Week 11: Brands, Marketing, and Advertising with Social Media

 Hello and welcome to my week 11 blog post!

We are almost to the final few weeks of the semester. It's getting deep into the spring season with lots of allergies coming too. Along with that, I've been pushing through these few weeks, and I am getting excited for graduation.

For this week's blog topic, we will be focused on brands, social media, and their marketing tactics. Both good and bad. 

The first company that I can think of that has been extremely successful in its social media marketing is Duolingo. They totally lean into the jokes people make about getting spammed with notifications to practice, and it actually makes the brand feel really relatable. It’s a good example of how a company can promote its product without being too serious. You can tell they know their audience and aren’t afraid to have fun with it. I find this to be successful for their brand since it's relatable and brings in a lot of younger people as their audience. 

However, the bad part of social media marketing hit a large brand, Balenciaga, not too long ago. They had that controversial ad campaign a while ago, and the response on social media was huge. People were upset, and instead of addressing it quickly and clearly, the brand kind of dodged it. I feel like if they had just owned up to it and communicated better on the platforms where the backlash was happening, it might have helped them save face a bit more. It just shows how important it is to not only post content but also know how to respond and engage when things don’t go as planned.

Overall, social media can be a powerful tool for building a brand, but it really depends on how it’s used. Whether it's being funny and relatable like Duolingo or handling serious situations like Balenciaga, the way a company communicates online makes a huge difference in how people see it.