Brand co-creation with multiple stakeholders and implications for corporate brand management in South Africa
Date
2018
Authors
Sithole, Mankwe, Olivia
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Abstract
Band co-creation is gaining significance as an area of study as the branding logic shifts from the view of customers as passive supporters of brands to multiple stakeholders as active collaborators and co-creators of brands. Firms and academics alike are investigating ways to effectively harness increasing stakeholder involvement in brand management. However, research specific to brand co-creation remains fragmented and sparse. It is mostly apparent in the context of consumers as stakeholders, and very little considers multiple stakeholders.
As the subject of brand co-creation is new and emerging, in extant literature, there is limited understanding of how organisations incorporate multiple stakeholders in their brand building interventions. Furthermore, in South Africa, no such study has been undertaken. This study contends for a multiple stakeholder perspective on brand cocreation by exploring brand co-creation engagements in a multiple stakeholder context and the broad managerial implications. The study is an explorative, qualitative study, employing a single case study approach, located at a local firm that interfaces with multiple stakeholders in its operations.
The findings indicate that brand co-creation as a term is new and unfamiliar in practice, confirming extant literature. Furthermore, the increasing and deepening stakeholder network that organisations must contend with in brand building engagements was confirmed. Importantly the study revealed the tension that brand co-creation creates from a management perspective, alongside various other management inferences. The findings express that co-creation of brands between an organisation and its multiple stakeholders is challenging traditional perspectives of brand management, implying shared control and authority over brands. This creates a power duality and greater negotiation of terms between brands and their increasingly complex stakeholder network. The findings offer practical solutions and guidelines for practitioners to consider prior to engaging in brand co-creation interventions with multiple stakeholders.
Description
A research report submitted to the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Management: Strategic Marketing (MMSM) 18 June 2018
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Citation
Sithole, Mankwe Olivia, (2018) Brand co-creation with multiple stakeholders and implications for corporate brand management in South Africa, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, https://hdl.handle.net/10539/26307