The Impact of Social Media on Marketing

THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA
ON MARKETING STRATEGY

Richard Fullerton
Dissertation submitted to Oxford Brookes University for the partial fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of
MASTER OF SCIENCE IN E-MARKETING.
February 2011

DECLARATION
This dissertation is a product of my own work and is the result of nothing done in collaboration.
I consent to the University’s free use including online reproduction, including electronically, and including adaptation for teaching and educational activities of any whole or part item of this dissertation.

……………………………….
RICHARD FULLERTON

Page length: 100

Word count: 29,265

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank the following people for making this Dissertation possible:
Sarah Quinton (Supervisor)
Benjamin Braun, British Gas (Interviewee)
Kerry Bridge, Dell (Interviewee)
Dan Cohen, Moneysupermarket.com (Interviewee)
Sam Grimley, First Direct (Interviewee)
Paul Say, First Direct (Interviewee)
Mark Squires, Nokia (Interviewee)
Sienne Veit, Marks & Spencer (Interviewee)

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There are no secrets. The networked market knows more than companies do about their own products. And whether the news is good or bad, they tell everyone. The Cluetrain Manifesto, Thesis 12.

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ABSTRACT
The Impact of Social Media on Marketing Strategy
Richard Fullerton
February 2011
The organisation has traditionally been in control of its brand and has been able to dictate to the consumer the terms of most transactions that occur.
However, the growth of social media has empowered consumers, and they are now not only having conversations online with other consumers but are demanding to have conversations and interactions with the brand.
The aim of this study is to establish the impact that social media are having on organisational marketing strategy. A thorough examination of the extant literature shows that marketing is being challenged, experiencing difficulty in value creation, a loss of influence, media fragmentation, and commoditisation

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