Corporate Communication in Social Media: Opinions by Theoreticians and Practitioners

Latvia was represented at the conference “Death by Facebook – can advertising survive social media?” organised in Antwerp by the European Foundation for Commercial Communications Education AdCom by Olga Kazaka, Partner at the communication agency A. W. Olsen & Partners/Scholz & Friends Riga. She provided background information about the situation in Latvia.

The conference was interesting due to the fact that it was attended by about one hundred theoreticians and practitioners in the field of communication from all over Europe providing an insight into the social media communication process from various angles.

For example, it was highlighted that the appearance of social media has shifted the focus from information and content to connection and action. Furthermore, companies should become as open, socially oriented and honest as possible.

During the conference it was possible to get acquainted with the study conducted by WARC (The World Advertising Research Center). 320 marketing students were surveyed in 21 countries. 69% of the respondents characterised their experience of communicating with brands in social media as positive. Facebook, Youtube and Twitter were singled out as the most favourable platforms for corporate communication.

Besides, the students believed that their decisions about consumption mostly depended on their friends’ advice (word-of-mouth), television and online recommendations (e.g., websites, which compare prices) leaving social media in the second place.