New communication approaches towards corporate brand-building via social media: An empirical study

The aim of this exploratory study is to identify the main emerging strategic approaches in communicating a corporate brand through social media (SM). A quantitative content analysis of the social media platforms of 60 major international corporate brands yielded data that were processed by hierarchical cluster analysis. The study identified four clusters, characterised by distinctive approaches in terms of interactivity and openness towards corporate brand-building via SM. The findings highlighted the extent to which companies and their stakeholders collaborate to build their corporate brands. This study adds to the limited body of academic research on the use of SM as part of a corporate brand-building strategy. A future research agenda is proposed.