Consumer Culture Theory Conference 2018

Description

Fragmented Fairytales? Paratexts and the Constitution of Brand Meaning Under Media Convergence

Abstract
In this paper we respond to the conference theme of consumer culture fairytales with a study examining how branding tales are told in the digital era. We build on previous literary CCT research by introducing Genette’s (2010) theory of transtextuality to marketing and consumer research as we seek to re-frame the theoretical understanding of the constitution of brand meaning for the digital era. We focus not on the primary texts of brand storytelling, but, rather, on the secondary texts, the paratexts, that surround brands. Branding is about far more than advertising, and we illustrate some of the ways in which the focus of brand meaning has shifted from text, to paratext, manifested in many emerging, hybrid, forms of branding practice that defy traditional channel categorisation. We suggest that this new theorisation has major implications for the cultural and managerial understanding of brand meaning.

Period	29 Jun 2018
Event type	Conference
Location	Odense, DenmarkShow on map