Use Of Social Media For Corporate Communication:a Case Study Of Coca Cola China And Coca Cola Ghana

Social media has emerged as important media that have found expression in many aspects of human activity and communication. The growth of social media has challenged traditional media channels and also revolutionized the way information is disseminated and managed.Theoretical concepts of media usage place social media as a technologically driven media whose key strength as expressed in communication theories such as the media richness theory (Daft and Lengel) is the ability to convey cues, emotions and also its interactive nature.An area where social media seems to receive some significant usage is in the area of corporate management and in this regard, corporate management activities such as recruitment, advertising, marketing, public relations and sales can be cited.This study explored the issue of social media use for corporate management using Coca Cola as a case study with particular emphasis on two geographically, politically, economically, socially and culturally distinct countries; China and Ghana. The methodological approach also included; interviews, documentary analysis and observation.The study showed similarities as well as differences in the adoption of social media for corporate management in "Coca Cola China" and "Coca Cola Ghana". It noted that social media induced crises were more prevalent in China; it also showed that there was the issue of a technological gap which posed difficulties with regards to the adoption of social media for corporate management in Ghana. However, in both jurisdictions there is an evident willingness to adopt social media for corporate management.The study also showed that social media adoption by corporate organisations has faced significant challenges in terms of its applicability to generate increase in sales and/or profits. It was evident from the study that even very big multi-national companies are struggling to maximize benefits or returns on their investments (ROIs) in social media.One of the key conclusions drawn from the study is that there seems to be a lack of understanding or some confusion on the part of corporate executives on the right usage of social media for some corporate activities such as public relations, marketing, sales and advertising. From the study, that significantly is as a result of the "medium sometimes drowning, crowding or clouding the message". This reasoning is based on the statement of Marshall McLuhan that "the medium is the message" a view also shared by Goodman (2011).