Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • May–June 2011
  • Article
  • Business Horizons

The Uninvited Brand

By: Susan Fournier and Jill Avery
  • Format:Print
ShareBar

Abstract

Brands rushed into social media, viewing social networks, video sharing, online communities, and microblogging sites as the panacea to diminishing returns for traditional brand building routes. But, as more branding activity moves to the web, marketers are confronted with the stark realization that social media was made for people, not for brands. In this paper, we explore the emergent cultural landscape of open source branding, and identify marketing strategies directed at the hunt for consumer engagement on the people's web. These strategies present a paradox, for to gain coveted resonance, the brand must relinquish control. We discuss how web-based power struggles between marketer and consumer brand authors challenge accepted branding truths and paradigms: where short-term brands can trump long-term icons, where marketing looks more like public relations, where brand building gives way to brand protection, and brand value is driven by risk, not returns.

Keywords

Marketing; Brands; Brand Building; Brand Management; Digital Marketing; Advertising Campaigns; Brands and Branding; Marketing Communications; Marketing Strategy; Internet and the Web; Social Media; Advertising Industry; Consumer Products Industry

Citation

Fournier, Susan, and Jill Avery. "The Uninvited Brand." Business Horizons 54, no. 3 (May–June 2011): 193–207.
  • Find it at Harvard
  • Purchase

About The Author

Jill J. Avery

Marketing
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • March–April 2023
    • Harvard Business Review

    Case Study: Should a Dollar Store Raise Prices to Keep Up with Inflation?

    By: Jill Avery and Marco Bertini
    • June 2022 (Revised August 2022)
    • Faculty Research

    Dollar Tree: Breaking the Buck

    By: Jill Avery and Marco Bertini
    • April 2022
    • Faculty Research

    Christie's and Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi: The Value of a Brand

    By: Jill Avery
More from the Authors
  • Case Study: Should a Dollar Store Raise Prices to Keep Up with Inflation? By: Jill Avery and Marco Bertini
  • Dollar Tree: Breaking the Buck By: Jill Avery and Marco Bertini
  • Christie's and Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi: The Value of a Brand By: Jill Avery
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College