final assignment - ellen valckx

BNN & SOCIAL MEDIA

A research proposal conducted by

Trends & Strategies in the Creative Industries - CC3201 Student number : 336059 15 January 2010

Student : Ellen Valckx Pre-master Media & Culture

Lecturer : drs. M. Leendertse Erasmus University Rotterdam

Trends & Strategies in the Creative Industries Research Proposal – Ellen Valckx

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Management Summary

It is BNN's desire to be and stay interactive with its audience. BNN and its TV-programmes

are already represented on social networks such as Twitter and Hyves. However, in the

future, BNN wants to integrate the information provided by these social networks into their

TV-programmes. Within this research proposal a profound insight and several

recommendations in relation to BNN and social media are provided. The adapted research

question treated in this paper is as follows: How can BNN increase its benefits it gains from

its current social media activities? By means of analysing external as well as internal factors, it

provides us an overview of possible opportunities, strengths, weaknesses and threats.

Expanding online activities on network sites, increasing the promotion of 101.TV and

intensifying marketing-research in order to get to know more about the target group. This is

all recommend to BNN in order to gain more interactivity with its audience and to obtain

more information from social network sites and its users which can eventually be

implemented into BNN’s TV-programmes. Please feel free to read this proposal for further

(background-) information.

Kindest regards,

Ellen Valckx

Creative Director at My Research ©


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Table of contents

1. About My Research © .............................................................................................................................4

2. Brief Introduction of Assignment........................................................................................................4

2. Research Question.................................................................................................................................4

3. Literature review: a first answer.........................................................................................................5

3.1 Theory................................................................................................................................................6

3.2 Research.............................................................................................................................................7

3.2.1 External ......................................................................................................................................7

3.2.2 Internal .......................................................................................................................................9

3.2.3 SWOT ..................................................................................................................................... 10

3.3 First answer: proposal ................................................................................................................. 11

4. Proposal for Further Empirical Research....................................................................................... 12

5. Financial Proposal ................................................................................................................................ 13

Brief Critical Reflection........................................................................................................................... 14

Bibliography ............................................................................................................................................... 15


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1. About My Research ©

My Research © is an independent research company specialised in academic research for the

creative industries. My Research © is a young and vibrant organisation which not only

provides research-based data and analysis, it offers suitable solutions for its clients.

Depending on the client’s situation and desires, My Research © can be employed for

consulting, conducting market research, give customer insight, product development and

more.

2. Brief Introduction of Assignment

My Research © has been approached by BNN to help out on a pressing issue. BNN’s senior

vice-president, Marc Adriani, requested to write a proposal concerning this issue. This

research proposal will discuss how BNN can apply social media in order to enhance its

activities. As this is a rather broad subject, a research question has been formulated in order

to delimit the subject. This research question will be presented and clarified in the next

paragraph.

First, the research question will be introduced as well as the way it will be interpreted

throughout the research. After this, a first answer to the research question will be

formulated after conducting a literature review. Subsequent to this, a proposal for further

empirical research will be specified. To finish, a financial proposal for conducting the

proposed research is provided.

2. Research Question

As introduced previously, the topic of this research is provided by BNN and is also related

to this broadcasting company. In the future, BNN wants to integrate the information

provided by social networks into its TV-programmes. This led to the following question:

“How can BNN use social media to enrich the TV-programmes it broadcasts?”. In order to

be able to give an answer to this question, one needs to examine what BNN’s current

position towards social media is. Also, how BNN can increase the benefits from its current

social media activities, with the resources available to BNN. Because, before creating new

applications, one needs to take into account the assets which are already on hand.

Therefore, the research question that will be addressed in this research proposal will be:

How can BNN increase its benefits it gains from its current social media activities?


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This research question can be interpreted in several ways. In order to be and to stay in line

with each other and with the main object as well as to avoid any miscommunications, it is

important the main idea of the research question is clear. Therefore, a few basic principles

are formulated which will form the general interpretation of the research question. First, the

primary role of BNN’s TV-programmes needs to be established. Broadcasting TV-

programmes is and will stay one of BNN’s core-businesses, this will not be changed during

this research. There will be no shifting towards a core-business in social media-activities.

Furthermore, because BNN expressed its desire to integrate social media into their TV-

programmes, the final proposition to BNN will reasonably be an advice to expand their

business to social media more intensive. However, the basic principle here will be that none

of these activities will obstruct BNN’s activities on TV. Within doing so, one of the most

important aspects is highlighted: maintain high ratings. With the final results of this research

of course no decrease in BNN’s ratings is desired, instead an increase in the interactivity

between BNN and its audience, which is integrated into their TV-programmes, is the aim.

To summarise the main principles of the research and research question:

• TV-programmes are and stay one of BNN’s core-businesses;

• The outcome of this research will be no obstruction to BNN’s existing activities;

• Maintain or even increase BNN’s ratings;

• Increase interactivity between BNN and its audience.

3. Literature review: a first answer

To formulate a first answer to the research question a literature review will be carried out.

However, in order to conduct this review the research question will need to be framed

theoretically first. Primarily, the theory which will frame the entire research will be

introduced and detailed. By means of this theory a literature research will be carried out in

order to formulate a first answer to the research question.


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3.1 Theory

By adapting a theory or framework a well-organised and structured research can be

conducted. First of all, the framework used in this research is presented in the model

showed below. It is based on Wrigfors’ and Eliasson’s (2008) framework. It illustrates how

the base of this research will look like.

During this investigation, both the organisation itself and its environment will be examined.

With the help of the outcomes an idea or proposal can be generated. Of course, the amount

of available information will be minimised to a certain extend as this research needs to be

concise and relevant.

The above mentioned framework examines and combines external and internal factors.

Now, an appropriate theory needs to be put into use. Porter’s Five Forces model (Porter,

2008) is focusing mainly on external factors whereas Barney’s Resource-based Theory

(Barney, 2007) is focusing primarily on internal factors. In accordance with Wrigfors and

Eliasson (2008), it is not desirable to only investigate either external or internal factors.

Although it is complex to find and integrate a theory which combines both factors, it is

essential to explore both in order to produce a reliable research. For this reason, external

and internal information concerning BNN will be gathered and ultimately be brought

together in a SWOT-analysis.

The environment

The organisation Brief Analysis

Proposal

Own illustration, 2010

Brief Analysis


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3.2 Research

As pointed out before, this research proposal will discuss how BNN can apply social media

in order to enhance its activities, in particular BNN’s TV-programmes. During the literature

review which will be initiated, several topics which are vital to the main subject will be

highlighted. These topics are external factors. Of course, not every external aspect can be

clarified as this will be too much, so only the most essential ones are elucidated. Also BNN’s

activities in the field of social media, i.e. internal factors, will briefly be summarised. With this

information a SWOT-matrix can be produced, which helps to formulate an initial answer to

the research question.

3.2.1 External

Arrival of Web 2.0 – this a term which refers to the interactive aspect of Internet which and

is popularized by Tim O’Reilly. Sharing photos and video’s with each other is the number

one service which Web 2.0. provides us (Slot & Frissen, 2007). “It is created while keeping in

mind that the traditional media was no longer suited to the dynamic conditions of the

twenty-first-century media market” (Lister et al.: p 204). Nowadays, the dominant presence

of technologically extended communication causes that people are even idealising and

favouring non-face-to-face communication, according to Holmes (2004:15-16).

Social media - The speed of online media, the instant information update and the easy

accessibility make social media a popular tool. Social media is the collective name for various

Internet applications with the user as central point. In social media, users have the ability to

create their own content and share with other users. There a lot off different types of social

media such as social-network sites, video sharing sites, blogs, wiki’s, podcasts and more. The

most popular are the social-networking sites. In The Netherlands Hyves is the largest one

followed by Twitter and Facebook.

Prosumers - With the help of internet and web 2.0 one is able to consume media products

and information. However, one can also produce certain content. This means audiences can

also be called ‘prosumers’ (Bloem et al., 2008). According to Lister et al. (2009: 221) the

Internet has provided, amongst other things, participatory opportunities to its users.


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Source: www.interactionarchitect.com

People not only communicate with others via the Internet, they also present themselves and

transmit information. This demonstrates audiences are not passive anymore, it evolves

passive audiences into participants.

Media and Internet use – The degree of Internet usage depends on the time the user

purchased his or her personal computer or Internet-subscription (Huysmans et al., 2004).

Early users had more time to integrate the digital possibilities into their daily routine and

because of that they could belong to the group of frequent users. This relates to the adopt-

categories of Rogers (Verhage, 2004), which classifies buyers or users of a certain product

or service into different categories as shown in the graph below. The ‘innovators’ (not

shown in the graph), are the first to buy or use a product. Second, the ‘early adaptors’ are a

larger group than the ‘innovators’ to follow. The ‘early majority’ tends to adapt and accept

an innovation faster than

average. After this group,

the ‘late majority’ and

‘laggards’ follow. Often,

young people who are

growing up with using

Internet and social media

are early adopters or

early majority, as this

group knows how to deal

with new technologies,

etc.

Social television - The participatory role of audiences can also be seen amongst TV-audiences.

TV-networks have started experimenting to mingle Internet, social media in particular, with

TV-programmes. Fox started with broadcasting “Tweet-peats” (Callari, 2009), which is

showing live tweets during an episode of a soap-opera. Also BBC-viewers were given the

opportunity on its micro site to select what character they want out of the show at the end

of each episode. Furthermore, BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing series gained more interaction

with its viewing audience with the help of the “Strictly Social” (Callari) application.


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With posting ‘wow’, ‘boo’ or ‘gasp’ on the program’s website, their opinions will be

modestly displayed in the live broadcasting of the show. Another example of interactive

television is the rise of digital television. Digital television (also called ‘TV 2.0’) makes it

possible to receive a lot more television stations than cable television. Furthermore, it makes

it possible for the audience to participate with TV-programmes. An example of this

participation is BNN’s own TV-programme ‘Nationale IQ Test’. Right now, the European

Commission wants to switch to digital television as soon and as much as possible in order to

recover the European economy more rapidly. Switching from analogue to digital television

will free up a very large amount of radio spectrum, according to the European Commission

(2009). Instead of using this part of radio spectrum for broadcasting television, it can be used

for other, new and innovative services and activities.

3.2.2 Internal

Now, BNN’s activities in the field of new and social media will be reviewed. These activities

form internal factors which need to be taken into account when conducting a research.

Social media & BNN - In order to reach, inform and especially to ask the meaning of its target

group about their TV-programmes, BNN uses cross-media and especially Web 2.0

applications. According to Feldman (2005), cross-media can be defined as ‘a media brand that

extends its offer over several media channels’. This is what BNN does, combined with Web

2.0 applications. One of the social media networks BNN is using is Hyves. BNN has a

general Hyves-page about BNN itself, but also different Hyves-pages about its TV-

programmes. For example, one can find extra footage of episodes on those Hyves-pages

(which are extensions of the programmes). With Hyves, BNN gives its audience the

possibility to react on its TV-programmes. By means of this, BNN is able to find out weather

the TV-programme was successful or not.

Digital BNN – BNN is the administrator of 101.TV. This is a digital TV-channel which

broadcasts TV-programmes from different public broadcasters, however mainly BNN’s

programmes. One can also visit the website www.101.tv in order to watch these

programmes. Most of the broadcasts are replicates and some are experimental programmes.

Viewers of 101.tv are in the position to participate and communicate with the staff.


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For viewers it is also possible to produce a video by themselves which can be forwarded to

101.tv. When this video is selected it is also broadcasted. In the future, when this channel

will be more developed, the programming will be initiated by both BNN and its viewers.

3.2.3 SWOT

After pointing out several important external and internal factors it is possible to confront

the outcomes in a brief SWOT-analysis. Within doing so, eventually an appropriate first

answer to the research question can be formed.

Several strengths, opportunities, weaknesses and threats are displayed in this matrix:

Positive Negative

Intern

Strengths

- The presence of BNN on largest Dutch network

site;

- The digital channel: 101.TV.

Weaknesses

- Presence of BNN on different network sites is

not wide-spread.

Extern Opportunities

- BNN’s target group: early adapters or early

majority.

Threats

- Competing commercial broadcasters.

Strengths – BNN’s organisation as well as BNN’s TV-programmes are represented on

the largest network site of The Netherlands; Hyves. This results in a large audience which is

being confronted with BNN. Furthermore, managing an interactive digital broadcasting

service like 101.TV is a powerful tool to have in order to have insight of what BNN’s

audience desires and is engaged with.

Weakness – BNN’s presence on different network sites, other than Hyves, is not

wide-spread. BNN’s social media activities mainly take place on Hyves. This can be

considered as a weakness as Hyves-users are a specific target group. When focusing mainly

on Hyves-users, audiences of other social media sites can be left out.

Opportunity – BNN’s target group are young people from 15 to 35 years old. This

group grew up without having to severely adjust to the upcoming new technologies like the

Internet. This group is used to it and will have no or few problems with using new ways of

communicating. This can be considered as an opportunity whenever BNN decides to

experiment with, for example, new applications.


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Threat – Commercial broadcasters have more (financial) resources to invest in, for

example, new social media applications. This can be a threat because these commercial

broadcasters can form serious competition.

3.3 First answer: proposal

With the help of the previous analysis-outcomes, it is possible to formulate a first answer to

the research question or to give certain suggestions.

As BNN not only wants to create programmes and content for youngsters but also wants to

be part of the youth’s experiences (BNN), this company needs to be present on the

network sites like Hyves. As mentioned in the SWOT-analysis, the narrow-spread presence

of BNN in other network sites than Hyves can be seen as a weakness. Although being

present on Hyves means reaching a large audience, not every BNN viewer will be

participating on this site. By this, part of BNN’s target group can be left out. So, it can be

recommended to expand and intensify BNN’s activities on other network sites.

One of BNN’s strengths is managing the digital channel 101.TV. BNN desires to

enrich its TV-programmes with information gained by social media. As stated before, 101.TV

is a powerful tool to have in order to have insight of what BNN’s audience desires and is

engaged with. Therefore, it is recommended to promote 101.TV more profoundly. Gaining

more reputation will gain more users which will result into more interaction with BNN

viewers.

A strength mentioned before, is BNN’s presence on the largest Dutch network site,

Hyves. This presence can be exploited in order to gain more insight information about the

people connected to BNN via Hyves or other social networks. These networks provide

heaps of useful information of the age, interests, preferences and other about its users. BNN

can use this information in order to stay up-to-date with the needs and deeds of its target

group, which can be adjusted in its programming. For that reason, it is recommended to

appoint marketing personnel who are able to observe and appoint the certain trends.

BNN wants to use social media to enrich its TV-programmes. It would be interesting to see

(interactive) television being transformed with social media into one medium. At that

moment, there does not have to be a transition from audiences behind the computer and

audiences behind the television. But a future wherein (interactive) television is integrated

with social media, will not come anytime soon and will not come sudden.


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This change is a gradual process “Change will be evolutionary, not revolutionary” (Croteau

& Hoynes, 2003). New media are not only defined by technological advances, they are

defined by society as a whole, with technological advances on the one hand and social

psychology and economics on the other hand. So, although no new medium can or will be

brought to life, BNN can combine social media with its TV programmes. In the external

analysis a few examples where presented.

4. Proposal for Further Empirical Research

In order to bring the previously mentioned proposals to a higher level, further empirical

research is required.

First of all, a thorough content analysis needs to be completed. Before expanding BNN’s

online activities, for example the promoting of 101.TV, an analysis of several marketing-

strategies needs to be conducted. Wester and van der Selm (2006) have described how to

conduct a systematic content analysis. Information about how to market BNN, on network

sites, is essential to have in order to know what marketing-strategy to choose.

In preparation of a content analysis, an open interview can provide more insight information

on the topic (Baarda et al. 1996). For example, a marketing professional can be interviewed

in order to ask him or her what, or not, to focus on during a content analysis. This

professional will precisely know what to look for and where to look. Furthermore, to

increase BNN’s knowledge about its target group, it is suggested to bring together a focus

group once in a while. This will offer an opportunity to communicate with BNN’s target

group face-to-face and will provide a more qualitative insight.


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5. Financial Proposal

The following financial proposal has been established and gives an overview of the costs for

further empirical research.

Service Amount Costs

General costs (administration, travel expenses)

1 x € 750 € 750,-

Preparation open interview

by junior and medior

Junior: 3 hrs x € 40,-

Medior: 1 hr x € 60,-

€ 180,-

Initiating and conducting an open interview

by medior

Medior: 2 hrs x € 60,- € 120,-

Compensation interviewee

1 x € 100,- € 100,-

Content analysis on marketing-strategies

by junior, medior & senior


Medior: 10 hrs x € 60,-

Senior: 6 hrs x € 100,-

€ 1.840,-

Preparation and organisation 4 focus-groups





€ 1.320,-

Initiating and conducting 4 focus-groups


(1 focus-group = 2 hrs)




€ 1.600,-

Compensation 4 focus-groups 4 x 12 people

48 x € 25,-

€ 1.200,-

Total costs € 7.110,-

Total costs VAT (19%) € 8.460,90

Of course My Research © always aims to provide an accurate proposal. When, however, an

unforeseen increase in costs will occur, My Research © will contact BNN at all times.


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Brief Critical Reflection

To finish this final assignment, I will compose a brief critical reflection of my own work. At

first sight, this assignment appeared to be reasonably easy and straightforward. However, in

the course of carrying out the assignment it turned out to be different. I think this is mainly

due to the scarcity in academic sources which evolve around social media. Of course, a lot

of information in relation to social media is available. In my view, though, the academic level

of this information is often doubtful or non-existent. Therefore, I found it hard to find a

suitable theory to base my (literature) research on and to theoretically frame my research

question. In my research proposal, I presented a certain frame-work and a certain working-

method, which are also based on my own previous experiences with initiating and

conducting research. I expected these options to be the most appropriate. However, after

finishing the assignment I ought to acknowledge that conducting a SWOT-analysis requires

more (both external and internal) research in order to have an acceptable and reliable

result. Due to pressure of time I was not able to conduct a more extended SWOT-analysis.

Furthermore, I am not familiar with composing financial proposals at all, as of this it is

possible my financial proposal is not a proper representation of how it is in reality. Although

I am sure my final assignment needs improvements in several aspects, I am convinced that

my final paper is meeting the requirements of the assignment to a large extend.


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Bibliography

Baarda, D.B., Goede, M.P.M. de & Meer-Middelburg, A.G.E. van der. 1996. Basisboek Open

Interviewen. Groningen: Noordhoff Uitgevers.

Barney, J.B. & Clark, D.N. 2007. Resource-based Theory: Creating and Sustaining Competitive

Advantage. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Bloem, J., Van Doorn, M., & Duivestein, S. (2008). Me, the Media. Groningen: VINT.

BNN. BNN Merkboek. http://pers2.bnn.nl/data/media/db_download/706_63446d.pdf

Callari, R. 2009. TV + Social Networking = Strictly Social. Inventorspot.

http://inventorspot.com/articles/tv_social_networking_strictly_social_35107

Croteau, D. & Hoynes, W. 2003. Media Society: Industries, Images and Audiences. Thousand

Oaks: Sage Publications.

European Commission. 2009. Delivering the digital dividend.

http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/policy/ecomm/radio_spectrum/topics/reorg/dividend

/index_en.htm

Feldman, V. (2005). Leveraging Mobile Media: Cross-Media Strategy and Innovation Policy for

Mobile Media Communication. Heidelberg, Germany.

Holmes, D. 2005. Communication Theory: Media, Technology and Society. London: Sage

Publications Ltd.

Huysmans, F., Haan, J. de. & Broek, A. van den. 2004. Achter de schermen: Een kwart eeuw

lezen, luisteren, kijken en internetten. Den Haag: Sociaal en Cultureel Planbureau.

Lister, M., Dovey, J., Giddings, S., Grant, I. & Kelly, K. 2009. New Media: a critical introduction.

Oxford: Routledge.


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Porter, M.E. 2008. The Five Competitive Forces that shape Strategy. Harvard Business Review.

January 2008. p. 86.

Slot, M., & Frissen, V. (2007). Users In The 'Golden' Age Of The Information Society.

Observatorio Journal , pp. 201-224.

Verhage, B. 2004. Grondslagen van de marketing. Groningen: Wolters-Noordhoff.

Wester, F. & Selm, M. van der. 2006. Inhoudsanalyse als systematisch-kwantificerende

werkwijze. Onderzoekstypen in de communicatiewetenschap. P. 121-149. Alphen aan den Rijn:

Kluwer.

Wrigfors, C.A. & Eliasson, K. 2008. Strategic Management: A Combination of the Internal &

External Perspective. Master thesis. Jönköping International Business School/Business

Administration.

final assignment - ellen valckx

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