Online video advertising in building brand equity

The objective of this study is to add understanding to the role of online video advertising (voluntarily consumed online video content produced for commercial purposes) in building brand equity (the additional value created by a brand). The focus is on answering the research question: What is the role of online video advertising in building brand equity? As earlier research acknowledges that brand equity can be increased through its dimensions, the present study will also utilize brand awareness, brand associations, perceived quality and brand loyalty in the examination. The study aims to expand the body of research on the crossroads of modern advertising and branding in the increasingly interactive communication environment. The managerial interest towards the topic arises mainly from the potential to reach consumers in the volunteer content consumption, as online video keeps on growing its share as the dominant content format of the internet. Simultaneously, the ability to build strong brands is recognized as one of the very few ways to build sustainable competitive advantage. The research problem was approached through qualitative multiple-case study of four prominent Finnish brand marketers: Valio, Fazer, Cloetta and Paulig. 12 semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted among the company representatives, media partners and creative partners. The data analysis was executed as an abductive content analysis, guided by a conceptual framework created for the purposes of this study. The study resulted in identification of four versatile and inter-related roles of online video advertising in building brand equity: (1) Channel, as online video advertising can be seen as a tactical choice among other marketing efforts in brand building, however, benefitting from the ability to reach fragmented audiences; (2) Facilitator, as online video advertising can be seen as a strong enabler of more innovative and creative advertising concepts, building stronger activation and experiences to consumers; (3) Challenger, as online video advertising encourages the marketer to re-evaluate the old conventions and brand control; and (4) Participator, as online video advertising creates great potential in making the advertiser a true member of consumer’s everyday life through discussion and continuous content. The overall findings of the study imply that online video advertising has strong perceived potential in increasing brand equity across its dimensions Additionally, crucial barriers of online video advertising’s success were identified: relevance, technical & creative implementation and transparency. The concluding chapter presents a refined framework where the original conceptual framework is enriched with the new empirical findings