Brands as Mediators of Lifestyles – the Case of the Lululemon Brand Assemblage MASTER THESIS Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE in Strategic Management Univ. - Prof. Dr. Andrea HEMETSBERGER Department of Strategic Management, Branding The University of Innsbruck School of Management Submitted by Selina WIEDMANN Innsbruck, Mai 2018 Abstract Brands are constantly changing due to public discourse online and offline. Using netnographic data from the brand Lululemon and conceptualising brands as processes and assemblages of interacting components, this master thesis investigates how brands and other elements of a brand assemblage mediate among stakeholders and culture. This work suggests that the processes cultural tagging, cultural portraying and field language facilitate social mediation between a brand and a cultural field. Table of Contents List of Tables and Figures ........................................................................................................ IV 1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 1.1. Problem Description ................................................................................................... 1 1.2. Structure of the Thesis ................................................................................................ 2 2. Theoretical Background ...................................................................................................... 3 2.1. Brands as Processes ................................................................................................ 3 2.2. Brands as Assemblages .......................................................................................... 8 2.2.1. Components of an Assemblage ...................................................................... 9 2.2.2. Interactions Among Components ................................................................. 10 2.2.3. Individual and Social Interaction ................................................................. 13 2.3. Social Mediation .................................................................................................. 13 2.4. Social Mediation Processes .................................................................................. 15 2.4.1. Co-Creating Brand Meaning ........................................................................ 15 2.4.2. Co-Generating Brand Manifestations .......................................................... 17 2.4.3. Co-Constructing Brand Stakeholders .......................................................... 18 2.5. Cultural Fields ...................................................................................................... 20 3. The Case Lululemon ......................................................................................................... 22 4. Methodology ..................................................................................................................... 27 Research Design .................................................................................................. 28 4.1.1. Research Method ......................................................................................... 28 4.1.2. Sampling ...................................................................................................... 30 4.1.3. Data Collection ............................................................................................ 31 Data Analysis ...................................................................................................... 33 5. Findings ............................................................................................................................. 34 5.1. Co-creating Brand Meaning ................................................................................ 35 5.2. Co-Generating Brand Manifestations ................................................................. 44 II 5.3. Co-Constructing Stakeholders ............................................................................ 53 6. Discussion ......................................................................................................................... 60 7. Managerial Implications ................................................................................................... 63 8. Limitations and Further Research ..................................................................................... 64 Appendix ............................................................................................................................. XXII III List of Tables and Figures Figure 1. Brands as Processes and their Outcomes .................................................................... 4 Figure 2 Brands as Processes: Assemblages at Three Levels of Interaction ........................... 12 Figure 3. Lululemon’s Manifesto ............................................................................................. 23 Table 1. Types of Online Webpages Used for Data Collection ........................................... XXII Table 2. Quotes Used in the Findings Section .................................................................. XXVII IV 1. Introduction 1.1.Problem Description Digitalization is omnipresent in today’s economy and radically changes market conditions with its revolutionary character. Digitalization today represents the third industrial revolution and permanently recreates and changes economic and social conditions. Like during other revolutions, working conditions and lifestyles change massively. Digitalization and social media does not only change organizational communication but in general interactive processes between organisations, customers and markets. (Kreutzer & Land, 2013). Today’s digital technologies allow users to share content, create links, use hashtags or comment posts about brands. Brands are omnipresent in public discourse and brand meaning is constantly altered in the multivocal online and mobile realm. The increased importance of brands in our daily life shows that brands have become a part of our lifestyle culture. Lifestyles that are relevant to stakeholders can be defined as sociological fields (Marquis & Tilcsik, 2016). The notion of assemblage theory helps to understand how the digital age has changed branding. The assumption of brands as branded goods has changed. Branding entails multiple as well as diverging layers of activity as brands are constantly subject to public discourse online. Assemblage theory suggests that consumers, stakeholders, brands and brand meaning are parts of a bigger brand assemblage that is generated by processes of interaction (Lury, 2009). Stakeholders for example interact with the brand by sharing content or discussing aspects of the brand with other relevant stakeholders. Researchers (Merz, He & Vargo, 2009; Mühlbacher & Hemetsberger, 2012; Vargo & Lusch, 2004) argue that managing the outcomes of branding is difficult because brands are co-created. This co-creation takes place in an environment that entails an abundance of brand related communications and a lack of attention. Brands are constantly changing due to public discourse online and offline. The increasing importance of certain lifestyles shows that brands have to become cultural intermediaries that connect sociological fields and stakeholders. Therefore, it is important to know how brands mediate between stakeholders and lifestyles or cultures. The perspective of assemblage theory highlights that certain interaction processes generate a brand assemblage. This master thesis focuses on how brands mediate lifestyles and aims at analysing social mediation processes. Therefore, the research question is the following: How do brands and 1 other elements of a brand assemblage mediate among stakeholders and culture? The knowledge of social mediation processes helps organisations to proactively manage process outcomes. This can be done by initiating processes and cooperating with stakeholders in order to control these processes. The brand Lululemon is an interesting example that shows how brands build assemblages of material and expressive elements that mediate between brand and lifestyles. Founded in 1998, Lululemon is a Canadian, technical athletic apparel company that is inspired by yoga (Lululemon athletica (Ed.). (n.d.)a). Lululemon mediates an active lifestyle centred around yoga through different communication strategies, rituals and specific practices. To communicate means to mediate between different perspectives (Jovchelovitch, 1995). Thus, the brand’s communication and social practices are a mediation between desires to lead an active lifestyle and the brands products. This master thesis uses the case of Lululemon to show how brands mediate lifestyles. 1.2.Structure of the Thesis This master thesis generally investigates how brands and other elements of a brand assemblage mediate among stakeholders and culture. First, a theory review provides an overview of current conceptualizations of branding. The view of brands as processes highlights how the active role of stakeholders affects branding. Assemblage illuminates the processual perspective of branding by comparing components and interactions between them with the three overarching processes of branding. Assemblage theory does not point out how specific interactive processes work. Therefore, the next chapters highlight through which social mediation processes brands