence is forced into digital world. This phenomenon, along with technology improvement and higher internet accessibility bring digital media strategies in the spotlight (Tiago and Verissimo, 2014). As digital marketing is becoming an essential tool for companies, firms are increasing their investment on this sector. According to Tiago & Verissimo (2014), 81% of survey participants plan

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to invest more in social networks apps, 65% in email marketing , 50% in digital adds and 45% in viral campaigns. As mentioned by Weber (2009), marketing’s role has not changed. The ultimate goal remains the same and it is still about reaching prospect consumers, sharing messages, building loyalty etc. However, older marketing techniques do not remain as effective. Marketing in not about “telling your story”, but rather about being transparent, building trust and nurturing dialogue among customers, brands and prospects. A brand is shifting away from brand equity, it is a living thing, it is constantly changing and is defined by the bonds with its customers. Hence, brand equity cannot be measured with static metrics but by the willingness of customers to recommend and talk about the brand.

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3 Social Media Marketing as a form of Digital marketing

3.1 Social Media

According to the report created by Statista (2019) Facebook dominates the social world, being the most popular social network site, having over 2 billion users. Youtube, messaging applications (like What’s app and Facebook messenger) are following, along with Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn. The vast majority ofcFacebok users log in daily (76%), while the respective percentage is 51% for Instagram and 42% for Twitter. Stelzner (2014) states that 97% of marketers use social media marketing and a significant 92% considers social media important for their business (see Apendix 1). Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube are the top platforms used for social media marketing purposes. Facebook dominates B2C companies, as 68% of the marketers use this platform as their first choice, however for B2B marketers LinkedIn surpasses Facebook and Twitters plays a bigger role.

Number of Active users in Millions Source:https://www.statista.com/statistics/272014/global-social-networks-ranked-by- number-of-users/

Table 1: As of January 2019, ranked by number of active users in millions

,

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3.1.1 Facebook

Facebook launched in 2004, by Harvard’s students Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo Saverin and its main purpose was to connect Harvard Students. Within a month more than half students were registered to the network and Facebook expanded to other universities. Gradually it became open to high school students and employees of several companies and by September 2006 Facebook became open to anyone that was at least 13 years old and a valid email address. Facebook is the undeniable champion in social network world with more than 2.3 billion users. Members create their own profile, enter personal details, upload photos and videos and connect with other members. In addition, members have the ability to “like” or “share” post of their connection. “Newsfeed” section appears in homepages and allows users to learn news and updates in their network of friends. By late 2007, over 100.000 companies were promoting themselves via Facebook pages. Nine years later, Facebook announced that it reached three million active advertisers, 70% of them being outside US. Targeted marketing is one of the key elements to successful advertising via Facebook, compared to mass marketing via traditional mediums like television and radio. Surfing habits, likes and shares, purchasing data and similar audiences are used in order to achieve targeted marketing.

3.1.2 YouTube

YouTube was founded by former Paypal employees Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim back in February 2005 and was acquired by Google in November 2006. YouTube allows users to view, post, rate, comment on video content and subscribe to other users. The available content includes music videos, documentaty films, educational videos, video blogging, TV shows clips, product reviews etc. Most of the content is user generated, but media corporations may upload content as well. Content is available to everyone, however registered members can also upload videos, add comments and subscribe. YouTube’s revenue comes from advertisements that are served to viewers according to site content and audience specifications. As of Feb. 2017 there were 400 hours of videos being uploaded each

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minute and 1 billion hours being consumed each day. In 2017 Youtube was ranked second as the most visited site, falling behind Google. Businesses have the ability to create their own channels and promote themselves. In fact, 94% of Top100 advertisers use YouTube to promote their campaigns (Burgess and Green, 2018). Also companies can create partnerships with certain content creators promote their products via them.

3.1.3 Twitter

Twitter was created by Jack Dorsey in March 2006 and launched on July 2006. Originally, users were allowed share short messages, with only 140 characters called “tweets”. Recently, on November 2017 Twitter doubled the amount of characters to 280. This peculiarity means that messages can spread at large scale across the network instantly and create a form of electronic word of mouth, which is essentially one of the most effective marketing strategies (Jansen et al. 2009). Registered users can post, re-tweet and like tweets, while unregistered users can only read tweets. The service has gained massive popularity and has been described as the “SMS of the internet”. One of the most important figures of social media, the hashtag was proposed by is Chris Messina in a 2007 tweet. Users can tag content with a hashtag, making it possible for other users to easily locate content with a specific theme. Twitter stands out in terms of growth as it gained massive popularity as a microblogging tool in 2009, with a stunning increase of 949% vs 2008 measurements (Bulearca & Bulearca ,2010). Twitter today has more than 320 million users and has evolved into a multidimensional tool that is used for socio- political campaigns, citizen journalism and of course for marketing purposes (Bulearca & Bulearca ,2010).

3.1.4 LinkedIn

LinkedIn was founded in December 2002 and launched on May 2003. It is mainly used for professional networking by employers who post job openings or job seekers

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who are posting their CVs. LinkedIn allows members to create profiles and connect with partners, other professionals or follow corporations. As LinkedIn continues to evolve, it has incorporated several features that are common in Facebook and Twitter, like “share”, “comment” and “like”. LinkedIn became Microsoft’s subsidiary in December 2016. According to Stelzner (2014) 64% of marketers plan to increase their use of Linkedin, with B2C companies being more likely to do so (77% vs 54% for B2B). Companies can build their own page, with employees being the biggest advocates. The goal is to publish engaging content and reach audiences that find it interesting. LinkedIn offers the possibility to sponsor posts and promote content. Apart from this, companies have the possibility to run paid advertisements and ultimately driving traffic to their website.

3.1.5 Instagram

Instagram is a photo and video sharing social network that was created by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger in October 2010 and was originally available only in iOS. In April 2012 Instagram became also available to Android users. The app allows users to post photos that have been edited with preset filters, add location and tag content with hashtags. Content is either public or limited to a group of people based on user’s discretion. Users can follow other members in order to add their content to the feed, like photos and view trending content. Today Instagram offers additional capabilities like instant messaging and sharing photos or videos in the form of stories that are available for a limited period of time. Instagram is used by companies for marketing purposes. Brands can promote their products either directly on their page or on other profiles that are very popular. By June 2018, Instagram had exceeded one billion users. Instagram was sold to Facebook in April 2012 for one billion $.

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3.2 Definition of Social media marketing

At the moment, social networks are associated with very popular platforms like Facebook and Instagram. However, “social network” term applies to various online communities that allow discussions and enable people to interact with each other (Algesheimer at al. 2005). According to Broyd & Ellison (2007), social networks are defined as web-based services that allow people to:

a) Set up a public or semi-public profile within a system b) Create a list of other users to whom they share a connection c) View their connections and those made by others within the system

Social media have evolved throughout the years and offer members a vast variety of capabilities like communication, production and sharing of data (videos, photos etc.) and even the creation of new acquaintances. Capabilities of social networks are growing faster than users’ rhythms (Kotler and Gertner, 2002). The key attribute among all social communities is the social element. Communities grow when members participate, interact and recruit more people. Active participation indicates a healthy community. Social communities are based on user generated content (creation and sharing) and community members are distinguished based on the level of participation from content creators to consumers (Tuten, 2008). Interestingly enough, what makes social network sites unique is not the fact that they enable members meet strangers, but that they let users articulate and make visible their network. Many members of social sites are not looking to meet new people but communicate with people that are part of their extended network and already share an offline connection (Broyd & Ellison, 2007). While technical features among social networks vary, the backbone is usually common. It consists of profiles - whose visibility is based on user’s discretion, that display a list of connections. Users share personal information on their profile and are prompted to identify other members to whom they have a relationship. The label of relationship

Undergraduate Thesis / Postgraduate Dissertation 13 Zygourou Afroditi , “Social media marketing and evaluation metrics: A case study in tobacco industry”

differs from one platform to another, as it can be “friend”, “contact”, “follower” etc. However, public display of connections is a crucial component of social network sites. Consequently, the list of “friends” contains links to each friend’s profile, enabling users to traverse a network path just by clicking to each node. Most social networks also provide a mechanism for users to leave messages or comments on their contacts. The first social network site launched in 1997 and was called “Six.Degrees.com” (Broyd & Ellison, 2007). SixDegrees merged features that existed before, like allowing users to create profiles, list friends and surf friends list and was promoted as a tool to help people stay connected. However, at that point, people did not have an extended network of friends that were online and the platform itself didn’t have many capabilities after friends’ connection. In 2002, Friendster launched, competing with Match.com, a profitable dating site. Friendster became so popular, that caused its servers to collapse and consequently the site instability frustrated the users. As social networks and user generated content began to grow, more features were implemented like video sharing (YouTube), photo sharing (Flickr) and music listening (Last.FM). MySpace’s success followed Friendster’s failure in 2003 and Facebook made its appearance, as a high school network (analytical evolution of social media in Appendix1). Without a doubt social media have affected people in their everyday lives in many ways: in the way they socialize, make decisions, communicate, interact, entertain and educate themselves and even make purchases (Constantinides and Fountain, 2008).

3.3 Use of Social media in Marketing: Benefits and Limitations

3.3.1 Use of Social Media in marketing

The popularity of social media and the quantity of user-generated content has forced brands to join social networks and establish their presence not only in order to control brand marketing but also to stay informed and keep track of the content

Undergraduate Thesis / Postgraduate Dissertation 14 Zygourou Afroditi , “Social media marketing and evaluation metrics: A case study in tobacco industry”

created for their brand. As Mangold and Faulds (2009) state, companies cannot control user-generated content but they can influence discussions that refer to their brand.  Most companies use social media marketing for the following purposes (Sinclaire and Vogus, 2011), that can be categorized into passive, active, reactive, proactive, tactical and strategic:  Reactively, in order to protect the company against attacks.  Proactively, in order to enhance brand loyalty.  In order to promote the company itself or a specific product- brand. This use is tactical and proactive.  For product development and improvement. Companies can get feedback from consumers or prospects for products that are under development. This is mainly a strategic purpose.  In order to build external communities. This proactive and strategic reason and aims in grouping people that are willing to share their opinion about a product or a service.  In order to build internal communities of employees or other allied groups. The purpose is strategic and proactive.  To promote a social cause. This action in strategic and proactive.  To educate consumers on specific themes and technologies. This purpose is proactive and reflects company’s interest to promote new directions for an organization.

As stated by Mangold and Faulds (2009) brands’ participation in social media can shape the discussions around their brands and products. Networking platforms have amplified the discussions among consumers by enabling one member to communicate with thousands of other people with almost no effort. Firms cannot control these conversations directly, however they can they can use methods to influence them in a way that is consistent with the company’s mission and goals. This happens in multiple ways and primarily, by offering a networking platform. Companies can create communities with people that share the same interests. For example Unilever Dove’s campaign in 2007, brought together some people who wanted to enhance women’s self-esteem by establishing realistic beauty standards.

Undergraduate Thesis / Postgraduate Dissertation 15 Zygourou Afroditi , “Social media marketing and evaluation metrics: A case study in tobacco industry”

Social media, either used on their own or combined with traditional media, can also be used in order to engage consumers. Consumers feel more engaged with a brand when they can submit their feedback and are more likely to give word of mouth or post on social media. Enabling consumers to see others using a product can be entertaining and at the same time can help communicate product benefits. Mangold and Faulds (2009) give the example of P&G Swiffer, who challenged customers to share their experience with Swiffer as an alternative cleaning method. The campaign drew a lot of attention and the best videos were uploaded on YouTube. Brands can also utilize social media by providing information about products and innovations or offering exclusivity to a subset of consumers (pre-orders , access to specific content etc.). In the same study it is also mentioned the use of social media in order to support a cause, as people tend to communicate things to which they are emotionally connected. Organizations can leverage emotional connections by supporting causes that are important to consumers. Many enterprises like Gap, Converse and Motorola joined “Product Red” (2008) campaign, where participant sell products that are red in color and offer part of the revenue to fight AIDS and other diseases in Africa. Gradually social media are being used by companies as an important digital marketing tool and have put traditional marketing strategies on the sideline. Companies use social media in order to run polls, competitions and even let consumers express their ideas. By doing so, consumers feel like they take part in business activities (Smith et al., 2012).

3.3.2 Benefits and Limitations of Social Media Marketing

Social media use in digital marketing includes several benefits for firms that are either tangible or not. They can always increase site traffic, but key benefits are related to relationships, as they build trust, they give companies the opportunity to talk daily with their consumers and ultimately lead to success. As mentioned by Michaelidou et al. (2011) firms can benefit by the use of social media by building direct relationships with consumers, increase traffic to their websites, identify new business opportunities, create communities, distribute content

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and collect feedback from customers (Michaelidou et al. ,2011). Due to their non- transactional nature, social networks also serve as a feedback collection mechanism. Firms can collect information from social media and understand how consumers feel about their brands. Let’s note here, that via social media companies can collect a lot of valuable and meaningful data about their consumers, with minimum cost, that can help them extract learnings and ultimately offer better services and products (Byrd, 2012). Every customer has the ability to upload content that depicts his opinion about a product and firms cannot avoid this, but need to adjust in this new reality. One important element of social media is that they offer direct communications and they can instantly respond to customers’ complaints and offer better customer care. According to Sinclaire and Vogus (2011) the use of social media can drive organizational change which could be a significant benefit for companies. According to their survey, the vast majority of companies are likely to make changes in practices or in product development based on information collected in social networks. Social media have accelerated information transmission and knowledge sharing and this is applicable for companies as well. Social media help organizations learn fast and collaborate more, as it is easier to engage with peers, business partner and customers (Bingham and Conner, 2010). Several other benefits of social media use are mentioned in online sources (lyfemarketing.com) : 1. Advanced targeting: Business are able to locate specific audiences via social media, based on what they are talking about or based on the data that are associated with their profiles. 2. Direct access to consumers: Social media help companies connect with current customers, consumers and target market in general anytime. 3. Brand Awareness: Social media allows companies to reach thousands people around the world at any moment, with no limitations in terms of location or demographics. Each time someone shares a post, then this become visible to his network, so thousands of people get to see it in the end. 4. Lower Advertising Cost: Social media allow firms to be more focused on their advertising in a more cost efficient way compared to traditional media. 5. Increase relationship Capital: Brands have the opportunity to build relationships, connect with consumers and cultivate trust.

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6. Unbiased Reviews: Consumers leave online reviews, that can be monitored by businesses and help them improve. 7. Build a community around a brand. This ultimately builds loyalty and creates brand advocates. 8. Increase Word of Mouth. Social media are a great tool to create word of mouth, as great content can go viral and reach millions of member very fast. 9. Increase Leads & Sales. Brands who engage with their audience can get leads, that may end up as sales.

However, social media should not be considered as the solution to every marketing strategy, but should be used with caution. While online communities can support a brand, at the same time they may act as an anchor (Berthon at al., 2012). The nature of social media, where members post spontaneously and freely can either result in positive comments and nice content generated by consumers, but can also result in negative comments and complaints about unsatisfactory services.

Due to the innovative nature social media, companies face barriers in adopting them. Unfamiliarity with new technologies, lack of money, time and training are perceived as barriers. In general, the adoption of social media is highly depended on the general stance of a company towards innovation, as smaller firms tend to be more innovative (Michaelidou et al. ,2011) than larger ones. As mentioned by Brethon et al. (2012), bureaucracy is an impediment to the implementation of a social media strategy. Social media require speed and flexibility and bureaucracy can kill the effectiveness of social media marketing. In the same study, it is also mentioned that the lack of employees with IT background may also act as a barrier for implementing a social media plan, as companies need to use programs in order to monitor possible reputational risks related to social media use. Additionally, there is a clear need for companies who want to run social media to train their personnel in communication skills and IT skills, which may act as a barrier because it comes with direct and indirect costs. Another issue related with social media that companies should take into consideration is that still many part of the population don’t have access to desktops, internet and social networks.

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Additionally some other online sources (www.forbes.com) mention the following risks of social media marketing use:

 Human error: Mistakes are going to happen when engaging directly and in real time with consumers.  Processes: Before getting started with social media, firms need to establish procedures, regarding right and access permissions and data classifications.  Legal: Potential issues may be related to privacy law, content ownership, intellectual property and even to unauthorized activities like discrimination or harassment.  Data: Data related risks refer to data collection, protection and security. Companies need to meet all requirements of collecting, processing and storing data that are generated by social media. The corporate network needs to be secure to prevent confidential data leaking out or even across the organization.  Financial: Misuse of social media may have impact on share prices and result in fines from regulators.  Operational: Social media may be disruptive and reduce employee productivity.  Reputation: Mistakes or hacks may result in negative impact on employee, client and investor confidence.  ROI: Metrics for success and return of investment should be defined in advance by the management and are multidimensional and challenging to measure.  Costs: Although social media are not as expensive as traditional media, firms need to hire experts and work with third party vendors in order to create content. This includes several indirect costs.  Bandwidth: Resources are required in order to develop, manage and supervise social media programs. Also, several departments may need to go through created content like corporate affairs, marketing, compliance etc.

Also, according to online sources (resources.workable.com), as the popularity and power of social media grows, it is important that companies have a written social

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media policy that is in parallel with existing policies, reflects corporate culture and is in alignment with any regulatory restrictions. A social media policy provides clear guidelines in respect to personal social media use and representation of the company, so that every employee is aware of what is appropriate or not. Lack of written social media policy may end up damaging a company’s reputation, disclosing confidential information or intellectual property. To conclude with, while social media offer vast capabilities to companies and have made brand to consumer communication easier than ever, they should be treated prudently as they can be harmful to brands.

3.4 Path to effective social media marketing

As it is indicated in the previous chapters, social media marketing offers many opportunities to brands, however it is accompanied by several risks and its efficiency is hard to be evaluated. Social media is a fast moving domain and it is crucial for businesses to set up some guidelines that can be applied to any form of social media. Kaplan and Haenlein (2010) provide some recommendations for a successful social media design. The recommendations are split under two pillars, the first one being “using media” and the second one “being social”. According to the authors, there are five points that should be considered in terms of using the media:

1. Careful selection There are dozens of social media applications and new ones are appearing every day. Inevitably, no business can participate in all of them, as “being active” is the key element. Choosing the right application is crucial and depends on the key target audience and the messages that need to be communicated. On the other hand, social media applications attract specific audiences or may offer specific features that cannot be found in other ones. 2. Pick an application or create a new one Once the company has defined its goals, comes the need to use a specific application or create a new one. Existing social media applications are always a good choice as companies can leverage on existing user base. Here we need to note that a social network is more attractive in general, when it

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has more members. However, in some cases the right application may not be available yet. Whatever the ultimate solution is, it is vital to understand that social media are all about participation and sharing, rather than direct selling. 3. Ensure activity alignment In many cases, companies decide to utilize more than one social media, in order to have higher reach. It is very important to ensure that social media activities are aligned across platforms. Using different platforms can be very profitable; however, companies need to ensure that messages are not contradicting across channels, as this would cause ambiguity and confusion. 4. Media plan integration Integration between social media and traditional media is the key. After all, they both part of the corporate image and are not being distinguished by customers. 5. Access for all Once a firm has decided to deploy a social media strategy, it is worth checking that all employees can actually access them. Commonly, companies block social media applications in corporate PCs out of fear that employees will spend time online instead of working. A possible approach to this, would be to create different rights for several groups of employees, so that some of them can manage corporate social media and the rest are treated as occasional participants.

The authors also propose five recommendations in regards to “being social”: 1. Be active Social media is all about interaction and sharing, so companies need to ensure that their content is fresh and engaging. In order to develop a relationship with their consumers they need to take the lead and be active. Social media are beyond responding to complaints and promoting offers, they are all about engaging members in active conversations. 2. Be interesting Companies need to give customers a reason to engage with them and in order to do so, they need to find out what they find interesting, enjoyable and

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valuable. Once they have identified those elements they can proceed in creating the relevant content. 3. Be humble Before entering social media, it is essential to study their history and gain understanding on how they operate. 4. Be unprofessional Firms should avoid overly professional content, but should make an effort to blend in and don’t be afraid to make mistakes. After all, social media users are people who understand that things do not always go smoothly. 5. Be honest Being honest and respectful are key elements when participating in social media and firms should not try to force their way in. Other members can always find out who stands behind anonymous accounts or shares misleading information.

Sterne (2010) also proposes a framework for successful social media strategy implementation. The steps are described below: 1. Get focus and identify goals As stated in the chapters before, it is crucial to identify the goals of a social media strategy before implementing one. Entering social media implies that a company knows why they are there and what they want out of it. 2. Get attention and reach audience Awareness, reach and frequency are necessary to determine if social media content is getting attention. However, it is worth to note that success in social media is not found only in how many people reach the content, but also in how many people interact with it. 3. Get respect and identify influence Part of a marketer’s tasks is to understand the impact of reaching people who are communication nodes. Posting something online that has no readers or doesn’t get shared is not impactful at all. Understanding if a message is worth sharing and how quickly it spreads are significant for measuring influence. 4. Get emotional and recognize sentiment.

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Tracking public sentiment can reveal much information that is not visible to polls, surveys or customer satisfaction questionnaires. Sentiment analysis provides the opportunity to stay on top of changes in marketplace. 5. Get responses and trigger actions Social media may lead members into a more profitable relationship with a brands. People may click through to company’s website based on their social media interactions, or engage with the organization in various ways, so tracking the actions that result from tweeting, blogging etc. is very important. 6. Get the message- hear the conversations Measuring the ability to get the right message from the right people in the right time is also an important step for successful social media strategies. Social media let companies eavesdrop on consumer conversations and find out how the target audience is feeling. This knowledge should be incorporated into marketing mix and be a fundamental part of customer service and feed directly business planning. So measuring how well a company can hear is equally important to measuring how well they speak. 7. Get results and drive business outcomes Measure the impact of social media activities to business goals is essential and will help the company identify if initial goals and KPIs need to be re evaluated. In any case, social media serve some business goals so their efficiency needs to be measured. 8. Get buy in and convince colleagues Once the impact of social media has been measured and concrete results have been identified, it is time for the rest organization to offer more resources. 9. Get ahead and see the future Social media world constantly changes and organizations need only to be alert but also plan for the future. In any case, the baseline remains the same: set goals and measure the efforts against them.

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3.5 Social Media metrics

As firms incorporate social media in their marketing strategies, it has become more than necessary to identify their impact from a quantitative and qualitative point of view. The rise of new technologies brings discussions within organizations, about how frequently a company is discussed online, how many people do these discussions attract and what sentiment they generate. Moreover, organizations desire to quantify the return of investing in social media marketing (ROI). As any other marketing tool, social networks need to be evaluated based on their effectiveness and their ability to achieve business objectives (Michaelidou et al., 2011). Any media marketing should serve one of the following goals (Sterne, 2010):

1. Increase revenue 2. Decrease costs 3. Improve customer satisfaction

Social media objectives should define social media evaluation metrics (Hoffman and Fodor,2010). Most companies emphasize in tangible goals, like cost reduction, market share increases and want to measure ROI from social media. Return of investment is generally calculated by the formula:

Gain from Investment- Cost of Investment/ Cost of Investment

While this formula appears to be straight forward, it is incredibly difficult to calculate revenues from a tweet and attribute gains from specific social media activities. Actually, the majority of social media campaigns are hard to quantify because they are not associated with any direct transactions. At the same time cost of investment is not that straight forward either, as it may refer to paid or earned media and we should also take into account indirect costs of social media marketing like technology, employee time and other elements. Thus, it is essential to understand that social activities cannot be directly translated into dollars (Lovett, 2011).

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Weber (2010) also mentions the need to establish evaluation metrics in regards to the objectives. The table below lays out various metrics for media influence, influence in target audience and impact on business:

Figure 1: Proposed metrics of evaluation based marketing objectives Source: Weber (2010)

In the same context, Hoffman and Fodor (2010) have organized various social media metrics split by social media application and by three social media objective pillars: Brand awareness, brand engagement and word of mouth.

Figure 2: Proposed metrics per social media application and objective Source 1: Hoffman and Fodor (2010)- Can you measure the ROI of your social media marketing? SOCIAL MEDIA BRAND AWARENESS BRAND ENGAGEMENT WORD OF MOUTH APPLICATION Blogs •number of unique visits •number of members • number of references to •number of return visits •number of RSS feed blog in other media •number of times subscribers (online/offline) bookmarked •number of comments •number of reblogs •search ranking •amount of user-generated • number of times badge content displayed on other sites •average length of time on •number of “likes” site • number of responses to polls, contests, surveys Microblogging • number of references to •number of followers •number of retweets e.g Twitter blog in other media •number of @replies (online/offline) number of reblogs • number of times badge displayed on other sites •number of “likes”

Undergraduate Thesis / Postgraduate Dissertation 25 Zygourou Afroditi , “Social media marketing and evaluation metrics: A case study in tobacco industry”

Cocreation •number of visits •number of creation attempts • number of references to project in other media (online/offline) Social •number of tags •number of followers •number of additional bookmarking taggers Forums- •number of page views •number of relevant •incoming links discussion •number of visits topics/threads •citations in other sites •valence of posted •number of individual •tagging in social boards content +/- replies bookmarking •number of sign-ups • offline references to the forum or its members in private communities: number of pieces of content (photos, discussions, videos); chatter pointing to the community outside of its gates •number of “likes” Product •number of reviews •length of reviews •number of reviews posted Reviews posted •relevance of reviews •valence of •valence of reviews • valence of other users’ • number and valence of • number and valence of ratings of reviews (i.e., how other users’ responses to other users’ responses to many found particular reviews (+/−) reviews (+/−) •number of review helpful) • number of references to wish list adds •number of wish list adds reviews in other sites • number of times • overall number of reviewer •number of visits to product included in rating scores entered review site users’ lists •average reviewer rating • number of times product score included in users’ lists Social •number of •number of comments • frequency of appearances Networks members/fans •number of active users in timeline of friends •number of installs of •number of “likes” on •number of posts on wall e.g Facebook and applications friends’ feeds •number of reposts/shares Linkedin •number of impressions • number of user generated • number of responses to •number of bookmarks items (photos, threads, friend referral invites • number of replies) reviews/ratings and • usage metrics of valence +/− applications/ widgets •impressions-to-interactions ratio • rate of activity (how often members personalize profiles, bios, links, etc.) Video and •number of views of •number of replies •number of incoming links Photo Sharing video/photo •number of page views • number of references in e.g. Youtube •valence of video/photo •number of comments mock-ups or derived work ratings +/− •number of subscribers • number of times republished in other social media and offline •number of “likes”

Brand awareness is created by anything that causes a consumer to experience the brand. This includes advertising, public relations, promotion, publicity etc. Social

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media is a way to expose consumers to a brand and create brand awareness. Higher activity and participation in the social media activities of a brand indicates higher brand awareness (Hutter at al., 2013). Traditionally brand awareness has been measured through tracking surveys and research, however there are several ways to track brand awareness through social media. “Impressions” measure the number of times social media content was seen online and “Reach” the number of people who have contact with the content (Neiger et al., 2012). According to sources published on the internet (blog.crowdcontrolhq.com), “Reach” is a great metric to understand how far social media content is spreading. Reach is driven by the number of people who are accessing a brand’s content and naturally the higher the reach the higher the awareness. Social media content either reach already aware consumers and establishes a brand, or reach consumers that have not heard of the brand before and make them aware. Hoffman and Fodor (2010) propose several metrics related to brand awareness per social media type. For Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn, number of fans, members and impressions can measure brand awareness, while for video sharing platforms like YouTube, video views are can account for this. Brand engagement links social media to actions and can range from low to medium and high. Low engagement implies that people are acknowledging a preference at some content, while medium engagement means that people are involved in content creation and sharing. High engagement relates to actual offline participation either as a consumer or as partner, volunteer etc and results from exposure in social media applications. Evaluation metrics are specific per medium and represent its ability to communicate and engage consumers. For example, metrics that are used for blogs should be related to the frequency of comments and posts. Metrics that are used with microblogging like Twitter should be related to frequency of tweets and retweets. (Neiger at al., 2012). Lovett (2011) mentions that in order to measure engagement from consumer’s perspective, it is helpful to categorize engagement into passive and active. Passive engagement offers a view on who is involved with a brand’s social media activities and recommended metrics include visitors, views, repeat visits and time spent. Active engagement reflects components of customer feedback, loyalty and interaction. Metrics that can interpret active engagement include comments, unique contributors, downloads and shares. Weber (2010), state that brand engagement is a

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key metric in marketing and consists of involvement, interaction, intimacy and influence. Involvement is defined as the presence of a person at the various brand touchpoints. Relevant metrics for this, include website visitors, time spent per page, visits and impressions. Interaction involves actions people take while they are present at the abovementioned touchpoints. Click rate, online transactions, uploaded photos or videos are metrics that account for interaction. Intimacy is the affection a consumer holds for a brand. Metrics that could account for this are sentiment measurement in comments, discussion forums, blog posts etc. Influence is defined by the likelihood of someone advocating for a brand. Metrics that account for loyalty, affinity, repurchases, satisfaction rates and forwarded content are relevant. Once consumers are aware and engaged to a brand, they are in position to share their opinions with other members in their network, either online or offline. According to a McKinsey study, word of mouth is the primary factor behind 20% to 50% of all purchasing decisions. The influence of word of mouth is even higher when consumers are buying new products and make research online. The same study mentions an example in the mobile-phone market, where the pass-on rates for key positive and negative messages can increase a company’s share by 10% percent or reduce it by 20% over a two-year period, all other things being equal. Satisfied consumers communicate their positive experiences to prospect customers via a social applications created by brands. At the same time, dissatisfied consumers may use social media and share their negative attitude towards a brand (Hoffman and Fodor, 2010). Word of Mouth marketing is a prominent Web 2.0 feature, as Internet provides many venues and occasions for users to share their views, opinions and preferences. Social network sites provide easy ways for users to invite other members to join their network and reveals an opportunity for brands. It is important to understand weather WOM is truly effective, both on its own and also compared to traditional media (Trusov et. al, 2008). Companies commonly deploy several WOM marketing activities. Some of the major categories are below:

Undergraduate Thesis / Postgraduate Dissertation 28 Zygourou Afroditi , “Social media marketing and evaluation metrics: A case study in tobacco industry”

1. Viral marketing- it includes the creation of entertaining or creative messages that are being passed rapidly from one user to another, like the spread of an epidemic. 2. Referral programs- it includes the creation of a referral mechanism so that satisfied customers can refer their friends and family 3. Community marketing- it refers to the formation of communities that are likely to share opinions about a product or a brand

Measuring word of mouth can be a tricky process not only due to the nature of social media, but mainly because it is complex by itself and has a multitude of potential motivations and origins. McKinsey identifies three types of WOM: Experiential, Consequential and Intentional. Experiential is the most common form of WOM and derives from consumer’s expectation gap from a service or product. When a service exceeds customer’ expectations then this creates positive world of mouth. On the contrary, bad experiences and complaints affect negatively brand sentiment and brand equity and even reduce receptiveness to traditional media. Consequential word of mouth occurs when consumers pass on messages about brands after being exposed to marketing activities. The impact of consequential word of mouth is often stronger than direct advertising, because it can trigger positive world of mouth, that has higher reach and influence. Intentional world of mouth is generated when companies recruit celebrities in order to generate positive sentiment. McKinsey suggests using an index like “word- of –mouth- equity” that shows a brand’s power to generate messages that influence consumers’ purchase intention. It derives from the average sales impact of a brand message multiplied by the number of word of mouth messages. Other popular metrics that can be used for WOM measurement according to Hoffman and Fodor (2010) include number of posts, reposts/shares and number of repsonses to friends’ referral invites for platforms like Facebook. For Youtube, number of likes and shares account for WOM, while for Twitter the relevant metric is number of retweets. Virality is defined as the rapid spread of social content and information that is circulated by one user from another. Virality can be quantified by a series of measures, in order to connect source, spread and impact of any given social media

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activity. One measure is Viral coefficient which represents how many new users are brought by an existing one. If viral coefficient is equal to 1, growth is linear while when coefficients are higher than 1.0 the growth is exponential. Another measure of virality is the K factor, which is similar to viral coefficient. K- factor is defined as the rate of growth of a social media activity, as determined by the average number of people who will share it with other users within their network and it basically indicates how far a social media campaign spreads. Similarly to virality coefficient, k-factor equal to 1 , indicates that the percentage of active users is equal to the adoption by new users (Lovett, 2011). Measuring social media marketing is a hard and multidimensional project. Peters et al. (2013) mention the peculiarity of using metrics across social media and within a social medium. While a brand’s metrics need to cover all relevant social media for an organization, consumers may use specific social media for specific purposes. For example, they may use Twitter for consumer support and complaints, due to fast resolution and Facebook in order to share successful purchases and experiences. While these platforms are by nature quit different and require different metrics, users are usually active across social media. Within the same social medium, the authors state that there are no metrics that cover all levels of a network and no metric can cover the positional and relational view of a network simultaneously. As mentioned by Divol at al. (2012) social media remain an enigma for many executives due to two reasons. First of all, comes the nebulous nature of social media. While consumers visit social platforms in order to seek advice and discuss about products and brands, it is often difficult for companies to intervene and shape these discussions that happen across different platforms and different communities. Secondly, there is not one single metric that can measure financial impact of social media and consequently companies are hesitant to devote significant resources without being able to measure the results precisely.

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4 Case study in Tobacco Industry

4.1 Case study as research method – The case of Papastratos

Case studies can are considered as a robust research method when in depth and holistic analysis is required, mainly because the offer the researcher the opportunity to go beyond quantitative data and statistical results and emphasize in behavioral problems and questions. By including both quantitative and qualitative data in a case study, the researcher can explain both the process and the outcome of a phenomenon through thorough observation, reconstruction and analysis of the cases under investigation (Tellis, 1997). For this reason, cease study research are used in the field of social sciences and international businesses. The established place of case studies in qualitative international business research comes as no surprise as it has the potential to generate novel theoretical insights (Welch et al., 2011). Case studies let the researcher investigate real life examples by focusing on specific areas or individuals as subjects and performing contextual analysis of events, conditions and their relationship. According to Yin (1984), a case study is defined as: “an empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context; when the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident; and in which multiple sources of evidence are used”. There are three types of case study according to Yin (1984): exploratory, explanatory and descriptive. For case studies, the examination of the data in conducted within the context of its use, when the activity that needs to be explored takes place. On the contrary, during an experiment the phenomenon is isolated from its context. Also, a case study approach contains both qualitative and quantitative data, seeking evidence from numerical and categorical variables. Lastly, case studies not only explore a real life phenomenon, but also help to explain the true complexity that may cannot be captured through experiment or survey research. At the same time case studies receive criticism. Yin (1984) points out some arguments where

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case studies are accused for luck of robustness. Researcher cannot generalize findings from case studies, if they are based on small or single subject. This is also mentioned by Tellis (1997) as a common criticism, that single case exploration makes it difficult to generalize conclusions. However, case studies do not need to have a minimum number of case or select cases randomly (Tellis, 1997) as their findings generalize on theory and not populations (Yin 1984). Another criticism for case studies immerses from the fact that really long case studies, must be well structured and organized systematically. In this chapter, we will examine the case study of Papastratos, an affiliate of Philip Morris International and its lunch in social media. Initially we will go through “Papastratos” history and describe its transformation from a traditional B2B tobacco industry into a B2C, innovative company that produces next generation heated tobacco products. The most recent innovation of Philip Morris is heated tobacco products, that are accompanied with an electronic device, called IQOS and have changed in many different aspects the way the company operates. The company has developed a retail network and gets in contact with consumers directly. In a heavy regulated environment in terms of advertising, due to the nature of the product, Papastratos has joined the social media not for advertising reasons, but in order to promote innovation and share corporate messages. Moreover, social media were used for recruitment reasons, as the transformation came along with a big investment and more than 400 job openings. In the case study we will emphasize in the use of Facebook, as a social medium and specifically in “Pare Thesi” and “Smoke Free TIF” campaigns. “Pare Thesi” was a big recruitment campaign, while “Smoke Free Tif” aimed at corporate awareness. Through this case study we will explore how social media were used for the above objectives, which metrics were monitored by the organization and what defines a successful social media strategy for Papastratos.

4.2 The history of Papastratos in tobacco industry

Papastratos company («Ομόρρυθμος Καπνεμπορική Εταιρεία ΑΦΟΙ ΠΑΠΑΣΤΡΑΤΟΥ») was founded back in 1913 in Agrinio, by Evangelos and Sotiris

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Papastratos. In 1919 Epaminondas Papastratos, brother of Evangelos, joins the company and the headquarters move from Agrinio to Athens. Shorty after, the company extends its operations in the rest country and installs the most updated equipment in its branches. The founders accomplish their plan to expand the company’s beyond Greek boundaries and by 1919 they are exporting tobacco products in Egypt, Scandinavia, Canada and Unites States. From 1920 to 1929 the company establishes its position in central Europe and founds new offices in Berlin and Amsterdam. Papastartos has a share of 12% of total exported tobacco, which equals to 31.820 tons of product. At the beginning of 1930, transactions with German market face difficulties and get limited, so Evangelos Papastratos decides to implement his vision: to set up a unique tobacco factory in Greece that will be a big milestone in Greek tobacco industry evolution. “ΠΑΠΑΣΤΡΑΤΟΣ ΑΒΕΣ” is founded at Piraeus in 1930 and next year, at the 30th of May, the inauguration of the new factory takes place, with many prominent personalities of that era present. The new factory is the most up to day industrial unit of its age, and it was an investment of 400K English pounds. The company is growing constantly and gets to be the biggest industry in Greek market, that employees around 100.000 people. To be accurate, in 1930s, tobacco industry is a big sector in Greece, that occupies in total one million of people and tobacco exports account for 50% of total export income. Tobacco taxes, account for 20% of total national income. In late ‘30s, political changes in Germany make the environment hostile for the Greek company and inevitably the factory closes down in 1936. The factory in Egypt has the same ending. The loses are very big for Papastratos and the situation gets worse during German occupation, where tobacco inventories are being confiscated by the Germans. After the end of World War II, the company struggles to get back its position. While the Greek market is in positive trend, the global market has changed and American tobacco products seem to be very popular. From 1960 to 1979 the company is in a growth period. The situation is steadily improving, especially after Greece entering European Union in late 70s. In 1980’s, the Greek government, in an effort to enhance local economy forces tobacco industries to buy Greek tobacco in greater quantities than necessary. This action render Greek tobacco products are no longer competitive and exports get reduced. From the beginning of ‘80s, most foreign tobacco brands are being produced locally.

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Papastratos cooperates with Philip Morris and produces Marlboro on its behalf for the Greek market, an action that proved to be a very successful choice in retrospect. In 1984, Papastratos launches “Assos International” one of the most iconic and highly exported brand. In 1991, the company completes 60 years of dynamic presence in the Greek market. Papastratos market share reached 35% and 33% of domestic production is being exported. The company aims to establish its brands in the market, in order be competitive in the long term. Total investments reach 2.3 billion drachmas and the company collaborates with «ΙΟΝΙΚΗ Α.Ε.» which is the largest alcohol and cigarette supply company for duty free shops and ships. In 1993, tobacco industry is one of the most profitable markets globally and global tobacco market is in growth, due to demand sourcing from Central-Eastern European countries and under developed nations. In the next years, 1994 and 1995, Papastratos exceeds objectives in terms of exports, both in value and volume. Exports, now represent 52% of total production. Consequently, the company seeks to stabilize its position in the other markets and invests in building and improving its sales and distribution network in the rest of the world. In 1995, total share in tobacco market reaches 38%, with Marlboro and ASSOS family holding 20% and 11.4% share respectively. The distribution network consists of 198 wholesalers in Attica and 138 exclusive zone distributors in rest Greece. In late 90s, the exports are in decrease, mainly due to domestic tax regulations but also due to illicit trade of imitation products of Assos and President brands. In the local market, the collaboration of Papastratos and Philip Morris expands further and all Marlboro products that are being sold in Greece are produced and distributed by Papastratos. 2003 is a very important year, as Philip Morris acquired Papastratos. European Committee confirms that the sale is in alignment with regulations in regards to monopoly and mergers and competition authorities approve the acquisition. In January 2006, after 75 year of operations, the company announces a big investment of 100 million euros, in order to develop new operation facilities and administration buildings in Aspropyrgos. In October 2008, the operations stop forever at Piraeus factory and all the production migrates in Aspropyrgos. Ten years later in October 2016, after many years of extensive research, Papastratos launches in Greece a new and innovative tobacco product: IQOS, a

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device that heets tobacco sticks (heets) instead of burning tobacco. Philip Morris has invested in the last 15 years around 6 billion dollars, not only in odrer to develop innovative products but also in order to enhance its relationship with consumers. The research and innovation center of Philip Morris is located in Switzerland and employs 430 scientists. It holds 4.600 patents globally, and has 6.300 more patents in its pipeline. It holds the 45th place in terms of patent application and is the only tobacco company in the list. Apart from innovation, Philip Morris proceeds in transforming its production structure. Factories in Bologna, Switzerland,Greece, Korea ,Russia and Romania are being transformed into tobacco stick production units. The transformation in Greece is accompanied by an investment of 300 million euros and 400 job openings. Papastratos factory in Aspropyrgos, is being fully transformed and in March 2017 stops the production of combustible cigarettes completely. The factory produces 36 million heet sticks per day and exports 80% of the production in eleven countries, some of them being Bulgaria, Spain, Sweden, Netherlands and Japan (April, 2019). By the end of 2018, many adult smokers had turned to IQOS, as a better alternative compared to smoking combustible cigarettes and market share surpasses 7%. The new era that begun with IQOS launch brought significant changes in Papastratos business model. The company, that had been previously operating in a B2B model, developed a retail network with more than 20 IQOS stores and has direct contact with consumers. On top of the retail network, more than 200 IQOS sales representatives work independently, introduce the product to prospect consumers and onboard new customers in IQOS. For the first time in tobacco industry, Papastratos launched and Ecommerce site for IQOS and developed synergies with big technology retailers like Public and Germanos. During 2017, Papastratos Facebook page was launched, aiming to drive corporate awareness and communicate the big changes in the company. The organization also created an active page in LinkedIn.

4.3 Marketing in tobacco industry and regulations

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Tobacco industry is a heavily regulated environment that is being controlled both by the Greek government and by European regulations. The reasons behind the regulations and state intervention are related to the nature of tobacco products in general:  Smoking has harmful effects in human health from an ethical point of view  Smoking affects public health care expenses, as people may get sick as a result of smoking  Tobacco products contain nicotine, which is highly addictive, hence the demand of tobacco is inelastic  Tobacco industry contributes significantly to total economy

Government controls primarily the price of tobacco products, as the largest part of cigarettes’ price is tax. Taxes in tobacco have been constantly increasing over the past years, which leads in price increase and affects overall sales. The demand of tobacco products is inelastic and as a result, a lowest possible price for cigarettes is imposed. According to European union regulations, the lowest possible price of a 20 cigarette pack cannot be below 3 euros. The regulations also apply in marketing sector, as of 1996, all advertisements for tobacco products were prohibited. Advertisements are not allowed in television, radio, newsapapers etc. Prior to the ban, advertisements had been extensively used by tobacco companies in order to promote their products. For example, Marlboro’s brand image was build in the famous cowboy, a highly recognizable brave man. Significant changes in tobacco marketing were also made, when warning messages were placed in cigarette packs. The health warnings were introduced in the Greek market in the 80’s and were informing consumers about the harmful effects of smoking. As the years pass, the warnings have become more obvious and have made the packages less aesthetically pleasing. The regulations about cigarette packaging are constantly becoming more unfavorable for tobacco companies. As of May 2014, the warning messages are enriched with unappealing images that show heath side effects of smoking and take up 50 per cent of the packaging. The only place where public advertising of tobacco is allowed is points of sale, where the obviously the competition among brands is big. Anti- tobacco legislation in Greece

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has prohibited smoking in all public places, like bars, restaurants, public services etc.

4.4 Use of social media for Papastratos

4.4.1 Papastratos Facebook page: Key evaluation metrics

The aim of Papastratos presence in social media is to increase corporate awareness, drive attention to innovation and promote key messages. In addition, social media were extensively and successfully used in order to recruit people in several job openings. Papastratos launched its Facebook page back in June 2017 and has been gaining followers rapidly since then. Specifically, the Facebook page had 3,325 fans in June 2017 and reached 228,114 fans in September 2018. The evolution of Fans of Papastartos Facebook page is shown below:

Facebook Fans Evolution

250000 218.504 196.680 200000 167.751 228.114 141.249 150000 98130 100000 52423 50000 26873 3325 0

Table 2: Papastratos Facebook page Fans Evolution

The organization uses a set of evaluation metrics to monitor Facebook performance. The definition of key performance indicators is given below:

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 Fans: Total amount of fans for Facebook page  Reach: Number of unique Facebook users who have seen any content associated to the Facebook page, including any ads or sponsored content  Organic Reach: The total number of unique people who saw a post through unpaid distribution  Paid Reach: The total number of people who saw a post as result of ads.  Viral Real: The total number of people who saw a post because someone of their network shared it  Engaged Users: The total number of unique users who engaged with Facebook page over a specific period of time. This also includes user clicks on any of the page’s content.  Interaction or Engagement Rate: This metric results from the combined index of the sum of likes, shares and comments of all the content of the page, standardized by the total amount of own posts and fans.  Post Engagement Rate: This metric results from the combined index of sum of likes, shares and comments per post, standardized by the total amount of post reach.

For the time period of June ’17 to Sept. ’18, total reach for Papastratos surpasses 3million twice. The percent of engaged users is a significant metric, because it shows how many individuals saw page content and interacted with it. As we can see below the percentage of engaged users is for most months above 3%, which is excellent in terms of performance. ENGAGED Engaged TOTAL REACH USERS Users % JUNE 2017 213.035 10.964 5,1% JULY 2017 2.173.199 81.187 3,7% AUGUST ‘17 1.423.255 76.406 5,4% SEPTEMBER ‘17 1.221.367 66.780 5,5% OCTOBER ‘17 1.231.475 50.625 4,1% NOVEMBER ‘17 1.273.674 51.197 4,0% DECEMBER ‘17 2.424.231 115.906 4,8% JANUARY ‘18 2.172.398 95.368 4,4% FEBRUARY ‘18 2.864.519 118.171 4,1% MARCH ‘18 3.368.723 118.171 3,5%

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APRIL ‘18 2.717.440 70.380 2,6% MAY ‘18 2.963.175 76.501 2,6% JUNE ‘18 2.494.806 76.987 3,1% JULY ‘18 2.628.092 96.450 3,7% AUGUST ‘18 2.353.914 63.953 2,7% SEPTEMBER ‘18 3.216.741 148.481 4,6% Table 3:Papastratos Facebook page, June '17 -Sept. '18

Despite the fact that Facebook page has been constantly growing, key metrics for engagement remain above benchmarks. According to Facebook, the engagement benchmark for pages that have among 200K to 500K is 0,13%. As the numbers of fans increases, engagement rate is expected to decrease:

Engagement metrics 160000 10,90% 148.481 12,00% 140000 10,00% 120000 100000 8,00% 80000 6,00% 60000 4,00% 40000 1,00% 20000 10964 2,00% 0 0,00%

ENGAGED USERS ENGAGEMENT RATE

Table 4: Engagement metrics for Papastartos Facebook page

Similarly, the page had good virality reach. Virality reach indicates how the content is being shared among users in regards to total reach (paid and organic):

Monthly Virality Reach for FB page TOTAL VIRAL Viral Reach REACH REACH % JUNE '17 213.035 96.453 45,3% JULY '17 2.173.199 147.065 6,8% AUGUST '17 1.423.255 250.604 17,6% SEPTEMBER '17 1.221.367 182.981 15,0% OCTOBER '17 1.231.475 84.755 6,9% NOVEMBER '17 1.273.674 81.322 6,4%

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DECEMBER '17 2.424.231 61.840 2,6% JANUARY '18 2.172.398 97.690 4,5% FEBRUARY '18 2.864.519 94.475 3,3% MARCH '18 3.368.723 208.389 6,2% APRIL '18 2.717.440 41.322 1,5% MAY '18 2.963.175 75.894 2,6% JUNE '18 2.494.806 42.230 1,7% JULY '18 2.628.092 64.885 2,5% AUGUST '18 2.353.914 43.840 1,9% SEPTEMBER '18 3.216.741 124.602 3,9% Table 5: Viral Reach for Papastratos Facebook page

As the measurements indicate (by Sept. 2018) the majority of Papastratos fans belong to age group 35-44, but age group 45-64 seems to interact more with page content. Facebook page content is more attractive to women and content appears on average six times in users newsfeed.

Audience Age- Gender Group 20% 15% 15% 14% 12% 12% 11% 10% 9%

5%

0% 25 - 34 35 - 44 45 - 54 Table 6: Papastratos Facebook page Audience

Compared to competition, Papastartos page has the second bigger fan base and maintains an increasing trend:

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Table 7:Tobacco Industries in Facebook

4.4.2 “Pare Thesi” campaign in Facebook and LinkedΙn.

“Pare Thesi” campaign launched in July 2017 in order to serve a massive recruitment process for 400 job openings that derived from the transformation of Papastratos factory into a heets production industrial unit for IQOS. It was the first social human resources campaign of this kind and was designed and executed by a leading marketing company. At the basis of a recruitment process, Papastratos built a holistic branded communication, under “Pare Thesi” campaign. Papastratos employees participated in the content created, sharing their own real life experiences. The campaign had three main and discrete phases. The first one was to build awareness, the second one included announcing the respective job openings and the last one was to welcome the new employees. For content creation there were used several formats, like photos, videos, cinemagraphs and virtual reality (VR). Apart from current employee experiences, the content included tips for a successful interview, 360 virtual tour in company offices and mini vlogs of a typical day at work. Some of the content was also distributed in YouTube and LinkedIn and was supported by banners in display media. The campaign was very successful, as it managed to attract a significant number of CVs and managed to get an Ermis award, one of the most prestigious marketing awards. During 2017, 20 posts were uploaded in Papastratos Facebook page. The flow of content included generic videos, like the announcement of job openings and specific posts per job opening.

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Pare Thesi Facebook Results CAMPAIGN Impressions Reach Frequency Interactions Clicks Parethesi-New Jobs 1.873.931 1.838.763 1,02 3.468 88.838 Parethesi-IS System Analyst 438.423 314.845 1,39 847 6.889 Parethesi-Human Resource 518.681 185.819 2,79 1.596 11.564 Parethesi-Technicians & Electricians 611.333 230.933 2,65 893 6.563 Parethesi-Engineer 817.868 326.552 2,50 1.736 25.171 Parethesi-Sales Manager 744.156 359.702 2,07 1.411 14.019 Parethesi-Engineer 321.044 204.913 1,57 241 3.576 Parethesi-Human Resource 848.940 391.715 2,17 569 4.134 Parethesi-Generic Video 2.045.009 820.581 2,49 3.788 31.481 Parethesi-Maintenance Technician 389.653 202.336 1,93 1.267 6.887 Parethesi-Process Technician 304.839 173.732 1,75 1.186 3.573 Parethesi-Sales Manager 486.263 215.654 2,25 1.599 11.202 Parethesi-Statistician 735.287 713.225 1,03 1.340 8.005 Parethesi-QA Analyst 944.210 687.826 1,37 2.342 40.094 Parethesi-Customer Care Supervisor 857.509 656.205 1,31 1.437 9482 Parethesi-Statistician-Video 837.763 737.472 1,14 3.910 16.471 Parethesi-QA Analyst-Video 770.162 725.695 1,06 1.018 9.262 Parethesi-Talent Acquisition Executive 477.561 442.961 1,08 577 6.090 Parethesi-VR 2.766.354 1.561.475 1,77 7.040 70.391 Parethesi-Production Technician 991.466 473.519 2,09 491 8.682 Table 8: Facebook Metrics for "Pare Thesi" posts in Papastratos Facebook page

As we can see above, content that was generic and not job specific was more successful in terms of Impressions and Reach. This is a positive outcome, as these posts were created in order to increase awareness, so the aim was to have the highest possible reach. The most successful video in terms of reach, click and Interactions is “Pare thesi –VR”. For the first time an HR campaign uses VR technology in order to highlight the internal transformation of an organization towards a digital and innovative era. New colleagues are being sent 3D glasses and directions, so they can connect their phone and have a virtual tour around their new office and prepare themselves for their first day at work. This content was very successful for the human resources department as it increased the average number of eligible CVs by 23%. Additionally, it had high reach and views and half of the viewers watched it to the end.

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Among all job specific posts, the one with the highest interactions was the video for “Pare Thesi- Statistician, that surpassed 7000 interactions and had more than 70.000 clicks. In general, video content seems to be more engaging than rest content. Below we have some key metrics for several “Pare Thesi” posts. “Pare Thesi- HR Manager” was one of the first job opening videos. HR members from Papastratos team describe the new role and give advices to the candidates that will go through the interview process

Figure 3:PareThesi HR manager content

https://www.facebook.com/PapastratosMazi/videos/vb.1925659984382187/19610729308408 92/?type=2&theater

Below we have the metrics for “Pare Thesi – QA Analyst” post:

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Figure 4: Pare Thesi -QA Analyst Post

https://www.facebook.com/PapastratosMazi/videos/vb.1925659984382187/1990147667933418/?ty pe=2&theater As shown below, “Pare Thesi- QA Analyst” video was more engaging compared to the above photo content:

Figure 5: Pare Thesi QA Analyst video

https://www.facebook.com/PapastratosMazi/videos/vb.1925659984382187/1961086930839492/?ty pe=2&theater

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Below we have some key metrics for “Pare Thesi- Customer Care supervisor” recruitment campaign:

Figure 6: Pare Thesi Customer Care supervisor

https://www.facebook.com/PapastratosMazi/photos/a.1926603490954503/1990647057883479/?typ e=3&theater

Papastratos “Pare Thesi” campaigns were perceived as very successful by the organization, not only because they reached their objective, which was to collect many eligible applications, but also because they signalized the internal digital transformation and the launch of corporate social media. Recruitment campaigns assisted in overall growth of Papastratos Facebook page fan base and enhanced awareness.

4.4.3 Papastratos and “Smoke Free TIF”

Papastratos stands in a crucial point of its history, and embraces Philip Morris vision for a new smoke free world. The company aims to offer better, smoke free alternatives to traditional smokers. The ultimate goal is that smoke free product will

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completely replace cigarettes in the future. Papastratos joins this vision with a historic decision in Greek industry: the production of conventional cigarettes stops completely. Smoke free campaign targets to make people aware of company’s vision of a smoke free future and promotes the innovation behind new alternatives to smoking. The major change in Papastratos, the shift from a traditional tobacco company that promoted a smoke free future against its past, needs to be depicted in corporate image and inspire Greek consumers. The campaign targets not only legal adult smokers, but general public population, in order to help them embrace a new smoking culture in Greece. The proof of a smoke free future starts from the company itself and expands with actions all over Greece, and this is why Papastratos chooses to support communication initiatives that have great institutional, communicational and social impact, so as to show emphatically that Papastratos vision is happening now. Papastratos joined forces with Helexpo TIF (Thessaloniki International Fair) and organized for the first time at European level the first smoke free exhibition where the public smoked neither indoors not outdoors, but only in certain branded areas. At the same time the Municipality of Thessaloniki supported smoke free TIF with branded info kiosks in the center of the city, Aristotelous square. Smoke free vision became reality and was live in the first Greek corporate broadcasting channel. The press conference was welcomed by the Prime Minister, the mayor of Thessaloniki and by US ambassador. Smoke free in TIF had three pillars: Physical presence (2 stages and 3 info kiosks), Media presence (Press conference, print interview and radio interview) and online presence. Online presence consisted of: Smoke free TIF news posts, 10 video posts in Papastratos FB page and email communication to IQOS members that was redirecting consumers to Facebook. In the next paragraphs, we will focus in how this initiative was covered by social media (Facebook and LinkedIn) and how this was evaluated by the organization. With the above approach, a very strong narrative was created, about the first European smoke free, outdoor exhibition that was supported by the government and local authorities. This narrative created earned publicity with an estimated profit of 250.000€, as hundreds of posts and comments were published in internet, radio and

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television. More than 280.000 TIF visitors came in contact with smoke free TIF branded info kiosks and thousands of people were informed about the smoke free vision. In total smoke free broadcasts brought 5,5 million impressions in Facebook and LinkedIn and engagement was increased by 17%, with more than 3500 comments in a month, feeding discussions around smoke free initiatives. As mentioned above, the content created for social media included six videos and four live broadcasts. Initial content was introductory to smoke free vision, while the rest content was happening in parallel with TIF exhibition and included interviews of key persons behind the organization, Papastartos employees and representatives of Municipality of Thessaloniki. The final live video of “Smoke Free TIF” was an interview of CEO of Papastratos, who commented around the initiative’s evaluation. Below are screenshots of the respective content, following uploading sequence :

Figure 7 : Smoke Free TIF, "Smoke Free vision of Figure 8 : Smoke Free TIF, "The vision of a future Papastratos" video without cigarette smoke" video https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1117526281737980 https://www.facebook.com/PapastratosMazi/videos/457672834740687/ ?v=457672834740687

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Figure 10 : "In 2 days TIF will have a different feel, the Figure 9: "83 years now, always something new begins future is happening now" video in TIF" video https://www.facebook.com/PapastratosMazi/videos/223453735191639/?v= https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2087747641259343 223453735191639

Figure 11: "For 83 years TIF has been moving forward" Figure 12 :“Smoke free TIF- Key persons” live broadcast video https://www.facebook.com/PapastratosMazi/videos/141046369575 https://www.facebook.com/PapastratosMazi/videos/218451472849 1728/ 8044/?v=2184514728498044

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Figure 14: "Fifth day of Smoke Free TIF" video Figure 13 : Papastratos people talk on camera" live https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=2106855509563769 broadcast https://www.facebook.com/PapastratosMazi/videos/196619486367 9640/

Figure 15:"Municipality of Thessaloniki supports Figure 16 "CEO of Papastratos” live broadcast Smoke Free TIF", live broadcast https://www.facebook.com/PapastratosMazi/videos/274298263293383/ https://www.facebook.com/PapastratosMazi/videos/197736745 8992262/

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Smoke Free campaign in Facebook, that was live for September 2018, reached in total 2.2 million unique users, had 9.5 million impressions and generated almost 20 thousand interactions (post likes, post comments and shares). The campaign reached 56% off target audience which was adults of age 25-55 y.o. It is important to note here that the campaign objectives were pre defined by the organization and both target audience coverage and impressions where within the initial objectives. More than 600 users connected with Papastratos Facebook page and total video views surpassed 2.000.000. Average frequency per user was at 4.3, enhancing significantly corporate awareness. In the table below, we have some key metrics of “Smoke Free TIF” campaign in Facebook:

SMOKE FREE FACEBOOK METRICS

Impressions 9.543.478

Unique Users 2.241.516

Frequency 4.3

Total Interactions 19.757 Post Likes 17.409 Post Comments 1.346

Post Shares 1.002

Page Likes 627

Video Views 2.133.122 Table 9: Smoke Free Facebook evaluation

Also, sentiment analysis in total comments on Smoke Free contents revealed that 45% of the comments had positive sentiment, 43% of comments had neutral sentiment and only 12% of comments had negative sentiment. 86% of total Smoke

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Free TIF mentions and 93% of total negative comments were also made in Papastratos Facebook page. SENTIMENT ANALYSIS On Comments

12% 43%

45%

Table 10: Sentiment analysis in total comments

Below we have the key metrics for each Smoke Free video and live broadcast. Cinematic video (“83 years now, always something new begins in TIF”) was the top performer both in terms of reach and engagement due to the fact that it was more emotional. Also live broadcasts were more engaging in total due to addressing a more targeted audience. Key metrics for Smoke Free content in FB page

Table 11: Key metrics for Smoke free Content in Facebook

Undergraduate Thesis / Postgraduate Dissertation 51 Zygourou Afroditi , “Social media marketing and evaluation metrics: A case study in tobacco industry”

The content was characterized as very engaging as it was above average metrics for the previous time period. The average engagement for Facebook content for the time period 31/8/18 - 25/9/18 was 254% higher compared to period 1/1/18- 30/8/18. The above performance was also boosted with three email communications to IQOS database members, that was redirecting them to video content in Facebook page. On average, 25% of email recipients opened their email and 5% of them clicked through the link. Smoke Free TIF campaign was also live in LinkedIn Papastratos. The campaign duration was from 7/9/18 to 30/9/18 and targeted audience was all Greek LinkedIn users: 1.400.000 members. Four sponsored updates had as a main goal to increase Smoke Free awareness in Greek business audience and increase engagement levels. In terms of engagement the campaign was successful, as average engagement surpassed 1%, which is 2.5 times higher than benchmark (0.42%), while click through rate ( CTR, the percent of people who saw the advertisement and clicked it) was 0.43%, which is 20% above the average benchmark. In total, the campaign gained more than 200.000 impressions and more than 2.000 engagements (clicks and social actions). Also, the video content had almost 51.000 views and 12.251 completions ( views that lasted 97-100% of total video duration. View rate was at 26%, which is above LinkedIn benchmark (20%) and completion rate was at 24.2%, which is considered as a high rate, as most videos had more than 3 minutes duration. In general, the higher the duration of a video, the lower the average completion rate. “Smoke free” TIF was perceived as a very successful campaign by the organization as it was the first step of a set of initiates towards a smoke free future. The company managed to communicate the vision broadly, increased awareness around this initiative and triggered discussions around it. In general, high engagement and positive sentiment helped the company to organize upcoming smoke free events and expand the campaign even further. The increasing engagement was an indication that many online member became aware of “Smoke Free”initative and due to this the organization expanded the program with other “Smoke Free” actions. From a marketing point of view, the campaign received a bronze Ermis marketing award.

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5 Conclusions and Limitations

Social media have changed the way people interact with each other and their favorite brands once and for good. Consumers are no longer passive receivers of marketing message, but instead they use popular social media pages like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to voice their opinions, either positive or negative. Consumers’ participation in social media forces brands and organizations to be active in social media as well and include them in their marketing mix. This way, companies not only can influence discussions around their brands, but also enhance their brand appeal, as new technologies allow for more personalized, targeted communication and increase consumer participation in the content creation. Companies have been investing more in social media marketing, so evaluation of these tactics is more than necessary but a bit tricky to perform. Social media marketing has intangible benefits like brand awareness, brand engagement and word of mouth. There is not one single metric that can cover all the above in various social media platforms and there is not one straightforward formula that can calculate return on investment. It is preferable to set metrics per social platform, are of influence (awareness, engagement, wom) and business goal. It is also essential to understand that all social media campaigns should serve a clear business goal. Papastratos joined social media after IQOS launch and managed to get many engaged fans quickly. This was very successful outcome, especially under the restrictions of a tobacco industry. The online presence does not serve advertising reasons, as this is legally restricted but serves corporate awareness and engagement. The recruiting campaign ‘Pare Thesi’ triggered audience attention, mostly due to real time sentimental videos of actual employees. ‘Pare thesi” was the main campaign during the first months of Facebook page launch and was credited for the page success. Metrics monitoring let the company evaluate the campaign by itself, but also provided learnings for future social campaigns. Also, as this was the beginning of social media presence, the organization used this metrics for benchmarking purposes and gained understanding regarding where the company stands in social media world. According to internal measurements, during the first

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months of Facebook launch ( June 17 to December 17) and “Pare Thesi”, brand awareness increased 9 percentage points. “Smoke Free” campaign on the other hand, was the vehicle that shared Philip Morris vision for a future without cigarette smoke. As the message was coming from a tobacco industry, which could sound contradictive, the organization carefully examined the social media metrics, as it was the only way to get consumer sentiment of this initiative and evaluate the campaign. Once again the metrics were above expected benchmarks and the organization expanded the initiative in other areas as well. The social metrics also provided the organization an estimation of where corporate awareness stands and the capacity of sharing corporate messages online. According to internal measurements, the awareness increased 4 percentage points during September 18, when “Smoke Free TIF” was live. As mentioned in the above chapters, the use of social media can drive organizational change (Sinclair and Vogus, 2011) and social media can help organizations collaborate more, learn fast and engage with customers and business partners (Bingham and Conner, 2010). Indeed, the participation of Papastratos in social media coincided with a big organizational change and a big transformation in business model where the company developed a B2C model and started interacting with consumers directly in its own retail network. Participation in social media gave the opportunity to better understand consumers and how they feel about Papastratos initiatives. This was very valuable and helped the organization take business decisions that were consumer centric. Social media provide companies a lot of useful data that can be very useful when interpreted. Companies can turn these data into valuable insights and increase loyalty. According to Brethon et al. (2012), the lack of expertise within an organization may act as a barrier for implementing social media strategies. For Papastratos this was a big challenge, as there were no employees with similar background. The organization overcame the barrier by recruiting people with relevant background and consulting a marketing agency specialized in social media. The basic element of social media is user participation and this is why the company emphasized in interaction metrics. The marketing agency not only made useful suggestions for upcoming campaigns, but also helped by creating unique content that triggered viewers’ attention. It was a clear finding that real life examples of Papastratos office

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life was very interesting for viewers, which was a clear learning for the organization that used this tactic in many upcoming posts. The issue that concerns many companies regarding social media marketing is that they spend enough money in social media, without being able to understand how it influences their consumers and their stance towards their brands. The perception that there are no concrete metrics and the uncertainty of what can be achieved or not via social media marketing causes frustration to organizations and make them reluctant. In order to understand the full potential of social media it is necessary to establish key performance indicators. Qualitative and quantitative data of social media were analyzed by a reporting team, as it was essential to understand what was working or not and plan next campaigns. Metrics were combined with sentiment analysis in order to get more insights regarding consumer sentiment and generated WOM via in social media. The main characteristic of social media is user participation, so in terms of evaluation it is not enough to measure reach just alone, but also engagement and more soft metrics like sentiment. Considering that this was the first time of Papastratos in social media, the measurement of specific indices was critical as it let the organization understand what defines a successful social media campaign, compare between activities and also convince upper management that it is worth it investing in social media marketing. Overall, measurement allows the organization to report on win and losses and demonstrate how it is improving overtime (Lovett, 2011). While this study, provides information about how a company in tobacco industry can benefit from social media, it has some limitations. Metrics monitoring is very beneficial for social media evaluation, but there are no specific benchmarks set for tobacco industry and this is why we used benchmarks used by Facebook in order to evaluate performance. Papastratos main competitors, British American Tobacco and JTI have Facebook accounts dedicated to career opportunities, so we cannot directly compare their performance with our case. Also, while Nobacco focuses on alternatives to smoking, its products are quite different to tobacco products, so they represent another industry. As Lovett (2011) states, benchmarks need to be developed over time, as there is no easy way to measure a company’s progress against a set of comparable peers. However, as social media operate in a public way there are ways of benchmarking success outside ones organization.

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As discussed in the previous chapters, companies want to identify how social media affect their sales and how social media marketing increases their market share (Sterne, 2010). In our case, we cannot link any social media activity with direct sales due to the nature of the product and limitations of tobacco advertising. The only effects of social media where the organization emphasizes are brand awareness and generated word of mouth. The survey could be further enhanced with more findings by conducting interviews to management team, in order to understand if the reported metrics of performance were adequate and appropriate for the business goals. Also, future surveys can concentrate on what is considered to be a successful social media strategy for tobacco sector and how this can be measured accurately, both with quantitative and qualitative metrics.

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Appendix Appendix 1:

Stelnzner 2014

Appendix 2:

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Evolution of social networks as shown in Boyd and Elison (2007).

Author’s Statement: I hereby expressly declare that, according to the article 8 of Law 1559/1986, this dissertation is solely the product of my personal work, does not infringe any intellectual property, personality and personal data rights of third parties, does not contain works/contributions from third parties for which the permission of the authors/beneficiaries is required, is not the product of partial or total plagiarism, and that the sources used are limited to the literature references alone and meet the rules of scientific citations.

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