Brand Management: Research, theory and practice

Naomi Klein is the most well known publication representing many of the
concerns of the anti-brand movement. The anti-branding agenda is also important
in the cultural approach because these mechanisms are vital to know about when
aiming at iconic brand status (but also relevant for other types of brands). This is
why the No Logo movement is reviewed briefly here, even though it is not a
supporting theme, but rather a societal comment on brand icons.
The managerially oriented theory on how brands become icons is faced with the
societal response from the No Logo movement. The tensions between the iconic
brands and the anti-brand, anti-globalization movement seems contradictory at a
first glance. In an analysis of these tensions, Douglas B. Holt (2002) illustrates that
these opposing views might be logically connected after all and comes up with a
new cultural brand construct; the citizen-artist brand. The citizen-artist brand is a
viable prospect born from these cultural tensions and hence serves as a managerial
guideline for how to respond to the anti-branding movement. As an interesting
new theory and explanation of the tensions of the approach, this chapter would
suffer from it not being mentioned, even though it does not fit the mould of a
supporting/core theme presentation of key elements.

Supporting theme: cultural consumption

Canadian anthropologist Grant McCracken conceptualized a cultural perspective
on consumption in the 1980s. His theories have since become central to the under-
standing of consumption in a cultural context. If one considers the culture defi-
nition behind this approach, it is obvious that McCracken’s theory is a prerequisite

A societal comment:

The No Logo

movement

A future brand scenario:

The citizen-artist brand

Supporting theme:

Cultural consumption

Core theme:

Cultural branding:

“How brands

become icons”

Figure 10.3The core theme, its supporting theme (cultural consumption), the societal
comment on brand icons (the No Logo movement) and the future brand scenario (the
citizen-artist brand)

214 Seven brand approaches