1. Reebok Reebok is a huge company, but it isn't as big as Nike or Adidas. So how does this relative underdog make a success of their social media platforms? As you'd probably expect, Reebok's Instagram is packed with eye-catching and colorful imagery that's designed to showcase their products. No surprise there. However, you probably wouldn't expect to see how Reebok uses LinkedIn. For Reebok, LinkedIn is more about talent attraction, it's also an important way of getting professionals behind their brand. Reebok also uses its LinkedIn page as a place to host inspiring interviews with athletes, fitness tips, and more non-professional content. This makes a lot of sense. It's much easier to earn engagement on LinkedIn than on Twitter and Facebook due to a more forgiving algorithm. So even if your following isn't as big as your competitors, you can still make an impact by focusing on a less obvious channel. 2. Nike Nike has 103 million Instagram followers, 33.7 million Facebook followers, and 8.1 million Twitter followers. Nike's social media strategy is smart; instead of focusing on their products, they focus on the athletes and teams that use them. This draws in the sports fans, widening Nike's audience, and positioning the sports brand as second-to-none. The world-beating athletes Nike cements that perception. When we look closely at the company's social media strategy, things get interesting. Nike's Facebook, despite its following, is completely quiet. There's been no activity there since 2018. It's clear evidence that they have changed tack, although the company's Twitter and Instagram are very much alive. In 2018, Facebook significantly reduced the organic reach of its posts for company pages. It did the same again in 2019 too, so Nike's absence on the platform may be a reaction to that news. On Instagram, Nike uses its famous athletes for promotions but also showcases up-andcoming athletes and athletes from marginalized communities. Since the Colin Kaepernick ad, Nike is as much a brand associated with backing the underdog, as much as it is about championing the world's greatest. And that shows on its social media platforms. 3. Taco Bell Taco Bell knew what they were doing when they lobbied for the taco to be turned into an emoji in 2015. They used the buzz around the campaign to engage their audience by getting followers to text them the emoji plus another emoji of their choice, to get unique taco inspired photos, gifs or sound. Humour is everywhere on the Taco Bell account. The social media managers use humour to increase their following, and by sharing other posts and relating it back to the humble taco: However, you won't find Taco Bell pushing their LinkedIn account for consumers. It's there, but it's dedicated to the professional and jobs side of their business, with a very distinct feel from everything on their other social media platforms. Wendy's is also pretty courageous when it comes to their Twitter account. They don't seem scared to put the boot in with their competitors! Ouc The company's Facebook and Twitter pages are a carbon copy of each other, interestingly enough. Wendy's knows that the two platforms have different audiences and know their social media marketing content will land at both at the same time. Although we wouldn't recommend slating your competitors (unless they'll see the funny side), this is a great way to manage resources and ensure you're not duplicating content. On Instagram, it's more of the same. Although the content is even more meme-focused. Their content team has clearly been briefed to make everything go viral. Wendy's clearly know their efforts when it comes to a social media plan Yet again, they face McDonald's head-on, plus have a light-hearted way of dealing with customer criticism: According to Tuten and Solomon (2014: 203) ''To conduct a content analysis, the text is coded, or broken down, into manageable categories on a variety of levels - word, word sense, phrase, sentence, and theme - and then examined further for interpretation. Using codes, labels that classify and assign meanings to pieces of information, analysts can use the comments to determine any themes that are reflected in the comments.'' In the context of the statement above, using the case studies, answer the following questions: 3.1Compare the case study examples above, code the data in terms of the social media marketing strategy that was employed by each company and establish common themes (e.g., how relatable are they and emotional appeal). Draft a short paragraph on each company strategy outlining the themes you have identified from the various companies. Outline any common themes that appear across all the companies as well as different themes that emerge from each company. (15) 3.2Once you have identified the common themes amongst the companies, explain what general learning can be gleaned from the various approaches used in social media marketing campaigns. (15)