Week 13
Fournier and Avery (2011)
1 Brand is not in control of their image online. Consumers are empowered on social media.
1.1 Open-source branding takes place when a brand is embedded in a cultural
conversation such that consumers gain an equal, if not greater, say than marketers in
what the brand looks like and how it behaves.
1.2 Open-source branding implicates participatory, collaborative, and socially-linked
behaviors whereby consumers serve as creators and disseminators of branded
content.
2 Age of the social collective
2.1 Brand consumption can serve as a social glue connecting consumers to each other,
and social media technologies enables these connections.
2.2 Cede power to the collective for specific brand decisions and tasks.
2.2.1 Ask consumers for ideas of new candy flavours, and produce small bits/samples
to test (take consumers opinions into consideration via social media).
2.2.2 Consumer-driven program: granting not just decision-making rights to
consumers but allowing them to reshape brand values at their core.
2.2.3 Consumers’ brand directives can be in conflict with the brand mission and can
veer the brand dangerously off track. The social collective is an inherently self-
interested entity whose activities are not necessarily aligned with the best
interests of the brand.
3 Age of Transparency
3.1 Everything can be exposed will be exposed.
3.2 Unearthed information: spread like wildfire via social media, weaken iconic brand.
3.3 Authenticity is the critical currency in establishing transparency.
4 Age of Criticism
4.1 All this rating, ranking, and scrutinizing has made consumers much more critical of
companies and their brands. Critical consumers networked together can wreak havoc
on brand.
, 4.2 Negative critiques are inherently interesting and shareable.
4.3 Turn consumer complaint maelstroms into learning opportunities that strengthen the
equity of the brand (Domino’s as an example).
5 Age of Parody
5.1 Hyper-critical consumers can leverage social media to turn the playful Age of Parody
into an Age of Humiliation for targeted brands. Particularly damaging is when
consumers use parody to cut to the heart of a brand’s core positioning and values.
5.2 When companies misbehave, consumers catalyze parodies to express their
displeasure.
6 From brand building to brand protection
6.1 Traditional brand management - asset cultivation: the development and leverage of
marketing programs that build brand equity and shareholder value for the firm.
6.2 Web 2.0 brand management: risk management, a discipline focused on risk
assessment and risk control.
6.3 Protect brands from attack and demise. Focus on the identification and evaluation of
risk factors that threaten brand equity.
6.3.1 What action would render the brand meaningless?
6.3.2 Who is responsible for damage control and public interface?
7 From strategic plan to executional excellence
7.1 Brand companies advance more by coincidence and faith in intuition than by the
security of collect data wrapped inside a tight strategic plan.
7.1.1 Social media: brand has less control – cogent plan has less power
7.1.2 Win through excellence in execution.
7.2 You need engaging content and a blueprint that helps content go viral and be shared.
8 From differentiation to resonance
8.1 Brand differentiation is supplanted by cultural resonance as the overarching criteria
for strong brand.
8.1.1 Create resonant cultural conversations.
9 Strategies can brands adopt to confront the changes caused by social media
Fournier and Avery (2011)
1 Brand is not in control of their image online. Consumers are empowered on social media.
1.1 Open-source branding takes place when a brand is embedded in a cultural
conversation such that consumers gain an equal, if not greater, say than marketers in
what the brand looks like and how it behaves.
1.2 Open-source branding implicates participatory, collaborative, and socially-linked
behaviors whereby consumers serve as creators and disseminators of branded
content.
2 Age of the social collective
2.1 Brand consumption can serve as a social glue connecting consumers to each other,
and social media technologies enables these connections.
2.2 Cede power to the collective for specific brand decisions and tasks.
2.2.1 Ask consumers for ideas of new candy flavours, and produce small bits/samples
to test (take consumers opinions into consideration via social media).
2.2.2 Consumer-driven program: granting not just decision-making rights to
consumers but allowing them to reshape brand values at their core.
2.2.3 Consumers’ brand directives can be in conflict with the brand mission and can
veer the brand dangerously off track. The social collective is an inherently self-
interested entity whose activities are not necessarily aligned with the best
interests of the brand.
3 Age of Transparency
3.1 Everything can be exposed will be exposed.
3.2 Unearthed information: spread like wildfire via social media, weaken iconic brand.
3.3 Authenticity is the critical currency in establishing transparency.
4 Age of Criticism
4.1 All this rating, ranking, and scrutinizing has made consumers much more critical of
companies and their brands. Critical consumers networked together can wreak havoc
on brand.
, 4.2 Negative critiques are inherently interesting and shareable.
4.3 Turn consumer complaint maelstroms into learning opportunities that strengthen the
equity of the brand (Domino’s as an example).
5 Age of Parody
5.1 Hyper-critical consumers can leverage social media to turn the playful Age of Parody
into an Age of Humiliation for targeted brands. Particularly damaging is when
consumers use parody to cut to the heart of a brand’s core positioning and values.
5.2 When companies misbehave, consumers catalyze parodies to express their
displeasure.
6 From brand building to brand protection
6.1 Traditional brand management - asset cultivation: the development and leverage of
marketing programs that build brand equity and shareholder value for the firm.
6.2 Web 2.0 brand management: risk management, a discipline focused on risk
assessment and risk control.
6.3 Protect brands from attack and demise. Focus on the identification and evaluation of
risk factors that threaten brand equity.
6.3.1 What action would render the brand meaningless?
6.3.2 Who is responsible for damage control and public interface?
7 From strategic plan to executional excellence
7.1 Brand companies advance more by coincidence and faith in intuition than by the
security of collect data wrapped inside a tight strategic plan.
7.1.1 Social media: brand has less control – cogent plan has less power
7.1.2 Win through excellence in execution.
7.2 You need engaging content and a blueprint that helps content go viral and be shared.
8 From differentiation to resonance
8.1 Brand differentiation is supplanted by cultural resonance as the overarching criteria
for strong brand.
8.1.1 Create resonant cultural conversations.
9 Strategies can brands adopt to confront the changes caused by social media
