How do consumers get engaged in a brand community? The case of Estrella Damm.
BACHELOR’S THESIS
NUMBER OF CREDITS: 15
PROGRAMME OF STUDY: Marketing Management AUTHORS: Dana Cruz & Emma Aulestia GROUP NUMBER: 35
JÖNKÖPING May 2021
Bachelor Thesis in Business Administration
Title: How do consumers get engaged in a brand community? The case of Estrella Damm.
Authors: Emma Aulestia and Dana Cruz
Tutor: Luigi Servadio
Date: 2021-05-23
Key terms: Brand Community, Case Study, Consumer Engagement, Estrella Damm, Social marketing, Sustainable Practices.
ABSTRACT
Background: Looking at many different studies, it’s known that the topics mentioned before are well researched. However, there are not many cases of brand community and customer engagement like the one with Estrella Damm. That’s why the authors wanted to work on the combination of all of them with the use of the company Estrella Damm, as they are highly involved in its community and it has made a big change in the last few years. Going from a brand of living life, to a brand that generates consciousness about the Mediterranean Sea.
Purpose: The purpose of the following research is to demonstrate that by putting into a side the brand's product the researchers can feel engaged through the actions they have. The objective is to answer the question; “How do consumers get engaged in a brand community? The case of Estrella Damm”.
Method: For this qualitative study, case study and autoethnography methods were used to analyze in-depth the research question due to the deep knowledge of how this engages since the researchers are part of its brand community. These methods are the most appropriate since the analyzed brand is focused on creating awareness of the Mediterranean contamination, and the researchers know first-hand the engagement with the brand. Thus, a case study of this company, and with the support of the autoethnography of the authors, permit to develop as properly as possible study.
2 Conclusion: Consumers get engaged in a brand community through different actions the company makes. In this study, the main factor of being engaged involves the company showing to the consumer that it is not only focused on its product/service, but is using its influence and power to improve social and environmental welfare, and thus, the company gets an engaged and committed consumer in its community.
TABLE OF CONTENT
1. INTRODUCTION 6 1.1. Background 6 1.2. Estrella Damm 7 1.2.1 Background 7 1.2.2. Advertising campaigns 7 1.3. Research Problem 8 1.4. Purpose of the research 8 1.5. Perspective of the research 9 1.6. Limitations of the research 9
2. DEFINITIONS 10
3. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 11 3.1. Method of the Frame of Reference 11 3.2. Brand Community 12 3.3. Consumer Engagement 13 3.3.1 Categories of Engagement 14 3.3.1.1. Affective engagement 14 3.3.1.2. IAB Study Model 15 3.3.1.3. The Process of Collective Value Creation in Brand Communities Model 15 3.3.2 Consumer engagement typology and conceptual framework 17 3.4. Customer-brand implication 18 3.5. Co-creation 19
3 3.5.1 Customer brand co-creation 20 3.6. Sustainable Practices 21 3. 7. Social Marketing 21 3.7.1. Social Marketing and companies performance 21 3.7.2 Social Marketing and sustainability campaigns 22 3.8. Storydoing 22 3.9 Summary 23
4. METHODOLOGY 24 4.1. Methodology 24 4.2. Research Philosophy 25 4.3. Research Approach 26 4.4. Case selection 27 4.5. Data collection 28 4.6. Data analysis 29 4.7. Trustworthiness of the Research and Ethical Considerations 30
5. EMPIRICAL FINDINGS AND INTERPRETATIONS 31 5.1. Understanding the beer market and the consumer in Spain 31 5.1.1. Beer culture in Spain and its market. 31 5.1.2. Consumer social behaviour 32 5.1.3. Consumer Community Behaviour in Social Media 33 5.2. Documenting Estrella Damm campaign and actions 34 5.2.1 “Mediterráneamente” Campaign Spots 34 5.2.1.1 Act I. “Alma” 34 5.2.1.2. Act II. “Amantes” 35 5.2.1.3. Act III. “Compromiso” 36 5.2.2. Estrella Damm actions in 2019 and 2020 37 5.3. Estrella Damm Social Media 40 5.3.1. Youtube 40 5.3.2. Facebook 41
4 5.3.3. Instagram 42 5.3.4. Twitter 42 5.4. An experiential reflexive analysis. 43 5.5.1. Background 43 5.5.2. We are engaged with the Estrella Damm community 44
6. DISCUSSION 49 6.1. Engaging consumers through Social Media 49 6.1.1. IAB’s Study as a model. 49 6.1.2. Affective engagement 50 6.1.3. The Process of Collective Value in Brand Communities Model 50 6.1.4. Type of consumer engagement 51 6.1.5. Customer Values 51 6.2. Consumer-brand imprication 52 6.3. Co-creation 52 6.4. Social Marketing and Sustainable Practices 53 6.5. Storydoing 55
7. CONCLUSIONS 56
10. FUTURE RESEARCH 57
11. LIST OF REFERENCES 58
5 1. INTRODUCTION ______This chapter aims to introduce the topics Brand Community, Consumer Engagement, Co- Creation, Storydoing and Social marketing. Moreover, the presentation of the company Estrella Damm and the research question. ______
1.1. Background
Brand community, consumer engagement, co-creation, storydoing and social marketing are the main points of this thesis, which originated from the researchers’ interest and implication on the Estrella Damm’s community. After looking at many different studies, it’s known that the topics mentioned before are well researched. However, the researchers have not seen many cases of brand community and customer engagement like the one with Estrella Damm. Studies that were used as inspiration and to obtain information for the following research, linked some of the topics between them, but any of them involved companies functioning as institutions. That’s why the researchers wanted to work on the combination of all of them with the use of the company Estrella Damm. As they are highly involved in its community and the company has made a big change in the last few years, like spreading consciousness.
Brand community engagement is the consumer’s behavioural manifestations, such as sharing and socializing with the online brand community (Brodie et al., 2013). Online brand communities are changing consumers’ relationships with brands by allowing them to become active contributors by creating and sharing brand-related content and communicating and connecting with the brand (Gensler et al., 2013). Algesheimer et al. (2005), viewed the engagement of the brand community as “the interaction and cooperation between members of a particular brand community”. Vivek (2009) proposed that, when pursuing consumer engagement, brands should focus on producing experiences rather than simply supplying goods and services. In this sense, consumers must engage in a sustainable way to create long-term relationships and long-lasting and consistent emotional connections. Consumers are disposed to contribute to the firm when they feel connected to the brand. Estrella Damm did that with the authors, that’s why they find it really interesting to make this case study about the company.
The main incentives that make companies want to implement sustainable business practices are economical, followed by environmental and social ones. Here is where Estrella Damm is
6 doing the best. Their social-marketing communication campaigns are trying to influence and encourage individual behaviour change into more environmentally friendly directions.
1.2. Estrella Damm
1.2.1 Background
Estrella Damm is a lager beer brewed in Barcelona (Spain) in 1876 by August Kuentzmann Damm. It is the oldest beer brand in Spain. It was the first beer adapted to the Mediterranean climate. This beer was recognized as the "Mediterranean lager beer". At that moment, the beer was called “Estrella Dorada” which means Golden Star in Spanish. In 1991, the beer acquired its actual name, "Estrella Damm'' with the golden star and the red as the corporate colour; Estrella means "star" in Catalan and Spanish. Since then, the brand has been growing worldwide, being known and positioned as "the Mediterranean beer".
1.2.2. Advertising campaigns
Until 2009, the brand was using humour and exaggeration as a way of promoting themselves. An example is the "Rocket Man" 2008 summer Spot (referring to the audio-visual advertising that the company carries out annually in summer). In 2009, the brand started the "Mediterráneamente'' concept, which means "in a Mediterranean way". This concept was launched with the "Formentera'' summer spot, in which the brand started promoting experiences, sensations and happiness through the advertisements. The spots during the next ten years (until 2019) were focused on advertising campaigns, showing young people enjoying the summer with friends and lovers. The images intended to show that having fun is the only thing that matters and, if you have an Estrella Damm beer with you, these moments will be even happier and pleasant. "Mediterráneamente'' started being a lifestyle reference of how to face life from a vacation mood surrounded by Mediterranean beaches. The most famous song related to Estrella Damm is Summercat by the Swedish band Billie the Vision and the Dancers. The campaigns had different celebrities and famous people such as Orion Pla, Michelle Jenner, Jean Reno or Laia Costa. All the spots are storytelling of people enjoying their summer with music that transmits happiness and summer vibes. In 2013, the company decided to do short films around 10 and 17 minutes.
7 It was in 2019 when the company decided to change different aspects of the "Mediterráneamente" campaign. The advertising is divided into three separate acts instead of a long-duration one. Estrella Damm started focusing on what is happening inside the Mediterranean and not how good it is to live the summer. The spot has beautiful but powerful images where the company shows the risk plastics have in the maritime ecosystem escorted by a song in which the lyrics is as relevant as the images. In this new spot concept, there is not any shot of the beer in the spot comparing it with the previous ones. This last advertising campaign is the one we are going to go into a deeper explanation later.
1.3. Research Problem
There have been many developed investigations and studies involving customer engagement. But after doing research involving this concept, the researchers came across that those studies were well developed and focused but there was a lack of investigation relating customer engagement with the concepts of storydoing and companies that work as institutions.
Due to the fact that society nowadays is more concerned on sustainability and strict on company’s actions (Euromonitor 2020e). The researchers think that it is interesting to go more in-depth in this theory incorporating these concepts and Estrella Damm’s case in the most appropriate one. It is a company that has accomplished almost everything by their actions and functions as an institution and not only being focused on selling their products.
During the last years, Estrella Damm decided to change in a drastic way the message and the actions they were and are taking in order to show a new company perspective as well as, to engage people to care about the environment and live in a more sustainable way. It went from a message of living life, to generating consciousness about the environment and the actual world; which really did engage the consumers into creating a community. Through a case study and from a consumer perspective, the researchers explored some of Estrella Damm’s actions and how this engaged them into the community Estrella Damm has built.
1.4. Purpose of the research
The researchers have searched for studies, without being successful, in which the topics brand community and consumer engagement would be related to companies working as institutions and not focused on the brand's product itself. The Estrella Damm’s case is very interesting as
8 the researchers are native and know very well the brand and their actions. Even though one of the researchers consumes the product and the other one does not, both are part of the brand and its community, as it is working as an institution and not by the selling-product.
The purpose is to demonstrate that by putting into a side the brand's product the consumers can feel engaged through the actions the company has. The objective is to answer the question; “How do consumers get engaged in a brand community? The case of Estrella Damm”.
It can be interesting for the reader to have a different point of view involving consumer engagement with the brand community and inspire the marketers that having sustainable actions and looking after the environment, it is possible to get a community compromised with the brand without focusing on the product.
1.5. Perspective of the research
The questions will be studied through a consumer perspective as the study is not focused on why Estrella Damm is doing it or what benefits the company is getting; but in how the consumer is getting engaged in its brand community.
1.6. Limitations of the research
This research had some limitations. Even though the brand is performing internationally, the focus is in Spain, and more specific, Catalonia. Meaning that the researchers encountered some geographic delimitations. Because they do the analysis through their experience it can be said that there is a delimitation on primary data as they are only two authors, two experiences. As well as some limitations on time and COVID-19 due to the fact many events were cancelled, meaning less experience as there were no events. Finally, the limitation regarding the method chosen, case study, is that one case study is not enough for developing a theory from that (Flybjerg, 2006).
9 2. DEFINITIONS
- Storytelling: telling and using stories to engage the audience, or to make something clearer. - Storydoing: companies use narratives to drive better products and services and to catalyze loyal fans – loyalists – to evangelize. Create an experience that engenders brand loyalty, so customers feel a part of it. - Social Marketing: the use of commercial marketing principles and techniques to improve the welfare of people and the physical, social and economic environment in which they live. It is a carefully planned, long-term approach to changing human behavior.
- IAB (Internet Advertising Bureau): Spanish advertising-focused organization developing industry standards, conducting research and offering legal support for the online advertising industry (IAB, n.d.). - Passport Euromonitor: “Online database from Euromonitor International, providing reports about industries, economies and consumers.” (Euromonitor International n.d.) - Institution: “an organization that exists to serve a public purpose such as education or support for people who need help.” (Cambridge Dictionary; n.d.a) - Organization: “a group of people who work together in an organized way for a shared purpose.” (Cambridge Dictionary, n.d.b) - “Mediterráneamente”: It is the slogan of Estrella Damm advertising campaigns. It refers to life in a Mediterranean way, not only cultural-food-related and a way of living, but also the call for action and recognition dedicated to protecting the Mediterranean, the biodiversity found in its waters and the idea that we can still recover it.
10 3. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ______
This chapter aims to provide previous studies on the relevant topics for the research to generate a more profound knowledge of the study area. The frame of reference will consist of an explanation of the concepts of Brand Community, Customer Engagement, Customer-Brand implication and Co-creation, Storydoing, Social Practices and Social Marketing and the researchers will present a figure for explaining the relation between all of them and highlight their importance for the study. ______
3.1. Method of the Frame of Reference
The method used is a descriptive-analytical where similarities and differences between the many articles and reports have been researched. Based on the findings, the most trustworthiness theories and studies are the ones used for the analysis. This said the following topics were profoundly researched and explained as many scholars were compared.
The researchers kept a record of all the articles found and used to facilitate the references. In order to find relevant literature, the researchers used the systematic review approach and searched articles related to the topic by using the search engines Google Scholar and Jönköping University’s online library in order to have credible articles.
Figure 1.
Source: Figure made by the researchers
11 The figure above is a visual representation of the summary of the topics mentioned in the theoretical framework. The keywords are; Brand Community, Case Study, Consumer Engagement, Estrella Damm, Social marketing, Sustainable Practices and Storydoing. This is going to be detailed at the end of this chapter in order to explain how and why the researchers decided to use this theoretical framework.
3.2. Brand Community
Social network sites give marketers a means for direct interaction with consumers and constitute an ideal environment for creating online brand communities (de Vries et al., 2012). Online brand communities are changing consumers’ relationships with brands by allowing them to become active contributors by creating and sharing brand-related content and communicating and connecting with the brand (Gensler et al., 2013). Moreover, active consumers are a valuable source of innovation to companies.
Brand community engagement is the consumer’s behavioural manifestations, such as sharing and socializing with the online brand community (Brodie et al., 2013). By engaging their consumers, companies seek to build deeper relationships beyond the mere purchase of the brand, thus creating sustainable brand loyalty (de Vries and Carlson, 2014).
Brand community engagement is different from the mere act of “joining” or “liking” the brand page in the first stance, which are activities that precede the act of engagement (Brodie et al., 2011). Engagement reflects the consumers’ willingness to participate and cooperate with other brand community members for creating value for themselves and others – including the focal brand (Fernandes and Remelhe, 2015).
According to the study of Dessart (2015), consumers who participate in brand communities get engaged not only with the agent or object but also with the minded individuals that support the brand in the brand communities.
The focus of engagement in online brand communities is an element that needs to be taken into account. “Relationship with a brand remains a core constituent of communal engagement, and this gives impetus for creating and sustaining brand-administered communities” (Veloutsou and Moutinho, 2009).
12 3.3. Consumer Engagement
As highlighted by Hollebeek et al. (2017), consumer engagement has been defined as “a way to establish value-laden consumer/firm interactions and relationships”. Algesheimer et al. (2005) viewed the engagement of the brand community as “the interaction and cooperation between members of a particular brand community”. According to Patterson et al. (2006), “customer engagement is the extent to which an individual is physically, cognitively and emotionally involved with a company.”
Vivek (2009) proposed that, when pursuing consumer engagement, brands should focus on producing experiences rather than simply supplying goods and services. In this sense, consumers must engage in a sustainable way to create long-term relationships and long-lasting and consistent emotional connections. This context is only possible, therefore, by the extent to which the consumer is part of the value creation process through numerous interactions. Vivek (2009) also clarified that consumer engagement is broader than customer engagement, as it includes current and potential shoppers in marketing programs.
A suggestion by Vivek (2009) said; that “engagement could be assumed as the intensity of participation and connection of the consumer with the offers of an organization, stimulated by activities initiated by either the consumer or the organization”. Furthermore, Fernandes and Remelhe (2015), for instance, highlighted the changes in consumer behaviour influenced by the internet, shifting from passive to active participation in the co-creation process of innovation through social media platforms.
Van Doorn et al. (2010) believed that engaged clients tend to maintain relationships with peers and can exert strong influence on each other regarding purchasing decision-making processes. Hollebeek (2011) argued that customer brand engagement should be understood as the level of cognitive, emotional, and behavioural commitment through brand interactions.
A review of literature from many of the authors in the field of consumer engagement shows that there is neither a uniform definition of the construct, nor of its dimensionality. Mollen and Wilson (2010) consider engagement as a cognitive and affective commitment to an active relationship with a focal object for satisfying instrumental and experiential value. Instead, (Calder et al. 2009) discuss the concept of online media engagement and come to the conclusion that engagement is a collection of the consumers’ experiences – utilitarian, hedonic
13 or social-psychological – with the focal object. Brodie et al. (2013) propose that consumer engagement in online brand communities involves interactive experiences between the consumer and the brand, and/or other members of the community. They consider this as a context-dependent, psychological state within dynamic, iterative engagement processes, comprising cognitive, emotional, and/or behavioural dimensions (Brodie et al., 2013). A recent research by Vernuccio et al. (2015) has introduced the concept of social-interactive engagement, which proposes that people obtain value from socializing and participating, as well as from the input they receive from other users within the community. Thereby, the value users get from using the website depends on the social uses they make of it.
Moreover, the increased interactivity between consumers through online brand communities has caused consumer-to-consumer interactions to become an important element of consumer engagement (Libai, 2011).
Consumer engagement is a matter of fact as; having an engaged consumer base is becoming one of the key objectives of many marketing professionals. “The reportedly positive implications of engagement for consumer behaviour and brand performance are driving the academic and practical interest in explaining and manipulating the concept” (Vivek et al., 2014). Consumer engagement has been defined as “a psychological state that occurs through interactive, co-creative consumer experiences with a focal agent/object” (Brodie et al., 2011)
3.3.1 Categories of Engagement
According to one study (Dessart et al., 2015), the analysis made with social media users proves three principal aspects of consumer engagement in online brand communities: affective engagement, cognitive engagement and behavioural engagement. Nevertheless, the researchers are only going to mention the one that is important for the study.
3.3.1.1. Affective engagement
“The affective dimension of engagement captures the summative and enduring level of emotions experienced by a consumer with respect to his/her engagement focus” (Calder et al., 2009), and this emerges to long-lasting and recurrent feelings, rather than one-off emotions. Therefore, the emotions and feelings that the consumer has continuously towards the brand
14 will define their level of engagement with the brand. Could be done by expressing feelings about the online brand community.
3.3.1.2. IAB Study Model
IAB (2020) made a study in which they tell us the best practices to engage with consumers through social media.
1. Generating content with value; helping to improve the day-to-day life of the users promoting and valuable content. 2. Connecting the insights of their consumers; using insights related to the actual context for connecting emotionally with their followers. Linking the product with the daily situations of the consumer. 3. Generating content based on hyperrealism and authenticity; presenting the products in a testimonial way of the users. 4. Fomenting user interaction: get closer to the public generating participating dynamics and fomenting content UGC. 5. Become a caring brand: change the storytelling to the storydoing and show the brand contribution to social development. 6. Visualize events of the brand; fiscal and online events. 7. The link between Social Media and websites
3.3.1.3. The Process of Collective Value Creation in Brand Communities Model
Community engagement practices reinforce members’ engagement with the brand community. This process is made by 4 key points:
- Community Engagement is focused on stalking, milestoning, badging and documenting; these are concepts concerning community members who show and share their experiences and they are fans of the brand. - Social Networking includes welcoming, empathizing and governing; these are intangible practices for reinforcing moral and social bonds such as creating, enhancing and sustaining ties among brand members.
15 - Impression Management concerns the terms of evangelizing and justifying; which means members of the online brand community work as ambassadors; in other words, the members dedicate their time for the brand, they share with other members and inspire them to join the community. - Brand-use Practices are the following; grooming (members who share), customizing (existence modifications and discovering new products), and commoditizing (members criticize some products but in turn suggest ideas to develop those products.)
Figure 2. The Process of Collective Value Creation in Brand Communities.
Source: Adapted from “How brand community practices create value” by H. Schau, A. Muñiz and E. Arnould, 2009, Journal of marketing, p. 36.
(Algesheimer et al. 2005) worked on community engagement, he claimed that consumers’ motivation in order to interact with others would positively influence engagement with the brand community itself. Other authors propose engagement as “customer’s level of physical, cognitive and emotional presence in their relationship with a service organisation” (Patterson et al., 2006).
They define consumer engagement as a “psychological state that occurs by interactive, co- creative customer experiences with a focal agent/object (e.g. a brand) in focal service relationships” (Brodie et al., 2011). We can say that the attitudes and behaviours of the consumers may go beyond purchase behaviours.
16 3.3.1.4. Types of customer values by Holbrook.
According to Holbrook (2005) we can find a list of what he says are the different types of customer values. Here are found the ones that are related with this study.
● Efficiency refers to the role of consumption to satisfy something. ● Excellence; this occurs when a product or experience satisfies the need. ● Status reflects the manipulation of consumption to make a favourable impression on others. ● Esteem; typically involves materialism, satisfaction from owning those products. ● Play; activities that produce consumption experiences. ● Aesthetics; appreciation of some consumption experience prized as an intrinsically motivated self-oriented. ● Ethics; consumption experiences actively pursued the intrinsically motivated sake of their effect on others viewed. ● Spiritually; appreciation of a consumption experience prized for the intrinsically motivated sake of how it affects one’s relationship with some relevant other. ● Compresence; consumption experience generally entails multiple types of consumer value; these multiple value types are compressing in the same consumption experience.
3.3.2 Consumer engagement typology and conceptual framework
According to the study (Godinho & Correia, 2020), consumer engagement typology is “the aggregation process of different concepts and dimensions of engagement that acts as intra- interaction causes towards a focal object (i.e. product/brand), which all together or separately, lead consumers’ interactivity, which will foster different benefits for the focal object.”
“Consumers interacting with a specific brand and its content will invest their resources, they will make an effort in those interactions, which, in turn, develops brand-related sense-making” (Hollebeek and Macky, 2017). Consumers’ brand-related sense-making will drive consumer engagement consequences of tangible and intangible benefits, as shown in the figure below.
17 Figure 3. Framework for consumer engagement.
Source: Adapted from “A consumer engaged systematic review” by R. Godinho, and S. Correia, 2020, Spanish Journal of marketing, p. 290.
Consumers are disposed to contribute to the firm when they feel connected to the brand. “The value of the association between brands and consumers depends on the level of satisfaction resulting from the customer’s level of emotional connectedness and the motivations towards this relationship” (Brodie et al., 2011). When a brand achieves an emotional relationship with the consumer, we can say that the customer and the firm commit to consumer engagement behaviours (Godinho & Correia, 2020).
3.4. Customer-brand implication
Self-concept comprises a personal identity, which derives from a personal sense of self encompassing specific personal attributes, and a social identity, which is the perception of belongingness to a social group (Elbediwy et al., 2016). Social identity implies that consumers feel a sense of emotional involvement or belongingness with a social group and thus experience a shared or collective representation of the self (Ellemers and Haslam, 2011). Prior research has shown that members of brand communities develop a sense of belongingness to the brand community by considering themselves as part of the “in-group” of consumers. Members high on social identification tend to engage in collective activities such as knowledge sharing or
18 helping behaviours (Algesheimer et al., 2005). In particular, consumer-brand identification fosters deep relationships with the brand (Elbedweihy et al., 2016).
Referring to prior studies on brand communities showing that increased identification with the community leads to a stronger intention to participate within the online brand community (Dholakia et al., 2004)
Consumers are more likely to incorporate the brand into the self when the brand entails appropriate associations congruent with those of the consumer. Brands usually build and confirm a consumer’s self-concept and identity (Belk, 2013). This signalling aims at the self and at reaffirming self-identity. Thus, the social demonstration of brands is considered in this study to impact a consumer’s identification with the brand positively.
At the same time, consumers try to enhance their self-image by using brands that are social symbols to communicate to others who they are or aspire to be. They tend to choose socially meaningful brands used by their reference group to receive positive recognition and approval because they feel judged based on their brand consumption (Fischer et al., 2010).
Consumers incorporate brands into their self-concept and view the brand to be a part of themselves. They use, i.e. Facebook brand pages to engage in brand community activities, to publicly express this belongingness to the broader audience. “This is their way of saying “Look, this is me. This brand stands for who I am!” This finding is also in line with previous research on actual and ideal identity expression online” (Hollenbeck and Kaikati, 2012).
3.5. Co-creation
Co-creation can be defined as “the process where more than one party systematically joins forces to interact, learn and share information to create value” (Vargo and Lusch, 2004, 2016). The process of co-creation joins consumers and brings them together to interact with the development of the brand. “This phenomenon has changed the way businesses market to consumers” (Grönroos and Voima, 2013).
Consumers are creating brand identities through their daily usage and social connections (Iglesias and Bonet, 2012). Brands must hence unravel the web of social engagement in the marketplace to exceed customer expectations and create a loyal brand community (H. Schau et al., 2009).
19 To adjust the engagement strategy of the brand (Grönroos and Voima, 2013):
- Must recognize that the consumer has a lot of power and “hand over” some control of the brand and the creation of its identity. - Must recognize the opportunities to grow social engagement with consumers.
(Potts et al. 2008, p. 4) describes consumer co-creation of value as an “evolution of the extant economic and cultural order to account for consumers’ greater access to the ‘means of production’. Co-creation is based upon a dynamic exchange of value that extends beyond a transaction to a relational exchange. This occurs when the roles of the company and the consumer connect, and they jointly create value.
Is about developing methods to interact and working on consumer expectations that lead to the formation of associations that feed a brand’s identity (Vallaster and von Wallpach, 2013).
3.5.1 Customer brand co-creation
All encounters with the brand can generate influence, whether initiated from the organisation or other sources (Ind et al., 2013). A customer can co-create by letting them know how other customers perceive the brand. Exchanges between the company and the customer, taking into account the customer's brand experience, co-create the brand (Healy and McDonagh, 2013).
When a customer experiences or consumes the brand, the brand's value is co-created, and the customer's abilities impact the formation of brand value (Grönroos, 2016). Furthermore, here appears word-of-mouth, the ability of the customer to influence others' perceptions of the brand by telling them what they think of it.
Commitment and attachment highly influence brand engagement because customers are motivated to participate in brand communities and contribute to user-generated content. The motivation is a connection with the passion for the brand (Cova and Pace, 2006).
A motivation for individuals to co-create is self-expression. "Customers participate and contribute to brand communities in order to express their self-identity. This social environment encourages customers to co-create" (Ind et al., 2013).
20 3.6. Sustainable Practices
The main incentives that make companies want to implement sustainable business practices are economical, followed by environmental and social ones. Economic incentives are an essential determinant in the company's social incentives and business network to ultimately determine the environmental incentives in the marketplace and society. "A company's environmental efforts undertaken and its impact in the market and society are assessed in relation to their social impact within the company and its business network where, in turn, its economic impact is assessed" (Nils et al., 2014).
Sustainable business practices will vary from organization to organization and industry to industry.
Nils et al. (2014) say, "a company that can meet the needs of the present in terms of economic, social and environmental impact, without compromising the needs of the future, is more likely to appeal to investors and customers alike, and thus, be financially successful, as supported by global drivers of sustainable business practices and underpinning reasons."
3. 7. Social Marketing
3.7.1. Social Marketing and company’s performance
Social marketing helps people start changing their behaviour by using marketing tools for social good.
There are four key features social marketing has. (1) To focus on voluntary behaviour change since social marketing is not about coercion or enforcement but behavioural change. (2) Trying to induce change by applying the principle of exchange. This principle is about a win-to-win relation between the company and the individuals. (3) Using marketing techniques as consumer-oriented market research, segmentation, targeting, marketing mix, and more. Moreover, (4) improving individual and societal welfare without any benefit for the organization.
For Kotler and Zaltman (1971), there are some steps companies have to follow; they grouped them into five main categories. (1) Basic education: providing the individuals and society with understandable and relevant information about the social concern. (2) Value change: which
21 value the company can provide to the society but its product or service. (3) Attitude change: the company should focus on achieving an attitude change in individuals by exemplifying them. (4) motivation to act: following the last category, how the company will encourage and engage the society to be part of the social concern and taking action. The last one, (5) training and reinforcement: by providing enough resources, examples and information, the company will be able to teach, train and support the individuals that decided to participate with them in the social concern.
3.7.2 Social Marketing and sustainability campaigns
Intentional and accidental human actions have indeed had consequences concerning the world's health.
Social-marketing communication campaigns influence legislatures and encourage individual behaviour change into more environmentally friendly directions; this could be achieved by taking into account the public communication campaigns (Rice and Atkin defined in 2009) as (1) purposive attempts (2) to inform, persuade, or motivate behaviour changes (3) in a relatively well-defined and large audience, (4) generally for noncommercial benefits to the individuals and or society at large, (5) typically within a given period, (6) through organized communication activities involving mass, digital and online media, and (7) often complemented by interpersonal support.
Typically, we associate being "sustainable" with specific acts of consumption, such as not consuming certain resources and consumables. These acts define the citizen as responsible for consumption involving ethical, fairly traded, 'green' products and technologies (Newton, 2005). This understanding of consumption helps companies evaluate their notions of progress and development, talking about altruistic motivations, not profit ones.
3.8. Storydoing
According to Baraybar (2018 p. 24) Storydoing is understood as a tool that has to convey the truth and plays an important role in storytelling. It is the evolution of Storytelling that implies action. The stories that are told are still important, but the way in which they are told has to be changed, i.e. Storydoing seeks a real action that puts the brand to work.
22 Scolari (2013 p. 24) states that transmedia narratives are not just the adaptation of one language to another, i.e. a story that is told in a comic book will not be the same as the one that will appear on the big screen or on a mobile device; rather, they have a strategy that goes beyond developing a narrative world that reaches different media and languages so that the story can expand and have the opportunity to create and present new characters or situations that go beyond the fictional universe, forming a world.
Storydoing is used by brands that want to empathise with the consumer; moving away from selling a product through a story to transform into selling an experience and thus leaving a mark on the brand.
3.9 Summary
These topics and the information provided will help to analyse and respond to the research question. The researchers decided on these topics as each of them impacts the brand community and consumer engagement. This theory was used for interpreting the empirical findings so that there are different aspects to take into account when the consumer gets engaged.
The researchers needed to identify the type of consumers (Calder et al., 2013), and their values (Holbrook, 2005) for understanding what companies need to focus on for engaging them. After that, IAB study was used for analysing which practices Estrella Damm is using in Social Media for engaging consumers. The Process of Collective Value Creation in Brand Communities is a model really used in marketing research and activities, thus, it would analyse the community engagement, social networking and impression management Estrella Damm has with the help of researchers’ experiences; and compare the brand-use (which is concerning the product/service the company is providing) with its institution’s actions.
Estrella Damm is really focused on sustainability; thus, the researchers found it crucial to take into account concepts such as social marketing and sustainable practices since it is a determining point of Estrella Damm’s performance and its brand community. For doing that, the studies of Kotler and Zaltman (1971) were used to analyse if the company is following the right steps for Social Marketing and demonstrate how Estrella Damm engaged the researchers. Since the concept of Storydoing is an important technique when engaging; the use of it in Estrella Damm communication was studied.
23 The assumptions of different authors concerning Co-Creation, and Consumer-Brand Implications were used for analysing and helping demonstrate what was stated before, the researchers’ and therefore, the consumer engagement.
Thus, these theories were combined to analyse the Estrella Damm case and answer the research question.
4. METHODOLOGY ______This chapter aims to discuss the method chosen for the study of the research question by analysing findings. The chapter’s content consists in methodology, research philosophy, approach, case selection, data collection, data analysis and ethical considerations for providing a clear understanding of why we have chosen that method. ______
4.1. Methodology
The study deals with a qualitative analysis of the key players when the consumer has to get engaged in a brand community. To carry out this, the researchers used two methods that were combined.
The case study method was chosen for doing an analysis of the theoretical framework through the data collected from the Estrella Damm case and to build on the existing theory. Furthermore, the study is supported by an autoethnography for providing a deep and detailed understanding of how the researchers have been engaged in the Estrella Damm community and their feelings and thoughts during the process. In the following parts, the discussion of these methods and their advantages and limitations are shown.
Through documenting Estrella Damm “Mediterráneamente” campaign, its actions and messages, as well as the historical research of Spanish beer consumption and the Spanish consumers, a case study analysis, with the support of an autoethnography, was done for explaining how and why Estrella Damm engaged the researchers as a customer to form part of its community.
24 For doing that, secondary data was collected in different formats: text (company reports, market studies, websites) and video (pictures and videos of its Social Media, spots), as well as primary data through observation (autoethnography).
4.2. Research Philosophy
The research philosophy considers facts about society, the world and the impact that the research has on the situation or phenomenon under investigation. It serves to develop knowledge in a field of particular concern (Saunders et al., 2009)
Realism is the most recommended research philosophy when conducting case study research, as these are often contemporary and pre-paradigmatic (Boing, 1994). Realism differs from constructivism and critical theory since it does not have the limitations of relativism (Hunt, 1991); it is more objective because there is an external reality (Tsoukas, 1989). Even so, the limitations of the researchers themselves and the complexity of reality, make triangulation of data essential for observations to be fallible. Realism is an appropriate epistemological guide in case study research since the research problem in question is descriptive rather than prescriptive. Richards (1993, p. 40) asserts that “both (the previous theory and the theory that emerges from the data) are always involved, often simultaneously”, and “it is impossible to enter without theory in any study”. The area in which the study is focused serves to analyse Estrella Damm with the existing theory but allows the building of a new approach to engaging the consumer with the brand.
Theory building fits perfectly with the quest for the paradigm of capabilities realism (Tsoukas, 1989) and analytic generalization (not statistical generalization) (Easton, 1994; Ragin and Becker, 1992; Yin, 1994) since this study is based on the qualitative analysis of the data -not on the quantitative one- by investigating and understanding a phenomenon in a real-life context (Williams, 2011 and Yin, 2009).
The previous theory continues to be a key factor, through it, an analysis of the data collected is carried out to review the literature and identify gaps and what the company complies with or not to answer the research question in terms of consumer engagement.
Within the critical realism paradigm, case study research fits and recognizes that “fact and theory (induction and deduction) are necessary for the other to be of value” (Emory & Cooper,
25 1991, p. 62). The previous theory can be seen as additional evidence to triangulate the external reality of the detailed case study research with the realism paradigm.
The selection of the case, using the logic of replication and the conceptual framework developed from the previous theory, has a purpose. “With fewer than four cases, it is often difficult to generate a very complex theory and its empirical basis is probably not convincing” (Eisenhardt 1989, p. 545). That is why only the objective of the case used in this study, Estrella Damm investigation, is not to construct a theory but to offer another potential study in the existing theory. Even so, “the validity, significance and knowledge generated from qualitative research have more to do with the wealth of information of the selected cases and the observation / analysis capacities of the researcher than with the size of the sample” by what this study has validity.
The autoethnography is a method used for the writer himself to explain impressionistic narrative stories through his consumer experiences (Holbrook, 2005, p. 45). The author states that this method aims to show how some aspect of humanity is reflected in the consumer's day- to-day life through the author's own experience. The method is reliable given that society considers the observation instrument relevant and, therefore, individuals believe in this method since, as Montaigne said, “when I write about myself, inevitably describes some aspect of the human condition” (Holbrook, 2005, p. 45).
Interpretive approaches are considered a credible alternative in consumer and social market research. They are used to analyse consumer experiences from the consumer's perspective rather than the marketer's perspective.
Wallendorf and Brucks (As cited Shona and Woodruffe, 2009) recommend it as “research practice to improve understanding of the research process and act as such to develop consumer research theory”. By using it as a method, through engagement with the continuous self, a more responsive and collaborative approach to consumer research can be developed (Bristor and Fischer, 1993. As cited Shona and Woodruffe, 2009).
4.3. Research Approach
Deductive and inductive are the two principal research approaches. In the deductive approach, the theory has the aim of testing the hypothesis. Instead, the inductive approach, through data
26 collection, develops the theory. Therefore, the theory is based on previously obtained analytical findings (Saunders et al., 2009). The two mentioned approaches could be combined in a single study, giving rise to the third alternative, the “abductive approach”. By combining established theories and empirical findings, researchers can understand both the theories developed and the data collected for developing theories (Dubois & Gadde, 2002).
The research questions "How do..." are a perfect example for case studies, characterized by including the deductive approach based on the prior theory and the inductive approach of theoretical construction. This methodology focuses on theory building, but it is about both approaches- without forgetting the prior theory.
For this study, the abductive approach was used as the case study is based on previous research. The analysis of the theories with the empirical data would increase knowledge and suggest a new key concept in consumer engagement, being that case study research describes real-world phenomena and not normative decision models. The aim is to solve the “How do...”, specifically, “How do consumers get engaged in the brand community” with a proposed theory based on the previous theories. Thus, Estrella Damm case study was used for analysing previous studies of consumer engagement in brand communities and suggest new concepts to take into account such as functioning as an institution and the importance of storydoing.
4.4. Case selection
Estrella Damm’s main focus is on taking care of the Mediterranean. The company performs as an institution by providing information and resources to their consumers on how they can help this cause. The selection of this company was studied and finally chosen due to the strong relation between its actions, practices, and communication; the theoretical framework of this study and the researchers' relation with its brand community. Thus, a more in depth and trustworthy analysis could be done. Since the company is performing like this, the researchers became and become every day engaged with the brand community.
27 4.5. Data collection
Two different types of data were collected. On the one hand, the gathering of secondary data from different resources:
1. "Passport Euromonitor". This tool from Euromonitor International that permitted the researchers to find studies and reports about (i) beer consumption in Spain, that was collected to understand where Estrella Damm is positioned in the Spanish market and (ii) which is the behaviour of the consumer towards this good. It was also used to (iii) understand the consumer trends towards social behaviour, values, and actions as a reinforcement when doing the reflexive ethnography analysis. 2. "IAB" was used to provide information on how companies use Social Media in Spain and what impact each one has on individuals. 3. The official website of "Estrella Damm" and its 2019 Annual Report were used to compile information on what the company does, in terms of sustainability, and what alliances, collaborations and activities the company has carried out during the years 2019 and 2020. 4. The Estrella Damm Social Media accounts were used to analyse the Spots (in the case of YouTube), the company's performance and activity on these platforms, and its contact with the followers.
On the other hand, the primary data collected involves the diary and reflections on researchers’ own experiences as Estrella community members. The documentation is through pictures as well as with their observations from 2019 until now. This methodology is the most appropriate as the researchers wanted to show the engagement through their perspective. Estrella Damm started its focus on sustainability in 2019 and was when the researchers started getting engaged with its brand community. The observations show the feelings and thoughts about the brand actions and events as well as its messages and communications through Social Media, Official Website and advertising.
The pros concerning data collection are that (i) Estrella Damm shares all the information about the company and what they are doing, so gathering information was not a problem; (ii) the researchers have access to the Passport Euromonitor tool, so gathering relevant information was quite quickly. The (iii) primary data is trustworthy since it is researchers’ own experience, there is no risk of the trustworthiness of the testimonials.
28 4.6. Data analysis
The experimental reflexivity is characterized by the position in which the researcher stands. They must be openly themselves emotionally and socially in relation to the issue (Doucet and Mauthner, 2002). It is an exchange of experiences through the research process. There is no attempt to “put parentheses” on the researcher's own experience (Shona and Woodruffe, 2009).
Linking data to proposition and criteria for interpreting the findings, pattern matching, explanation building and logic models (Bickman, 2009). The purpose is, through the explanation of how consumers get engaged in a brand community, develop a new knowledge about this engagement based on the facts, review the existing literature for developing a conceptual niche this case study completed and contribute to the literature (Bickman, 2009).
The data for a case study comes from more than a single layer (Bickman, 2009). The research in this case study included data about the company layers (company’s performance, policies, partnerships, etc), as well as additional data about the researchers experience as being members and consumers engaged in the Estrella Damm brand community.
In terms of analysing the data obtained, the abductive approach (case study) will be used as well as a reflexivity approach (autoethnography) to support the analysis with the researchers’ diary concerning the engagement with the company. When implementing these approaches there are some strengths and weaknesses. The strengths regarding the analysis are (i) the potential of autoethnography to contribute to the lives of others through reflection and empathy with the narratives presented. (ii) A cultural or social account of an experience may become aware of realities that had not been thought of before by offering a valuable inquiry from the moment the study is read. (iii) Through making connections with those personal experiences, the ultimate goal is to inform and educate others. Since the study is focused on the Spanish market and the researchers are natives from there, it allowed them to provide a more realistic study because they experienced the change of the company’s objective. (iv) More importantly the researchers have lived and closely followed the actions that Estrella Damm promoted as well as the events and sponsors that have collaborated. The advantages of the Case study approach are (i) the testing of the relation of a phenomena in practice, in real life situations (Flyvbjerg 2006), (ii) the found of information thanks to the deep analysis that may not found in another way (Jacobsen, 2002); and (iii) the holistic view of the real-life event is being analysed (Yin, 2009). On the other hand, the weaknesses of this method may be that (i) the
29 unpredictability of the connection between the reader, the study, and the researchers' feelings can negatively affect the credibility of the study (Bochner and Ellis, 1996). (ii) The level of honesty and the investigators' will of self-disclosure may vary since this method implies explaining the internal feelings and thoughts of the same. Finally, (iii) it can sometimes be challenging for researchers to answer for ethical reasons (Méndez, 2013). In terms of case study research Flyvbjerg (2006) states that, (i) there is not the possibility to generalize from a single case and (ii) case studies are highly specific. Yin (2009) explains that since (iii) the investigator has much freedom it could end on not following systematic procedures or dubious evidence, the method could have a lack of rigor.
4.7. Trustworthiness of the Research and Ethical Considerations
To prove the quality of the research while conducting the study aimed to demonstrate credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability. The research findings are a truthful representation.
All the data collected by the researchers was already published, therefore the research just provides findings from online publications that were already shared by the company. As for the reflexive analysis it is written with the most honesty and objectivity as possible. Also, in the current research any type of misleading information, statement, or ideas portrayed by Estrella Damm was avoided.
The researchers approached the study in a way to protect the privacy and the anonymity of individuals participating in the research. The researchers ensured this topic for the images. The images used and shown in the research are either gathered from the public domain or provided by the authors.
30 5. EMPIRICAL FINDINGS AND INTERPRETATIONS ______This chapter aims to present secondary data on the following Estrella Damm company fields: social marketing, spots, events, Social Media platforms, sustainable practices. The beer market in Spain and the Spanish consumer are also presented for providing a context to the study. Primary data through the authors' own experience will be analysed in terms of Consumer Engagement and Brand Community. ______
5.1. Understanding the beer market and the consumer in Spain
5.1.1. Beer culture in Spain and its market.
Spain as a country where beer is consumed in a Mediterranean way, described as consuming the product in a responsible, moderate and social way, as Food Retail and IPMark (2019) mentioned. 90% of the beer consumption is in bars, restaurants or cafes. For Spanish people, beer is a social product since most of the people buy this product when they are with friends and family during their free time. They also commented that consumers of beer are aware of the climate change problems, and most of them are taking some action to contribute to a better world (such as reducing plastic or recycling). When the Spanish beer consumer has to decide, it considers the good and bad practices of the brands.
There are several companies in Spain producing beer. The market is divided into different categories depending on the (i) product and the (ii) price. (i) In the product category, we can find four main types of beer consumed in Spain: dark beer, lager, non/low alcohol beer and stout. 84,1% of the total beer consumed is the lager one and is Estrella Damm’s type of beer. Knowing that lager beer is the most consumed, it is divided in three categories by (ii) price per litre; Estrella Damm is in the mid-priced with 1.97EUR/l. (Euromonitor International, 2020a)
According to Euromonitor International (2020f), the company shares of beer in Spain is mainly distributed between three different companies: Mahou-San Miguel Group is the first one with 28,6% of the total volume in 2018, followed by Heineken NV with 26,4% and, finally, Damm SA with 12,7%. It is important to highlight that from 2015 to 2018, the two first have decreased their market share, and Damm SA has increased it.
31 Estrella Damm is part of the Damm SA company. (Euromonitor International, 2020a). Is the second brand with more shares in Spain with 7.8% and increased compared to the previous year. The first one is Cruzcampo, with a 7,9% decrease compared to the previous year. (Euromonitor International, 2020f)
5.1.2. Consumer social behaviour
Taking care of the planet remains a priority for consumers in 2021, as stated in the Euromonitor International 2020 Report.
Consumer behaviour has been influenced by environmental campaigns and climate change activism, causing more than 50% to prioritize reducing plastic and recycling items. Consumers' social and ecological anxiety is a crucial factor in pressuring companies to take measures that protect the well-being and health of society and the planet (Euromonitor International, 2020b).
Some of the consumer activism actions in 2021 are related to what Estrella Damm is doing: 60% of consumers have in mind the reduction of plastics, almost 55% take care of recycling elements, and 45% use sustainable packaging (Euromonitor International, 2020b).
Also, a significant action related to social activism is to share an opinion on social issues in the media and buy from brands that support social or political issues and make brand-based purchasing decisions that promote social/political beliefs. Finally, 23% of the consumers are donating to environmental NGOs (Euromonitor International, 2020d).
According to the "Consumers, tomorrow in Spain" Passport Euromonitor report (2020c), Spanish citizens state that
● "I will be more engaged in my community" (33%) ● "Climate change will impact my life more than it does now" (49%) ● "I will be less engaged in my community" (13%)
Regarding life priorities, 90% of the respondents said "time to volunteer" is not their five main priorities, but approximately 15% of them do volunteer at least monthly.
In terms of "my place in the world", 46% feel they can make a difference through their choices and actions. 45% are active in the community. Finally, 29% say it is essential to them that other
32 people think they are doing well. 75% of the same respondents are worried about climate change, and 67% try to impact the environment positively through their everyday actions.
The respondents decided how trustworthy are the ethical labels. The top three are recyclable (65%), environmentally conscious or eco-friendly (61%), and sustainability produced (58%).
5.1.3. Consumer Community Behaviour in Social Media
According to Euromonitor International report (2020g), "Spain is one of the most digitally advanced countries in Western Europe, which is reflected in its high mobile internet penetration." 84% of the respondents browse online while they are at home. Moreover, 83% socialize with friends online. 30% share their opinion on social/political issues in the media. 46% of the respondents visit or update social media platforms usually, 27% of them do it weekly.
Estrella Damm is in the alimentation sector. IAB analysed the Social Media quote in different aspects for this sector:
● Community quote: 61% Facebook, 19% Instagram, 12% Twitter. ● Interaction quote: 67% Instagram, 27% Facebook, 5% Twitter. ● Viral quote (shares / communities): 64% Twitter, 36% Facebook ● Publications quote: 82% Twitter, 9% Facebook, 7% Instagram ● Engagement quote: 78% Instagram, 10% Facebook, 5% Twitter ● Efficiency quote: 72% Instagram, 23% Facebook, 4% YouTube.
According to IAB (2020), the term "Community" signifies the sum-up of fans, followers and subscriptions.
The Alimentation and Drinks category has 4,5% of the entire community, has 3,3% of the total interactions in social media, and has 5% engagement. The engagement rate results from interactions + community / 12 months (IAB, 2020).
Estrella Damm is the 8th brand between 500.000 and 1.000.000 interactions. Even though Facebook is the platform with the most community, it is losing quotes, and Instagram increasing it. Damm has been recognized as one of the 35 companies with the best reputation
33 in Spain according to the latest Merco Empresas classification. In addition, it is the company in the beverage sector that rises the most compared to the previous edition of the report.
5.2. Documenting Estrella Damm campaign and actions
5.2.1 “Mediterráneamente” Campaign Spots
"There is no "Mediterráneamente" without the Mediterranean" is a message of Estrella Damm's 2019 spot, which aims to generate conscience. Damm dives into the ocean to call for action on environmental pollution.
5.2.1.1 Act I. “Alma”
Act I. Soul, the spot opens with a young girl dancing on the seabed while the song says "Now, I saw the world be born, my heartbeat is yours. Although I embrace your memories and keep your secrets safe, I feel horror".
The protagonist, representing the soul of the Mediterranean, glides along the rocks until suspended in the immensity of the sea, surprised by some plastics while the song says "I do not understand why you spit poison; you leave me breathless, you burn my whole body". A thick black cloud emerges from them, surrounding her body until it suffocates her. Meanwhile, the song continues: "I have seen you for a while, and I don't understand you. There must be another way to live".
With the image of the girl abandoned in the deep sea, the video concludes with a poignant message: "If we want to maintain our way of living, shouldn't we protect the thing that makes it possible?".
The spot was launched on Oceans Day (8th of June) during the global challenge of plastic-free week since “Alma” is a cry of alert for the Mediterranean.
34 5.2.1.2. Act II. “Amantes”
Act. II Lovers. The second act also focuses on raising awareness. The spot opens with the sound of a sailboat sailing before dawn while the song says "It is me, with fear and no reason and barely a heart under my skin; it is me, and I ask for your forgiveness. It is me, and I ask for your forgiveness. And you know the worst thing? I have been fine while you have been dying inside".
The protagonists of the story begin their day and get on working. Their stories are real, and all aim to save the Mediterranean Sea.
While the song says "They throw burning iron at you; you drown at times. I have been looking at myself for a while, and I do not understand myself. I listen to myself, and I do not believe in myself. There must be another way to live.”; a group of divers attended to a sea-turtle that had a piece of plastic wrapped around one of its flippers. Another group removes rubbish from the seabed and coastlines, while a third one studies the biodiversity of the seabed and association research the cetaceans of the Mediterranean.
These groups work towards the same goal: to fight for the conservation of the Mediterranean and the species that inhabit it. A message that Estrella Damm is carrying.
Estrella Damm visualizes projects of the recovery of the Mediterranean’s biodiversity and how to alleviate the effects of contamination, overfishing, and maritime transit. In the spot are shown five of the organizations the brand is collaborating with. The "lovers" that Estrella Damm wanted to give a voice are the followings;
- Posidonia Maps. Manu San Félix's application shows the boats if they find some Posidonia Pradera to avoid dropping the anchor on top of it. - Save The Med. Project for the conservation of the marine ecosystems and their habitats used for the investigation, education and teamwork. - Ghost Fishing. An initiative in Costa Brava for group expeditions to extract abandoned fishing nets at the bottom of the sea. - Tursiops Association. Entity dedicated to the conservation and protection of the cetaceans focused on the western Mediterranean. Wildlife Sense Organization for the study and the conservation of the marine turtles.
35 5.2.1.3. Act III. “Compromiso”
Act. III Compromise, reinforces the message of the brand commitment to eliminate plastic rings from all its beer cans as well as showing other causes of climate change.
The spot starts with a direct placement: "Now you, and thousands like you, talking about a place to start". The protagonist is a group of young people. They dance to the sound of environmental care and protection through Mediterranean landscape, all coordinated, joining forces to protect the planet; to demonstrate society can stop the climate emergency by daily and small actions; "because defending your way of life is a wonderful way of living". This spot is focused on plastics on the beach, bulldozers in the countryside, birds that cannot fly, and balls of rubbish under the sea.
“Commitment” is the word Estrella Damm makes a powerful declaration of intentions in line with its initiatives focused on sustainability. Thus, at the end of the spot, before showing its traditional adverb "Mediterráneamente", it is shown the new packs of beer cans without plastic rings.
"There must be another way of living" is the common thread between the projects and Estrella Damm is using it to show society is not too late to be aware and take actions.
This concept of "Mediterráneamente" has impacted Spanish society; the marketing industry has prized the brand for this. "Alma" and "Amantes" Estrella Damm campaign won the Aster Award for Business Communication. Estrella Damm won the Golden Efficacy Awards 2019 for the construction of a brand. Award for the Advertising Career of a Brand 2019 by the Jury Club of the Efficiency Awards of the Spanish Association of Advertisers. 2019 National Communication Award in the Advertising category for Jaume Alemany. AQ Awards in the best CSR practices for Estrella Damm's waste collection campaign on Mediterranean beaches, awarded by AdQualis.
The marketing and communication director, Jaume Alemany, explained the company has always mentioned the Mediterranean but this time Estrella Damm went further with this campaign.
36 5.2.2. Estrella Damm actions in 2019 and 2020
______In this section, all the findings are from Damm Corporate (2019) Annual report. ______
Being natural is being responsible. The Mediterranean lifestyle that has been the protagonist of Estrella Damm's communication for more than a decade can only be preserved by living responsibly. In this sense, the brand has taken a turn towards sustainability in its communication.
Estrella Damm did, in September 2019, a campaign for cleaning the beaches. Together with SEO/Bird Life, two non-profit associations, they started the campaign of "basuraleza", which is a combination of two words in Spanish: nature and trash. This event was done in some of the most crowded Catalan beaches: Barcelona, Sitges, Castelldefels and Caldes d'Estrac. The company put up a tent to give some gifts to the people who participated in this action for engaging people. There was as well a statue of a sea wave made of plastic to create awareness of the problem.
Figure 4: Sea wave-plastic statue
Source: https://www.dammcorporate.com/es/estrella-damm-pone-fin-la-recogida-de- basuraleza
The collaboration of the "Libera, united against garbage" project, promoted by SEO / Bird Life in partnership with Ecoembes (non-profit organization who manages recycling and eco-design of packaging in Spain), promoted a volunteer action carried out with the participation of Damm collaborators for cleaning the beaches of Barcelona.
37 Damm is recognized for its capacity to attract and retain talent. «Súmate al Cambio», which means "join the change", the new introduction by the AECOC (Spanish Association of Commercial Codification) with hybrid vehicles in the big cities as well as the development of apps for reducing the paper waste concerning the commercial transactions.
Figure 5: Vehicle example
Source: https://www.dammcorporate.com/es/estrella-damm-impulsa-una-campana-de- limpieza-de-playas
At the end of 2020, all Estrella Damm multipack holders started being made with 100% biodegradable cardboard and eliminating all the plastic rings. This action reduces by more than 260 tonnes of plastic per year, measured as almost 89 million plastic rings. Damm has also eliminated printed plastic shrink wrap from the Estrella Damm cans packs, reducing 99 tonnes of plastic per year. A new cardboard packaging is used, and it has PEFC and FSC certificates guaranteeing it comes from responsibly and sustainably managed forests.
One of the company’s values is innovation. To offer an auto-service beer and give the consumer a different and innovative experience, it has been testing a new system called Auto pull.
The Old Estrella Damm Factory is now a benchmark space for promoting culture in Barcelona. It hosts concerts and music festivals throughout the year and gastronomic events: sport and solidarity.
38 Some of the events the company has organized in 2019 are the following:
Figure 6: Estrella Damm Events in 2019 and 2020.
Source: Figure made by the researchers from Estrella Damm 2019 annual report data.
In the same year, Estrella Damm has also supported different activities:
Figure 7: Activities Estrella Damm supports
Source: Figure made by the researchers from Estrella Damm 2019 annual report data.
Going deeper into some of the events, the researchers found exciting actions the company has done with social and environmental objectives. In 2019, #1TantoMás was organized in the Estrella Damm Paddle Circuit, engaging the fans in recycling the balls for soundproofing classrooms for students with hearing sensitivity. The impact of this action was long-term; not
39 only were more than 2,500 balls collected, but it also promoted a change in habits both in players and in clubs and organizations and its potential relationship with the Specific Hearing Disability Team of the Community of Madrid.
In 2019, the Damm Foundation managed to raise € 30,000 by collaborating with the "Voices for equal opportunities for young people" concert for the “Casal dels Infants”. Collaborated in the edition of the concert "Voices for Equality”. Love of Lesbian, Els Catarres, Joan Dausà and Elefantes were performing that day to help more than 1,700 young people in vulnerable situations and participate in the Casal dels Infants through leisure services and community actions, as well as training and socio-labour insertion.
The company collaborates in the annual "Red People" charity gala, organized by the Fight Against AIDS Foundation at the Sant Jordi Club.
The Old Estrella Damm Factory, the Estrella Damm factories in El Prat de Llobregat are illuminated in different colours for World Day Against Breast Cancer and World Autism Day.
5.3. Estrella Damm Social Media
______In this section, each SMP is going to be analysed for providing a more specific and in-depth analysis of their messages and performances. ______
Estrella Damm is active in the four leading Social Media Platforms (SMP): Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube. Estrella Damm has in total 1.2564.262 followers in the four main SMP and, in all of them the brand is providing important and useful information about taking action to preserve the Mediterranean.
5.3.1. YouTube
Estrella Damm uses YouTube for posting all their spots and video content of the history of the company, short films, and sustainable actions and projects concerning the Mediterranean.
On its home page, we see all the #Mediterráneamente films from 2018 until 2021.
Estrella Damm has 86.700 subscribers and 54 videos.
40 Álex y Julia was the 3rd most watched on YouTube in Europe (10.733.370 views) in 2018 (Damm, 2019). The three sports analysed have even more views than "Álex and Julia".
Act I. “Alma" has 11.720.067 views, and 3.160 comments, almost all of them are good comments calcifying the advertising campaign as "work of art", "incredibly great", "true advertising", "exciting and aware". Act II. "Amantes" has 10.524.180 and 1081 comments also most of the positives: "goosebumps", "hope in humanity has given me back", "I wish all advertising were advertising like this"—finally, Act III. “Compromiso” has 14.482.048 views and 1.246 comments, most of them cheerful as well. The community insights are: "every time I see it, I know there is another way to live", "one of the best ads I have seen in my life", "thank you for defending our sea", "never defraud".
5.3.2. Facebook
Estrella Damm (@EstrellaDamm) has 888.020 followers on Facebook. 886.493 people liked this—4,2 out of 5 stars.
Estrella Damm informs its community what it is doing and with whom they are collaborating. The brand shows the videos that we can find on YouTube as well, such as spots, marine flora and fauna knowledge, and its sponsorships and congratulating special days such as Christmas Sant Jordi or when Barça wins a title.
Estrella Damm is always paying attention to the comments in its posts to answer as many comments as possible and give them a "like" or "love”, so the consumer is involved in this community and feels part of it.
Facebook is also an excellent platform to let the followers know the events Estrella Damm is involved in. All the events published, and the totality are free events. The brand also puts events when some of their spots are launched so people can feel part of a community when they watch them online.
41 5.3.3. Instagram
Estrella Damm (@estrelladamm) has 208.242 followers on Instagram, 1.869 posts and is following 376 accounts.
It has 24 story highlights, 13 of them about some Mediterranean spots, pictures and videos. The other 11 are about their spots and Mediterranean projects.
Estrella Damm's posts are always content of the followers or other personal accounts regarding how the consumer is involved in this community. The posts are related to nature and the Mediterranean landscape (inside and outside the water). Even if it is not original content, the photos are high-quality photographers and professionals who love the Mediterranean Sea. The only original content is the IGTV posts, which last more than 60 seconds.
Sometimes, the brand shows tips for the followers: how to act sustainably through the Stories or advertising on the platform.
Talking about the comments in its posts and the tagged photos, Estrella Damm always tries to like all of them to show the followers that their opinion and content are essential for them and that the company always will take them into account.
The brand also has another account (@agendaestrelladamm) With the motto "In the #AgendaEstrellaDamm you will find the best plans to enjoy life #Mediterraneamente", which shows all the events and collaboration regarding cultural experiences (music, sport, gastronomy…). This account has 13,6k followers and 444 posts.
5.3.4. Twitter
Estrella Damm Es (@EstrellaDammEs) has 67.700 followers on Twitter and is following 942 accounts. The profile has 15.200 tweets, 1.714 photos + videos and 68.300 likes, talking about the Spanish company account. The company also has an account in Catalan, which is called Estrella Damm Cat (@EstrellaDammCat).
The content in this platform is similar to the other SMP Accounts. The only difference that can be found is that the company had been criticised during the launch on the spot. The reason was that people thought it hypocritical to launch a spot about the importance of taking care of the
42 sea and that the company did not remove the plastic from their packaging; this changed with the launch of Act II when the company has shown its change to sustainable packaging.
The researchers will analyse these findings in the next chapter by the following theory; Figure 2; the Process of Collective Value Creation in Brand Communities, the IAB study and the five main categories of Kotler and Zaltman (1971) demonstrate how Estrella Damm engaged the researchers.
5.4. An experiential reflexive analysis. ______
This chapter is going to be presented in first person due to the fact that the autoethnography is a method about researchers’ experiences and therefore, they considered to explain it as “I” or “we”, so it is more personal. ______
5.5.1. Background
We were used to seeing spots in which we felt positively identified—seeing the new Estrella Damm ad meant that summer had officially started. Always have associated Estrella Damm with summer, friendship and music. It is a reality that the songs used in all the advertisements are consistently recognised related to summer. This can be shown in its SMP comment sections where everyone talks about the relation between the company, its spot songs and summer. They have a playlist on Spotify with all the spot songs they have used.
As residents in Catalonia, we would say that the impact of the brand's advertisements is greater because it is advertised on television more regularly, and many of the events the brand organizes or participates in are in this territory of Spain.
Because of our social environment, Estrella Damm has always been the benchmark brand: it is in all bars, restaurants and cafes, and most cultural events. So, it is a kind of "tradition" for us to consume Estrella Damm when we socialize or attend events.
43 Figures 8 and 9: Researchers’ photos taken on bars while hanging out with family and friends
Source: Researchers’ photographies
5.5.2. We are engaged with the Estrella Damm community
Although Estrella Damm has always been very present in our lives and has always been one of our priority options in beer, it was not until the 2019 spot that we were genuinely committed to the brand.
There are several reasons for that: The drastic change in their advertising proposal had a significant impact on us: how does the simplicity of the advertisement convey so much? Everything that was always associated with Estrella Damm was not reflected in the advertisement we watched; where is the music, friends, fun, and beer? This change can be seen in the following pictures where the difference between the last spot focused on living summer and the first one about environmental awareness, is obvious.
Figure 10: Estrella Damm 2018 summer spot.
Source: Estrella Damm [Screenshot in 0:50]. (2018) Retrieved April 23,2021 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYkYGEBjwfs
44 Figure 11: Estrella Damm 2019 summer spot.
Source: Damm Corporate [Photography]. (2019) Retrieved April 23,2021 from https://www.dammcorporate.com/es/alma-la-nueva-campana-de-estrella-damm
The spot went from being an ad in which you happily sang while watching it to a reality hit: the sea is asphyxiating in plastic.
Estrella Damm has always been present in our cultural activities as a collaborator or sponsor. In most of the concerts we have attended, we had their products on the menu, and the cups they provided were their propaganda. In addition, as soccer fans, the brand is present in teams such as Fútbol Club Barcelona (FCB) or Girona FC, which makes us like the brand for the mere fact that our team also likes it.
Some examples of activities we attended are shown below as well as the sponsorship of Estrella Damm with FCB.
Figure 12: Sónar festival Figure 13: CSIO Barcelona Nations Cup
Source: Sónar Festival Source: Researchers’ photography
45 Figure 14: FCB female team celebrating the Women’s Champions League 2021
Source: FC Barcelona Femeni [Instagram Stories], @fcbfemeni
The brand fits with our personal beliefs in taking care of the environment, reducing our footprint and helping as much as possible in a selfless way. It encouraged us, for example: to clean the beaches or attend a benefit concert.
Figure 15: Researchers cleaning the beach 26/09/2019.
Source: Researchers’ photography
Being loyal to this brand makes us feel better, we feel society will not judge us since it is environmentally conscious.
46 The company implemented in some of the Catalan beaches new containers specialized for cans. Thanks to that, when we were at the beach, we threw all the cans we had, or we found so that they could not end up in the sea.
Figure 16: Estrella Damm cans-container
Source: https://slideplayer.es/amp/5397470/
We have noticed in our intimate environment that the word-of-mouth of Estrella Damm has changed a lot during these two last years. It came from insights such as, it is a good quality/price brand and from our country; to only talk about the sustainable and social activities they have taken. These insights engaged us to know more about the company and are more involved. We started following Estrella Damm on Instagram after the spots of 2019. We love their content since we think its product (beer) is known and does not need to post anything about it. So, going to their Instagram is always a visual pleasure and motivates us to travel and take care of those beautiful Mediterranean places.
Figure 17: Estrella Damm Instagram Account Feed
Source: Estrella Damm Instagram Account. https://www.instagram.com/estrelladamm/
47 Estrella Damm also educated us through this platform in terms of (i) the amount of pollution plastic related products that beer generates, (ii) which associations and organizations are helping the Mediterranean, how they are doing it, (iii) how we can commit and actively participate and (iv) what are the actions taken.
Table 1: Examples of Estrella Damm posts on Instagram (@estrelladamm).
Explanation of Explanation of The Explanation of Save Citizen collaboration Fundació Cram Seabin Project’s the Med Foundation for cleaning the organization marine bins actions beaches
Source: https://www.instagram.com/estrelladamm/
Talking about the company's value change, we felt inspired to change our attitude toward sustainability and grow and participate as a whole community. Through their spots and Social Media posts, the company says how they are collaborating and what they are doing and exemplifies how we should collaborate.
We are concerned about climate change and the environmental footprint but did not actively participate in any community. Estrella Damm motivated us to follow their steps and join their community, where most of their followers are as concerned as we are.
In this case, the assumptions of different authors concerning Co-Creation, and Consumer- Brand Implication will be used in the next chapter for analysing why the researches have been engaged.
48 6. DISCUSSION ______This chapter aims to present the relation between the findings and experiences with the brand presented in the previous chapter, with the theoretical framework of the study. ______
6.1. Engaging consumers through Social Media
6.1.1. IAB’s Study as a model.
The IAB’s study (2020) “Best practices for engaging consumers through SMP” is well implemented in the case of Estrella Damm. The brand is (i) generating content with the value that improves the day-to-day life by posting helpful information about sustainable practices and giving other organizations and NGOs a voice for promoting their work.
The second point, stated as (ii) “the company has to link its product with the daily situations of the consumer”, is performed differently in the case of the company studied. Estrella Damm is acting as an institution; thus, it does not show any product-related (beer) content in its SMP or advertising. Therefore, the brand connects emotionally with its consumers using insights related to the actual context, but this content is not product-related; it is social and environmental conscious-related instead.
The same happens in the third point; the company is (iii) “Generating content based on hyperrealism and authenticity; presenting the products in a testimonial way of the users.” but not related to its product. The authenticity and hyperrealism can be noticed since the spots and posts on SMP are done by the storydoing technique, so the brand shows consumers how the other organizations are working and what they can do to be part of the solution.
Estrella Damm is achieving the (iv) “fomentation of user interaction” successfully; as it is found in brand’s actions such as posting pictures of its followers or liking the pictures and comments in which the brand is tagged.
The fifth point is the one that characterizes Estrella Damm the most. (v) “Becoming a caring brand by using storydoing and showing the brand contribution to social development”. As stated before, the brand is continuously using storydoing to publicize other organizations as it
49 is shown in its last posts of some SMP, but also the changes and actions of its own (organizing an event to clean the beaches or removing plastic from the packaging are two examples).
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are the SMP the brand uses to (vi) visualize its events or collaborations. In the case of the two first SMP, this type of content is mixed with others, but the brand has a specific Instagram account for communicating all the events; thus, the sixth point of the IAB study is also implemented in this case.
Finally, Estrella Damm is constantly (vii) linking its SMP with its website since in every post and publicity there is a message in which you are invited to know more by going to its website.
6.1.2. Affective engagement
Estrella Damm is achieving an appealing dimension of engagement. This is going to be analysed by using the researchers' own experience with the company. Calder et al. (2013), stated that affective engagement is about “long-lasting and recurrent feelings, rather than one- off emotions” and “expressing the feeling about the online brand community”. The researchers’ findings showed their compromise and precise match of feeling towards the brand. Both agree that it makes them feel satisfied by being part of a movement, of a cause.
6.1.3. The Process of Collective Value in Brand Communities Model
The figure of The Process of Collective Value Creation in Brand Communities is really used in the marketing industry. As mentioned in the theoretical framework, this process is made by 4 key points that are going to be analysed in the Estrella Damm case. The (i) Community Engagement, focused on stalking, milestoning, badging and documenting; can be seen in its SMP comments and explanations of the researchers about the events. Furthermore, the (ii) Social Networking- that includes welcoming, empathizing and governing-; Estrella Damm has most of them for not saying all, and we can see a deeper explanation on what they do in social networks in the following points as they are related. (iii) Impression Management concerning the terms of evangelizing and justifying; could be analysed in the Estrella Damm case as well. (i) Its Instagram posts are mainly from members of its community instead of original posts; (ii) the positive comments on YouTube videos, (iii) the amount of people joining its events, (iv) the researchers thoughts and (v) the experiences within the community; showed that the
50 community members work as ambassadors not only because they share with other members but inspire others to join the community.
The company offers really valuable content for consumers by providing information concerning sustainability about how to act, what are the options they can choose to act and give them the resources for doing it. The (iv) Brand-use Practices (grooming, customizing and commoditizing) are normally related with the product of the brand, nevertheless, the community members of Estrella Damm are doing it but with the resources and information the brand provides.
6.1.4. Type of consumer engagement
The type of engagement related with the brand is Consumer-brand engagement due to the fact Estrella Damm is a social symbol. The brand fits with the researchers’ personal beliefs in “taking care of the environment, reducing the footprint and helping as much as possible in a selfless way”. It encouraged them to clean the beaches or attend its benefit concert.
6.1.5. Customer Values
Four customer values out of nine (Holbrook, 2009) can be related with this case. However, Holbrook’s study was focused on the product of the brands. The researchers analysed these values not because of the brand’s product, but because of the brand’s performance and actions.
(i) Status and (iii) Ethics are related to the brand. As Merco Empresas classification (Damm Corporate, 2019) showed, Estrella Damm is one of the companies with the best reputation in Spain. The researchers’ diary supports this, and it is found a clear favourable impression of the brand. Thus, status value is present in this case due to the “influence this impression could be reflected in the consumption” (Holbrook, 2009) or, in this case, in the commitment with the brand while Ethics is present as this good impression of the brand motivates consumers to consume the brand's experiences.
The (ii) Esteem is related to the satisfaction from owning a product, and (iv) Spiritually relates the consumption experience prized for intrinsic motivation. (Holbrook, 2009). Therefore, the researchers state that even if they were not engaged because of the product, Estrella Damm would always go first when deciding which beer to consume.
51 6.2. Consumer-brand implication
An important aspect should be analysed is if Estrella Damm has Consumer-brand implication. As the researchers explained, they are concerned about climate change and environmental footprint; thus, they identify themselves with the brand since it's actively participating for a world less polluted. Ellmers and Haslam (2011) as well as Hollenbeck and Kaikati (2012) stated, “Social identity implies that consumers feel a sense of emotional involvement or belongingness with a social group and thus experience a shared or collective representation of the self” and the researchers showed their motivation for joining Estrella Damm community and their emotional involvement by, evangelizing as well as feeling they are part of something more, they are together for an objective social-purpose.
Consumers tend to choose socially meaningful brands to receive positive recognition and approval because they feel that they are judged based on their brand consumption (Fischer et al., 2010) Thus, the researchers explained the company has a really positive reputation in their social environment and, as stated before, Estrella Damm is one of the best reputed companies in Spain (Merco Empresas, 2020). The engagement in brand community activities is done through brand pages; and Estrella Damm is doing it not only in its website but in all its SMP. According to Belk (2013), confirming consumer’s self-concept and identity is an action brands are used to doing; they are social symbols used by the consumer for communicating who they are and aspire to be. This said, the researchers stated, the brand fits with its identity by having some values in common as well as the same objectives: take care of the planet and be active in social causes. Estrella Damm is teaching and leading by example so that consumers that aspire to be as active and concerned as the brand, have the company as a social symbol.
6.3. Co-creation
The authors Iglesias and Bonet (2012) stated that through consumers’ daily usage and social connection, they create brand identity; Vallaster and Wapplach (2013) affirmed that the company develops methods for interacting and working on expectations of the consumer for forming associations with them and the brand’s identity. In this particular case, the researchers explained their connection with the company and the creation of value together by being active and participating in Estrella Damm events, activities and using its sources (for example, cans- container) to be more environmentally friendly which maintain the expectations of a company that is concerned about climate change and it is ready to take action. Thus, Estrella Damm
52 brand community members are self-expressing through the brand as the motivation for individuals to co-create (Ind. et al., 2013); meaning the motivation, the connection and passion for the brand (Cova and Pace, 2006).
As the researchers explained, their social environment has taken into account the company since always; this is related with the technique word-of-mouth; due to the fact that customers can influence others’ brand’s perceptions.
6.4. Social Marketing and Sustainable Practices
Is it a fact that Estrella Damm is really focused on sustainability, that’s the reason because of the researchers found it crucial to analyse the company in terms of social marketing and sustainable practices. For conducting this analysis, the researchers are going to compare the findings with the theory made by Kolter and Zaltman (1971).
First of all, the four key features Social Marketing has, are going to be analysed in the Estrella Damm case. The (i) enforcement of behavioural change is present in the company in case. Its message changed into a complete focus on sustainability and, as the researchers stated, this created in them a feeling of alarm and opened their eyes to start thinking on what they can do to help. For (ii) introducing this behavioural change in its consumers, the company offers an exchange, a win-to-win relation. Estrella Damm is concerned for the preservation of the Mediterranean and its actions, activities, the visualization of other organizations’ performance and resources for the consumers, gives to them valuable and practical information and motivates them for actively participating as well as improves the company’s reputation and, therefore, a brand community more committed and loyal to the brand.
The company is (iii) using marketing techniques, such as Social Marketing and storydoing to engage the consumer; and tries to (iv) improve individual and societal welfare without any benefit for the company, since Estrella Damm is providing information and collaborating with non-profit organizations without asking anything in return.
Kolter and Zaltman (1971) developed five steps companies should follow to do Social Marketing successfully.
(i) Basic Education is the first step to provide primary and relevant information about social concern. In the Estrella Damm case, it is done through all its SMP, website and spots. The
53 company explains problems such as contamination in the beaches, turtles hurted by plastic, and other Mediterranean flora and fauna information.
(ii) The second step is Value Change, which means a company, by its product or service, provides value to society. Estrella Damm is doing it not with its product but with its social actions. Here, the researchers found the exciting point of the company case again since it is all about functioning as an institution instead of its product. The company is providing value for society not only because it is helping the Mediterranean Sea by reducing the contamination, but also because it provides valuable information to the society about what is happening and how people can help.
This brings the researchers to the next step, (iii) Attitude Change, which means the company focuses on achieving an attitude change of the people by the example. Estrella Damm is a leading example on how to help the Mediterranean Sea and solve plastics in the ocean. The researchers explained some events organized by the company, Estrella Damm’s containers for the cans and the plastic statue of a sea wave. These are examples to show that the brand is leading, not only through online networks (showing its commitment and actions) but is also creating events and giving resources for taking action.
Once the company has achieved the third step, it goes to the fourth; (iv) Motivation to Act; which is about how the company encourages and engages society to be part of the social concern and take action. The researchers were motivated to participate in one of these events (cleaning beaches) and confirmed they used its cans-containers more than once. Thus, Estrella Damm not only is encouraging people to know and investigate more about associations and actions to make concerning the Mediterranean but is motivating them successfully to be part of the change by acting.
Finally, the last step is (v) Training and Reinforcement; by providing enough resources, examples, and information, the company will teach, train, and support the individuals who decided to participate with them in the social concern. Estrella Damm provides much information about how to take action and be part of the social concern: preserving the Mediterranean. Some examples of that are shown in the empirical findings; Social Media posts about contamination in the ocean, associations to collaborate with for taking actions, giving the consumer sources to recycle (cans-container) and be more environmentally aware (posts explaining the reasons the company removed the plastic from packaging).
54 By doing that, Estrella Damm is daily providing information and reminding its community the importance of taking action.
6.5. Storydoing
As Baraybar (2018 p.24) stated, storydoing is the storytelling implying action. The fact of telling a story is as important as in which the way is told. Estrella Damm has been using the storytelling technique since the “Mediterráneamente” campaign started. The perfect example is “Álex and Julia” spot, in which the main focus was about the love story about the two protagonists and where the beer appears as a secondary object that is part of the life of them. However, with the change of the company’s focus and message in 2019, this technique was taken further, and the company started doing what is called, storydoing. There are two main characteristics that differ between the new spots and the old ones. First of all, Estrella Damm not only shows stories about real ocean pollution (Act I), real associations (Act II) and real climate change causes (Act III); but it’s explaining what are the company’s actions (for example, the elimination of plastic rings), with who collaborates (NGOs and non-profit organizations seen in Act II) and teaching in actions society can take (Act III, such as cleaning beaches or manifesting against deforestation). The second difference, and related with the company’s performance; is that they eliminate completely its product from the spots, thus, the company demonstrates its focus is not on selling and showing its product, but it’s functioning as an institution who is working to communicate the emergency of being sustainable to the point of taking action and how and with who the consumer can do it. Thus, since society is really concerned about environment and sustainability, Estrella Damm is empathising with the consumer by selling an experience they will remember (be part of the sustainable and environmentally conscious movement) more than selling its product.
55 7. CONCLUSIONS ______This chapter aims to summarise the theory used to respond to the research question and the recommendation to further study on Companies doing Institution performances. ______After conducting a case study of the company Estrella Damm, the research question can be answered.
The researchers’ got engaged with the Estrella Damm community through different channels. By changing in a drastic way the message and the actions the company was taking in order to show a new perspective (such as eliminating plastic rings, changing the stories they show into environmentally-conscious ones and not promoting the product in any advertisement); the researchers felt engaged and became part of its community. Its acts involving saving the Mediterranean, its collaborations with many organizations as well as its events, the community the company created through its SMP, and not last, its form to promote consciousness by working as an institution; were crucial for the engagement of the researchers.
Estrella Damm has been one of the best companies the researchers could have chosen in terms of analysing and helping answer the research question.
By having this specific answer for the case study, a generic answer can be developed in order to cover the RQ. So that, consumers get engaged in a brand community through the company’s (i) Social Marketing strategy; (ii) SMP content that teaches and provides useful information for the follower; the (iii) use of storydoing and (iv) leading by example in social causes by linking/involving actively the company into them (functioning as an institution). Thus; showing the consumer that the company is not only focused on its product/service but is using its influence and power to improve social and environmental welfare will make the company get an engaged and committed consumer in its community.
56 10. FUTURE RESEARCH ______This chapter aims to present the suggestions for further research. ______
The researchers find it interesting to continue studying the factor of functioning as an institution as a way of engaging consumers since, in the case studied by them, this factor was the main reason why they get engaged with the brand community. Another reason is the fact that consumers are being stricter with companies, in terms of the actions they take, and more concerned regarding the environment.
Therefore, the suggestion of future study is to research and develop on this factor as a way of engaging consumers.
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