Brand Story Research Articles

Branding in the age of social media firestorms: how to create brand value by fighting back online

ABSTRACTLeading research on social media firestorms typically advises managers to quickly quell the backlash by appeasing brand critics. Drawing on crisis communications and branding research, we offer a radically different perspective and argue that brands can benefit from fighting back online. Through a netnography of a moral-based firestorm, we contribute to the marketing and crisis communications literatures by identifying the escalation strategy as a way to build brand value; explaining how brands can activate supporters; and providing guidance on how to assess these morally steeped events. We advance branding research by identifying how managers can provoke consumer-generated brand stories; and uncovering the hidden benefits of negative consumer voices. Finally, we outline a new perspective on how brands are dialogically constructed through a process we call ‘flyting’.

The impact of affective orientation on bank preference as moderated by cognitive load and brand story style

PurposeThe competition among banks in Taiwan is fierce. The financial services offered by banks are highly similar and banks attempt to devise a variety of marketing campaigns to gain brand preferences of bank clients. However, little research regarding bank marketing has applied the segmentation strategy to precisely target bank clients. The purpose of this paper is to explore the moderating roles of cognitive load and brand story style in the impact of bank clients’ affective orientation on brand preference of bank clients.Design/methodology/approachA total of 216 participants who have bank accounts in Taiwan were randomly assigned to a 2 (brand story style: underdog vs top dog) × 2 (cognitive load: low vs high) factorial design. An ANOVA was conducted to examine the interaction effects of affective orientation, cognitive load and brand story style on the brand preference of bank clients. Affective orientation of participants was measured by Affective Orientation Scale.FindingsResults demonstrate that for bank clients with low and high affective orientation, advertisements characterized by cognitive load (low vs high) and brand story style (underdog vs top dog) will elicit differential brand preferences of bank clients.Originality/valueThis is the first research to examine the moderating effects of bank clients’ affective orientation, cognitive load and brand story style on brand preferences of bank clients. Specifically, this research takes up the call to apply bank clients’ personality traits to examine the impact of bank marketing on brand preferences of banks.

Effectiveness of Storytelling in Agricultural Marketing: Scale Development and Model Evaluation.

Storytelling is a mode of communication in human interaction and is pervasive in everyday life. Storytelling in marketing is also a managerial application as a marketing strategy. Researchers of consumer psychology and marketing have devoted great efforts to developing theories and conducting empirical studies on this approach. However, in addition to narrative theories, many researchers are mainly concerned about the effect of telling a good brand story and its applications, such as advertising design and presentation. However, for those products that usually lacks branding, such as agricultural products, knowledge remains scarce about the relative impact of storytelling in marketing. Few researchers have explicitly developed a valid tool for measuring the effect of storytelling in marketing. To aid storytelling research in consumer psychology, this article conceptualized a construct of the effectiveness of storytelling in agricultural marketing and developed a measure with further validation. This scale consisted of 13 items with four subscales: narrative processing, affect, brand attitude, and purchase intention. The findings of this study supported a structural model with strong order among the four dimensions and good model fit. A discussion of the results and the theoretical and practical implications for consumer psychology and marketing practice are also addressed.

Place Branding Sumedang sebagai Puseur Budaya Sunda

The purpose of this study is to describe how Sumedang government build Sumedang as the center of Sundanese culture through Place Branding that includes the process of conducting SWOT analysis, Creating Brand Vision, Setting Program Goals and benchmarks, Implementing Brand Vision, and Brand Equity Evaluation. This research uses descriptive research method. Technique of collecting data of in-depth interview, observation and literature study. In this research concludes that: Sumedang government in conducting SWOT analysis there are room for improvement, in creating brand vision SPBS has taken into account the organization culture, identity, and government vision and mission but the brand vision are not articulated enough for the stakeholder as diferent meaning are comprehended, on setting program goals and benchmarks, the program goals are not articulated enough as the goals are to major and have no milestones which relatively easier to achieve, the benchmarks used by the government is also not detail enough which in return couldn’t give the governement best practices ideas for managing SPBS. In implementing brand vision, the government didn’t implement evaluation in order to response the distress in their internal body, on the external campaign program there are much area to be explored such as using PR surrogates as storyteller in telling the brand story and better management in social media., and then minimum qualifications for communcation staff of SPBS has to be made. Lastly, on brand equity evaluation there are room for improvement such as utilizing financial and consumer based evaluation to balance the image and substance of Place Branding.

Retail Tales and Tribulations: Transmedia Brands, Consumer Products, and the Significance of Shop Talk

This article challenges media studies scholars to pay closer attention to retail spaces as sites that mediate how entertainment franchises engage consumers. Examining retail through a media industries lens, it argues that retail is a site of struggle among retailers and brand owners over how brand stories are told, if at all. The article explores both the storytelling devices used in telling Frozen and Sesame Street stories at Target and how shop talk among retailers, brand owners, and manufacturers shapes the kinds of stories that entertainment properties can tell at retail, especially as those stories intersect with retail imaginings of why consumers shop and how consumer behaviors might be divided along gender, class, race, and age configurations. It ends with a case study analyzing how Sony's Annie (Gluck, 2014) brand story was told at Target in light of the near-complete absence of blackness as either a viable brand attribute or a recognizable consumer category in that space.

신화와 브랜드스토리 연결고리로서의 빅데이터

신화와 브랜드스토리 연결고리로서의 빅데이터

Trends in Advertising and Cultures in Nigeria

This paper tracks the evolution of Advertising in Africa and especially Nigeria. It covers advertising’s journey across African culture and how this negates the widely held belief that advertising began with the establishment of western agencies in the continent. Using a historical review of literature, the paper examines the timelines of communication forms within the context of the evolution and development of advertising. The town crier was the most popular adverting tool and is still being used in the form of hawkers calling out their wares today. This example of oral advertising which has existed in Nigeria long before Western influence, confirms that it has survived alongside the more traditional and foreign but now integrated forms of advertising. It transitioned into the introduction of classified ads with the first newspaper in 1859 – Iwe Iroyin fun awon Yoruba ati Egba” and became recognised with the establishment of the West African Publicity Company in Nigeria in 1928, which went on to become Lintas, one of the major advertising agencies due to the promulgation of the Nigerian Enterprises Promotion (Indigenisation Decree of 1972), which in Nigeria, prevented direct foreign ownership of advertising agencies amongst other ventures. As a result more agencies sprung up to work the opportunities and it led to the establishment of regulatory agencies like the Association of Advertising Practitioners of Nigeria in 1973. Creativity has been the main factor for the continuous survival of the industry mentioning great copywriters and business men like Ogilvy, Leo Burnett and Mukoro a veteran who started his career in broadcasting. His ability [and that of other writers] to position consumers in the brand story has accounted for the success of the industry as it employs advertainment to continually push the boundaries of what is possible. Today, the industry which is worth billions employs celebrity advertising to get the attention of its consumers. The industry has come a long way and adverts like Guinness’s “My friend Udeme is a Great man” or Indomie’s “Mama you too good o – Indomie” or even 7up’s “Fido Dido” or Miranda’s “Three Orange Men” will not be forgotten.

ENGAGING BRAND COMMUNICATION IN FACEBOOK – A TYPOLOGY OF THE BRAND PAGE USERS

Facebook offers great opportunities for brands to connect with customers and build relationships with them in order to increase their loyalty and the company’s sales. In regards to these goals, one of the most important key performance indicators is the customers’ activity – liking, commenting, sharing, recommending, expressing love, etc. On one hand, there is a lot of research on customers’ engagement, behavior and motivation. These studies provide valuable information for marketers to understand the way in which individuals use the social network and interact with others as well as the reasons behind their actions. Based on this knowledge they can develop their communication strategies and create content which has impact on the target audience. On the other, there are still some research gaps which can be further explored. One of them is related to the impact of one of the most important company assets – the brand culture, on the customer’s behavior and willingness to become part of the digital brand story. This paper presents a Facebook brand page users typology, developed by using a semiotic approach, which is based on their brand culture adoption and brand narrative engagement.

The Effect of Brand Story Advertisement Type on Corporate Image Formation and Loyalty

The Effect of Brand Story Advertisement Type on Corporate Image Formation and Loyalty

Effect of a brand story structure on narrative transportation and perceived brand image of luxury hotels

People are better suited to understand stories than arguments. This research examined the influence of a narrative transportation approach on luxury hotel consumers’ perceptions of brand image, using a variety of brand story structures. This study measured the effect of brand story structure on brand image and the mediating role of narrative transportation. Data was obtained via a 2 × 2 × 2 experiment, and a crafted brand story of a fictitious luxury hotel brand, with eight structurally varied versions. The results suggest that a well-structured brand story has the potential to enhance brand image, mediated by narrative transportation.

Exploring Narrative Structure and Hero Enactment in Brand Stories.

This study examines how audiovisual brand stories both invite and enable consumers to enact heroic archetypes. Integrating research on the archetypal structure of narratives with research on the event structure of narratives, we distinguish singular plot stories (i.e., stories that show a Hero’s Journey) from embedded plot stories (i.e., stories that not only show but also tell one or more Hero’s Journeys) and develop a conceptual and narratological framework to analyze their structural elements. Application of the framework to 20 brand stories representing 8 different brands reveals meaningful variation in elements between the singular plot stories and embedded plot stories. Differences in the expression of archetypes and event structure are argued to evoke different types of Hero enactment which in turn result in different outcomes. We specifically hypothesize that the enactment of heroic archetypes in singular plot stories primarily results in catharsis (pleasure), whereas the enactment of heroic archetypes in embedded plot stories primarily results in an outcome we describe as phronesis: a form of moral sense making of the self that advances one’s practical wisdom and prudence. The final section of the paper discusses how cathartic and phronetic outcomes of hero enactment may foster the psychological bonding between brand and consumer, and invite consumers to align their moral values with the values that are reflected by heroic character traits. The central aims of the analysis presented are to provide an exploration of narrative phenomena in a reasonably broad range of brand story videos and foremost to provide a conceptual framework with an applicable instrument suited to analyze relevant categories in these brand stories. The present study is interdisciplinary in its approach to a contemporary, developing marketing phenomenon, applying psychological modeling of archetypes and heroic values with narratological insights on perspective-taking and story structure. Its contribution is to systemize, from a narratological viewpoint, how various narrative archetypes in brand video stories may contribute to the development of brand-consumer relations.

MÜŞTERİ DENEYİMLERİNDEN ÖĞRENME: AKILLI HATALAR GÜÇLÜ MARKALAR

Hatalar her zaman mükemmel olmayan bir mühendislik, tasarım veya satış faaliyetlerinin sonucu olarak meydana gelmez. Sinemaseverler tarafından kült film statüsüne kavuşmuş ve büyük bir maddi başarıya erişmiş yüzlerce kötü film varken, gişede hüsrana uğrayan yüzlerce iyi film vardır. Bu anlamda markaların hedef kitlede memnuniyetsizliğe yol açan negatif eylemlerini tanımlaması, analiz etmesi ve bilinçli deneyimlerde bulunması çok önemlidir. Ancak hataların değerli ve eşsiz yeni bilgiler üreteceğine dair inancın artmasına rağmen, hatalardan öğrenme sürecini açıklamada çok fazla yol alınamadığı ve daha fazla araştırmaya ihtiyaç duyulduğu sıklıkla belirtilmektedir. Bu çalışmanın amacı; çeşitli marka hikayeleri incelenerek i) işletmelerin ölüm katılığına düşmemek için öğrenmenin kaynağı olarak hataları nasıl kullanabileceğine dair yol haritası sunmak, ii) hatalardan öğrenme becerisi geliştirmeye engel olan unsurları ortaya çıkarmak ve iii) bu engellerin üstesinden gelme yollarını keşfetmektir. Böylelikle hatalardan öğrenme davranışına ilişkin ampirik ve deneysel çalışmalara katkı sağlanacağı umulmaktadır.

MÜŞTERİ DENEYİMLERİNDEN ÖĞRENME: AKILLI HATALAR GÜÇLÜ MARKALAR

Failures are not always the outcome of an imperfect engineering, design or sales activity. While there are hundreds of bad movies that have reached cult status by movie lovers and have achieved great financial success, there are hundreds of better movies that were a failure at box office. In this sense, it is very important for brands to identify, analyze and consciously experience their negative actions that cause dissatisfaction with the targetted market. However, despite the growing belief that failures will produce valuable and unique new knowledge, it is often stated that there is not much proceeded on this area to explain the learning process from failures and that more research is needed. The purpose of this study is, by examining various brand stories; i) presenting a road map of how businesses can use failures as a source of learning so as not to go into rigor mortis in businesses, ii) revealing elements that prevent the development of learning skills from failures, and iii) discovering ways to overcome these obstacles. Thus, it is expected that this study will contribute to empirical and experimental studies on learning from failures.

CONSUMER RESPONSES TO CONTROVERSIAL MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS - THE CASE OF H&M’S “COOLEST MONKEY IN THE JUNGLE” MERCHANDISE

Insensitivity to racial issues has long been one of the main causes of controversy in marketing, and its significance has recently resurfaced due to the current political and social climate caused by events such as the American presidential election and Brexit. In the marketing field, current cases such as advertising from Kellogg’s and Dove have caused outrage across social media. This has shown that even experienced marketers can still find themselves being accused of insensitivity or even racism. With the help of social media, the cases such as those may lead to negative consumer-generated brand stories online and could damage the brand (Gensler et al., 2013;Gregoire, Salle, & Tripp, 2015). This paper has chosen to address the recent case of HM Vromen, Xenos, & Loader, 2015; Lindgren, 2017). The results have also raised new questions concerning several marketing-related themes including the effect of media coverage, brand trust, intentionally controversial marketing, social climate, and direct recommendations for H&M. The findings will provide practical recommendations for marketers, including in relation to managing diversity issues, constantly building a brand image, and identifying and acting upon the sensitive issues within different cultural contexts. As a preliminary study, the limitation of this study lies in the timeline of the research and the amount of data. Further research is recommended to conduct a longitudinal study to gain a more complete view of how the incident may affect consumers and brands over time.

An Exploration on the Process of Brand Identity Building in the Context of Malaysian Cafe

Identity is vital when communication takes place. Thus, building a strong brand identity has become a prime marketing concern for many business owners. In previous years, the focus was on the communication between the organisation and the customers. This study extended previous research by focusing on the business concept and identity and their approach of communicating themselves (brand) to the public, a step further in safeguarding a place in the enormous business industry. A qualitative approach with semi-structured interviews ware used to explore the food and beverage industry, focusing on independent coffee shops . The interviews were carried out with five independent coffee shops in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. According to the finding of this research, there is a lacking in the investment on the execution of brand for these independent coffee shops. This research also initiates that the inclusion of (the owner’s) roots, identity, and meaning of names are relevant when building an identity of a brand to have a distinctive business concept. This study contributed to our understanding of how brand identity was built and then connected it to the internal culture of the coffee shop. The findings suggested that the process of creating and building a brand identity was more complicated than just producing the visual imagery in order to build and communicate distinctively. Keywords : Brand, brand identity, brand story, coffee shops, Malaysia.

Must the underdog win? The moderation effect of product type in the underdog effect of brand stories

From politics to sports to business, people are quick to categorize those at a competitive disadvantage as “underdogs.” Moreover, there is ample anecdotal support that most people do not hesitate to align themselves with underdogs, a phenomenon called “the underdog effect.” This study examines the moderation effect of product type (hedonic product vs. functional product) between brand stories and consumer brand identification using a mobile phone as the manipulated product. The moderation effect is tested with data collected from 287 participants in Wuhan, China. Results show that product type plays a significant moderating role. Specifically, consumers have higher brand identification if a functional product uses “top‐dog” brand stories or if a hedonic product uses underdog brand stories. The implications, limitations, and future studies are discussed.

The Innovation of B2B Brand Story Marketing

The purpose of this research is to discover the B2B brand story for marketing strategy. The research question is: What is the brand story that can attract the consumers? The methodology analysis is Grey Relational Analysis. Based on the results, one can see that when the brand story is placed on the website, that sellers must be very careful as far as their marketing activities are concerned. The research findings indicate that the web page content, may have an impact on buyers/sellers’ impression.

Rethinking the brand–community relationship: Wearing a biggie in Harlem

In one of the most cited studies in business and economics, Muñiz and O’Guinn established that a brand can serve as the basis of community. Their seminal fieldwork showed that through digital communication, consumers loyal to the same brand formed a community unbounded by geography and rooted in collective imagination. This article provides an alternative ethnographic account in which the relationship between brands and community runs in reverse: community serves as the input rather than output of a brand, with digital communication bringing forth a distinctly local and interpersonal brand story. Drawing on multi-year fieldwork conducted on- and offline with youth and outreach workers in Harlem, I illustrate how youth implanted the Marmot brand and its Mammoth “biggie” parka with street-level meanings total apart from the public image of the brand yet consistent with branding practices in the corporate sector. This article helps to reorient the sociological, media, marketing, and consumer literatures by demonstrating how place-based, face-to-face relationships may become more, not less, significant as brands, digital technology, and community converge.

Short brand stories on packaging: An examination of consumer responses

AbstractThe persuasiveness of stories and their influence on consumers have been acknowledged in marketing, particularly within the advertising field. In marketing practice, brand stories are increasingly also appearing on product packages. However, packages differ from ads in significant ways as communication channels; for example, the space for messages on a package is limited by the size of the package. This study reports findings from two experiments comparing consumer responses to fast‐moving consumer good (FMCG) packages with and without short brand stories. The findings show that even a short brand story included on FMCG packaging has a positive impact on consumers’ affective, attitudinal, product value, and behavioral intention responses to the brand.

Prosumer engagement through story-making in transmedia branding

This article pertains to prosumer engagement, an important topic in academic research on media consumption and branding. Increasingly, there have been calls in the branding literature for a more audience-centred approach to making a deeper emotional connection with consumers in an age when interactive media have become imperative for communication. Prosumers, who both consume and produce media, have a different relationship with a brand to traditional consumers, as they are more actively involved in the brand’s story. The participatory nature of transmedia branding strengthens prosumer engagement through brand stories that enable an active contribution in an immersive story world. This article considers the rise in the use of transmedia story-making within the contemporary branding environment by proposing a framework for prosumer engagement in transmedia branding. Specifically, it examines how a leading transmedia brand, LEGO, has sought to engage prosumers in an active community using elements of this framework through an integrative, immersive and spreadable story.