Brand Management: Research, theory and practice

Summary

The community approach represents a social brand perspective and the
community concept is a key concept in sociology. Acquiring new knowledge in
this perspective requires methods facilitating the understanding of socio-cultural
interaction and meaning creation. Hence, the methods used to explore brand
communities are rooted in the ethnographic tradition departing in a socio-cultural
perspective on man. Getting close to subjects of interest by participating in their
natural environment is key in the brand community approach. The data collection
is versatile as all kinds of data shedding light on the phenomena count. Rich and
deep analysis with a variety of different expressions in a small sample is preferable
to a big sample with little variation. Getting close to the virtual brand communities
requires the adaptation of netnography–the ethnographic principles applied to
web-based research.

• Base the more in-depth investigation on the data from the exploratory
  phase. What seems strange or interesting can in that way be elaborated.


• Rich description and analysis with a variety of media is to be preferred.
  Consider both verbal and non-verbal sources of data and ways of
  describing the community and the brand meaning and experiences,
  traditions and rituals shared in the brand community.

196 Seven brand approaches

Theory

Methods and data

Assumptions

Managerial implications

Figure 9.7Methods and data of the community approach