ERASMUS UNIVERSITY ROTTERDAM

Erasmus School of Economics

Bsc Economics and Business
Urban, Port & Transport Economics

The Effective use of Social Media

in Destination Branding

Name : Dwi Rahmi Labbaika

Student Number : 372411
Supervisor : Erik Braun
Finish Date : August 2015
 Abstract

This bachelor thesis is a qualitative research aimed to investigate necessary conditions for an effective
use of social media platforms in destination marketing. Research conducted in this study is solely based
on literature research. The study combines general theory of social media marketing and branding with
theory of destination branding and concludes propositions based on those two theories. There are three
propositions for an effective use of social media activities in destination branding: good quality content
of social media updates, involvement from the whole destination marketing organization, and
integration with other marketing platforms. The aim of developing these propositions is for additional
insights regarding effectiveness in social media destination branding, and not a correct hypothesis since
there is no empirical evidence whether these propositions are true.

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 Table of Contents

Abstratct…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….1
Table of Contents……………………………………………………………………………………………………….2
1 Chapter I : Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………….3
1.1 Background…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………3
1.2 Research Question………………………………………………………………………………………………………5
1.3 Methodology………………………………………………………………………………………………………………5
2 Chapter II : Social Media Marketing & Branding…………………………………………………..6
2.1 Social Media……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….6
2.2 Development of Social Networking Sites……………………………………………………………………..6
2.3 Word of Mouth VS Social Media………………………………………………………………………………….8
2.4 Social Media Marketing……………………………………………………………………………………………….9
2.5 Social Media Branding……………………………………………………………………………………………….11
2.6 Effectiveness of Social Media Marketing…………………………………………………………………….11
3 Chapter III : Destination Branding……………………………………………………………………….14
3.1 City Marketing………………………………………………………………………………………………………….14
3.2 City Branding………………………………………………………………………………………………………….…14
3.3 Destination Branding…………………………………………………………………………………………………15
3.4 Effectiveness of Place Branding…………………………………………………………………………………16
4 Chapter IV : Effectiveness of Social Media in Destination Branding………………….…18
4.1 Current State of Social Media activities in Destination Branding…………………………………18
4.2 Propositions……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..19
5 Chapter V : Conclusions………………………………………………………………………………………23
5.1 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..…23
5.2 Limitations & Recommendations………………………………………………………………………….……24
Reference…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………25

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 Chapter I: Introduction

1.1 Background

Social media has changed the way people communicate unlike the way it was before. In the past, people
were used to one-way conversation via phone or message. After internet has been discovered, people began to
develop the culture of collective information communication. They feel that it is now part of their lives that
according to CNBC, people in the US spend on average 30% of their time on social media every day (Popkin, 2012).
People can input, share, and give feedback freely with others who shares similar interests worldwide. Recently,
many of them have joined the trends of sharing travel-related contents in social media that is supported with
geographical-tagging (Stefanidis, 2011). The creation of this user-generated content is not only beneficial for other
users from information sharing, but also for travel sites from high ranking in search engine. Hyperlinks from
constant posts and reviews through social media will positively affect the rank of travel-related content in search
engine. Since nowadays tourists use online search for traveling purpose a lot , travel site’s position in search
engines has become more important and social media has created an advantage for them (Gretzel, 2006).

Besides personal use, social media can be utilized for company or organization use as well. Marketers
thought that making a social media account is more effective than developing a website. Since not everyone is able
to develop a website, company often hire web-designer with a cost. While with social media, cost can be
minimized since hiring a developer is not necessary in making an account. Companies also believe that after
engaging in social media, their brand recognition has increased, relationship with customers had become closer
and wider (Rooney, 2011).

Social media can be included in promotional mix as an integrated marketing communications (IMC). IMC
manages collaboration between various marketing tools to create unified communication of marketing strategy to
target markets (Boone & Kurtz, 2007). Unlike social media, traditional promotion mix engage in a controlled one-
way communication, such as public relations, advertising, direct marketing, etc. (Mangold & Faulds, 2009).
Meanwhile, many aspects of consumer behavior have changed along with the development of online
communication (Mangold & Faulds, 2009). Therefore promotion mix in traditional IMC has to be upgraded with
social media, enabling broader ways of marketing communication.

Much research on social media has been done in the context of the business community. The question
has been raised regarding the applicability of social media as marketing tool for cities. Promotional mix in the case
of cities is limited compared to business with regard to their budgets. Promotions are mainly seen in websites or
printed advertisement such as travel magazine and usually to promote events in cities. Moreover, goods or
services as a product have fewer characteristics than cities, making it easier to implement certain marketing

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approach such as social media marketing. Meanwhile engaging certain marketing policy in a city require more
thoughtful preparation since it may affect social, economic, politic and other important entities.

Many cities have directly as well as indirectly made use of social media. If cities have yet to utilize social
media, then workers of city government might already use it and unconsciously benefit their cities. Social Media
Marketing Industry Report claimed that 64% of marketers spend at least five hours per week on social media
(Pradiptarini, 2011). If people who work directly with marketing are already using it, perhaps it would be the
perfect time to include social media in their business strategy.

Although their target audiences are also local citizens, the practice of city marketing is mostly perceive in
tourism (Kavaratzis, 2008). The City of New York is arguably one of famous tourist destinations. Since 2005, the
amount of international visitors has increased steadily from 6.8 million to 11.4 million in 2013. In 2006, the city
appointed its own Chief Marketing Officer and created official marketing organization, namely NYC & Co. to
support NYC’s tourism by engaging in advertisements, collaboration with creative communities, tourism events, as
well as social media activities (NYC&Co, 2014). Its official twitter account @nycgo was launched in 2008 as a
platform to communicate tourist-related updates that is also integrated with its official website (Twitter.com,
2015).
Social media integration is a great way to promote city tourism both directly and indirectly. However,
there has been little evidence and studies for its effectiveness to city branding. Therefore, this bachelor thesis
aimed to investigate necessary conditions that make social media marketing in city branding of tourism effective.

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1.2 Research Question

Social media marketing is perceived as a new trend in city branding. Increasing accessibility to internet has
motivated people to utilize more of social media, particularly in marketing. On the other hand, the realization to
implement social media marketing to promote city tourism has been done in many municipalities. Therefore it is
important to explore and evaluate the case further, and research question is formed:

What are the necessary conditions for the effective use of social media platforms in destination branding?

To help answer the research question, sub-questions are prepared as such:

1. What is social media marketing and branding?

2. What is destination branding?
3. What are the necessary conditions for an effective use of social media platforms in destination branding?

1.3 Methodology

In order to answer research questions, arguments on this bachelor thesis will be based on literature
research. Literatures that are used revolve around social media marketing as well as city branding. They are varied
from reports, journals, papers, research, as well as news sources.

The first chapter will contain introduction about social media as marketing tools for city branding.
Background of the topic will be discussed as well as research question and methodology. The second chapter will
thoroughly explain social media marketing in general, and continue with the third chapter which illustrates the
overview of city branding. The fourth chapter will explain current state of social media activities in destination
branding and derive necessary conditions for effective use of social media in destination branding by combining
the insights from chapter two as well as chapter three. In the last chapter, overall conclusion will be made as well
as limitations and suggestion for further research.

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 Chapter II: Social Media Marketing and Branding

2.1 Social Media

According to Merriam-Webster, the term ‘social’ described as “relating or involving activities in which
people spend time talking to each other or doing enjoyable things with each other”. Being social requires
interaction between parties within a community (Merriam-Webster, 2015). On the other hand, ‘media’ is said to
be “a particular form of system or medium of cultivation, conveyance, or expression”. It refers to a platform for
communication of ideas or information that in this case relies on the use of internet (Merriam-Webster, 2015).
Therefore, it can be concluded that social media resolve as an electronic communication platform such as Web
sites, which are established to support interaction and information sharing between individuals of a community.

The invention of social media has made the distance between consumers and companies closer by
enabling personal interaction (Yan, 2011). However as more and more people use social media, users gain more
power and companies as well as organization lose control of their authority (Thevenot, 2007). In the context of
destination branding, marketers no longer hold full power of destination’s brand image.

2.2 Development of Social Networking Sites

Social media platform was firstly discovered in 1997 when SixDegrees.com was launched. As the first
generation of social media, there were many shortcomings that made many platforms in this era rather short-
lived. The second generation began with the success of Friendster in 2002, but ended quickly after it failed to

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anticipate high traffic with high technological growth (Boyd & Ellison, 2007). The last generation or the recent
social media wave has successfully evolved online communities in a huge way since it contributes to the birth of
numerous social networking sites. Although they are considered young, this SNS generation is widely used today.
There are two famous sites that have gained more than a billion users including companies and organization and
enabled marketing strategy to be integrated in their model (Statistica.com, 2015). These SNS will be further
discussed in this research:
1. Facebook
Facebook was found in 2001 as a trial site by Mark Zuckerberg. It was initially launched as an
exclusive networking site for Harvard University. In 2006, users of Facebook skyrocketed when it
reopened for public. Now, with almost 1.5 billion users around the world, it became one of the first to
offer integration with marketing strategy. (Cassidy, 2006; Curtis, 2011; Statistica.com,2015).
Facebook serves as a convenient platform for marketers to connect with potential customers and
communities. Maintaining relationship with communities is important for marketing, most importantly for
cities. Marketers can share information on their Facebook ‘page’ for free, or pay for an access to
marketing data and targeted advertisements. An update on Facebook can be varied from texts, pictures,
videos, or a link to existing webpage. Marketers can treat this update as an approach to spread
advertisement or campaign similar to mass media. Like word of mouth, when other users ‘like’ or
comment on your Facebook page, they also share your post automatically to their own circle of friends. It
is likely that their friends will share it again and multiply viewing numbers. However, information in viral
advertisement of social networking site will not be decreased as the number of shares increase. Therefore
it created more advantage for marketing more than traditional word of mouth.
2. Twitter
Twitter was found by Jack Dorsey and Evan Williams in 2007 after failing many social media projects.
On Twitter, users can only update message or ‘tweet’ up to 140 characters, thus it is considered simpler
than Facebook. The simplicity feature had gained them instant popularity as public figures, media outlets,
as well as businesses make updates on twitter every day (Kwak, 2010). There were approximately 316
million users as of 2015 with 500 million tweets daily (Twitter, 2015). The traffic of twitter updates has
made it the new medium for ‘real-time’ reporting. News like traffic accident or football match most likely
appears at the same time of the occurrence (Kwak, 2010).
65% of Fortune 500 companies have twitter account, which makes it the most popular SNS for
business (Burson-Marsteller, 2010). Compare to Facebook, Twitter’s simplicity feature also enables more
person-to-person connection with potential and existing markets. Since this is a difficult goal for
companies as well as cities, they will be benefited the most by having a Twitter account. However,
consumers will expect friendly and fast response that is difficult to maintain. Like any other social media,
traffic on Twitter also enables good as well as bad information to travel faster than traditional media. This

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 may hurt companies since they do not have total control of information flow. Therefore, marketers are
advised to receive proper training beforehand.
Unlike Facebook, relationship between two users is not determined by being a friend to one another.
On Twitter, relationship is separated based on following and being followed, thus the two has no
reciprocation. A user may follow other user but it does not guaranteed him to be automatically followed
back. A follower will receive tweet updates and is allowed to send private direct message to his following
(Kwak, 2010). It closely represents current social situation where being friends does not always mean they
maintain relationship with each other. Public figure for example, might have more followers that he does
not know all personally. Therefore, the use of Twitter is similar to mass media marketing rather than
personal engagement.

2.3 Word of Mouth VS Social Media

Word of Mouth (WOM) is a marketing tool where channel of communication is dominated by consumers
and independent from companies. Information shared in word of mouth is mainly associated with trust and
therefore higher in value (Brown, Broderick & Lee, 2007). A lot of marketing experts will confidently agree that
word of mouth is one of the most effective marketing approaches (Savert, 2011). However, according to Savert
(2011), this conventional method has several shortcomings:
1. Information is slowly dispersed
The more information is distributed, the more time it takes to spread.
2. Information changes as it is distributed
The more information is distributed, the higher the degree of error. Marketers are independent or have
no control on all people as the main characters in word of mouth. Different level of understanding among
people creates the risk of misinformation.
3. The further the information is distributed, the more receivers have less information
The reason for this shortcoming is also the same as point two. The more information is distributed, the
more it loses its original purpose. Marketers have limited ability to neither determine nor correct all
context of information that is incomplete.

Interestingly, social media can rectify these shortcomings and transforms into a more effective tool of
electronic word of mouth or e-WOM. In social media, marketers can treat viral advertisement as ‘update’. This
update can be shared to friends or other users, similar to how word of mouth works. However, an update can be
immediately distributed to all friends or users at once or with less effort and therefore more effective (Savert,
2011).

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 The second and third problem can also be addressed if social media is utilized. When an update from a
user is being shared by second user, the third and following users will see information being shared exactly the
same as how it was shared originally by the first user. The shared update can include detailed information such as
the creator’s identity, background and location (Savert, 2011). Therefore effectiveness and credibility of social
media are guaranteed more than traditional word of mouth. Goodwill and trust is the fundamental base of SNS,
hence accountability as well as fool proof of communication in social media that are important to sustain business-
to-consumer relationship can be secured (Neti, 2011). Both are also especially important for city marketing and
branding since they represent high-level stakeholders and policymakers of cities.

2.4 Social Media Marketing

Long before social media was found, Lazer and Kelly (1973) describe social marketing as implementation
of marketing knowledge, concept, and techniques that aimed to strengthen social and economic ends. They also
explained that it includes analysis of the social consequences of marketing policies, decisions, and activities (Lazer
& Kelly, 1973). The definition of both marketing and social media marketing refer to strategic and methodological
process of marketing to establish firm’s influence within the society. The difference is social media marketing
benefit from the internet (Neti, 2010).

Social media is a ‘collective intelligence’ platform that enables not only consumers, but also companies to
learn about their market (Litvin, Goldsmith, & Pan, 2008). As much as consumers are able to express opinions
about a product objectively, suppliers are able to receive feedback and study consumer behavior too. Most
importantly, marketers are able to promote their product and increase brand awareness in the process. This kind
of impact would be difficult to obtain with traditional marketing.

A lot of multinational corporations have finally recognized the potential in social media for advertising. A
CMO survey by the American Marketing Association reported that businesses have started to allocate budget for
social media marketing. Statistics show that they spend 6% of marketing budget on average, and expected to
increase to 10% by next year and 18% after 5 years (Neti, 2010). Therefore it is probably the time for city tourism
to upgrade their marketing by joining social media.
Tourism is an ‘information-intensive industry’, whereas social media is information-abundant and
therefore both are relevant with each other (Gretzel et al., 2000). When planning a trip, tourists often rely on the
internet to search information about destinations as well as bookings. Social media works as one of information
source for them. For example, tripadvisor.com is an online community platform designated for tourism where
consumers can put review of travel site publicly. Destination marketers cannot count on use users’ review in social
media alone as a correct measurement tool. However, they can use them as marketing and promotional tool along
with advertisement.

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 Neti (2010), determine several characteristics of social media that both benefit and concern by marketers
(Neti, 2010):

1. Size
Whether it was only from Facebook or Twitter, the size of social media users is massive and distributed
across the globe. Companies will be able to conduct effective communication to more customers
inexpensively. It is beneficial for companies to do market research, improve product, as well as marketing.
2. Transparency
Since the fundamental bases of SNS are goodwill and trust, the nature of social media is fool proof thus
there is no room for cheating (Neti, 2010). Although it increases companies’ credibility and trust,
companies are forced to maintain their authenticity that may be difficult at times. They also need to be
careful when expressing opinion for it will be taken seriously and may hurt large number of people. It is
advised to hire experts or train employees before engaging in social media.
3. Help Website Traffic and Traditional Marketing
People prefer to open SNS rather than Website. However it can still retain visitors with the help of social
media as a catalyst. Companies can insert link of their website on their page and encourage visitors to
open it. It is advised to keep updates in social media short but appealing at the same time while
encourage visitors to check official website for detailed information.
Traditional marketing such as print, media or TV advertisement can also be benefited through social
media. The objectives of traditional marketing and social media are recognized differently by consumers.
Traditional marketing is perceived as a direct and controlled communication, whereas social media
communication is perceived as an objective opinion and free from marketing motives (Mangold & Faulds,
2009). As a way to combine both objectives, marketers can still make use of social media for marketing
purpose by carefully making interaction with consumer in a more objective manner (Weinberg &
Pehlivan, 2011). It is suggested that creativity is essential to create interesting content in order to engage
discussion with consumers (Drury, 2007). Companies can also engage discussions in social media with
public figures or media outlets whose opinion is considered objective and widely accepted by the public.
4. Branding of Product
Discussion in social media increase brand consciousness within consumers. It encourages them to search
for more information about the brand. Therefore it is advised to engage a more holistic preparation
before integrating with social media. Companies have to make sure that their positive image is correctly
portrayed and maintained.

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2.4 Social Media Branding

For consumers, social media can help them reveal the true identity of a brand. A favorable brand is one
that consumers can relate, it is similar to corporate citizenship strategy (Engeseth, 2005). The aims in social media
branding has to serve companies internally as well as externally (Yan, 2011). Yan (2011) concludes nine goals of
social media branding than can be summarized into (Yan, 2011):

1. Build a sense of membership with consumers

2. Encourage acceptance of brand value
3. Encourage consumers to engage in communication and promotion.

With these goals, companies hope to strategically achieve competitive advantage, differentiation from other
brand, brand awareness, brand communication, as well as brand evaluation.

Similar to marketing, it is important for social media branding to maintain transparency and interaction in
order to fulfil the goals. Social media branding should also maintain proprietary brand assets, by setting rules of
how far branding will be implemented (Aaker, 1991). In cities, for example, it is important to acknowledge how far
they have been represented in social media. Branding of several destinations might already exist, especially with
the invention of geographical-tagging. Lastly, companies have to consider type of measurements in social media
branding. Similar to marketing, it is important for evaluation (Yan, 2011).

2.5 Effectiveness of Social Media Marketing

Measuring effectiveness and return of investment of social media marketing is not an easy task, since it
involves not only financial, but non-financial input such as influence and interaction with consumers. From various
literatures, Pradiptarini (2011) concludes that the way consumers transfer influence into purchasing decision is the
important goal of social media marketing. She also wrapped up conditions that contribute to an effective social
media marketing (Pradiptarini, 2011):

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1. Quality of Content
Marketers should put thorough
preparation before posting an update on
company’s social media. It has to contain
message that consumers can associate with
their goal (Drury, 2008). Content of social
media update should Emphasizing on the
quality of social media content does not carry
out emphasizing on quantity of content. However, Michaelidou (2011) argued otherwise. She researched
how companies measure effectiveness of social media marketing and suggested most of them rely
positively on number of users joining their group, number of comments, number of customers attracted
via SNS, and lastly number of friend requests (Michaelidou, 2011). Blanchard (2011) explained his reason
that an account with millions of followers or friends does not necessarily mean all of them is active. It is
possible that some percentages of them are passive users or inactive in social media (Blanchard, 2011).
Research conducted by Advertising Age suggests that the number of brand mentions does not
necessarily indicate effectiveness, especially when brand name is too generic (Creamer, 2011).
Pradiptarini (2011) also suggests the correct approach of maximizing content quality is by frequently
engaging conversation with customers. Research conducted by Twitter reveal that companies who have
positive financial performance regularly engage personal communication with their followers via Twitter
(Pradiptarini, 2011).

2. Trust and Long-term Relationship

After the introduction of social media, marketers began to change strategy and put effort in
making sustainable relationship with customers. They realize that traditional marketing strategy such as
excessive inducement of advertisement was not as effective (Rust, 2010). Companies can allocate more
funds in research and development to create products that really help to solve customers’ problems.
Satisfied customers are likely to continue using the product and suggest their families or friends to do the
same or word of mouth.
Trust and long-term relationship also achieved through influence that is accumulated by
consistent connection with customers. It is important to understand that popularity and reach does not
necessarily imply influence. Instead, influence is about authority, presence, and trusts that turn actions
within a community into something better (Creamer, 2011).

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3. Involvement
One of the causes of unsuccessful social media marketing is the lack of commitment from the
company (Vaynerchuk, 2011). They have to show seriousness by not only involving marketing team, but
also company as a whole, including executives. In order to extend long-term relationship, company should
support social media marketing by developing interaction not only with online communities, but also
offline community. For example, executives can share their expertise by volunteering as guest speakers.
While generating more followers, they can promote social media account to strengthen offline
connection.
4. Integration with other marketing Platform
Marketers worried that engaging in social media would decrease traffic in companies’ website.
Therefore, it is important to diversify features of each online platform. For example, Walgreens uses
Facebook only for short updates and official website for detailed promotions (Neff, 2010). Moreover,
social media can put web links and work as a catalyst to increase web traffic and prevent it from losing its
purpose as company’s marketing tool (Rooney, 2011).
Brand recognition and customers relationship will increase by combining social media with other
marketing tools (Rooney, 2011). Traditional marketing can also increase activities in social media. In 2008,
Starbucks advertised its free coffee promotion on one of TV’s most popular comedy program. Starbucks’
brand mentions in Twitter rose as soon as the program started which subsequently increase online brand
exposure of Starbucks (Hoffman & Fodor, 2010).

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 Chapter III: Destination Branding

3.1 City Marketing

Kotler & Levy (1969) have successfully broadened the understanding about marketing that it is not always
about making profit. Braun, (2008) explained that by observing political campaigns, and promotion of charity
organizations, they discovered that strategies of non-profit and public organization are similar to marketing in
business (Braun, 2008). On the other hand, city government can be categorized as public organization.

The understanding about city marketing has been developed ever since it was firstly introduced. Gold and
Ward (1994) define marketing of places as an approach to transfer selected images of a location to a targeted
audience using publicity and promotion (Gold & Ward, 1994). The marketing of city or place can be systematically
developed from the general principle of marketing practice of goods and services (Kotler et al 1999). Such concept
th
has already been adopted as early as 18 century shortly after the emigration from Europe to the now-known as
United States. In the early development, place marketing simply aimed to attract investors to develop industrial
activities, and stimulate capital and workforce growth (Moilanen & Rainisto, 2009). Only from 1990s until present,
marketing objectives of cities has changed as the knowledge developed. Marketing strategy for cities has become
more ‘niche’ or segmented due to different geographical and social conditions of cities ().

Although cities’ marketing strategy has become more segmented, the application of city marketing should
share a broad interpretation due to the increasing number people involved in city marketing activities. The
application of city marketing developed to be more similar with corporate marketing rather than product
marketing, since corporation also holds responsibilities to manage shareholders and various target markets.
Misinterpretation of city marketing that leads to misunderstanding can happen in the level of decision makers and
stakeholders. This will create barrier for cities to develop its marketing policies, like in the case of Birmingham and
Rotterdam. Broader interpretation will create positive cooperation between public and private stakeholders as
well as decision-makers. It enables city marketers to organize more marketing activities that expressed different
views of various stakeholders. For example, in the city of Gӧteborg, manage stakeholders on three different levels:
City marketing board, business unit, and projects (Braun, 2008).

3.2 City Branding

In the general marketing notion, there has been debate regarding its correlation to branding. American
Marketing Association define ‘brand’ like what Kotler (1993) has described: “a name, term, sign, symbol, or design
or combination of them which is intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to

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differentiate them from those of competitors” (Kotler, 1991). Keller (1993) explained ‘brand’ as “an equity in a
form of image as a result of marketing effect of a company” (Keller, 1993). Similar to the context of general
marketing, city branding also associated with city image. Braun (2008) believes that although the term city
branding was just recently introduced, the idea to promote a certain image to city has been the core objective of
city marketing (Braun, 2008). Nevertheless, it can be concluded that branding is part of marketing.
There are criticisms regarding applicability of branding for cities and city’s distinctive target groups. With
growing competitiveness between city marketers, city should be able to achieve competitive advantage and define
its distinctiveness through city branding and promote their positive image that favors each target groups (Turok,
2009; Braun 2012). For example, from marketing research, the city of Gӧteborg is famous for its relax and friendly
environment (Braun, 2008). From marketing research, they have analyzed several targeted consumers, such as
families with children who came mostly on holiday season and interested in attractions, or elders who came during
spring or autumn and interested in parks or theatres (Braun, 2008). The city of Gӧteborg can conduct branding
according to each consumer’s interest.
Many cities have made effort on city branding, like making city logo and slogan. However, they failed to
incorporate a holistic marketing strategy, when making logo that portrays city’s multidimensional characters.
Seisdesos (2006) mentioned that in reality, these logos failed to: grasp originality and clear marketing
communication, connect with city’s economic strategy, and manage stakeholders and policymakers. It is no
surprise that many city governments still felt reluctant about the idea of generating city brand (Seisdesos, 2006).

3.4 Destination Branding

The global economy phenomena, such as the European Union, have opened borders between countries
and increase activities in tourism industry. Accordingly, competitiveness between countries or cities as tourist
destinations increase, and each of them is trying to promote their own image (Baker & Cameron, 2008). Therefore,
cities felt the need to create destination marketing organization (DMO) to create positive destination brand image,
successfully communicate destination marketing to tourists, and manage marketing activities despite its many
challenges.
Similar with corporate branding, philosophy of destination branding discuss about establishing image for a
destination. Research regarding destination branding by Kavaratzis (2004) discussed possible connections with
corporate branding and its implementation in cities (Kavaratzis, 2004). As a more specific study of city branding,
destination branding focuses on the creation and communication of destination image for tourism purpose.
Although the focus has been narrowed, destination branding still carries city’s characteristic as multidimensional
entities (Florek, 2005). Various entities that are related to destination branding such as historical buildings, arts,
and cultures generate many problems. Some of many challenges that DMO faces has to do with managing
stakeholder in the case of overlapping interests, and conduct marketing strategy to various target markets (Baker
& Cameron, 2008).

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 DMO can make use of internet more than
just by creating a website and online advertising.
Social media as the second generation of internet
can also be utilized. Morgan and Pritchard (2004)
developed five stages in building destination brand,
from market investigation to brand evaluation
(Morgan & Pritchard, 2004). Social media can be used in all of its stages with lower costs compare to traditional
marketing, and help DMO create a more effective branding strategy. Many destinations have realized the potential
of social media for marketing tool, as 50% of DMO in the European Travel Commission already have a Facebook
account (Stankov, 2010; Gretzel, 2006).
Marketing policy of DMO should be adjusted with the introduction of social media. Their strategy has to
be flexible for marketers to experiment with it. Many DMO failed to make use of social media to establish closer
engagement with targeted consumers because policy confined them to do casual conversation (Hays, Page, &
Bukhalis, 2012). They argue that ‘humanizing’ their brand by casual engagement in social media lower their
authority (Thevenot, 2007).
Many DMO still have not committed with social media engagement. Most of them delegate only one
employee, often trainee, to handle social media. Although they have acknowledged it as marketing tool, many
DMO felt unnecessary to employ qualified people for their social media activities. The reason is because different
destination has different size and costs allocation (Hays, Page, & Bukhalis, 2012). Capital cities like Amsterdam can
have bigger marketing budget compare to smaller cities due to higher flow of outgoing and ingoing tourists,
therefore it is understandable that they show seriousness in social media engagement.

3.5 Effectiveness of Place Branding

Braun, Eshuis and Klijn (2014),
conducted research regarding the effectiveness of
place brand communication. They differentiate
communication strategies into (Braun, Eshuis and
Klijn, 2014):
1. Traditional Place Brand Strategy
Similar to the general marketing
practice, traditional promotion mix
is included in place brand strategy. It
includes making of logos and
slogans, public relations, media,
print advertisements, etc. However, the research shows no correlation between traditional marketing

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 strategies to place brand image. This argument is similar with the ones from Hays, Page, & Bukhalis
(2012) and supported by Warnaby and Medway’s research (2004). They concluded that limited
budget in city branding might be one of the reason for cities to not interested in applying many place
brand strategy. Instead, they focus on investment in physical brand strategy (Warnaby & Medway,
2004). The current economic conditions also force countries to cut funding and push DMO to conduct
destination marketing more effectively. British DMO, for example, lost 34% of its funding in 2010
(Johnson, 2011).
2. Word of Mouth Strategy
Word of mouth has positive impact to the effectiveness of place brand communication along with
physical strategy (Braun, Eshuis &Klijn, 2014). The ever increasing social media activities also work as
supporting factors for this finding. Word of mouth can be utilized maximally with the help of social
media. The research shows that 90% of respondents had experienced with employing social media
for place marketing.
3. Physical Place Brand Strategy.
The physical condition of cities is the main subject of place brand communication. Even without
proper marketing strategy, physical investment in city architecture will add value to place brand
(Kavaratzis, 2004, 2008). Word of mouth strategy works together with physical place brand strategy
to achieve effective place brand communication (Braun, Eshuis &Klijn, 2014). Without the physical
place brand strategy such as architectures, historical buildings or infrastructures, there is no subject
of word of mouth.

Seisdesos (2006) concludes how city are represented in place branding according to traditional
Kotler’s 4P (price, product, promotion, and place). As multidimensional entities, city brand is not
limited to physical place. Other city product such as culture, attraction, events, as well as financial
activities can be included as physical place brand.

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 Chapter IV: Effectiveness of Social Media in Destination Branding

4.1 Current State of Social Media activities in Destination Branding

The way social media have been influencing how people market products also have potential to change
DMO organizational structure away from traditional marketing. As a more effective tools compare to traditional
word of mouth, social media took information transfer of travel product to wider audience and closer to targeted
market. By monitoring social media sites, marketers can evaluate consumer behavior as well as marketing
feedback.
The focus of destination branding is mainly communicating destination branding message to potential
outside tourists. In the implementation of social media, marketers has successfully deliver message to targeted
consumers. Research conducted by Sevin (2013) shows that subject of social media marketing is mostly
information for outside visitors related to upcoming or ongoing events. Perhaps, the reason for it is the ‘real-time’
characteristic of social media information.
There are two purposes of social media for DMO. First, social media works as a mass media
communication tool for place branding. Second, social media works as a tool for closer engagement with tourists.
The first purpose has been successfully done, however DMO failed at realizing the second purpose. Another
research conducted by Sevin (2013) about twitter usage of DMO, indicates that 64% of their ‘tweets’ did not
encourage discussion and it mostly ‘mentioned’ partner organizations. France claimed that they gained connection
with travel journalists by solely rely on Twitter (Sevin, 2013). Although it is beneficial for strategic business-to-
business engagement, DMO should also engage communication with people. The reason why destination marketer
still hesitant and still put small effort on social media marketing is because they realized social media users are
mainly young people and older generation are still unfamiliar with it. Since city has various target markets, using
social media might not be suitable for destinations for older tourist or family. However, the number of social media
users aged 45 and above are increasing from time to time. Therefore, the possibility for DMO to seriously engage
in social media in the future will increase (Sevin, 2013).
Beside Twitter, Facebook is a more effective social networking sites for DMO according to study
conducted by Hays, Page, and Buhalis (2013). Although it is a more complex model compare to twitter, Facebook
has features that effectively help marketers. For example, it has features to deliver DMO posts directly to targeted
consumers based on their online history. This feature is similar with Google Advertisement. Facebook can also
provide data regarding activities of users that have interests on their page. However, all of them require additional
costs. Response from Facebook users is reportedly higher and more interactive than Twitter, making it more
favorable for DMO that has multiple target market (Hays, 2013).

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4.2 Propositions
In this research, the main research question is:
What are the necessary conditions for the effective use of social media platforms in destination branding?

To answer research question, three propositions are made from literature review on chapter two about social
media marketing and branding, as well as chapter three about destination branding. In the case of social media
marketing, Pradiptarini’s (2011) explanation of conditions that contributes to effective social media marketing is
one of the main assumptions for the propositions. However, trust and long term-relationship condition is not
included, since it is similar with good content quality condition. In the case of destination branding, all parts of the
theory from Braun, Eshuis and Klijn’s (2014) for an effective place brand communication is another assumption for
the propositions. All of the strategies are included, especially the word of mouth strategy which connects
destination branding with social media. From the literature review, three propositions of necessary conditions for
social media activities in destination branding are constructed:

1. Good quality of social media content is a necessary conditions for an effective use of social media
platforms in destination branding
2. Involvement from the whole DMO is a necessary conditions for an effective use of social media platforms
in destination branding
3. Integration with other marketing activities is a necessary conditions for an effective use of social media
platforms in destination branding

Necessary conditions for an effective use of social

media platform in destination branding

Integration with other

Good quality of social media Involvement from the whole
marketing activities is a
content is a necessary DMO is a necessary onditions
necessary conditions for an
conditions for an effective use for an effective use of social
effective use of social media
of social media platforms in media platforms in destination
platforms in destination
destination branding branding
branding

19
 1. Good quality of social media content is a necessary conditions for an effective use of social media
platforms in destination branding

One of important factors for a good quality of social media content in destination branding is interaction.
It helps DMO realized the goal of social media branding, that is for consumers to accept destination brand value
(Yan, 2011). Pradiptarini (2011) mentioned that companies with positive financial report actively conduct personal
interaction with consumers in social media (Pradiptarini, 2011). However, as one of the purpose of social media
marketing, interaction with consumers has been unsuccessfully conducted (Sevin, 2013). The model of Twitter for
example, is based on following and followers relationship that encourage mass-media purpose more than
interaction purpose. The ‘real-time’ characteristic of social media also made consumers to demand fast and
constant response from DMO. Together with involvement, DMO will likely to influence users to finally make
purchasing decision to travel-related product, and develop trust as well as long-term relationship.

Destination branding as multidimensional entities requires DMO to have broad marketing strategy. It
should be able to accommodate various stakeholders and policymakers interests, so that they are more willing to
involve in online as well as offline DMO activities and resulted in involvement from the whole DMO. This would be
easier for DMO since destination branding has already specified its strategy as tourism related. For example, a
high-rank politician can engage discussion about green policy campaign, as a tourist-friendly policy, on twitter or
seminars. A broad strategy can strengthen stakeholder’s involvement and enable more marketing activities
integration.

In order to deliver a good quality of social media content, the subject of information has to first be of a
good quality. In the case of Destination branding, the subject is physical place brand. Integration with physical
place brand would increase effective use social media platforms in destination branding. According to Seisdesos
(2006), physical place brand is not limited to historical buildings or architectures, but also culture, events,
attraction, etc. (Seisdesos, 2006). In fact, most of DMO’s social media updates are mostly about upcoming or
ongoing events (Sevin, 2013).

2. Involvement from the whole DMO is a necessary conditions for an effective use of social media
platforms in destination branding

In the case of cost-effectiveness, most DMO agree that social media branding generates lower costs,
however on the implementation, they have only been successful in using SNS for mass media advertisement and
not yet for interaction. Meanwhile, huge size of social media users is a great subject for branding and marketing
influence. In the case of destination branding, involvement from DMO as a whole is one of the key to create
influence and contributes to trust and long-term relationship (Pradiptarini, 2011). Therefore, one of the goals of
DMO has been to encourage shareholders involvement in various marketing and branding activities. Their

20
involvement will be an example for the whole DMO employees to do the same. A successful involvement, together
with transparency, not only encourage interaction with consumers, but also establish a sense of membership as
the goal of social media branding (Yan, 2011).
However, many Stakeholders are still hesitant to allow DMO to engage interaction in social media. One of
the reason is that they worried authority will decrease as a consequence from interaction. The users of social
media that is dominated by young people also did not support their broad target market. Moreover, transparency
and fast information transfer as the characteristic of social media require them to be extra careful. In order to
avoid mistakes and bad press of destination marketing, it is advised that DMO consulted with experts beforehand.

3. Integration with other marketing activities is a necessary conditions for an effective use of social media
platforms in destination branding

Social media has changed behavior of consumers and develop integration marketing communication
(IMC) in companies, unexceptionally in the case of destination branding. Braun, Eshuis and Klijn (2014) mentioned
traditional place branding as one of important place brand communication strategy (Braun, Eshuis & Klijn, 2014).
Although social media and traditional place brand can be included to IMC, the objective of traditional place brand
is recognized as directed and controlled communication, while social media is perceived as objective and free from
marketing motives. In order to balance between the two, IMC could create successful destination branding
strategy while keep conversation at an objective level. For example, DMO together with public figures in social
media can discuss travel-related topic that brings positive image of destination brand.

Traditional place branding activities of cities such as print advertisement or, public relation, logos and
slogans, etc. are considered ineffective to place branding communication (Braun, Eshuis & Klijn, 2014). Many DMO
thought that the size of their city make them prefer not risk spending high and long-term budget to develop
destination brand such as logos or slogan. However, this does not necessary mean that traditional place brand is
unnecessary for destination branding. There are many cases that traditional place brand works perfectly and even
boost social media activities.

Social media is recognized as the better approach for word of mouth, or e-WOM. It strengthens
traditional word of mouth by rectify its shortcomings. Together with physical place brand, traditional as well as
electronic word of mouth create positive impact to an effective place branding communication. Physical place
brand includes historical buildings, architectures, events, cultures, and other assets that have tourism potential
(Seisdesos, 2006; Braun, Eshuis & Klijn, 2014).

Besides offline place branding, DMO can also make use of online platform such as other social media and
websites. It is advised to diversify functions between these platforms to avoid confusion and ineffectiveness. For
example, they can post short updates on social media about upcoming events and put detailed information on

21
websites. DMO can maintain good quality of social media updates direct and informative at the same time by
inserting website links. By doing so, a good quality of social media content is not only achieved, web traffic would
increase as well.
In order to achieve good integration with other marketing platform, DMO should first guarantee a flexible
marketing policy. It is essential to enabled various IMC experimentation. Without support from policymakers,
integration with other marketing platform will be difficult for DMO and an effective use of social media platform
'to' destination branding will impossible.

22
 Chapter V: Conclusions
5.1 Conclusion
Social media has changed the way people communicate unlike the way it was before. People can input,
share, and give feedback freely with others who shares similar interests worldwide. Recently, many of them have
joined the trends of sharing travel-related contents in social media. It is not only beneficial for other users from
information sharing, but also for travel sites. Social media platforms are a great tool to promote city tourism both
directly and indirectly. However, there has been little evidence and studies for its effectiveness to city branding.
Therefore, this research aimed to investigate necessary conditions for the effective use of social media platforms
in city branding. It includes good quality of social media content, involvement from the whole DMO, and
integration with other marketing activities.

For a good quality of social media content, personal interaction with consumers is essential. The main
goal of DMO is to influence users to finally make purchasing decision to travel-related product, and this is achieved
by interaction. Good quality content should also have broad marketing strategy that accommodates various
stakeholders and policymakers interests. Physical place brand as the subject of social media branding has to first
be of a good quality as well

In the case of cost-effectiveness, most DMO agree that social media branding generates lower costs.
However, on the implementation, they have only been successful in using SNS for mass media advertisement and
not yet for interaction. Meanwhile, involvement from DMO as a whole is one of the key to create influence and
contributes to trust and long-term relationship (Pradiptarini, 2011).Their involvement will be an example for the
whole DMO employees to do the same. Many Stakeholders are still hesitant to allow DMO to engage interaction in
social media. They worried their authority will decrease while consumer gain more power over government. The
users of social media are also still dominated by young people, and would be difficult since DMO has various target
markets.

Integration with other marketing activities is also a necessary condition for an effective use of social
media in destination branding. Integration can be varied from online marketing platforms such as other social
media or websites, traditional place branding, as well as physical place branding. In order to achieve good
integration with other marketing platform, DMO should first guarantee a flexible marketing policy to enable
various integration experiments.

23
5.3 Limitations and Recommendations
This bachelor thesis is solely based on literature research. Therefore, it is suggested that further studies
are needed to test the propositions and should be more empirical-based with quantitative analysis to establish
hypothesis that is more accurate. Moreover, data from this research explained social media limited to only twitter
and Facebook. It is understandable since they are the most common social media platforms of destination, thus a
lot of literatures mentioned or focus only on Facebook and Twitter. However, since there are many other social
networking sites, perhaps it is better to know cases and characteristics of other Platforms. For example, since
Facebook is banned in China, the country has other SNS that is widely used.
Social media marketing and branding are explored more in this research rather than destination branding.
This is because the topic of destination branding is already more specified. However, it is advised in further studies
to keep balance between the two topics for a more objective result. The basic theory of effectiveness derived from
each social media as well as branding are based on one literature each. It is recommended to research more
theory of effectiveness for deeper understanding. Lastly, some sources in this thesis are not based on literature.
Data from recent literatures are mostly obtained from the previous year and might have changed significantly due
to the fast development in social media. Therefore, it is advised to have latest qualitative data directly in the next
research.

24
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