Dijitalleşme ve sosyal medya kullanımı ile 5 yıldızlı otelde bir markanın stratejik gelişimi

Digitalization now becomes more than just a technical term but a social and cultural phenomenon. It has an impact on almost all spheres of human professional and personal life. Digital channels are treated as a direct way to access customers which wise brands employ in their everyday practices. Brand building process is being highly affected by digital instruments which companies are using to establish, maintain and manage strong brands. Hospitality industry became one of the pioneers of using digital tools with the idea to incorporate modern instruments and channels which proved their effectiveness, reliability and low cost. Social media appeared to be a direct way to access customers across borders on a global scale. With the help of that, hospitality enterprises started to emerge from local to global players establishing global character of their busıness. Being one of the most contemporary agendas, digitalization in the hospitality attracts attention not only from the industry but also from the academic world. The major purpose of this master thesis is to investigate the impacts of digital factors and tools on brand building and brand management in the hospitality context. We aimed at evaluating the level of using digital tools in brand construction process and building a strong brand awareness and loyalty using relevant literature, social media accounts and digital channels, interviews with top management of the hospitality brand. We were trying to find out whether digitalization makes a valuable impact on building a strong brand. Our methodology includes literature review, data collection, and analysis of company's website, social media accounts and digital channels. In our research we used qualitative analysis, descriptive case study approach to one of the hotels in Antalya, Türkiye. The major value of our study lies in an overall systematic approach to the phenomenon of 'digitalization' and its implementation toward practical usage in creating and maintaining a strong hospitality brand. During the research we found out that due to the relative novelty of 'digitalization' phenomenon, the value and the impact of it is often underestimated, minor attention is paid to overall incorporation of the digital technology into brand building activities. The research contains managerial implications and recommendations to industry professionals. Key words: brand, digitalization, hospitality, social media, digital channels