Exploring Cisk Lager brand engagement through social media

Abstract

Cisk is Malta’s leading beer brand and an icon of Maltese culture. The beer’s popularity with locals and travellers is seen in bars and on social media platforms. Research shows that people are engaging with brands more than ever through social media – to interact or to share experiences with their favourite brands. This study captured Cisk social media mentions between May and September 2017 to find out how consumers engaged with Cisk and the online culture users are co-creating. There were a total of 1,209 mentions during the summer period, and through a netnographic methodology, three themes emerged from the data. These were: ‘Sharing the good times” based on sharing positive experiences with Cisk as the main subject; ‘Symbol of Malta’ based on the connection of Cisk and Malta, and ‘Loyalty’ based on the commitment some users have with the brand. Using these three themes, recommendations were devised for brand managers and future research.