Online Advertising through Blogging of Retail

and Merchandising Brands

Kho, Kathleen

Uy, Sharmaine Ann

Thesis Statement: The newest and most effective way of advertising is blogging as it

promotes more cyber exposure, targets the market more efficiently and combines the

influences of the bloggers and the company.

I. Introduction

A. Advertising

1. Then

2. Now

B. Thesis Statement

II. Cyber Exposure

A. Blogging

1. Concepts

2. Types

2.1 Review Blogs

2.2 Gourmet Blogs

2.3 Technology Blogs

2.4 Travel Blogs

III. Target Marketing

A. Brands

B. Sales

1. Direct Effects

2. Indirect Effects

IV. Blogger’s Influence

A. Evaluating Influence

B. Measuring Popularity

V. Conclusion

Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, and Selecta Cornetto – Surely, these brands have

imprinted their names in the minds of the many. As we all know, these companies have

established quite a huge name in the industry for a long time now. Advertisements have

been around us ever since the 1920’s; they started as free but as the economic world

evolves, fees were charged. Back to the days, ads were only in the form of prints that

were posted to various places where companies think they would be targeting the

customers effectively. It did not take long before what the public commonly knew has

evolved into something no one would have ever known back then. Ads are now

transformed into ways that can reach the audience more efficiently. These can be in the

form of print, media and of course, online.

Online advertising would probably be the widely used medium of advertising

today, as it is considered an effective way of targeting the market. This is because every

possible and potential customer is already technologically inclined. They encounter pop-

ups, banners, direct ads and a number of blogs as they surf the web. The newest and

most effective way of advertising is blogging as it promotes more cyber exposure,

targets the market more efficiently and combines the influences of the bloggers and the

company.

Advertising then and now is probably one of the most interesting arguments of all

time. Not only does it arouse interest to the public; but also, it will always be relevant

today up until tomorrow. If one looks back, he/she will know how different advertising

was back then and how much it has evolved and improved now. “Advertising as it is

known today finds its roots in the industrial expansion of the 1880s” (Advertising in the

1920s, 2000). The article also discusses that advertising a product changed from simply

announcing the existence of a product in a dull, dry fashion to purchasing the public

what they needed and deserved to own the product. Also, for most of us, it is no secrets

how the Internet has changed the way consumers obtain information about products

and the firms that provide them. In Shelton’s (2008) opinion, “Because so much

intelligence source about a potential transactions is so readily available from

independent source, the message provided by conventional advertising has declined in

value to consumers, who even question trustworthiness (p.2).” There are really a lot of

views regarding how people see advertising as a means of communication. Some may

be positive some may be negative. Some may see the Internet as a source, while some

see it through the use of television. But to George (2009), he explains that, “It is a

certainty that when there is any discussion about media advertising, particularly

television, the word fragmentation will feature so much so that it can be called the latest

addiction to media cliché (p.1).”

There is one effective way in making one’s self or their brand known to the public

– one that is already tried and tested. How does a company really make themselves or

their brand known to the public? Through cyber exposure, it paves way to more

opportunities and greener pastures for the company. “Blogs”, as Maghirang (2009)

stresses, “have now evolved into something more than simply just a person’s personal

or individual’s space in the internet.” It has now turned into something with a marketable

value. Not only do these blogs promote events, celebrities, and establishments they

also market new ideas, products and services. To look back at the origin of blogs, it’s

believed to be born in the 1990’s. It is actually a shorter term for the word “weblog”.

According to Doctor (2012), “a blog or web log is very much like an online journal where

entries arranged in sequential order are provided by individuals (p.3).” What is good

about this is that bloggers could write about anything under the sun – their interests,

encounters or passion. However, some bloggers would just stick into one theme, which

means almost everything they would write about would fall on that category. Let’s say

fashion and cosmetics for instance. In addition, it’s not only about sharing one’s

passion. The possibilities that a blog can offer are endless and have now been

branched out to advertising. It is recently been discovered to be a very potent means of

online advertising. Web developers began investing in online-based software that

specifically caters to blogs, which allowed industries to be accessed faster and easier

through the affiliates (Doctor, 2012).

The concepts of blogging are mainly addressed to three major points evident

when people plan to start or already have an existing blog. As Silva (2012) discusses,

The most popular independent platform is Wordpress.using Wordpress allows the blogger to host the blog on

their own domain name and hosting provider of theirchoice. Hosting a blog on a domain name that you own

and having administrative permissions to the hostingaccount allows for massive flexibility with the very few

restrictions (p. 2).

It’s quite essential nowadays for people to have their own domain because it

comes out to something more professional and credible to the reader. Something

common that most blogs share is that they focus on a particular topic. Some of which

are sports, mobile technology, web design and home staging. While some present links

to different types of sites, others stick to having their own personal blogs speaking about

their daily encounters and thoughts (WordPress.org, 2012). Moreover, as much as there

are numerous types of online advertising, the one that sticks out the most would be

direct ads. A number of bloggers offer an option for their readers or visitors to avail

advertising space on their blogs. According to Gunelius (2012), “they’re typically shown

in the form of banner ads or similar display ads provided directly to the blogger by the

advertiser to be uploaded to the blog (p.7).”

The concepts of blogging are basically the following, to digitally record thoughts,

and to focus on a particular topic to be discussed. Silva (2011) explains, “A blog is

basically an online journal that is used to digitally record thoughts, ideas, opinions and

practically anything else that you want others to read (p.1).” It mainly centers on

subjects that individuals usually are concerned about (Kumar, 2012). Furthermore,

blogging can also be used to generate income. According to Ward (2011), there are 7

ways to do that: First, to use advertising programs and affiliate programs. This is

possible because these applications create a connection to potential readers to your

blog. Ward also states that company sponsorship or being hired is one way too.

Freelance blogging and service blogging are those blogs that posts reviews for the

readers but eventually paid by the companies because they have encouraged impulse

buyers. Lastly, he also pointed out that selling of intellectual properties like e-books on

blogs can also be profitable (p.3).

Blogs vary into different types, it has to have the fundamentals necessary in

order to last long in the industry. Before mentioning the things that need to taken into

consideration, people should first familiarize themselves into the different types of blogs.

According to the WordPress.com (2012), “The types of blogging are: Personal,

Business, Schools, Non-Profits, Politics, Military, Private, Sports, How-To Tips, and

Reviews (p. 2).” But for now, we will focus on four kinds: Review blogs, Gourmet blogs,

Technology blogs, and Travel blogs, as these were the ones commonly used for

promoting. Each one of these targets different segments of the market. In addition, the

top two most popular blog host choices are Word Press and Blogger because they are

completely free and very user-friendly. *****

Review blogs are the kind of blogs, which allow one to showcase for the readers

different insights on products and services. As Bates (2012) explains, “A review blog is

where you write your first hand experiences. It can be sponsored or not. But it must be

relevant to your business (p.6).” Moreover, reviews can be about anything, but these

must be in line with the writer’s interests (Lancer, 2012). Review blogs are helpful

especially for those readers who are not familiar with the products and services a

certain firm offers. These blogs provide them sufficient details and enough

understandings regarding the subject. Readers would want the truth about a product.

According to Lake (2012), reviews must be uttered straight from a blogger’s point of

view (p.7). Lake also points out that a number of websites offer reviews. This is so

because blog viewers tend to collect as many opinions as they can to avoid mistakes in

consuming a product or accepting a service.

Gourmet blogs, also known as food blogs, focus on a certain restaurant’s menu,

location and customer service. According to Lancer (2012), food blogs provide readers

about various places to eat and their trademark recipes (p.12). These blogs are not just

about taking a picture of the food and writing about how it tastes like, but the pros and

cons must be mentioned as well (Sherman, 2012). Gourmet blogs, as compared to

review blogs, are the kind of sties where the main subject is limited to the food and the

place itself, which are the flavor and the ambience respectively. Lin (2011) also explains

that in order to be a food blogger one must have the holy trinity of food blogging which

are the following: gorgeous food photography, wonderful writing and rock solid recipes

(p.2).

Blogs that offer news, tutorials, and recommendations about high-end devices

are called technology blogs. As Gemora (2012) states, “These are compilations of

different tech news and reviews of the benefit of the readers… who are technology savy

(p.1).” Sites like these always aim to disseminate latest news about gadgets all over the

world (Macanas, 2008). Technology blogs also provide help when one’s device

happens to face glitches or errors. These blogs give readers detailed instructions on

how to fix technology problems. But most of the time, viewers visit tech blogs for

product recommendations. According to Lancer (2012), tech blogs also provide reviews

(p.14). This is why readers also check these out in order to gain more information about

high-tech products.

Travel blogs summarize a blogger’s journeys and experiences on different places

all over the world. Long (2012) explains, “Travel blogs fill the same niche of wanting to

hear from real people about the travel experiences (p.8.)” These are somehow similar to

traditional travelogues where on takes photos and writes about the events that took

place, only that travel blogs are posted online with actual readers. Starting a travel blog

is a good idea to people who have been to a lot of places, this is so because they have

exciting stories to tell, just as a typical travel blog requires (Lancer, 2012). According to

Vallieres (2012), establishing blogs like these is all, about writing articles about the

place; its good and bad side must be stated too (p.4). The author also points out that

photos are as important as the articles are.

Target marketing is basically the core of advertising because this is the one that

makes or breaks one’s product or service. There are actually a number of sources in

determining if a firm has effectively targeted its market – through good reviews, web

traffic, social networking sites and word of mouth. “A good review from a blog owned by

a previous customer or client, as Maghirang (2009) stresses, “can help in boosting and

promoting a pticular brand or service’s name” (p.5). It helps build trust and good faith in

a brand. Readers who constantly read someone’s blog will eventually lead to truth and

credibility on the blogger’s part. It serves as a sturdy foundation for that blogger to gain

more followers when people love what they write about or maybe their writing style.

“Great content gets shared via different platforms to your future customers via email

marketing and social media sharing (e.g. re-tweeting your blogs, etc.), which increases

company exposure” (Impact of Blogging on Sales through E-Commerce Website, 2012,

p.1). Lastly, it is very essential to get the hearts of the market a company is aiming for.

As Doctor (2012), discusses, “web traffic will be greatly enhanced as you develop your

target market’s trust, provide value to the product or service you’re advertising as well

as show recent updates” (p.6).

It’s debatable how advertising really affects the sales of a company or if it really

does have an effect on it. When it comes to a company’s sales volume, it is really

difficult to calculate and give a definite amount on how much it has increased or

declined. Some experts though have their own presumptions regarding what really is

the determinant factor when it comes to measuring one’s sales volume. In Kokumuller’s

(2012) discussion, “higher sales volume usually means your company is getting higher

product margin or increasing demand and the number of units sold” (p.2). He also

mentioned that one key benefit of generating higher sales volume is through the

effective use of sales promotions and long-term advertising. To further understand this

aspect, yahoo conducted this research project about how advertising works. “The

researchers produced a number of interesting statistical findings over the summer. In a

paper co-authored with summer intern and MIT PhD student Randall Lewis, Reiley

found that the online display advertising increased total revenues by approximately 5%

for those users exposed to the ads, with 93% of the total effect happening in offline

sales” (Project: Advertising Works, Yahoo! Research, 2012). Basically, they made this

to prove that advertising really does increase one’s revenues.

The following are some of the direct effects that are identified by experts:

blogging allows a firm to communicate with their prospects, and it also turns readers to

impulse buyers. Stelzner (2012) stressed about River Pools & Spas on how their article

paved way to at least $1.2 million sales (p.11). This supports the idea behind a single

blogpost that can drive the sales of one’s company. Bloggers write favorable editorial

reviews. All of which invites viewers to test the products (Big Banks Pay Bloggers Big

Bucks For Sale Referrals, 2011). As Harrison (2012) also claims, blogs can be used to

sell products to the customers, which directly contributes to the sales once a customer

purchased (p.2).

Blogging also has indirect effects on sales, the possible return on investments

and the measure of a certain product’s adaptation to the audience. In an article written

by Wirken (2006), “While there is no quantitative amount with regards to the exact

monetary significance of blogging on sales, there are evidences of some sort of return

of investment. When readers leave comments or make inquiries these provides ideas to

serve them better and thus improve your business (p.8).” Moreover, blogging can

actually provide a scale of advertising effecteiveness (Manchanda & Onishi, 2010). This

is so because consumer evaluates the product. On the other hand, a certain blog’s

speed, efficiency and convenience may have an impact on sales as well. According o

the article “Webiste Speed Directly Impact Sales (2010),” 64% of visitors may not

purchase because website was too slow. This may reduce the number of potential

customers leading to the possible decrease of sales.

Nowadays, bloggers have this huge influence on the things people buy or even try –

imprinting that certain brand in a consumer’s mind. How important are blogs and up to

what extent do they impact decisions made by consumers and companies? According

to Maghirang (2009),

“Blogs are important in business because as mentionedearlier, they are a great way of connecting to the

internet and subsequently connecting with friends,relatives and family” (p.5).

Not only does connecting help a lot, but it also affects how others view a certain

brand. When a person gets to hear positive feedbacks from people they know, they

immediately try the products. But when a person hears just one negative comment,

he/she automatically spread the word. And it then unfolds to million negative folds. That

is why Impact of Blogging on Sales through E-Commerce Website (2012) emphasizes,

“imprint you brand in their minds” (p.1). Once a firm has done that, they are halfway to

the finish line already. One of the renowned food bloggers of today, Anton Diaz,

confesses what really is the secret to having a credible blog. To give a brief description,

he is the founder of ourawesomeplaney.com and answered this question in one his

most recent interviews. In Kapuso Ko, Jessica Soho TV program interview, Anton said,

“The technique with professional blogging is to write something na you could write

forever na hindi ka mapapagod. Kasi the more na marami kang ma-blog, the more na

mag-iincrease ‘yong kita mo” (Top Famous Bloggers in the Philippines, 2012, p.3).

That is why companies also consider a blogger’s influence. They evaluate

bloggers before hiring them. According to Wang and Lin (2011), “Social influence

affects bloggers (p.3).” In addition to that, Bembridge (2012) explains that influencers

have sizeable audiences on the cyberspace (p.4). The author also claims that a

blogger’s level of influence represents the quantity of potential customers that may

benefit the company. It is also important to know what type of blog does a writer owns.

Bolen (2012) explains that choosing a blogger must be aligned with one’s company’s

goals (p.6). When firms do these, they may be able to resonate with the audience to be

able to identify and communicate their needs and wants.

Moreover, Philippines is definitely not at par in keeping up with the latest trends

considering the top fashion bloggers in the metro. And gender is definitely not a

hindrance in showing off their one’s own style when it comes to the world of fashion. To

prove this is our top one fashion blogger, Bryan Boy, who is a pride for the country.

“Bryan Boy is a renowned Filipino fashion blogger who has garnered a lot of attractions

and appreciations through his blog which is about the world of fashion, local and

international” (The Idea Marketplace, 2012, p. 3). There are also two young ladies that

have paved their way into the fashion industry, but were best known for what they do

best – Camille Co and Laureen Uy. Besides being pt of the top bloggers in the country

today, their main focus is still their chosen fields and passion. “Camille Co is a fashion

designer, model and a stylist” (The Idea Marketplace, 2012, p. 4). She has her own

clothing line since 2009 named CoExist – a high-street RTW line for women, which

she’s also the designer. On the other hand, “Laureen Uy is the younger sister of Liz Uy,

which is known to be the “style breaker” in the local fashion scene who has also

ventured to the world of tv” (The Idea Marketplace, 2012, p. 5).

To support the ideas that were mentioned above, we have conducted interviews

from different retail and merchandising firms’ owners and brand managers. The

following participants or interviewees were: McCormick, Embellish, Clothepedia,

Sachico Shop, Crave More, and BCB Island Travel Agency. First, we have interviewed

Ms. Marisse Kho, brand manager of McCormick, regarding our research topic.

McCormick a household name and pioneer when it comes to herbs and spices has also

used online advertising or its firm. Some of the online advertisement techniques that

they have used were Facebook promos and applications, banner advertisements, page

skinning and blogger launch. They have considered blogging as a means of advertising

because it’s an effective way of tapping/influencing their target consumer a minimal

cost. Through this, the firm has effectively targeted the market they were aiming for. The

products they used were the McCormick Bread Spreads. According to their brand

manager, it’s difficult to measure the impact on sales because there were a lot of

aspects tag needs to be considered. For instance, they wouldn’t know if their sales

increased because of a print-ad or something else. However, brand awareness did

increase.

In choosing bloggers, McCormick considers the blog visitors, blog content and

size of the following. They chose ‘Spread Some Awesome’ and ‘Tara Let’s Eat’ as

bloggers because they are foodies, which have a large following and well-written

content. When we asked her how huge the impact/influence of these bloggers in

promoting their products, she answered, “It’s a good support to out ATL and BTL

activities because it helps generate more awareness about the campaign.”

According to Ms. Anne Mariposa, owner and marketing director of Embellish, we

have gotten information regarding our research topic. Embellish, a clothing brand in

Greenhills and Podium, has used online advertising a lot of times. They have tried

Facebook ads, online promos and contests, and collaborations with bloggers.

Collaboration with bloggers allowed the company to have an increase in their brand

awareness where potential customers have liked their fan page and made increase in

their sales. In doing this, Embellish sent their products to the said bloggers.

In choosing bloggers, Embellish considers a blogger’s demographics and

psychographics of readers. They have collaborated with Lissa Kahayon, a top fashion

blogger, whose style is in line with Embellish’s branding and design philosophy. The

more involved the blogger is, the better.

We have interviewed Ms. Mercade, a young entrepreneur and also a student,

regarding our topic on “Online Advertising through Retail and Merchandising Brands”.

Clothepedia, an online brand in Facebook has used online advertising. The techniques

the firm has used were online giveaways, blog sponsorships and promotion through

networks the owner are using like twitter and lookbook accounts. According to the

owner, she has considered blogging as a means of advertising because since she’s

selling ladies clothes, fashion blogging would be a big help for her to reach her target

customers. And so far, it has been good for the company. She was also able to target

her market efficiently through online advertising. The products that the company used

for this kind of advertisement were ladies clothes. The positive effects for the company

were that their sales and followers increased. On a negative note, competitors would

most likely copy the style of her brand.

In choosing bloggers, Clothepedia considers the number of followers and the

blog statistics (number of visits). Some of the bloggers the company chose were

Verniece Enciso, Marie Jershel Co and more. The owner would also love to sponsor top

bloggers like Camille Co and Laureen Uy, but she’s still thinking about it because they

already have rates. Lastly, he impact of the bloggers she chose in promoting new

products was roughly around 60%.

Sachico Shop, an RTW brand, has used blogging as a means of advertising

through participating in blog giveaways by bloggers and by sending some bloggers

clothes from the shop. It went well mainly because of the thousands of viewers of these

top bloggers which also led to an increase in likes on Sachico’s Facebook page and it

also made the shop known to more people.

Through blog advertisments mentioned above, it has effectively reached Sachico

Shop’s target market, which is girls from 13-25 years old because this is also, the same

target viewers of bloggers. On the other hand, negative effects of online advertising

were not seen.

Bloggers today may be considered the new "artistas" since they are easily

reachable and the popularity of bloggers is also a big factor as to why Sachico Shop

choose to advertise through them. The thousands of views that they receive each day

gives online shops to be recognized through outfit posts and blog giveaways.

The well-known accessory shop, Crave More, has also used different social

media mediums like Facebook, Twitter, Multiply, Flickr and Instagram. Crave More has

tapped bloggers to mention their brand. For them Blogging so far has been the best

marketing strategy in such a way that they were able to capture the target market which

is the online industry. They consider the "blogosphere" as the best way to manipulate

the market online. They have not yet touched any industry aside from selling online,

thus, they focus more on finding new means of marketing and increasing awareness of

their products. One positive effect of blogging would be the fast moving pace of Crave

More’s products. They usually sell out items within a week upon a collection's release.

On the other hand, having online as a free means of advertising, they cannot set aside

the fact that competition is on the road. They have also given out their products to

bloggers as promotional strategy.

Crave More also takes note of the traffic the blogs receive on a daily basis. They

also conduct surveys during bazaars on who customers want to see wearing their items

next. Sometimes, they also have a biased way of choosing bloggers for some of them

have grown to be close to their company ever since. Crave More’s number one blogger

would be David Guison. He was kind enough to design eight necklaces and even have

an official launch of his own collection. Another would be Ms. Camille Co who was kind

enough to consider working with Crave More during the early days of her blogging

career. Both photographer & blogger Aidx Pedes and Gerd Perez have also decided to

have their own collaboration collection with us. To name some of the other bloggers on

our list: Vern Enciso, Verniece Enciso, Tin Iglesias, Lissa Kahayon, Patricia Prieto,

Sarah Meier-Albano, Ava Te, Dani Barretto, Miko Carreon, and many other on the list.

BCB Island Travel Agency, a firm that gives travel services in the Philippines,

also has Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus and an official website where customers are

being reached everyday. But there is one thing, they have not pticularly used blogging

as a tool of advertising.

This is because as a travel agency, sponsoring such huge trips can generate

large expenses for the company, expense that may be twice as much as the income the

company can generate. Although, they have not used blogging directly, BCB Island

Travel Agency has already read tons of reviews regarding their services. To them this is

already exposure, although not done directly; this kind of promotion has led the

company to the limelight.

BCB Island Travel Agency when asked if someday they can consider blogging in

promoting their services, immediately uttered yes for an answer. This is because they

believe that this world is already moving in a fast phase and that each and every

individual living in this planet is a device-toting human, and that dissemination of

information is much quicker online, blogging is most likely what this travel agency will

consider in the near future.

Online advertising has been by far the most effective way to communicate one’s

desired audience. It has led the advertising industry into a much bigger perspective in

the minds of the consumers. Promotions like these have used different told to

disseminate the much-needed information that the customer needs. One of the said

tools is blogging. There are a variety of blog types in existent today – review blogs,

gourmet blogs, technology blogs and travel blogs. All of which targets a specific market

segment contributing to the brand awareness of the company. Brand managers and

owners prefer blogging as a means of advertising because it’s an effective way in

tapping and influencing their target customers at a minimal cost. It has a direct effect to

sales as these companies acknowledged an increase in sales after using this medium.

When asked on how huge the impact of these bloggers was in promoting these

companies’ products, all of them arrived to a similar answer. That is a blogger’s level of

influence is equally important in measuring the number of customer they want to attain.

In conclusion, blogging is proved to be the most potent and innovative way in

making one’s brand known in today’s time. Not only does it increase brand awareness,

but it also has a positive effect on one’s sale. Therefore, if one wants to establish a

name in the industry, he/she must definitely consider blogging in reaching to his/her

preferred market.