The Case of Estrella Damm
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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.