strategy. The trick is to find some common factors in the meaning negotiation
between the brand and key customers and integrate them in the branding strategy.
Hence, it is difficult not to get lost in the potential information overload of the
relational approach. The deep, and potentially insightful, knowledge of consumers
and their lives offers the marketer the main advantage of the relational approach:
the opportunity of going beyond brand loyalty.
Understanding brand consumption in the light of the relational approach offers
the marketer the opportunity to answer questions not answered by measurements of
brand loyalty (ifthe brand is consumed on a continuous base versus howand why).
Wanting to reap the benefits from deepening the loyalty concept through use of
the brand relationship theory should be weighed up against the difficulties of
managing a consumer–brand relationship. Getting the management of the rela-
tions-based brand right should start by the implementation of the assumptions
behind the theory. The brand is perceived as being endowed with a personality, the
brand–consumer exchange is assumed to be dyadic, and ‘dialogue’ and ‘friend-
ship’ seem to be appropriate metaphors. The personality of the brand as well as the
norms and values of the consumer strongly influence the evaluation of the brand’s
actions. These assumptions should serve as guidelines when managing the brand
in question. The brand should act as a true friend.
The marketer needs to be open to a truly equal and dyadic relationship. In all
aspects, there should be a balance between ‘giving’ and ‘getting’. If over-exploited
(for instance by an excessive gathering of data in any encounter with the marketer)
the consumer might see the marketer engaged in relationship marketing as an
enemy rather than a friend. A friendly marketer respects the basic rules of
friendship (to provide emotional support, to respect privacy, to preserve confi-
dences and to be tolerant of other friendships among others) and should apply
them to the management of the brand: ‘For the brand to serve as legitimate rela-
tionship partner, it must surpass the personification qualification and actually
behave as an active, contributing member of the dyad’ (Fournier 1998, p. 345).
Furthermore, the marketer should be open and honest about the motivation for
approaching the consumer and in return offer the consumer benefits corre-
sponding to the inconvenience.
The marketer should be very aware not to exploit the consumer’s confidence
and be aware to return any favour in one way or the other. A consumer willing to
‘share secrets’ should receive some benefits and in all be treated as a friend in
order for the brand relationship to develop and grow. Quid pro quois a funda-
mental principle in the relational approach.
Academic implications
The relational approach implies a major paradigmatic shift in brand
management and can be identified as the one approach leading brand
management into the twenty-first century. As described in chapter 3, the period
of analysis (1985–2006) can be divided into three periods, the first focusing on
the sending end of brand communication, the second with a focus on the
172 Seven brand approaches