The multi-layered nature of the internet-based democratization of brand management

The evolution of the internet, including developments such as Web 2.0, has led to new relationship realities between organizations and their stakeholders. One manifestation of these complex new realities has been the emergence of an internet-based democratization of brand management. Research about this phenomenon has so far mainly focused on investigating just one or more individual themes and thereby disregarded the inherent multi-layered nature of the internet-based democratization of brand management as a holistic, socio-technological phenomenon. The aim of this paper is to address this limitation through an investigation of the various socio-technological democratization developments of the phenomenon. To achieve this aim, a balanced and stakeholder-oriented perspective on brand management has been adopted to conduct an integrative literature review. The review reveals three key developments, which together form the essential parts of the phenomenon: (I) the democratization of internet technology, (II) the democratization of information, and (III) the democratization of social capital. The insights gained help to clarify the basic structures of the multi-layered phenomenon. The findings contribute also to the substantiation of a call for a new brand management paradigm: one that takes not only company-initiated but also stakeholder-initiated brand management activities into accoun

Celebrity Endorsement

This article outlines key theory related to celebrity endorsement. In doing so, we consider the benefits and challenges involved in deploying the symbolic capital associated with celebrity onto other brands. We consider psychological, economic, and cultural logics which inform key celebrity endorsement perspectives within the literature and suggest a need to develop the cultural approach further to incorporate the notion of brandscape and the implicit importance of temporality of meaning in the area of celebrity endorsement

Paradoxes of design: energy and water consumption and the aestheticization of Norwegian bathrooms 1990-2008

In this article we explore the widely held assumption that aestheticized consumption is bound to escalate. In our study of 20 years of representations of bathrooms in Norway's most popular interior design magazine Bonytt , we found support for the hypothesis that since the early 1990s new uses of bathrooms as sites for the construction and expression of identity and social aspirations have become more salient. We also have reason to believe that these new uses may be related to increased energy and water consumption. However, we also encountered aspects that indicate a more contingent and paradoxical relation. First, Bonytt calls explicitly for reflexive consumerism, enabling readers to deliberate the degree of aestheticization of their bathrooms. Second, while mostly showing large bathrooms, ' aesthetic fixes ' are proposed by Bonytt , which let small bathrooms appear larger - without increased energy consumption for space heating. Third, aesthetics is used to propagate new, energy saving technologies (e.g. LEDs). And fourth, water and energy wasting practices shown in newer Bonytt issues (e.g. large shower heads) have largely replaced wasteful practices present in older issues (e.g. whirlpools). Thus, at least in these cases the shifts in fashions promoted by Bonytt may only be surface phenomena, which leave more fundamental trends untouched. These four observations are examples of how a productive relation between design and sustainability can be achieved. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

As “marcas” de uma nova fronteira vinícola: identidade cultural das marcas de vinhos do Vale do São Francisco

The São Francisco Valley is located in wine’s New World, where the development of brands is the dominant orientation. Thus, the identity of these wines is linked to their brands. The identity mark, traditionally discussed a policy-strategic management, can also be conceived as discursive identity resulting from various vectors as well as strategic formulations. Here, in a purposeful, assume the identity of brands as a result of identification processes in a culture, so cultural identity, which approaches the discursive conception. We seek to understand how identities are constructed of wine brands in the São Francisco Valley. Therefore, we examined the critical discourse, based on Systemic Functional Linguistics M. A. K. Halliday, interviews with three groups of agents: producers, consumers and intermediaries. We reached 20 strokes identity, which, grouped conceptually defined six cultural identities: shy, responsible, jovial, honest, mediocre and traditional. The results point to a construction of identities anchored in a system of references dominant, resulting in disregard of the typicality of the region in an attempt to quell the difference and align itself with the dominant discourse.O polo vitivinícola Vale do São Francisco situa-se no Novo Mundo dos vinhos, onde o desenvolvimento das marcas é a orientação dominante. Assim, a identidade desses vinhos está atrelada à de suas marcas. A identidade marcária, discutida tradicionalmente sob uma orientação estratégico-gerencial, também pode ser concebida como identidade discursiva, resultante de diversos vetores além de formulações estratégicas. Aqui, de forma propositiva, assumimos a identidade de marcas como resultado de processos identificatórios numa cultura, portanto uma identidade cultural, o que se aproxima da concepção discursiva. Buscamos, portanto, compreender como são construídas as identidades das marcas de vinho do Vale do São Francisco. Para tanto, procedemos a uma análise de discurso crítica, com base na Linguística Sistêmico-Funcional de M. A. K. Halliday, de entrevistas realizadas com três grupos de agentes: produtores, consumidores e mediadores. Chegamos a 20 traços identitários, que, agrupados conceitualmente, resultaram em seis identidades culturais: acanhada, competente, jovial, honesta, medíocre e tradicional. Os resultados apontam para uma construção de identidades ancorada num sistema de referências dominante, resultando na desconsideração da tipicidade da região, numa tentativa de sufocar a diferença e alinhar-se ao discurso dominante