UNIVERSITY OF TAMPERE Department of Management Studies
CULTURAL REPERTOIRES AND THEIR USE BY NETWORK ACTORS: Case Reino & Aino phenomenon
Marketing Master’s thesis April 2010 Supervisor: Hannu Kuusela
Elina Leppälä ABSTRACT
University of Tampere Department of Management Studies, Marketing
Author: LEPPÄLÄ, ELINA Title: CULTURAL REPERTOIRES AND THEIR USE BY NETWORK ACTORS: Case Reino & Aino phenomenon Master’s thesis: 106 pages, 7 enclosure pages Date: April 2010 Keywords: Consumer, culture, network, postmodern, poststructural
The purpose of the study was to investigate and analyze the phenomenon of Reino & Aino by identifying network actors and their strategies of action for using the cultural repertoires related to the phenomenon. The thesis combines the network and cultural perspectives to marketing and consumer research in order to gain a profound understanding of the phenomenon and its theoretical implications. The Reino & Aino phenomenon is considered inspiring as a subject for research, because despite the lack of traditional marketing procedures, the product has attained unforeseen popularity and enthusiasm. Both consumers and other marketplace actors, such as the media, several organizations and communities are involved in the marketing of the product through different strategies of action. These strategies are based on the use of cultural repertoires that are identified in this thesis.
The theoretical framework of the thesis is based on Evert Gummesson’s many•to•many theory and the cultural paradigm of consumer research. Many•to•many theory broadens the view of marketing by paying attention to the multiple participants that are involved in marketplace action. It gives insights for studying complex and context•dependent phenomena. The cultural or interpretive paradigm of consumer research studies sociocultural meanings related to products. It pays attention to consumers within their whole life context, as they acquire, consume and dispose of consumption objects. The postmodern turn pays special attention to the plurality, complexity and fragmentation taking place in society and marketing, aligned with a constructivist philosophy of science. The analytical approach adopted in this thesis, poststructuralism, is related to postmodernism and it is used to examine data as cultural text.
Rich and thick empirical case study research was used as a data generation method. The multi• perspective dataset consisted of altogether 27 interviews, 20 hours of observations and other cultural material which were interpreted using the poststructuralist approach. The analysis relied on identifying and interpreting the network actors, cultural repertoires and strategies of action. Identified repertoires were locality and nationality, ethics and responsibility, empathy and caring, humor and fun, communities and subcultures, brands and fashion, uniqueness and individuality and heroes and myths. The results indicate that the rich cultural repertoires related with the Reino & Aino phenomenon help to understand the popularity of the product. The phenomenon has a mythical potential that results in dynamic strategies of action used by the network to market the product. The study yields customer insight and cultural knowledge that is increasingly needed in order to develop products and brands at the postmodern marketplace. The study also broadens the perspective of marketing to consider complex networks in addition to dyadic relationships. TIIVISTELMÄ
Tampereen yliopisto Johtamistieteiden laitos, yrityksen taloustiede, markkinointi
Tekijä: LEPPÄLÄ, ELINA Otsikko: CULTURAL REPERTOIRES AND THEIR USE BY NETWORK ACTORS: Case Reino & Aino phenomenon Pro gradu •tutkielma: 106 sivua, 7 liitesivua Aika: Huhtikuu 2010 Asiasanat: Kulttuuri, kuluttaja, verkosto, postmoderni, poststrukturalistinen
Tutkielman tarkoituksena oli kuvata ja analysoida Reino & Aino •ilmiötä tunnistamalla verkoston toimijat sekä toimintastrategiat, joiden avulla he käyttävät ilmiöön liittyviä kulttuurisia repertuaareja. Tutkielmassa yhdistetään verkosto• ja kulttuurinen näkökulma markkinointiin ja kuluttajatutkimukseen. Siten luodaan syvä ymmärrys ilmiöstä ja sen teoreettisista merkityksistä. Reino & Aino •ilmiötä pidettiin hyvänä tutkimuskohteena, koska tuotteista on tullut huomattavan suosittuja ilman perinteisiä markkinointitoimenpiteitä. Sekä kuluttajat että muut markkinoiden toimijat, kuten media ja erilaiset organisaatiot ja yhteisöt ovat mukana ilmiön markkinoinnissa. Heidän toimintastrategiansa perustuvat tässä tutkimuksessa tunnistettujen kulttuuristen repertuaarien käyttöön.
Tutkielman teoreettinen viitekehys pohjautuu Evert Gummessonin many•to•many •teoriaan ja kuluttajatutkimuksen kulttuuriseen paradigmaan. Many•to•many •teoria laajentaa markkinoinnin näkemystä fokusoitumalla markkinoiden moniin eri toimijoihin. Se antaa mahdollisuuksia ymmärtää ja tutkia monimutkaisia kontekstisidonnaisia ilmiöitä. Kulttuurinen tai tulkitseva kulutustutkimus analysoi tuotteisiin liittyviä sosiokulttuurisia merkityksiä. Huomio kiinnittyy kuluttajien koko elämän kontekstiin; siihen miten he hankkivat ja kuluttavat tuotteita sekä luopuvat niistä. Postmoderni käänne korostaa yhteiskunnan ja markkinoinnin monimuotoisuutta, monimutkaisuutta ja fragmentoitumista, ja se on linjassa konstruktivistisen tieteenfilosofian kanssa. Tässä tutkielmassa käytetty analyyttinen lähestymistapa, poststrukturalismi, liittyy postmodernismiin, ja sitä käytetään tutkittaessa aineistoa kulttuurisina teksteinä.
Tutkimuksen rikas ja moninäkökulmainen aineisto generoitiin laadullisen tapaustutkimuksen menetelmällä. Aineisto koostuu yhteensä 27 haastattelusta, 20 tunnista havainnointia ja muusta teksti• ja kuvamateriaalista, jota tulkittiin poststrukturalismin avulla. Analyysi nojautui verkostotoimijoiden, kulttuuristen repertuaarien ja toimintastrategioiden tunnistamiseen ja tulkintaan. Reino & Aino •ilmiön tunnistetut rikkaat kulttuuriset repertuaarit ovat paikallisuus ja kansallisuus, eettisyys ja vastuullisuus, empatia ja välittäminen, huumori ja hauskanpito, yhteisöt ja alakulttuurit, brändit ja muoti, ainutlaatuisuus ja yksilöllisyys sekä sankarit ja myytit. Ilmiöllä on myyttistä potentiaalia, joka johtaa dynaamisiin toimintastrategioihin tuotetta markkinoivassa verkostossa. Tutkimus tuottaa asiakasymmärrystä ja kulttuurista tietoa, jota tarvitaan tuotteiden ja brändien kehittämiseen postmoderneilla markkinoilla. Tutkimus myös laajentaa markkinoinnin perspektiiviä tutkiessaan kahdenvälisten suhteiden lisäksi monimutkaisia verkostoja. Contents 1 INTRODUCTION...... 6 1.1 Understanding a cultural networked marketing phenomenon ...... 6 1.2 The purpose of the study and research questions ...... 8 1.3 The case of Reino & Aino – a product and a phenomenon ...... 9 2 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND AND CONCEPTUAL POSITIONING...... 11 2.1 Broadening the understanding of markets...... 11 2.2 The cultural perspective on consumer research...... 14 2.3 The postmodernist turn...... 17 2.4 The poststructural approach on meaning ...... 18 3 CONDUCTING THE CASE STUDY RESEARCH...... 23 3.1 Ontological and epistemological assumptions...... 23 3.2 Case study research ...... 24 3.3 Data generation...... 25 3.4 Data analysis and interpretation...... 26 3.5 Evaluation of the study quality ...... 28 4 IDENTIFYING NETWORK ACTORS...... 30 4.1 A graphical illustration of the network...... 30 4.2 The entrepreneurs and their social networks...... 31 4.3 Mikko Närhi and the Reino book ...... 32 4.4 Charity organizations...... 33 4.4 The parasocial network ...... 34 4.5 Consumers and their communities ...... 35 5 ANALYZING CULTURAL REPERTOIRES AND STRATEGIES OF ACTION...... 36 5.1 Locality and nationality...... 36 5.1.1 Consumer strategies ...... 36 5.1.2 Network strategies...... 39 5.2 Ethics and responsibility ...... 45 5.2.1 Consumer strategies ...... 45 5.2.2 Network strategies...... 48 5.3 Empathy and caring...... 51 5.3.1 Consumer strategies ...... 51 5.3.2 Network strategies...... 54 5.4 Humor and fun ...... 56 5.4.1 Consumer strategies ...... 56 5.4.2 Network strategies...... 59 5.5 Communities and subcultures...... 62 5.5.1 Consumer strategies ...... 62 5.5.2 Network strategies...... 65 5.6 Brands and fashion ...... 70 5.6.1 Consumer strategies ...... 70 5.6.2 Network strategies...... 74 5.7 Uniqueness and individuality...... 77 5.7.1 Consumer strategies ...... 77 5.7.2 Network strategies...... 79 5.8 Heroes and myths ...... 83 5.8.1 Consumer strategies ...... 83 5.8.2 Network strategies...... 87 6 CONCLUSIONS ...... 91 6.1 Summary of the research and discussion of the results...... 91 6.2 Further research possibilities and managerial implications...... 95 REFERENCES...... 98 ENCLOSURES...... 107 ENCLOSURE 1: Photos related to the Reino & Aino phenomenon...... 107 ENCLOSURE 2: Description of the dataset ...... 112
FIGURES
Figure 1 Interfaces between many•to•many theory and the cultural paradigm 13 Figure 2 The research process 29 Figure 3 The Reino & Aino network 30 Figure 4 A continuum of repertoires 93 Figure 5 Network centric versus consumer centric repertoires 93
TABLES
Table 1 Definitions of the core concepts of the thesis 15 Table 2 A cross•section considering core issues in cultural consumer research 16 Table 3 The central tenets of postmodernism 18 Table 4 Paradigms within interpretive and cultural consumer research 22 Table 5 Summary of the repertoire of nationality and locality 44 Table 6 Summary of the ethics and responsibility repertoire 50 Table 7 Summary of the repertoire of empathy and caring 56 Table 8 Summary of the humor and fun repertoire 61 Table 9 Summary of the repertoire of communities and subcultures 69 Table 10 Summary of the repertoire of fashion and brands 76 Table 11 Summary of the repertoire of uniqueness and individuality 83 Table 12 Summary of the repertoire of heroes and myths 90 6
1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Understanding a cultural networked marketing phenomenon
Today’s marketplace is an increasingly complex system, yet its pervasive presence in our everyday life is considered to be ever more significant. During the recent couple of decades, consumption has become to be regarded as one of the central pursuits in life (Gabriel & Lang 1995) enabling people to aspire for various identities and lifestyles, exhibit different ideologies and values, and build social relationships and communities. Marketing has a central role in the mechanics of consumption as a generator of meaning (McCracken 2005). A product is made interesting and alluring to consumers not only because of its functional properties or because it satisfies a need. The cultural and social meanings associated with products and enabled by their use are crucially important in explaining the mechanics of the marketplace. In today’s postmodern Western society, culture is constituted largely through the market (Moisander & Valtonen 2006, 9).
However, it is not only marketers or companies that create meaning in the marketplace through marketing communications, for instance. Recently, the role of consumers themselves as active producers has become acknowledged (e.g. Cova & Dalli 2009). It can be argued that besides marketers and consumers, there are also other participants, which is why it is considered relevant to widen the perspective toward a network. The cultural repertoires of meaning that encircle a product originate from various sources and there are multiple participants or actors in their production. The influence of value chain members such as retailers and wholesalers has been acknowledged in marketing theory. Yet, there is still a need to understand the crucial role of other parties, such as consumers’ personal social networks and the communities they belong in, the media and reporters, other institutions of society at both individual and group level. It can be argued that the strategies of action taking place within this network are what actually creates meaning and consequently makes consumers buy the product (cf. Gummesson 2008c). 7
Marketing within networks has predominantly been discussed in the business•to•business literature by e.g. the IMP group researchers. However, the marketing of consumer products can also be perceived from the network perspective. In fact, the need to be able to connect with consumers on various levels requires a company to broaden its view of consumption and marketing. Since consumers live in a world impregnated with signs and symbols, the ability of companies to actually form relationships with their customers is ever more difficult, and the power of the network is needed. Concentrating on consumption objects as resources for consumers’ meaning•making shifts attention from rationalistic decision making or resource optimizing towards cultural bricolage. Furthermore, the richer and more relevant meanings that the network together is able to produce, the more attractive the core product and participation in the phenomenon will become.
Networks have recently been brought forward in connection with technological advancements and the Internet (e.g. Kozinets, Hemetsberger & Schau 2008). However, this study focuses on a mainly offline empirical case that centers on a physical product. The network strategies of action, although also taking place in the Internet, are not totally based on geographically distant mediated communication. Instead, the actors engage in meaning•making both in the real world as well as through the more traditional media.
This study focuses on the network that has emerged around Reino & Aino, traditional Finnish slippers which have attained an unforeseen popularity during the last couple of years. Whereas the slippers have a long tradition in Finland having been manufactured for 80 years, the spectrum of users and use contexts has lately diversified dramatically. Moreover, the slippers have become a phenomenon which is characterized by heightened media attention, the emergence of consumer communities and fan clubs as well as several parties’ attempts to cultivate the popularity. Yet, the marketing of Reino & Aino has not been aggressively managed by the company, nor has there been a conscious attempt to do so. This lack of centralized control has allowed new manifold possibilities to emerge for various parties to participate. The phenomenon thus presents itself as a good case study of the network aspects of marketing. By analyzing how consumers and network actors use the cultural repertoires connected with Reino & Aino to construct strategies of action, the complexity of such a cultural phenomenon may be dismantled and understood. 8
1.2 The purpose of the study and research questions
The purpose of the study is to investigate and analyze the phenomenon of Reino & Aino by identifying network actors and their strategies of action for using the cultural repertoires related to the phenomenon. The network and cultural perspectives of marketing are applied to understand the complexity and context. These two perspectives have not been combined very much in earlier research, which is why the decision needs some grounding. It is also necessary, because the contribution of the research is mainly related to colliding two different perspectives in a creative manner to allow for new theoretical insights to emerge.
Firstly, network theory has been applied in marketing mainly in the B2B context, where consumption is not in the focus. Therefore, the interest has not previously been directed to the cultural and social meanings of products or consumption. However, since it can be argued that network theory can also be applied to consumer marketing, the cultural perspective is warranted. Evert Gummesson’s many•to•many theory is used to analyze the phenomenon as a network consisting of multiple parties. This enables a macro focus that complements and brings something new to earlier research.
Furthermore, interpretive consumer research, particularly in its existential•phenomenological tradition (e.g. Thompson, Locander & Pollio 1989), often focuses on individual consumers, excluding the other marketplace participants. The network perspective applied in this thesis thus widens the scope of traditional interpretive consumer research. Perceiving consumers as marketplace actors who are participants in a network, interacting not only with the company but also with other parties, extends the understanding of marketplace dynamics (Gummesson & Polese 2009). This is important, because from the position adopted here, marketing should be considered in a comprehensive manner rather than just as a separate business function. The need to refocus consumer research to the study of markets as the context of meaning•making for multiple parties has also been noted by Firat and Dholakia (2006, 151), who argue that in the postmodern marketplace, everyone becomes a marketer and marketing is no longer the activity of managers nor the privilege of companies. Thus, there is a theoretical craving for the combining of these two perspectives. 9
The purpose of the study is achieved by answering the following research questions: 1. What kinds of actors are involved in the meaning producing network of Reino & Aino? 2. What cultural repertoires can be identified within the Reino & Aino phenomenon? 3. How do consumers and network actors use the cultural repertoires in their strategies of action?
1.3 The case of Reino & Aino – a product and a phenomenon
The Reino & Aino slippers have a long history in Finland. Before the current entrepreneurs bought the production and brand names of the so called “home shoes” in 2004 and named the new company Suomen Kumitehdas (Finland’s Rubberfabric), the business belonged to the same parent company as Nokia once did. The production of rubber soled slippers was started already in 1932 in Finland. The slippers first had a different name and also differed from the current Reino model slightly. A couple of decades later, in 1965, the Reino slipper was created. Besides the slippers, the company originally produced a large variety of shoe models and types, naming them all according to popular Finnish men and women’s first names. Throughout the years, however, the basic models and fabrics remained fairly similar. In the 1980’s, the production of the slippers was outsourced to Eastern Europe. However, the current owners of the brand made a strategic decision in 2005 to bring the production back to Finland 1.
Currently, the slippers are being manufactured in Lieksa, Eastern Finland, where approximately a thousand pairs a day are being made largely by hand. The company headquarters are situated in the city of Tampere, where the company’s own retail store was founded in the autumn of 2009. Before the opening of the store, the slippers were only sold through shoe retailers and larger supermarket chains. The company is owned by two of the former employees of the parent company, Arto Huhtinen and Tuire Erkkilä, who share a personal dedication to developing the business further. Since 2004, the company has terminated the production of bicycle tires and rubber boots, and is now concentrating wholly on the home shoe product line.
1 The history of the Reino & Aino slippers is documented in the Reino book edited by Mikko Närhi (2007). 10
Before 2004, Reino & Aino were a familiar product to Finnish people, but most of them mainly knew it as an old people’s home shoe. The product was primarily sold for the elderly or as a popular present for Christmas, Mother’s day or Father’s day. Thus, it was a low involvement product of stable and predictable sales figures and even though it was familiar to many people, the user base was restricted and deteriorating. The new owners, however, wanted to develop the product and started to think about possible options. The company did not have a large marketing budget, and changing the associations of old age was bound to be challenging.
However, a couple of years later the Reino & Aino had become a phenomenon. School children had started to wear the slippers in school and sports’ practice, young adults were wearing them in pubs and rock festivals, Reino & Aino themed events were organized by consumers themselves and famous people were telling reporters about their Reinos. Wearing the ostensibly corny and old•fashioned slippers was suddenly becoming a trend. The Reino & Aino slippers started to appear in the advertisements of other organizations, both in the private and public sector, sometimes with permission from Suomen Kumitehdas, sometimes without. Not only were consumers enthusiastic about the product’s re•awakening: the media was paying increasing attention to the phenomenon and therefore giving the product free publicity. The company did not need to create inventive and expensive marketing communication campaigns. Instead, stores were running out of slippers to sell. What had happened? This thesis argues that the power of the network to rework the rich cultural repertoires emerging around the product was what helped Reino & Aino become what they are today. The thesis will provide the basis for this argument by studying the phenomenon analytically through identifying the network actors, cultural repertoires and strategies of action. 11
2 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND AND CONCEPTUAL POSITIONING
This study is positioned within the network and cultural approaches of marketing and consumer research. The purpose of this chapter is first to introduce the broad macro perspective adopted in this thesis. Evert Gummesson’s many•to•many theory and the concept of balanced centricity will be reviewed. Next, the chapter will provide an introduction to the themes discussed within the interpretive and cultural paradigm of consumer research, as well as its central concepts and understandings. The thesis is inspired by the cultural turn of postmodernism, the central tenets of which are introduced in order to provide grounding for the more focused poststructuralist approach of analysis. Poststructuralism is finally located in opposition to other possible approaches within interpretive consumer research, and the central concepts adopted in the thesis are delineated.
2.1 Broadening the understanding of markets
Recently, attempts to broaden the understanding of markets have been made by various researchers that represent interpretive and cultural consumer research (Badot & Cova 2008; Arnould 2007; Firat & Dholakia 2006; Peñaloza & Venkatesh 2006). Some of them are mentioned briefly here to show that combining the network perspective with the cultural approach is warranted and fulfills this request made in earlier research.
Peñaloza and Venkatesh (3006, 310) argue that markets should be viewed not just as material or immaterial exchanges of people, products/services and capital, but instead, as social constructions. Thus, marketplace interaction should be seen within a cultural context of meaning• making that involves multiple parties. They also argue that people do not live for the market, but rather use it as a bundle of resources in their everyday lives ibid.( 311). This idea connects with the concept of cultural repertoires adopted in this thesis, because the repertoires are seen as part of a person’s cultural toolkit. Thus, people use culture to create, rework and negotiate strategies of action in their everyday lives (Swidler 1986; 2001). 12
Also Firat and Dholakia (2006, 133) argue for the broadening of the marketing concept from the theatre metaphor in which the roles of actors (marketers) and the audience (consumers) are clearly defined toward more participatory, complex and collaborative marketing that is culturally embedded rather than a separate business function. Badot and Cova (2008, 214) refer to the idea that marketing is no longer a restricted function of the marketplace, but of society, embedded in a sociocultural context. Hence, they suggest a macro perspective in which all marketplace actors besides consumers are acknowledged as creators of meaning and possible contributors to marketing.
One viable perspective for a macro orientation to the marketplace is network theory. Within the discipline, it can be traced back to the tradition of service marketing and relationship marketing (Gummesson 2008c, 19). The basic foundation of relationship marketing lies on the realization that it is more profitable for marketers to cultivate their relationships with existing customers rather than constantly acquire new ones. Thereby pursuing long•term relationships with loyal customers, companies can increase their profits. In this manner, the paradigm of relationship marketing focuses on building and maintaining the dyadic relationship between the company and its customer. Evert Gummesson’s definition of relationship marketing is broader, however: “Relationship marketing is interaction in networks of relationships (2008c, 5)”. He extends his definition of networks to consider all kinds of networks that can be perceived in life and in the marketplace. However, with the exception of Gummesson, networks have been studied almost exclusively in marketing by the IMP (International Marketing and Purchasing) group of researchers, who have focused on business to business relationships (e.g. Ford 2002). The cultural aspects of marketplace action have been absent from this stream of research, mostly because of the emphasis on organizational relationships rather than interaction between people.
Gummesson has also coined the term many•to•many marketing to describe the complexity of the context in which marketing is embedded: “Many•to•many marketing describes, analyses, and exploits the network properties of marketing (Gummesson 2008a, 325)”. From this perspective, value creation is more than a supplier•customer affair. Rather, it takes place in “complex and adaptive networks in which we are embedded in society such as intermediaries, competitors, friends, government, the media, and not least other customers, C2C (Gummesson 2008c, 11)”. 13
The core concept from Gummesson’s many•to•many theory adopted here is balanced centricity (Gummesson 2008b, 16). It is central to Gummesson’s view of marketing as networks of actors in interaction with one another. He suggests that balanced centricity more accurately describes marketing than the more widely used concept of customer centricity. Thus, balanced centricity means that all parties, instead of just customers, must be acknowledged. Gummesson argues that while stakeholder theory was invented already in the 1960s, it has not been advanced further, partly because researchers have attempted to ignore the complexity of the marketplace to be able to create statistical models and simplifications (Gummesson 2008a). The broad focus in analyzing marketplace interaction results in theories that are better grounded in empirical data and can be used to achieve a more holistic understanding.
The concept of balanced centricity can be illustrated through depicting the network graphically, for instance. This has been done in Chapter 4 of this thesis to provide an answer to the first research question. Figure 1 illustrates the interfaces between Gummesson’s theory and the cultural paradigm. The concepts are divided into operative, theoretical and meta level and the ones used in the study are bracketed.
Figure 1 Interfaces between many•to•many theory and the cultural paradigm 14
Because Gummesson’s background is not in the cultural paradigm but in service and relationship marketing, he uses different concepts than what the cultural researchers are accustomed to. Even though the concepts are different, they are mutually compatible and the core idea is the same; focus should be placed more on seeing the marketplace as a complex whole. Next, the cultural paradigm will be reviewed.
2.2 The cultural perspective on consumer research
Cultural approaches entered the marketing discipline in the 1980s and have since brought insights from sociology, anthropology and cultural studies, focusing on the sociocultural meanings related to consumption2. The main difference of the cultural paradigm or consumer culture theory (CCT, Arnould & Thompson 2005) when compared to other paradigms in consumer research is how it conceptualizes consumers and consumption. From the cultural perspective, consumers are not merely rational decision makers or resource optimizers. Instead, the cultural paradigm emphasizes the need to understand the dynamic interfaces between consumers, markets and cultural meanings (Arnould & Thompson 2005). Thereby a richer and deeper understanding of consumption can be attained. As one of the pioneers of consumer research, Michael R. Solomon (2003, 17) puts it, “It’s not just that we do things to products. They do things to us by evoking strong feelings, reminding us of prior experiences, and enhancing or deflating our feelings of self•worth.” Consumption can be divided into a cycle of three phases: acquisition, use, and disposition, all of which have been investigated by consumer culture theory.
Furthermore, in cultural consumer research, the marketplace is positioned as one central arena of cultural activity (cf. Brown 1993). Consumption has become an integral part of our everyday lives, and a medium through which we build our identities, engage in experiences and interact with others. Thereby consumers, companies and other parties can be argued to participate not only in commercial exchange, but in a process of meaning•making (Moisander & Valtonen 2006,
2 For the sake of clarity, I have decided to use the academic brand of Consumer Culture Theory (CCT) coined by Arnould & Thompson (2005). Therefore, I refer to the cultural paradigm/approach here, even though there are differences within it. The different alternative orientations have also been called interpretive, naturalistic, postpositivistic, humanistic, and postmodern. Even more terms exist to depict the different epistemological and methodological approaches, some of which are introduced later in this thesis. 15
8). In order to clarify the central concepts within the cultural paradigm, Table 1 provides a summary of these as they are understood in this thesis. The table is complemented with the concepts of network theory which are also used in this study. These concepts were already mentioned earlier in this chapter, but they are repeated here to align them with the cultural paradigm.
Table 1 Definitions of the core concepts of the thesis
An active producer and consumer of cultural meaning and a participating Consumer actor in the marketplace and within their life context (Firat & Venkatesh 1995). A complex system of meanings that organizes everyday life. It is “produced, transformed and contested in social interaction” (Moisander Culture & Valtonen 2006, 8). Culture is a toolkit of repertoires (Swidler 1986, 2001), on which people draw in order to think, talk and act meaningfully in their everyday life. A cultural repertoire is a combination of symbols, stories, rituals and Cultural repertoire worldviews that shape action (Swidler 1986, 277). A central function of cultural activity in today's society. It is a shared Marketing practice of consumers, marketers, and other marketplace actors (cf. Firat & Dholakia 2006). A central context of meaning•making, where multiple parties engage in Marketplace strategies of action (cf. Badot & Cova 2008). Formed of all the actors that participate in meaning•making within a Network certain context in the marketplace, including consumers, marketers, the media, organizations and collectivities (Gummesson 2008c). An approach to understanding marketing from the network perspective Balanced centricity (cf. customer centricity) (Gummesson 2008a). The participants (individuals and collectivities) within the network of a Actors particular marketing phenomenon.
Since the 1980s, alternative perspectives have emerged to the traditional marketing management school or behavioral decision theory. Cultural consumer research has been extended to include consumers within the context of their everyday lives rather than just as buyers. The core issues studied within the paradigm in terms of empirical research are presented in Table 2. 16
Table 2 A cross•section considering core issues in cultural consumer research Consumer's Consumption rituals Consumer Consumption identity communities experiences Core authors & Solomon 1983, Rook 1985, Schouten & Holbrook & Hirschman studies Belk 1988, Schouten 1991, McAlexander 1995, 1982, Mick & Buhl Wallendorf & Muñiz & O'Guinn Celsi, Rose & Leigh 1992, Arnould 1991 2001, 1993, Thompson & Kozinets 2001, Arnould & Price 1993, Hirschman 1995, Kozinets et al. 2008, Belk & Costa 1998, Thompson & Cova & Cova 2002, Holt 1995, Haytko 1997, Bagozzi & Dholakia Carù & Cova 2006 Holt & 2002, Schau, Muñiz Thompson 2004 & Arnould 2009 Theoretical The extended Rites of passage Subculture The service encounter concepts self Role transitions Brand Consumer fantasy Identity project Self•concept rituals Tribe Extreme experiences Life themes Enacting of cultural Communitas Hedonic consumption Social roles values Sharing Play
Main Consumers are Consumption rituals Consumers seek for Consumers look for understandings active can be used to build a social contact with possibilities to engage related to this constructors of coherent sense of self one another through in extraordinary study the self. and the surrounding consumption. experiences to world. overcome the banality of the everyday. A sense of self is Rituals work in Consumption Consumption socially and meaning transfer. communities may be experiences offer culturally commercial in nature possibilities to enact constituted. and they are not myths and stories. geographically bound. Cultural material Consumption is a Consumers may be Consumption can be used as central way to enact the members of experiences include resources to modern rituals. several transient elements of play. build identities. consumption tribes.
The table is not intended as a comprehensive illustration of the subject matter, contexts, and issues of interest, because such overviews have been contributed by revered researchers in top quality publications (see e.g. Arnould & Thompson 2005; see also Sherry 1991; Arnould, Price & Moisio 2006). Instead, the aim is to provide a compact cross•section of relevant themes and understandings gained from the cultural paradigm in building the pre•understanding for this study (cf. Arnold & Fischer 1994, 56–57). The table is thus my interpretation of the most important authors, concepts and understandings related to this study. 17
2.3 The postmodernist turn
As a critical philosophical perspective of cultural research in marketing, postmodernism emerged during the 1990s. It offers new insights for thinking about complex phenomena in the marketplace, but it has mainly focused on a theoretical and conceptual discussion, not on conducting empirical research. However, postmodernism is introduced here, because it has influenced in how the Reino & Aino phenomenon is interpreted in this thesis. The poststructural approach adopted for analysis in the empirical part is strongly influenced by the tenets of postmodernism. As argued by Moisander, Valtonen and Hirsto (2009, 3), postmodernism can refer to a philosophical position or a cultural style. It is here being discussed as a philosophical position within marketing thought.
Postmodernism can be interpreted as a critique of modern marketing thinking, implicated in concepts such as the 4P’s, fulfilling customers’ needs and economic exchange (Firat & Dholakia 2006, 124). These foundational concepts are seen as inadequate for the study of complex market phenomena and are therefore complemented with plurality, fragmentation, complexity and problematization of the subject (ibid. 128). The postmodern consumer is therefore emancipated to create their own identities at the marketplace, constantly shifting who they are and what their goals are depending on the situation (Firat & Venkatesh 1995).
However, it is necessary to acknowledge the critique of postmodernism. The hyperbolic conditions of fragmentation, free•flowing signifiers and identities, imagery and simulacra may be more of a rhetorical attack toward modernism rather than an overriding condition of society (Thompson 2000, 123; see also Alvesson & Sköldberg 2000, 176). If postmodern consumers had such paradoxical, unpredictable and shifting goals, marketing as a science of understanding and explaining consumer behavior would become nonsensical. However, not all consumers can have a postmodern lifestyle, since it takes a lot of time and effort to keep up with the continuous identity•play achieved by the use of marketplace resources (Holt 1997). In addition, the postmodern statement claiming that the social patterning of consumption has eroded may be misguided. The question is rather how it has changed from traditional bases such as age, gender and social class toward more fragmented and multiple poles of identity. In this thesis, nationality 18 and community membership are found as such important identity signposts for the consumers of Reino & Aino. Postmodernism is not accepted here in its most radical form. Instead, it can be seen as a broad framework of thinking, the central tenets of which are adapted in a reflexive manner (Table 3).
Table 3 The central tenets of postmodernism (modified from Firat & Dholakia 2006, 154–155)
What is out there? The nature of reality is not fundamental. Reality is socially constructed. Marketing does not just satisfy needs. It also enables the construction of What is the function of marketing? meanings. What role does marketing have in Marketing is not only a business practice. It is also a cultural process. society? There is no distinct and separable individual. The individual/social are What is the individual subject like? overlapping and constituted by culture.
What is the relationship between Consumption and production are not separate. They are intertwined. consumption and production?
Organizations are not distinct from society. They are boundaryless networks What is an organization? embedded in their cultural context.
Marketers do not just research and plan marketing campaigns. Rather, they What does a marketer do? also construct networks that enable meaning•making.
In marketing, not only the company communicates and sends messages. Who is a marketer? Everyone within the network constructs meaning and is thus a marketer.
From the perspective of this thesis, postmodern thoughts of the complexity of the marketplace and the overlapping nature of production and consumption, the individual and the social are important. The thesis does not, however, see postmodern identity•play as characteristic of all consumers, nor that consumers are free to create whatever situational meanings they like. Instead, consumption is seen as socially and culturally patterned (Holt 1997). Meanings can only be created within a particular socio•historical context, even though they are neither stable nor marketer•controlled. The idea of marketing as a shared practice of meaning•making conducted within a complex network of actors is a central argument brought forward in this thesis.
2.4 The poststructural approach on meaning
As argued by Moisander & Valtonen (2006), even though the cultural paradigm has been academically branded (CCT, consumer culture theory by Arnould & Thompson 2005), it is by no means a unified stream of research in terms of basic assumptions. The above discussion (Chapter 19
2.1) aimed at delineating the commonalities within the paradigm, and this chapter provides a discussion of the differences. Researchers within the cultural or interpretive consumer research paradigm seem to agree upon the concept of meaning as a central construct. However, there are differing views on where meaning is believed to reside. For the purposes of this thesis, it is particularly important to explain how meaning is perceived here in relation to other traditions. A short historical review of the different streams will be provided, and finally, the poststructural approach that is adopted here will be detailed.
The study of meaning appeared in marketing and consumer research approximately three decades ago, at the beginning of the 1980s. First contributions were influenced by structuralism and semiotics in particular, understanding the origin of meaning to reside within the consumption objects themselves. Thereby, products were seen as containers of meaning. The nature of meaning was quite stable and consumers could draw the meanings from the consumption objects through storytelling (Levy 1981; Mick 1986), through combining products into product constellations that communicated their social roles (Solomon 1983) or through consumption rituals or processes that integrated the symbolic properties from the products to the consumer’s self•concept (Rook 1985; McCracken 1986; Belk 1988).
In the earliest contributions, products themselves were thus considered to be infused with symbolic properties that consumers could use in their construction of self. However, during the beginning of the 1990s, consumer researchers started to pay more attention on consumption experiences rather than single physical products (e.g. Celsi et al. 1993; Arnould & Price 1993). From this stream of research, the second way to understand meaning emerged, paying attention on how meanings are dynamically created by consumers while consuming. In his ethnographic study of baseball spectators, Holt (1995) noted that the meanings consumers derive from consumption are not necessarily within the objects they consume. Rather, the ways in which different consumers engage in consumption activities or practices is important. Holt’s contribution can be positioned within the practice theoretical orientation of sociology and cultural research (Reckwitz 2002, Warde 2005). From this perspective, consumption is viewed as a practical activity, and meaning resides in the dynamics of consumption, not in objects as such. 20
A third way to perceive the origin of meaning within consumer research draws on the epistemological position of existential•phenomenology (Thompson, Locander & Pollio 1989). The tradition seeks to understand consumer experiences as they are ‘lived’ by the individual consumer. Thus, there is an aim to understand the whole life context of the consumer to be able to analyze the meanings they create and assign to their identity or the world around them. Meanings are therefore thought to reside psychologically within the consumer. The tradition of existential•phenomenology has suited the themes of interpretive consumer research well, especially when investigating consumers’ identity construction and the meanings related to the self3. For instance, Mick and DeMoss (1990) studied consumers’ self•gifts as a way of symbolic self•communication, Thompson and Hirschman (1995) examined how consumers experience their body image, and Susan Fournier (1998) studied the phenomenological bonds that consumers form with brands. In all of these articles, the locus of meaning is thought to reside in the subjective experience of the consumer. The consumer as interpreter within their own life world is put in the center of inquiry.
The phenomenological paradigm has been criticized by e.g. Moisander et al. (2009, 1), who argue that in culturally oriented research, the focus should be more on cultural patterning instead of trying to penetrate the mind of individual consumers. The overt individuality inherent in the existential•phenomenological paradigm should therefore be replaced by a more poststructuralist approach for studying marketplace activity ibid. ( 2). Also Holt (1997, 327) suggests that the influence of the sociocultural context in consumers’ behavior should be taken into account, rather than only looking at the consumers’ internal psychological states or products as meaning containers.
In moving away from the semiotic, practice•oriented and phenomenological ways of understanding the origin of meaning, this thesis is positioned within the poststructural approach of cultural research (e.g. Moisander et al. 2009; Firat & Dholakia 2006; Moisander & Valtonen 2006; Gubrium & Holstein 2003; Shankar, Elliott & Goulding 2001; Lehtonen 1998; Holt 1997). The approach claims that cultural meaning cannot be found from the individual’s experience or
3 In fact, it can be argued that the existential•phenomenological orientation is not cultural in the sense that it pays attention on the subjective, not the socially shared. However, it is discussed here because it is a strong tradition in interpretive consumer research that can be delineated as the ‘parent’ paradigm for cultural approaches. 21 the consumption objects as such. Instead, meaning can be found from historically and locally particular cultural practices or how people act in relation to particular social contexts (Moisander et al. 2009, 3; Holt 1997, 328). According to Holt, social actors select, combine and juxtapose meanings from multiple and overlapping cultural chains of meaningibid. ( 329). The more compact concept of cultural repertoire is used in this thesis to denote to this idea. Thus, meanings do not exist independent of their use. Instead, meanings of consumption objects “become articulated only as people apply cultural frameworks… to make sense of, evaluate and use these objects (Holt 1997, 344)”.
One of the main assumptions of poststructuralism is the decentralization of the subject. Thus, the consumer as an individual is no longer in the focus, because he or she cannot be seen as the sole author of their own speech (Moisander et al. 2009, 9). Thus, the individual cannot be clearly separated from the social and the cultural. Instead, people’s speech is always culturally constructed. Meanings are intrinsically intertextual, because speech requires “drawing upon familiar discourses, genres, and registers” ibid.( ). There is thus a certain sense of disinterest toward a single individual consumer and more attention is placed on the cultural repertoires emerging from the speech of many actors as well as from other cultural texts. Furthermore, language gains a central status in the poststructural view, because we can only create meaning through using language (Lehtonen 1998, 20). Language is not seen as the medium through which we communicate our thoughts to one another. Instead, language is our practical and intersubjective consciousness (ibid. 30). Through language, the world is made meaningful.
The cultural sociologist Ann Swidler (2001, 25) refers to culture in a poststructural manner as a toolkit that people use to frame and reframe their everyday experience. According to Swidler (1986, 273), culture as a toolkit consists of “symbols, stories, rituals, and worldviews [i.e. cultural repertoires], which people may use in varying configurations to solve different kinds of problems”. Thus, the focus is on how people use culture. It has already been argued that from the poststructuralist perspective, the interest is not only on the subjective experience of individual consumers but more on the shared cultural meanings and patterns of consumption. Thus, Swidler’s concept of cultural repertoires is suitable for this thesis. Furthermore, her idea of people switching repertoires and having different ways to mobilize culture in an open•ended 22 manner mirrors the ideas brought forward by the postmodern turn in marketing.
To summarize, even though all cultural and interpretive consumer researchers have to a large extent agreed upon the fact that cultural meaning is actually the linchpin of understanding consumption, their opinions have differed on where meaning is believed to reside. Table 4 summarizes the main assumptions of different paradigms. The approach of this study, poststructuralism, is highlighted.
Table 4 Paradigms within interpretive and cultural consumer research Semiotics & Existential Practice theory Post•structuralism structuralism phenomenology
Origin of Products themselves The consumer's Consumption Shared cultural meaning subjective experience practices frameworks
Object of study Consumers and Individual consumer's Practical action Repertoires of products life world meaning & their use Methodological Interviews, In•depth interviews Ethnography Analysis of cultural focus advertisements texts Core authors Levy 1981, Solomon Thompson et al. 1989, Holt 1995, Holt 1997, Peñaloza 1983, Mick 1986, Mick & DeMoss 1990, Warde 2005, 2000, Shankar et al. McCracken 1986, Thompson & Hirschman Schau et al. 2001, Firat & Belk 1988 1995, Fournier 1998 2009 Dholakia 2006, Moisander et al. 2009
What is common to most of the researchers is that their focus has been on consumers as the sole interpreters of meaning. From the position adopted in this thesis, consumers are not the only party that reworks and uses culture in the marketplace. Recently, the impact of marketers themselves as cultural producers in the marketplace has been acknowledged (McCracken 2005; Peñaloza 2000) For instance, Peñaloza (2000, 84) argues that the marketplace is a joint cultural production of marketers and consumers. This thesis aims at generating an understanding of the marketplace that allows for further complexity. The origin of meaning is argued to be the cultural repertoires that are used by several network participants besides consumers and marketers to construct strategies of action. 23
3 CONDUCTING THE CASE STUDY RESEARCH
3.1 Ontological and epistemological assumptions
The main ontological assumption influencing this study is that reality is plural, holistic and constructed by those who experience it (Hudson & Ozanne 1988, Hirschman 1986). This means that reality can only be understood, not measured objectively. This thesis is thus ontologically positioned within the tradition of social constructionism which sees reality as the output of social and cognitive processes rather than as fixed (Eriksson & Kovalainen 2008, 14).
The main underpinnings of social constructionism (according Burr 2003, 2–5) are: • A critical stance toward taken•for•granted ways of understanding the world (in opposition to positivism and empiricism) • Knowledge of the world is constructed in social interaction • Descriptions or constructions of the world sustain some patterns for action and exclude others From this perspective, the use of language is seen as integral to our sense of reality. Even though there may be a reality outside of language, we cannot say anything about it without using language. As Firat and Dholakia (2006, 135) argue, the nature of reality or common truth is not problematized. Instead, constructionism problematizes the construction of reality. Reality is seen to exist for people only through structures of meaning. Thus, to investigate the culturally constructed reality, it is necessary to analyze these structures, i.e. the cultural repertoires that people use in their strategies of action.
Besides ontology, i.e. what is out there, the question of epistemology or how knowledge can be gained is important in research. At the epistemological level, this thesis holds the assumption that research is always subjective, value•laden and context•dependent to some extent. Therefore, it is important for the researcher to examine the phenomenon as closely and holistically as possible (Lincoln & Guba 1985, 194). Even so, the results of the analysis are always just one possible interpretation of the studied phenomena. The researcher must use a whole spectrum of personal 24 resources, such as common sense, reflexivity, intuition, feelings and insights to interpret phenomena (Gummesson 2001, 40). The results are grounded in the socio•historical context of their production, and dependent on the researcher as interpreter. Thus, no absolute knowledge of a single state of reality or truth can be gained. Instead, the results can provide an authentic and believable interpretation of empirical phenomena. The results can be plausible in terms of fit between the data and its explanation, as well as in terms of reflexivity of the researcher (Hogg & Maclaran 2008, 135). The position of social constructionism further emphasizes focusing on social interaction as the source of knowledge, paying special attention on language (Burr 2003, 24). The source of knowledge is therefore not understood to lie in representations of individuals about reality. Instead, the source of knowledge consists of socially instituted cultural practices that can be analyzed from cultural texts and action (Moisander et al. 2009, 4, Holt & Thompson 2004, 439).
3.2 Case study research
The data generation method of the study is qualitative case study research, using multiple methods such as in•depth interviews, observation as well as secondary materials from printed articles to online message boards. Case study research as such is not a methodology in the sense of answering the question of ‘how’ something is studied. It does not contain particular pre• specified ontological and epistemological assumptions, but can be applied as a data generation method. Case study research answers the question of what is being studied (Stake 2003, 135). The case in question here is the Reino & Aino phenomenon, which is used instrumentally, i.e. the interest is not in the particular phenomenon as such but on its broader theoretical and cultural implications. In representing the case study, the story of the case is told by the researcher by selecting and “teasing out” what she sees as the most important aspects in the case (ibid. 144).
Qualitative case study research is flexible and holistic and therefore a good method for the study of complex, context•dependent empirical phenomena (Gummesson 2007, 229). In this sense, case study research can also be argued to be a good match with network theoryibid ( .). The research process can be characterized as a hermeneutic helix, moving from pre•understanding to 25 understanding, from parts to whole, from theory to empiria and vice versa (Arnold & Fischer 1994, 63–64).
3.3 Data generation
The empirical data of the study consists of 19 qualitative interviews of consumers, 8 interviews of other network actors, 24 pages of observational notes, a research diary, websites, newspaper articles, advertisements and photos4. By generating as rich and varied data as possible, the objective in qualitative study is to understand the phenomenon in•depth, with close access and from many different viewpoints (Gummesson 2001, 315; Denzin & Lincoln 2003, 8).
The consumer interviewees and observed users were of different ages and backgrounds, ranging from 13 to 90 years. Users of both Reino and Aino slippers were included in the study. Observations were conducted at an old•age home (2 hours), at an advertising agency (2 hours), at the company’s own retail store (15 h) and during the hockey practice of a teenagers’ sports team (2 hours). Observing users of different ages in different use contexts enabled a closer access to the strategies of action, even though private contexts of use could not be observed. Observational notes were written on site and a more reflective diary of the observations was written afterwards. Short interviews and comments elicited on site were also conducted. The consumer interviews lasted from 20 to 60 minutes with a mean of approximately 40 minutes5, whereas the network actor interviews ranged from 38 to 95 minutes. Some of the interviews were conducted on the phone due to its practicality when the interviewees were geographically distant. The interviewees were recruited through mailing lists, the researcher’s own personal contacts, social media and a notice posted at the Reino retail store. Two consumer interviewees were recruited on the spot as I noticed them wearing Reino or Aino slippers. Some of the network actor interviewees were recruited using a snowballing technique. Interviewees were thus asked for hints and suggestions for further interviewees and sometimes they made these suggestions also without asking.
4 Specific information about the interviewees as well as the whole dataset is given in Enclosure 2. 5 Not all of the interviews were as long as the standard is for the long interview (McCracken 1988). However, this is not seen as a great problem in a study that does not focus on the “unconstrained testimonyibid. 37)”( i.e. the phenomenological experience of interviewees. However, reflecting upon the research process, fewer consumer interviews would probably have sufficed had I been more experienced in interviewing and had the focus of the study been on probing for cultural talk throughout the data generation process. 26
A flexible interview guide was used in the interviews, and it was updated from one interview to another according to which themes seemed most relevant to be pursued. The researcher attempted to start the interviews with extensive, background questions or grand•tour questions to create a trustful and open environment for discussion (McCracken 1988). As the interviews progressed, the researcher became more confident about probing for cultural talk, as she realized that the interview situation was not aimed at distilling the consumers’ subjective experience. Instead, the interview situation could be approached as a co•creative context of meaning•making in which the researcher’s probes could inspire consumers to talk about the phenomenon using several cultural repertoires and thereby drawing on their cultural toolkit (Shankar et al. 2001, 443). This together with accumulated experience in interviewing resulted in successive interviews becoming longer and more fruitful in terms of the particular research questions of the study.
The cultural materials of the data set consist of Internet sites, message board messages and newspaper articles which were used firstly to gain a pre•understanding of the phenomenon and secondly, to provide support for the cultural repertoires that were identified. The Reino & Aino is a cultural phenomenon that has created a “buzz” in the media throughout the last couple of years. In the latter part of the research process, the significance of these cultural texts in circulating the same repertoires as the consumers did was notified and their supporting role in the analysis was further increased.
3.4 Data analysis and interpretation
The data analysis follows a poststructural approach of analyzing cultural texts (Moisander et al. 2009; Gubrium & Holstein 2003; Shankar et al. 2001; Holt 1997). The particular approach adopted here draws on Ann Swidler’s (1986) concepts of cultural repertoires and strategies of action. They engage both the whats and the hows of social reality (Gubrium & Holstein 2003, 215). In the analysis, it is recognized that there are two sides to cultural action: what people understand as available cultural repertoires and how they use these repertoires. Thus, there is a constant interplay: the repertoires become mobilized only through strategies of action as people select certain cultural elements and invest them with particular meanings in concrete life 27 circumstances (Swidler 1986, 281). Through answering the “what” and “how” questions, the analysis aims at also shedding light on a “why” question, i.e. why has the phenomenon become such a success story. The poststructural analysis can thus provide insights on the dynamics of cultural marketing within networks.
The analysis of the data relies on hermeneutics in particular. In hermeneutic analysis, the goal is to access the broader cultural meanings behind people’s speech or action (Thompson, Pollio & Locander 1994). Hermeneutic analysis inherently focuses on studying data as texts (Shankar et al. 2001, 441). Thus, language is granted a focal status, because reality is being created simultaneously as it is being represented through language. This means that the interpretations are created dynamically as the process advances, during interviews and in writing the final research report. The overall research design is emergent. Hermeneutic analysis also aims at fusing the horizons of the researcher and the analyzed text (Arnold & Fischer 1994, 64). In late stages of data generation, tentatively identified repertoires were used in the interviews with network actors to solicit their opinions6. Network actors’ agreement on the identified repertoires increased the trustworthiness of the research (Eriksson & Kovalainen 2008, 293; Peñaloza 2001, 374). In cultural research, the data analysis is not purely inductive or data•driven. Instead, the researcher needs to move between the data and the world around it, interpreting the historical and sociocultural context in which data are produced and analyzed (Moisander & Valtonen 2006, 102; Holt & Thompson 2004, 439).
The cultural repertoires identified in this study have been abstracted from close reading of different types of data in a process of identifying common themes, comparing different data with one another, integrating chunks of data within the same repertoire and delineating the actor strategies (cf. Spiggle 1994). The result of the analysis in this study is an identification of eight cultural repertoires that do not exist independent of how they are used by actors within the network. The analytical division into consumers and other actors helps to retain coherence in the analysis. The approach of poststructuralism does not allow for a categorization of consumers based on their purchase behavior, for instance. The aim is neither to offer models on how to
6 Actual member checking was not considered necessary in an approach that does not aim at explicating consumers’ unique experiences. 28 implement marketing strategies in the network context, even though some conclusions can be drawn. Instead, the approach enables a profound understanding of the phenomenon within its sociocultural context. This yields important insights on how consumption becomes meaningful for people through their use of cultural repertoires. The basis of marketing must always lie in knowing the customers as well as possible. Therefore the approach allows for important customer insights. However, it also enables the generation of relevant cultural insights that are increasingly needed in marketing (McCracken 2005). Furthermore, not only customer insights, but also network insights may be achieved. This helps companies to understand the complexity of the context where they are operating.
3.5 Evaluation of the study quality
As often argued, the criteria for evaluating different types of research varies (Eriksson & Kovalainen 2008, 290; Gummesson 2000, 16). Furthermore, evaluating cultural research is difficult, because the criteria for good research are not stable, but negotiated within the scientific community. The cultural perspective as well as qualitative research in general emphasizes the perspectival and context•dependent nature of knowledge. The aim is rather to understand than to predict, to offer thick descriptions instead of statistical probabilities. However, there are certain aspects that can be taken into account when evaluating the study.
Part of the validity of cultural research is in its use of multiple methods and materials. This is not, however, seen as necessary for ensuring an objective and full representation of the research phenomenon, because the full and certain truth can never be achieved. Instead, the plural materials help in contextualizing the analysis, highlighting the pervasive nature of cultural meanings as well as increasing the complexity and richness of inquiry (Moisander & Valtonen 2006, 25). If different data and perspectives can be combined to an extent that they align with each other and with the statements and interpretations that the researcher wants to present, the research has credibility (Gummesson 2007, 234). The quality of research is often measured by the contribution the research makes in offering new perspectives. Here, the combining of network and cultural perspectives is seen as contributing to research, by offering a new perspective from which to understand the marketplace. 29
The qualitative research process must be transparent so that the readers themselves are able to judge the quality of the research. This means detailing the methods of data generation, analysis and interpretation, as discussed above (Gummesson 2007, 234). The theoretical stance of this thesis was documented both through the theoretical framework and by making explicit the ontological and epistemological starting points for analysis. The dynamics of the research process also need to be revealed, detailing the researcher’s learning journey (Figure 2).
Development of theoretical focus Development of empirical focus
APRIL 2009 APRIL•MAY 2009 Becoming interested in the phenomenon, First empirical exploration of the judging the theoretical potential and phenomenon through secondary materials delineating research gap and company interview
MAY•JUNE 2009 APRIL • MAY 2009 Drawing the first graphical illustration of the Applying Evert Gummesson’s many•to•many network. Planning for further generation of theory and the service•dominant logic empirical data.
SEPTEMBER•DECEMBER 2009 MAY • AUGUST 2009 Generating data through consumer Theoretical interest shifted toward consumer interviews, and field observations. research and the cultural paradigm, resulted in consumer emphasis JANUARY 2010 SEPTEMBER•DECEMBER 2009 First round of data analysis. Data deemed Exploring with different theories of consumer insufficient to explain the complexity of the research phenomenon.
FEBRUARY•MARCH 2010 JANUARY • APRIL 2010 Second round of data generation and analysis Return to a broader perspective. Combining through network actor interviews and re• Evert Gummesson’s theory with the cultural examination of secondary materials. paradigm.
Figure 2 The research process
In terms of generalization, the thesis gives insights on a particular context•specific phenomenon. Yet, the aim of cultural analysis is inherently generalizing, enabling an understanding of the wider cultural structures, institutions and practices. Thus, the study offers insights not just on the Reino & Aino phenomenon, but the wide cultural repertoires that are connected with it. In addition, the study reveals the importance of networks in marketing. 30
4 IDENTIFYING NETWORK ACTORS
4.1 A graphical illustration of the network
In analyzing the network of the Reino & Aino phenomenon, a broad understanding of what kind of actors are involved is needed. Figure 3 shows a graphical illustration of the network, the central parties of which are delineated in bold font.
Figure 3 The Reino & Aino network
The illustration depicted in Figure 3 is the researcher’s interpretation of the network that has been created on the basis of a yearlong data generation period. As such it is a freeze frame of the situation at the time of this research project, since the network is constantly evolving. 31
4.2 The entrepreneurs and their social networks
The Reino & Aino home shoe company, Suomen Kumitehdas, is owned by two entrepreneurs, Arto Huhtinen and Tuire Erkkilä, who bought the production in 2004. Huhtinen was previously the factory manager and Erkkilä worked in product development. The entrepreneurs who saw potential for development despite the brand’s sleeping status, started to widen the user spectrum by producing the first children’s sized Reinos & Ainos, gradually introducing the new color pink in the Reino slippers. However, even though the entrepreneurs did believe in the potential of the Reino & Aino to regain the popularity they had once had, they could not expect the sales to rise to such extent. The sales figures have increased rapidly; the revenue was in 2008 over ten times the figure in 2005, 5 million Euros. In 2009, about 400 000 pairs of slippers were produced partly as handwork in the factories at Lieksa and Pälkäne, with the intention of increasing the amount to half a million pairs in 2010 (Hämeen sanomat, 2009 7).
When interviewing the entrepreneurs, and especially the CEO Arto Huhtinen, one begins to understand the impact of their enthusiastic attitude and belief in the product in partly explaining the phenomenon. Even though they did not have a large marketing budget, and the brand was asleep, they believed in it. The inventive personality of Huhtinen enabled unusual marketing ideas such as asking a reporter, Mikko Närhi, to collect consumers’ stories about Reino & Aino into a book, and taking the Reino & Aino to youth festivals in the summer of 2007, which helped in getting younger consumers interested in it.
What characterized the company’s role in the phenomenon were the lack of planned brand management and the reluctance of the entrepreneurs to do traditional marketing. However, there were some preconditions that influenced everything that followed. The entrepreneurs themselves strongly see the decision to bring the production back to Finland as influential in gaining them free and positive media coverage, which helped them in their marketing. Being entrepreneurs of a small company, the personal networks of the entrepreneurs have also been influential in taking the Reino & Aino phenomenon forwards. Arto Huhtinen’s daughter Linda is in charge of the new
7 To emphasize the media as a collective agent within the Reino & Aino network, references to media texts are given by the name of the particular media and the publication date of the text rather than the author. The names of the authors are given in the reference section when applicable. 32
Reino retail outlet and Tuire Erkkilä’s son works as a factory manager in Lieksa. The entrepreneurs have also been referred to as parents of Reino & Aino (Närhi 2007, 25), paying even more attention on their role as gentle caretakers, who have not taken an aggressive management approach. They have helped the phenomenon grow by making the necessary decisions, allowing it freedom and providing resources as needed.
4.3 Mikko Närhi and the Reino book
The role of Mikko Närhi has become gradually apparent as I have continued investigating the Reino & Aino phenomenon. A former journalist and a media consultant, he has become a kind of spin•doctor for Reino & Aino, working actively beside the entrepreneurs in marketing as well as connecting with all kinds of network actors. Närhi first came in contact with Reino & Aino through the book project, in which he collected stories from consumers and commentaries from influential people regarding Reinos and their use. The book was published to celebrate the 75 years of manufacturing the slippers, in 2007. The book has had a significant effect in mythologizing the phenomenon, which will be discussed later in this thesis.
In the Reino book, Närhi constructs a literary image of the slippers as a central Finnish icon, something that unites generations. The book is a collection of historical information, consumers’ stories, photos and commentaries by an academic researcher Juha Kostiainen, politician Pauli Välimäki and a satirist writer Jari Nenonen. These commentaries also legitimize the phenomenon as something grand and mythical. In writing the book, Närhi travelled across Finland to become familiar with all the people who were using Reinos. Närhi’s influence in mobilizing the network during and after the writing of the book has been significant. For example, he told me that he influenced making the Reino & Aino running contest become reality, because at the time he was writing the book, the people of Pyterlahti community told him about their idea and he encouraged them. The results of the first contest were then included in the book. In investigating the archives of Tampere shoe museum, Närhi co•operated with the museum staff and an idea of setting up an exhibition for Reino was invented. The exhibition opened in Vapriikki museum in Tampere in 2008 and part of the content was directly from the Reino book. The exhibition was framed within the history of shoe•making in Tampere, adding more credibility and status for the Reino slipper. 33
Later Närhi has acted as a company missionary, taking Reinos as gifts to athletes and musicians, for instance.
Even though Närhi’s role in marketing of Reino & Aino has been influential, he has positioned himself as a reporter and writer, not commercially interested in promoting the product. This further downplays the commercial aspect of the phenomenon, bringing other, more important things to the forefront, as is argued later in this thesis.
4.4 Charity organizations
Charity organizations have appeared as part of the Reino network largely as the consequence of the new entrepreneurs’ activities. Closely connected with the history of Reino slippers as an old product that has been worn by several generations, the company is co•operating with two gentlemanly “old•school” organizations, Halavatun Papat and Hallan Papat. Both are clubs for motorcycling enthusiasts, who are also doing charity activities, especially for the cause of Finnish war veterans. The most visible charity activity is the Kauniala race, in which the members of these organizations drive their motorcycles (wearing Reinos) to Kauniala, where a charity auction is held. The company has also donated slippers to old•age and nursing homes. Even though the charity activities clearly work as positive marketing communication, the guiding thought in doing charity has not been to use it as a marketing trick. However, co•operating with organizations that represent values like warmth, Finnish nationality, and courage, has helped in creating an overwhelming sympathy towards the product and the company.
The newest organization to co•operate with Suomen Kumitehdas is Naisten pankki (Women’s bank). The organization consists of professional women who voluntarily collect money for the support of entrepreneurship of women in the developing countries. The active women at Tampere independently came up with the idea of designing their own slippers to be manufactured by the company. From the profit made from selling these slippers, the organization donates a portion to the welfare of women in developing countries. According to the press release, Suomen Kumitehdas is pleased to help the women in developing countries to become entrepreneurs and 34 develop their own national products, like Reino & Aino are for Finland (Naisten pankki, press release 14.2.2010).
4.4 The parasocial network
The parasocial network is a concept brought to the fore by Evert Gummesson. The word ‘para’ comes from Greek and means ‘beside’. The term parasocial means thus ‘beside social’, meaning consumers’ relationships to objects, symbols and less tangible phenomena. Gummesson refers to the relationship between fans and idols as parasocial. As he argues: “It is a personal relationship for one party, and a mass relationship for the other; the fans ‘know’ their stars as individuals, but the stars usually know their fans as anonymous audiences’ (Gummesson 2008, 133). For example, Princess Diana was mourned by her fans as a close friend. Thus, celebrities symbolize certain values and images with their persona for the large public.
Companies have earlier taken advantage of celebrities in celebrity endorsement, by sponsoring musicians or athletes to act as spokespeople of their marketing communications, for instance. However, in the Reino & Aino phenomenon, several celebrities have self•declared themselves publicly as users of the slippers (Ilta•Sanomat.fi 17.2.2010). There have been no explicit sponsorship deals with celebrities to market the product; instead they have acted on their own behalf. One of the first to do so was Kari Tapio, a Finnish folk singer, who was also interviewed for the Reino book.
The other celebrities commonly mentioned in media as Reino users include rock singer Ville Valo, folk artist and politician Mikko Alatalo, rock artist Pate Mustajärvi, race car driver Mika Häkkinen and infantry general Adolf Ernrooth. Suomen Kumitehdas has also recently started to take advantage of these missionaries that want to profile themselves as Reino men. For example, Pate Mustajärvi’s new solo album was released in the fall of 2009 and he visited the Reino store giving autographs to fans. Recently, a group of well•known Finnish musicians participated in the production of a record about the love story of Reino & Aino that was published on Valentine’s Day 2010. The record was part of a charity campaign, and the profits will be donated to veteran organizations and children with a heart condition (Tamperelainen 6.2.2010). Here, the power of 35 the parasocial network is connected with another network participant, the charity organizations, to take the phenomenon another step further.
4.5 Consumers and their communities
Perhaps the most interesting actors of the phenomenon are the active consumers and consumer communities around Reino & Aino. Consumer activities in spreading the phenomenon include giving the slippers as gifts and using them to symbolize some group or community, which oftentimes means purchasing slippers for everyone in that community. For many years now, stores have run out of Reino & Aino slippers to sell and as I visited the store in December 2009, there was a long line the end of which was actually outside the store. Even though the user spectrum has widened, the slippers have still remained popular presents. Most of the individual people interviewed for this thesis had received their slippers as gift from someone. Here, some of the different communities and groups of users that have been encountered in researching the phenomenon are introduced.
During the data generation for this thesis, I visited two communities, an advertising agency and an old•age home where the slippers were used to create a sense of belonging, and a warm atmosphere. In addition, reading the Reino book informed me of the Pyterlahti Reino & Aino running contest as well as the Vesanto Reino & Aino football tournament. I contacted both of these organizations and got an interview with some of their representatives. What is special about these two events is that they are public and open to anyone who is willing to participate. Most of the consumer groups that belong within the Reino & Aino phenomenon are closed in the sense that their members are part of an existing community, like a neighborhood or a circle of friends, a village or a workplace. Thus, unlike a brand community that is formed around the brand, whether it is Harley Davidson or Apple, the consumer communities that have adopted Reino & Aino have not been created from scratch. Instead, they are previously existing communities or groups that just adopt the slipper as their symbol to further emphasize mutual belongingness. There are multiple consumer communities and sub•groups loosely connected with the Reino slipper, cultivating and nurturing the Reino ideology all in their own way, within the community, whether it is based on a common interest, hobby, or place of living. 36
5 ANALYZING CULTURAL REPERTOIRES AND STRATEGIES OF ACTION
5.1 Locality and nationality
The locality and nationality repertoire is quite pervasive in the Reino & Aino phenomenon, and is therefore intertwined with many of the other repertoires. Therefore this repertoire is presented first, in order to contextualize all the other repertoires. Consumers’ strategies of action prove that while postmodernism sees identities as free•flowing signifiers, the shared cultural memory related to nationality and locality is still important in the social patterning of consumption (cf. Peñaloza 2001, 391; Holt 1997, 346). The company itself has taken advantage of this repertoire by emphasizing the origin and manufacturing place of the product. Other network participants, especially the media, have emphasized the locality of Reino & Aino. Both at Lieksa and at Tampere, the product has become part of the marketing and tourism of these places.
5.1.1 Consumer strategies
For the consumers, the Reino & Aino is emphasized as a Finnish product, entailing quality. Through using the nationality repertoire, consumers present themselves as part of a larger community, a nation. One of the consumer interviewees, for instance, claimed that the slippers are designed for Finnish people in particular: There is the tradition and because they are Finnish, I think that they will also last in use. And they are made for the Finnish feet. (Kiira, interview)
This interviewee understands Finnish products as “something that lasts”, i.e. something carefully and well made. Even though there are surely differences in feet sizes and shapes between Finnish consumers, the interviewee draws on the nationality repertoire and makes a categorization between “us Finnish” and “them foreigners”, a common strategy in meaning•making. As I observed the sales assistants at the Reino store, they would also commonly refer to the sizes of the slippers as bigger than usual, ‘because they are made for the Finnish feet’. Nationality is thus socially constructed, and referring to such essential symbols is part of this construction. Thereby the interviewee wants to see herself as part of a nation, as a Finnish person who buys and uses 37
Finnish slippers. Another young interviewee drew from the nationality repertoire, even though buying Finnish clothes was not her habit: [Do you generally choose Finnish things when you buy clothes or other things?] Well...not so much in food or clothes…for them to be Finnish, they also cost a lot. I can’t afford them…But if it’s the only difference in some product that it’s Finnish, then I buy it, but most of the time clothes are so expensive…Yet in the Reino slippers, I liked it. I mean if there were for instance Chinese copies, I would still have bought the more expensive Finnish ones, in that case. But for example if there’s a jean skirt or something…then I could take the Chinese one . (Helmi, interview)
This statement proves that consumers do not necessarily associate the Reino slippers in the same category with other clothing choices; they are something more than just shoes. In the case of this interviewee and many others, I noted that the comparison with other kinds of clothes was made only because I directly prompted it. Thus, the Finnish symbolic is something essential in the slippers, blurring the product category as footwear. Another interviewee even suspected that the Reino & Aino slippers have become such common symbols for Finland that the Aino slipper, in particular, has replaced an older association of nationality from the Kalevala [Finland’s national epic], where there is a female character called Aino.
Another common repertoire on which Finnish people draw when they are talking about nationality is the Finnish war history, and this is also part of the Reino & Aino phenomenon: A middle•aged woman is buying Ainos. She tells me that the traditionalistic aspect in Reinos is largely about respecting those people who wore them in re•building our country after the wars. (Field notes 2.10.2009)
They [the Reino & Aino slippers] are so Finnish, homely…countryside spirited, something from the fifties. I think that when the men came from war, many had frozen feet and…and it was difficult for them to wear any shoes, I suppose the Reinos were good. (Arja, interview)
For this latter interviewee, a woman of 60 years, rediscovering her identity as a Finnish person had happened quite late in her life, but wearing Reinos could be interpreted as part of it. In talking about Reino & Aino as a Finnish thing, she drew from the nationality repertoire extensively, referring to things like the Finnish nature and core Finnish activities like staying at the summer cottage. 38
Some of the consumers used the nationality repertoire especially as they talked about the potential of Reino & Aino to be sold outside the home country and whether foreigners could understand them similarly as Finnish people: I saw a couple of minutes about it in some program, I think it was Muodin Huipulle (Project Runway) where Janne Kataja [a popular Finnish tv person] presented them [Reino & Aino] to people in France. And the people were like “I would never ever wear those on my feet.” So I guess it’s partly such a Finnish thing, to wear them. (Katariina, interview)
I think it’s fun that it would be marketed to foreign countries as a Finnish thing, but I’m not sure whether they would understand it. They might look just like grandpa and grandma slippers to all foreigners…they should be integrated to some program, like in Sinkkuelämää (Sex and the City) there were Unikko curtains. So that would make them a cool thing in others’ opinion as well . (Hanna, interview)
The Finnish consumers see the Reino & Aino as a characteristically Finnish thing, which might look even ridiculous to foreigners. This modest and even self•degrading attitude toward our own nationality is part of using the repertoire as well. The same could be seen at the Demi.fi discussion board as young consumers were negotiating whether Reinos & Ainos were ‘hip’, lamenting on Finnish people’s lack of style: The French and Russian women would tear their hair out if they saw somebody wearing those. It is no wonder that Finnish people are seen as a hillbilly nation. (Nickname jenni21 at the Demi.fi discussion board, 2009a)
Finnish people have a tendency to understate our culture in comparison with old European cultures, for instance. That repertoire shows especially in the comments of Reino & Aino being something tacky and tasteless for the fashionable French, for instance. However, within the borders of our own country, consumers think that emphasizing the Finnish aspect of Reino & Aino is a good idea. Therefore consumers’ strategies related to national sense of fashion as regards the slippers can be used as a way to negotiate national identity in both positive and negative ways (Thompson & Haytko 1997, 25). One interviewee thought that the company could benefit even more from the nationality repertoire: It’s good, they should advertise it even more, that they are Finnish. [What do you think is good about that?] Well, we need more jobs in Finland…and then they have always been Finnish and this kind of awesome Finnish design. It would be crazy to make them elsewhere. (Hanna, interview) 39
Even though Reino & Aino may represent tacky Finnish style, they can nevertheless be accepted proudly as part of “our culture”. Consumers are also willing to develop strategies of using the nationality repertoire in gift•giving, for instance: I haven’t done it, but I could easily imagine taking it somewhere to a foreign country as a present to someone. Something that embodies Finland, like if you needed to have something bigger than rye bread or chocolate or salmiac. I think these would be very appropriate too. (Katariina, interview)
I myself have favored the home country in buying gifts, if it has been possible. And Reinos are among the rare Finnish products that are still manufactured in Finland, for what I know. Many Finnish products, even well•known trademarks (and respected ones) are only designed in Finland these days. (Kristiina, email interview)
The latter quotation above is from an interviewee who contacted me as I was looking for interviewees through the Reinot fan group in Facebook. She was currently living abroad with her family, in Uruguay. The interviewee was willing to tell me something about her Reino usage, which was clearly connected to having a piece of Finland with her. Lamenting on the cold floors of her current house abroad, Reinos helped her perhaps not only to accommodate to the new apartment and environment, but also to ease her home sickness.
5.1.2 Network strategies
At the Pyterlahti Reino & Aino running contest, both nationality and locality are emphasized. The contest starts with a ceremony in which everyone sings the national anthem of Finland, for instance. The humorous duties of the slipper inspector are also grounded in using the repertoire of nationality: I guess it [the inspector] is related to supporting Finland and the Finnish origin of the slippers. So that you cannot have just any kind of things cobbled together and made in any European country, or China for that matter, because they are ours…we want it to be a Finnish thing, a traditional thing . (Pyterlahti, interview)
There is pride of nationality in this comment, stating that the Reino & Aino slippers are the property of Finnish people. However, the slippers also symbolized a strong sense of locality for the people of Pyterlahti. Like traditional villages, the Pyterlahti community is bound together by close kin relationships. The representative told me that both her relatives and those of her husband were originally from the village, and taking part in the competition was a family affair for them. The contest participants were also mainly summer habitants, villagers, and friends and 40 relatives of the former. When I asked whether she thought that the Pyterlahti community was somehow special in using Reinos & Ainos for such a unique purpose, she tentatively wanted to believe that it was particularly characteristic of their village. In discussing the matter with Mikko Närhi, he has noticed the same kind of feeling of ownership at the village of Konnevesi, where the slippers are even called “Konnevesi shoes”.
In the spirit of locality, the Pyterlahti community wants to keep the competition a small•scale event mainly targeted at the villagers, the summer habitants and their friends and relatives: People have also told us not to expand the event, because then it stays kind of warm in spirit, and intimate in a way. So it is kind of homey when it’s not such a great mass event. (Pyterlahti, interview)
The Vesanto football contest organizers did not find it as important to keep the football event localized and small, because they were trying to expand the contest and even get it televised, in co•operation with Suomen Kumitehdas. However, they did see it as influential for the community and the tourism of the locality. According to the representative of the contest, it had replaced the Vesanto week, which was in his opinion somewhat outworn. The representative claimed that the football contest is currently what the locality is known for: During the summer, you can see it when people wear them on the street, that there’s the Reiska football tournament. So I can say that it is one of the biggest events in Vesanto, and also what the locality is known for outside. When I start discussing it somewhere, there’s always somebody’s relative or sister or brother who has been playing. (Vesanto, interview)
The company itself has taken the nationality repertoire very strongly as part of their company values and marketing. As an example, the company has launched blue Reinos, which were named “Finland Reinos”. Currently, the company is launching the slippers of a rock band, Negative, that will be worn by band members when they go to the Shanghai World Exhibition 2010 to represent Finland. In the interview the entrepreneurs emphasize the Finnish origin of the slippers frequently and heavily, connecting this repertoire with their way of being a responsible corporate citizen: I believe that it is a very important thing to our customers that they are made in Finland. If they were made somewhere else, it would be totally different…it was a brilliant idea to have the Finnish flag [a small cloth badge attached to the side of the slipper], especially retailers and also consumers think that it is a good thing. It has been a worthwhile for us to communicate that it is truly Finnish. (Arto Huhtinen, interview) 41
However, using the Finnish quality as a marketing argument has been implicitly and very modestly done, by including a Finnish flag in the design of the slipper, for instance. Arto Huhtinen explains the groundings for the argument: It is almost the whole country, from ten different places in Finland where the product is put together. So it is really truly Finnish, the Reino. We sometimes forget to tell people that… They say that it is not profitable to manufacture something like this in Finland. (Arto Huhtinen, interview)
Here, Huhtinen clearly differentiates his company from companies that hail their products proudly as Finnish but are not able to actually show evidence for it. Instead, his company chooses not to brag about it too much, even though there are real grounds for the argument. Here, Suomen Kumitehdas and Huhtinen thus embrace the values of humbleness and modesty, which can be considered very important values in Finnish culture.
In terms of locality, the company has begun to emphasize its identity as a Tampere based company, even more since the Reino store was founded in the Finlayson area in September 20098. The ice•hockey Reino slippers have by far been manufactured only in the colors of Tappara and Ilves, both of which are Tampere based teams. In addition, the company has manufactured namesake slippers for a smaller team from Joensuu, which is a city near to the Lieksa factory. In the press release (Jokipojat.com 2009), the manager of Jokipojat connects co• operation with Reino & Aino with an aim to represent the North Karelia province. For the locality of Lieksa, where the slippers are being made, promoting Reino & Aino is important. I interviewed the editor of the local newspaper, Lieksan Lehti, who herself was a local habitant. As an editor, she has a good channel through which to report things of importance to the small city: For us, the Reino & Aino phenomenon has been a very good topic to follow on the pages of our newspaper. It is a reason to be proud for us, that we have such a factory here. So we follow it very closely, and publish news about the new products, such as the new Paavo slippers. For the city of Lieksa, such a successful factory is an important matter, so it is also important also for our newspaper. We have a good reason to be proud and inform others that we have such a fine factory here. (Lieksa reporter, interview)
The reporter had also been involved in organizing a Reino & Aino themed barn dance event and she stated that for the habitants of Lieksa, marketing the locality on the basis of Reino & Aino is
8 The Finlayson area is one of the city of Tampere’s most important tourist attractions. One of Finland’s first and most important industrial factories was founded there in 1820. The area is today home for restaurants, a movie theatre and some specialty retail stores, operating within the old factory buildings. 42 considered important. For the Lieksa community, as for the Vesanto community where the football contest is organized, the actual presence of Reinos in the street view is visible. The editor of the local newspaper claims that it is not uncommon to see people wearing Reinos at the grocery store. She also says that the municipality has a habit of giving Reinos as a present for any significant visitors like politicians or artists that come to Lieksa. However, according to the reporter of Lieksan Lehti, the city could use Reino & Aino even more as its symbol: It is a shame that there are no Reino signs on the streets or Reinos on store display windows or anything. So people coming to visit do not necessarily notice that this is a Reino city. It would be good to have a shop window where there would be all these Reino products and a note that these are manufactured in Lieksa and you can purchase them. (Lieksa reporter, interview)
The media has also elsewhere promoted the repertoire of nationality and locality in writing about Reino & Aino. In newspaper articles, comments by Arto Huhtinen emphasizing the Finnish origin of the product have been framed with a nationalist repertoire, for example when the Reino store was opened: Finland’s national slippers, the Reino & Aino, don’t seem to suffer a decrease in popularity. Next, a factory outlet will be opened at Tampere. “We only sell Finnish products manufactured by ourselves” says the CEO Arto Huhtinen. Finland is represented at the store also otherwise; there are music records and books available by Reino men and women. (Kauppalehti 4.9.2009).
The company has also co•operated with the city of Tampere in promoting the store for tourists and is currently aiming at airports where tourists could buy Reinos to take home with them (Markkinointi & Mainonta 4.9.2009). One way of using the nationality repertoire was when pairs of tailor•made blue and yellow Reinos and Ainos were given ceremoniously to the King and Queen of Sweden as they visited the city of Tampere in the summer of 2009. A similar pair is today on display at the Reino store.
In connection with the locality repertoire, there are also network participants that represent public and private organizations. One of these is the a traveling agency that printed a whole issue of Reino sanomat (Reino magazine) in the summer of 2009 introducing interesting touristic locations and phenomena related to Reino & Aino (Matkahorisontti 2009). The North Karelia province has also taken Reinos & Ainos as a symbol for their marketing. Part of this is surely because the factory of Reino & Aino is situated in Lieksa, which is part of the province. 43
However, the province administration has also published a leaflet on the cover of which there is a pair of feet with pink Reinos on. The leaflet is titled “Stories of joy” and it contains short anecdotes from companies and people within the area (Pohjois•Karjalan maakuntaliitto 2008). As part of the same campaign, the province organized in 2006 an outing in the city centre of Helsinki, where the province was being marketed by a drama group, a band consisting of North Karelian music students that was named Reino band, and an info stand with information about the province. Thereby aligning with the popular Reino & Aino phenomenon, the province received attention and interest, but its efforts must have also influenced the popularity of the product on their part. Hence, the actors’ strategies mutually reinforce each other.
Mikko Närhi, the spin•doctor, has also been active in using the nationalist repertoire. In the interview, he traces the nationality repertoire of Reino & Aino to core Finnish activities: All of us Finnish people, we like to be hillbillies. We enjoy such moments of leisure when we go to our summer cottage and light the fire, the midsummer bonfire, the sauna…they are such simple, hillbilly activities and we enjoy them enormously. All of us Finnish people. You can always get a small pinch of that hillbilly factor when you wear Reinos. They have some of that nice and simple ideology. (Mikko Närhi, interview)
Here, Närhi clearly makes a generalization about Finnish people. We are all the same, we all like the same things, which is why we all like to wear Reinos. He connects the Reino shoe with something deep inside each Finnish person, a shared national consciousness. Of course this national consciousness is a cultural construction, but it is a clever way to use the nationality repertoire for the benefit of the product.
In solidifying the Reino & Aino as a symbol for Finland, the Vapriikki museum together with its exhibition have been influential. The representative of the museum explained that the Reino exhibition is a logical addition to the collection, the aim of which has been to detail the history of the Finnish shoe manufacturing especially in Tampere. It is the kind of inventiveness and creativity that is characteristic for Tampere. All these ideas, and bravely implementing and testing them. It is “manselaista”9 in a way. (Museum, interview)
9 A dialectal phrase that is used to denote to something or someone from Tampere. 44
Thus, for the museum representative, the activities that the company has now initiated to build Reino & Aino as a brand relate to the locality of Tampere as a traditional city for entrepreneurship. The exhibition was greeted at the opening by Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb, whose speech is printed on the web pages of Suomen Kumitehdas (2008): In the United States, the same year [1932, first year when Reinos were produced]gave birth to two American embodiments: the Mars bar and the Zippo lighter. They are both quite good products but they are not Reinos. Reinos are an honest embodiment of Finland, the genuine core of what it is to be Finnish . (Alexander Stubb 24.5.2008)
Thereby, with the formal and solemn speech of a leading political figure, Reinos are being positioned as the national symbol for Finland, claimed to be so much more than what Americans have been able to produce to symbolize their national identity. The museum representative agrees about the role of the exhibition as a significant legitimizer of the Reino & Aino phenomenon: Of course, when a museum makes something into an exhibition, it is always afterwards considered as significant. For instance, if there is a product or an object that we put on display, their value increases directly following, for instance in the antiques market. But we haven’t perceived it as a negative thing, because we want to support Finnish entrepreneurship and Finnish industry. (Museum, interview)
Table 5 Summary of the repertoire of nationality and locality LOCALITY AND NATIONALITY Network strategies of Core meanings Consumer strategies of action action Belonging in a nation Symbolizing locality Finnish quality * buying and using Finnish products * something of our own Finnish culture & * perceived as a symbol for Finland * national footwear history Underestimating our Helping to market small culture Negotiating export status localities Touristic attraction * self•degrading attitude * promoting tourism Legitimate Finnish * perceiving as hillbilly Appealing to national symbol consciousness * core Finnish activities Giving as gift to embody Finland * representative product of Finland * legitimization by the museum
After summarizing the first repertoire (Table 5), the discussion moves on to discuss the repertoire of ethics and responsibility that is connected with the locality and nationality repertoire in terms 45 of the company’s ethical decision to manufacture the slippers in the home country. The decision to move the production back to Finland was made by the starting entrepreneurs in 2004.
5.2 Ethics and responsibility
The repertoire of ethics and responsibility is very strongly present in the Reino & Aino phenomenon. Promoting Finnish manufacturing has been discussed in the previous repertoire, which is why the discussion here focuses on other aspects of responsibility. The repertoire is used by consumers to position themselves as responsible, and promoted by the charity actions of the company and other network organizations.
5.2.1 Consumer strategies
As argued by Holt (2002, 88), consumers are increasingly looking for brands that take civic responsibility. The consumers of Reino & Aino use the repertoire of ethics and responsibility to position themselves as responsible consumers. This is done for example through motivating their purchase decisions. A responsible consumer may be someone who buys Finnish products in order to support companies to be able to keep their production, alongside the jobs, in Finland. Responsibility may also mean buying good quality products that can actually be used and that last longer than cheap mass•imported products. It may as well be about the aspect of environmental friendly products, that are made of natural materials and manufactured as close to their consumption place as possible. For consumers, the aspect of good Finnish quality downplays the slippers’ relatively high price. For many people, the price itself seems insignificant as long as they are buying something made in the home country.
Consumers also use the company’s charitable actions as groundings to motivate their purchases. The actual cause of charity does not seem to be significant. Instead, the consumers draw on the repertoire of ethics and responsibility, connecting themselves with these values: A family comes in to pick out Reinos for their 5•year•old daughter. The father remarks that a while ago he and his wife read from somewhere in the media that the company (Suomen Kumitehdas) had made a donation to some good cause and afterwards, their attitude has been even more positive. They have also started to give Reinos to their friends as presents. Even though the father does not even remember the actual cause of 46
the charity, the mere connection of the company to “something good” seems to help in creating more sympathy towards the product. (Field notes 15.10.2009)”.
The ethical aspect of the Reino slipper is also what motivates consumers to buy them as gifts. Gift•giving always tells even more about the giver than it does about the receiver, and therefore it is important to present oneself as a responsible buyer (cf. Ruth, Otnes & Brunel 1999, 385). Furthermore, one blogger has posted a picture of pink Reinos that she has bought herself as a self•gift: I bought these for myself as a mother’s day gift. They are still made in Finland, near Russian border, which part has been in infrastructural crisis lately. So this is as ethical gift as possible! (Ilun handu duunaa blog 8.5.2008)
Even though for my interviewees, using Reinos seemed not to be about self•indulgence, this particular blogger consumer motivates her purchase by drawing motivations on the ethical responsibility repertoire.
Besides motivating their purchase decisions and gift•giving choices, consumers also use the repertoire of ethics and responsibility to invent and implement their own consumption•related projects that mobilize these repertoires in action. One of my interviewees had bought a pair of pink Reinos in order to participate in the Wear It Pink day: I had been considering buying them for a while, but it was when there was the Wear It Pink day, that day that is organized in October to support breast cancer research. Then I thought that it is Wear It Pink day so it is a good reason to go and buy myself a pair of pink Reinos. (Katariina, interview)
Later in the interview, the interviewee revealed to me that her own mother had died of breast cancer and therefore supporting the cause felt important to her. For her, buying and using Reinos was thereby connected to two kinds of meaning•making strategies: being an ethical consumer as the supporter of a good cause and also, honoring the memory of her mother.
As argued above, the decision to make only rational purchases and not engage in hedonic self• indulgence through consumption can also be considered part of the responsibility repertoire. Many of the interviewees mentioned practicality as the reason for wearing Reinos. Well…it’s the thing that, I don’t myself really think about shoes so much. I have a very practical attitude toward footwear in general. Let’s just say that I cannot think of myself as an Imelda Marcos, that I would own lots of pairs and that I would be choosing which 47
ones to wear based on my mood…I have trekking shoes, wellingtons and two other pairs of basic shoes and then Reinos. So one chooses which…sort of are good for the particular purpose of use. (Juha, interview)
As can be seen from the comment of this interviewee, he differentiates himself from those people who have lots of shoes without any practical purpose and who consume shoes a little carelessly, based on their mood. He refers to these people as “Imelda Marcos”, who is a famous political person in the Philippines famous for her 3000 pair shoe collection. Drawing on this cultural repertoire clearly makes the interviewee seem a responsible and rational consumer in comparison. Mikko Närhi perceives that the Reino & Aino slippers are so popular in Finland partly because they are so practical: There must always be the connection to reality and usability. Finnish people are practical to the extent of extremity and even stupidity . (Mikko Närhi, interview)
Thus, the practical aspect of Reino & Aino seems to legitimize their purchase and use for consumers, who categorize them within practical necessities, not as something futile or extravagant to indulge oneself with. This is a significant part of the responsibility repertoire. In conducting the interviews, I became almost frustrated with the issue that my interviewees always seemed to emphasize the practicality of the slippers and necessitate upon that being the main reason for using them, even though they might have been part of their personal style or a way of being unique as well. For example, one of my interviewees was a young man who wore Reinos in a very unusual manner, using them outside even during the winter. The Reino slippers were clearly a part of his personal style, and he admitted this, even though he kept reminding me several times that the practicality was really the reason why he wore them: [When you say that it is a status symbol, did you mean that people recognize you for wearing them?”] Yeah I guess, at that level. But originally I wore them because they were so practical, but then they have become a habit and kind of…part of(Leevi me., interview)
I interpret the tendency of my interviewees to emphasize the practicality of the slippers as their way to legitimize other kind of meanings that they draw on. Since the slippers are first and foremost seen as practical, consumers feel entitled to use them, even though they might gain an additional, deeper meaning. It seemed important for my interviewees to present themselves to me initially as responsible and rational consumers. The seemingly mundane reasons for using Reinos thus reveal an important use of the cultural repertoire of responsibility in my data. 48
5.2.2 Network strategies
For the company, drawing on the repertoire of ethics and responsibility has always been the spearhead of marketing. Part of this is reasoned from the Finnish manufacturing, which was discussed in connection with the nationality and locality repertoire. The image of Suomen Kumitehdas as a responsible corporate citizen is also constructed through the charity that the company is involved in: It is often so that these organizations contact us…I think that the product is such that it is easy to include it in their activity…It is also quite a concrete way to do charity, when you donate a pile of Reinos somewhere, and yet it is such a small thing from the business point of view. (Arto Huhtinen, interview)
Mikko Närhi further argues that even though charity was not part of the original Reino & Aino brand, the current owners have made a strong contribution to it: At the beginning, there was no intention to do anything for free or donate something but…thanks to Arto Huhtinen, the charity has become an important part of it. Reino has found a great owner. There has been no sense of greed. On the contrary, he is bringing even more aspects of charity to it all the time. (Mikko Närhi, interview)
While the charity activities are mostly altruistic and no direct business gain is intended, there is an element of coupling Reino & Aino with charities that reinforce the brand. As Linda Huhtinen explains: The targets that we usually do charity for are somehow related, so that we don’t just cast lots and choose, but instead there is always a reason in what they represent, and they are always within Finland. Many bigger companies that do charity do it in foreign countries but this is a Finnish product and it is important to have . it (Linda here Huhtinen, interview)
Here, Linda Huhtinen connects the responsibility and ethics repertoire with the nationality repertoire, in making clear that the company promotes especially Finnish charities. She differentiates the company from “big companies” that seem quite distant and without empathy compared to Suomen Kumitehdas that takes part in hands•on charity activities close to its own operations, such as donating slippers to local nursing homes.
Another act of charity done by the company was the purchasing of Juice Leskinen’s library since the musician’s death in the spring of 2009, to donate it according to the late Leskinen’s wish to a nursing home (Aamulehti.fi 23.4.2009; Ilta•Sanomat.fi 22.4.2009). The fate of the library was 49 widely debated especially in the local media of Tampere. In a blog post, a reporter Jussi Lähde comments on the incident: Let it be made clear from the start that yours sincerely does not have and has never had any kind of commercial relationship with the company that manufactures slippers called Reino… .All the country was yearning (me included) after the destiny of Juice Leskinen’s library during the past week. The media discussion almost reached editorials, when concerned citizens and culture politicians grabbed the scandal… .The same reporters that think paying taxes is not enough to be considered corporate responsibility (and it is not enough also in my opinion) look the other way when their wishes are fulfilled… Where are their thanks to the slipper factory? I know that tomorrow I will go to the store and buy Reinos; at least one pair. I will tell the cashier and all people walking by that I bought the slippers because the factory saved Juice’s library. (Jussi Lähde’s blog 24.4.2009).
This blog post was commented by several people, among them was one comment connecting the act of charity to being Finnish: It is wonderful that the most Finnish company of all acquires the library of the most Finnish poet, composer and performer of all in order to donate it to public use. There is something overtly Finnish, so monumentally Finnish about it – and that’s why it’s so wonderful. (Comment by Aulis Aarnio in Jussi Ahde’s blog 26.4.2009)
Even though cultural reporters were criticized for not thanking the company, the media does also promote an image of the company as an ethical and responsible actor in the marketplace. The sheer media interest toward the company in reporting about new collections and increases in sales indicates that the media values the company and has a positive attitude toward it. In 2004, the slipper markets were controlled by cheap import slippers. The first thing Erkkilä and Huhtinen did was to hire 15 unemployed persons and move the production of Reino & Aino back to Finland. (Talouselämä 5.3.2010)
In Talouselämä’s article, the Reino & Aino are lifted above ‘cheap import slippers’ and a picture of the entrepreneurs as brave people who have big hearts is drawn by paying special attention to how they gave jobs to the unemployed. This hero theme is followed up later in this thesis.
As detailed above, the company and media are network participants who use the repertoire of responsibility and ethics in their strategies of action. One that has not yet been mentioned are the charity organizations themselves. The representative of the Halavatun Papat organization says that Reinos are connected with their ideology: It’s been 11 years that we’ve driven from Kauppatori to Kauniala, and it fits so well with this thing, because the veterans have in their time used these same shoes to put this 50
country in the shape it is today, since this product is 80 years old, this Reino. Therefore they suit one another, and now today we are also helping children with heart condition this way as well. (Halavatun Pappa, interview)
The ethics in doing the charity are related to the cultural repertoire of war history of Finland and the strong tradition in our country to support veterans. The Halavatun Papat saw that Reino symbolized the deeds that war veterans had done for the benefit of the following generations, and therefore it was easy to connect the symbol of Reino with their activities. The representative strongly emphasizes that it is not about increasing the sales of Reino & Aino through building a certain type of image through charity: The starting point is not to aim for increasing the popularity. It starts from realizing that the war veterans have needed these shoes in their best working age and the slippers have been part of the rebuilding of our country. So this is a thanks to them as well. (Halavatun Pappa, interview)
As can be seen from the analysis, different network participants from the entrepreneurs to the spin•doctor Närhi, the media, bloggers and the charity organizations themselves, work together to construct and maintain an image of the company as a responsible actor in the marketplace. Using the repertoire of ethics and responsibility, these network participants downplay the fact that Reino & Aino is a commercial product, and emphasize the values and good deeds instead. It can be argued that the disinterested attitude toward direct commercial gain has reinforced the authenticity of Reino & Aino as a cultural resource for consumers (Holt 2002, 83).
Table 6 Summary of the ethics and responsibility repertoire ETHICS AND RESPONSIBILITY Core meanings Consumer strategies of action Network strategies of action Positioning as Manufactured close by Positioning as responsible buyer responsible company * Decision to produce in * Supporting production near Handmade home country consumption * Modesty in marketing Entrepreneurial spirit * Buying ethical gifts * Supporting charity activities Charity causes * Rationalistic & practical purchasing Media's portrayal of ethical issues Charities' support & co• operation 51
In conclusion, the ethics and responsibility repertoire (Table 6) showed that in the Reino & Aino phenomenon, the commercial aspects of the product and its marketing are downplayed. For consumers in particular, Reino & Aino represent traditional values, which can be seen in the discussion related to the next repertoire, empathy and caring.
5.3 Empathy and caring
The repertoire of empathy and caring is closely connected to the repertoire of ethics and responsibility, but it is emphasized particularly as an aspect of giving the slippers as a gift to someone. Consumers’ strategies of using this repertoire range from the reinforcement of close social relationships through Reino & Aino to memorizing past generations who have used them. In this way, Reino & Aino work as a way to negotiate family identity, for instance (Epp & Price 2008; Belk 1988, 152). Concerning network strategies, the company’s use of the family ideology in marketing is emphasized.
5.3.1 Consumer strategies
The consumers of Reino & Aino emphasize that the slippers are something that unite generations together, because many consumers remember their grandparents or other relatives having used Reinos already several decades ago, like one of my young male interviewees explains: I find it fun that my grandpa…that I have the same shoes as he…as he has been wearing so that maybe it is…I think that is one thing that connects us, wearing Reinos. (Pekka, interview)
For the younger consumers, wearing Reinos may thus be about feeling a connection to their older relatives, some of whom may have already passed away. Thereby wearing them is part of continuing the family tradition. Like Belk (1988, 150) argues, it may generate a sense of permanence and place in the world for the family members. For one young woman, the Reino slipper brought memories from her childhood at the family summer cottage: Our cottage comes to my mind, because everyone has always been wearing Reinos and Ainos there. It brings such warm memories to mind… [What did you use to do at the summer cottage when you were small?] All kinds of things, digging the flower bed and wreaking havoc in mum’s plantations; heating the sauna and just running around and everyone, mum and dad, and granny used to have Reinos….There used to be a pile of 52
Reinos and Ainos and everyone would just wear whatever pair fit( Malla them., interview)
The family’s communal use of the slippers further enhanced their mutual belongingness, since it did not matter whose Reinos or Ainos the family members were wearing. Borrowing family members’ slippers seems to be common in creating warmth and sympathy from Reino usage: Two young teenage girls, dressed in fashionable teenage clothing come in the store. After looking around for a bit, one of them asks for a pair of pink Reinos in her size. When I ask her where she got the idea for buying them, she says that she’s been borrowing her father’s Reinos but now she wants a pair in her own size. (Field notes 15.10)
Thus, even though wearing Reinos has become a fashionable thing amongst some teenager groups, the reason for wanting to wear them may also be connected to family affiliations. It may be a ritual related to the negotiation of collective family identity, or relational family identity between parents and children or between spouses (Epp & Price 2008, 52)
The Reino and Aino slippers may also become heirlooms in the family (cf. Curasi, Price & Arnould, 2004). The heirloom status means that the slippers are imbued with the personality of the people who have worn them and the social order and family unity is reinforced as the items are transmitted from one generation to the next. Consumers also often use heirlooms in ritualistic ways, and tell stories about them (ibid. 614). One interviewee at the Reino•store reported that she had started using Ainos after inheriting her grandmother’s pair. The heirloom status was also given to the slippers of the deceased musician Juice Leskinen’s slippers, which were inherited by a younger musician, Juri Lindeman. However, it is not always necessarily the same pair of slippers that is transmitted from generation to generation. Because the Reino and Aino slippers are meant to be worn and not just displayed like traditional heirlooms, they might not always last from a generation to the next. Rather, the model and meaning•associations stay the same, even though younger users may purchase a pair of their own. Mikko Närhi also sees the cross• generational aspect of Reinos as very important: Reinos are a bridge between generations. It is about transmitting the Reino tradition, the cultural tradition that one has held in high esteem and received from somebody else. It has become the symbol for that transfer. (Mikko Närhi, interview)
Yet consumers may also use Reino & Aino in reinforcing their current family relationships. Another interviewee had lately received her Reino slippers from her mother as she was preparing 53 for her high school final exams and she thought that the gift reinforced the relationship between her and her mother, by communicating the mother’s love: [What do you think she wanted to tell you by giving them?] Mm…she wanted to take care of me. So that I would be feeling well and so that I would be able to have confidence in myself.” (Raisa, interview)
This young female interviewee was a student who had just moved away from her childhood home to study at the university. For her, telling the story of her mother giving her the Reino slippers seemed to be very emotional. She clearly drew from the repertoire of love and caring as she explained her relationship to the Reino slippers.
One of my interviewees talked a lot about wearing the slippers together with her boyfriend as a couple. She herself had pink Reinos and her boyfriend had the brown ones. I get the sort of comfortable and nice feelings [from them]…homelike. And then when my boyfriend also has his own, it kind of creates a sense of belonging together and also some romantic feelings to it [laughing]….we have been making fun of it that we will be wearing them together even when we are an old couple at the old•age home. (Kiira, interview)
For this interviewee, wearing Reinos was a way to show affection to her boyfriend, from whom she had received her own pair as a gift. She combined the old meaning association of old age to her own image of a lasting relationship to picture herself together with her boyfriend even at the old•age home. Another interviewee and her husband had received a pair of Reinos and Ainos as a wedding present. Showing love and caring is undoubtedly one of the motives for altruistic gift• giving, and therefore this repertoire is particularly used by people when they purchase the slippers as gifts. A woman is buying Reinos to send to her daughter who is studying in Germany. It is her own idea, but the daughter has been telling her mother in the phone that it is quite cold in her apartment. The mother tries on different kinds of Reinos and uses some time to choose a perfect pair for her daughter. She says she hopes that the daughter will continue to wear the slippers when she comes back to Finland . (Field notes 2.10.2009)
Sending her daughter Reino slippers was a way to show a mother’s love, as well as remind the daughter about Finland. Generally, most of the customers I encountered while observing at the Reino store were people buying the slippers for their family members: both children buying for their parents and parents buying for their children. The warmth and comfort given by the Reino slipper thus seems to help consumers to connect it to the repertoire of love and caring. 54
The sense of togetherness was also perceived at the advertising agency, where the employer had bought everyone a pair of Reinos or Ainos (cf. Enclosure 1: Photo 1): [Where did you get the idea for buying Reinos and Ainos?]It started from the overall concept. How could we make this place a good place to be in and nice and comfy and more homelike…we built a small sauna and “Grandpa” comes every week to cook for us, and bake for us once a week. And we have a matron here who makes us sandwiches every now and then…and we have everything kind of homelike here. (Janne, interview)
For the advertising agency, Reinos and Ainos thus symbolized the home, and loving relationships between family members that they wanted to take as example also in their company culture.
5.3.2 Network strategies
The company uses the repertoire of love and caring especially in supporting their charitable actions, but they have also caught the cross•generational aspect. One of the first extensions that came to market since 2004 were the children’s sized slippers, enabling even younger generations to dress similarly with their grandpas and grandmas. Arto Huhtinen explains: The long history of Reino and Aino brings memories, positive memories about fathers and mothers, grannies and grandpas…that better people than us have worn them, said in a positive manner. And the grannies and grandpas and also parents like to buy them as gifts for their children. (Arto Huhtinen, interview)
In the few marketing materials that the company has, mostly targeted at their retailers, the ideology of family is very strongly represented by using pictures of grandparents together with small children, all wearing Reinos. The company also launched baby sized Reinos, called “First step slippers” in the spring of 2009 along with a small collection of other baby gear (a teddy bear and a blanket) (Aamulehti.fi 11.3.2009).
The love and caring repertoire was explicitly used by the company in the Valentine’s Day event held at the Reino store in February 2010. A record telling the love story of Reino & Aino was released, the profits of which go to charity. On the record, popular Finnish musicians perform revised versions of love songs. The producer of the record was interviewed in a local newspaper: Everyone’s attitude was wonderful and they participated without payment. We had a really good atmosphere all the time. (Tamperelainen 6.2.2010) 55
Arto Huhtinen and Tuire Erkkilä also said they were amazed about the fact that popular and well• known musicians were so enthusiastic to participate in the production of the record. Thus, for the parasocial network members, getting involved in a charity project with Reino & Aino was perceived as low•risk, since the product is so sympathetic and well•known in Finland. Further, at the store there was a competition for winning a pair of motorcycles decorated with Reino and Aino fabrics for “you and your loved one”. The event was described by Talouselämä in the following manner: It is Sunday night in Tampere. Pate Mustajärvi is singing about love. The profits gained from the recording go to war veterans and child patients. Mitro Repo[a well•known Finnish minister of the Orthodox Church and a member of European Parliament] is talking about grace and friendship. Women’s Bank is presenting the slippers, the purchasing of which helps women in developing countries to get a business loan. We are not, however, in a church. We are in a pub. It is the celebration of Reino & Ainos 80• year•old journey. (Talouselämä 5.3.2010)
Thus, the media also presents the Reino & Aino phenomenon through the cultural repertoire of love and caring. Furthermore, by comparing the Valentine’s Day event to a church mass, a certain spiritual dimension is attached to Reino & Aino. The repertoire was also used by the media when the company purchased the library of Juice Leskinen. An article in a local newspaper Tamperelainen was titled “Juice’s books found a home” (31.10.2009), further emphasizing the repertoire of caring by depicting the library as something (or someone) in need of a home. The cross•generational aspect of Reino & Aino has also been used by other organizations that have used the symbolic connotations in their own marketing campaigns. In 2009, a Baltic cruise company Tallink Silja had a commercial in which they advertised cruises for grandparents and children by showing a picture of adults’ and children’s’ sized Reino & Aino slippers side by side.
In my interpretation, the repertoire of love and caring comes to the phenomenon through the age spectrum of users. Whereas the slippers used to be old people’s shoes, connected with senility and certain helplessness, the new baby sizes connect the slippers to the other end of the age spectrum. Both old people and babies need care and a pair of shoes that is easy to put on, warm and comfortable. From there, the ideology of love and caring is extended and the slipper becomes a symbol for mutual caring: It is about love. Love for all the people and things connected with Reino. I don’t know whether there’s something in the fabric… the model…I don’t think it’s that. (Mikko Närhi, interview) 56
Table 7 Summary of the repertoire of empathy and caring
EMPATHY AND CARING Core meanings Consumer strategies of action Network strategies of action Memorizing older relatives Using family ideology in Generational * becoming part of the generational marketing transfer continuum * extending to children’s' sizes Home and family Creating belongingness * Reino & Aino love story record Mutual caring * borrowing each others' slippers * Tallink Silja's campaign * wearing inherited slippers The company as caretaker * taking care of each other * Purchasing Juice’s library
The repertoire of empathy and caring (Table 7) took notice of the connective aspect that Reino & Aino has for people in their mutual relationships. These relationships can be reinforced also by doing fun things together. This aspect of Reino & Aino is discussed in the next repertoire that presents the humorous aspects of the phenomenon, paying attention on how consumers use the slippers in their strategies of having fun.
5.4 Humor and fun
The repertoire of humor and fun is an interesting part of the Reino & Aino phenomenon; almost all of my interviewees mentioned this aspect somehow. Part of the humor is perhaps due to the look of the slipper as it is radically different from any other kind of shoe. The model has largely remained the same throughout decades, which brings a certain old•fashioned charm to it. Reino & Aino are also used as humorous gifts in particular life situations, especially in connection to rites of passage such as when somebody is retiring from work, or becoming a father.
5.4.1 Consumer strategies
The first association that consumer interviewees usually brought to the fore was the relaxedness and informality that is connected with Reinos. One of my young male informants described that when he comes home after a long day at work or at the university, putting Reinos on is like letting loose: I often put them on and go visit my friends; to play some board games and drink beer…It is a whole different feeling when you have them on compared to if you had the same shoes that you’ve been wearing the whole day at work. (Tero, interview) 57
For many informants, the slippers thus worked at the ritual boundary between work and free time i.e. between laboring and having fun. The slippers could also be intentionally worn in public to represent oneself humorously and to attract positive attention. One middle•aged male informant had three pairs of Reinos, one of which, a pink Reino pair, he had received as a humorous gift from his mother•in•law. He had a habit of wearing the pink Reinos as parading shoes: intentionally going to visit the town with them on. When I’m feeling jovial enough, I put them on and even if I don’t really need to go to the town, I go and have a cup of coffee or something and show people my pink Reinos.[So they are like parading shoes then?] Yeah, precisely. (Matti, interview)
The aspect of a man wearing the feminine, pink Reinos was considered humorous and the interviewee told me he often receives positive comments. For him, the pink Reino slippers thus worked as a humorous conversation•starter, even with strangers. For another, young female informant, wearing the Reinos was considered part of her funny personality. Thus, people who wear Reinos do not “take themselves too seriously” and are willing to laugh at themselves. The slippers can also be connected with humorous situations. One of my interviewees, a young male student told me that his girlfriend has seen him wearing Reinos on a hangover day and associated him with a famous Finnish comic movie character, Uuno Turhapuro. The interviewee thought that this was a good comparison. Uuno Turhapuro is a careless ragamuffin, dressed in hillbilly clothes; hair always messed up, lazy and idle character who always manages to get himself in trouble. Yet there is something likeable and sympathetic about Uuno10. Thereby the humor in the Reino slipper is connected to Finnish culture in particular.
For some consumers, Reino & Aino still represent old age, and the humor comes from the association with senility, an old person who dodders along with a walking stick and Reinos. Thus, consumers use Reino & Aino as humorous presents: At the beginning, we took them to our friends as gifts when they turned 30. Back then they were considered to be grandma and grandpa shoes, so it was funny to take such a grandpa gift [laughs] and I think we put an ET•magazine [a Finnish magazine targeted for pensioners] in the same package. (Hanna, interview)
10 Like the Reino slipper, Uuno Turhapuro is a Finnish icon. The movies, produced during the 70s, 80s and 90s, were among the most successful Finnish film productions, and can be considered a significant part of Finnish popular culture. 58
Thus, it is crucial that the slippers are given as a gift to somebody that does not yet actually correspond to the image of a senile old person, in order for the joke to work. In the discussion forum of a Finnish evening paper Ilta•Sanomat, one commentator remarks: Our circle of friends has made it a habit for years now to give Reinos to someone turning 30. And if not sooner, at least when a man becomes a father, he gets a pair of Reinos. (Ilta•Sanomat.fi discussion board, Nickname Myrkky, 17.12.2008)
Thus, Reinos seem to be a popular gift for close friends moving from one life stage to another. The slippers thereby have a ritual function, related to role transitions (cf. Schouten 1991). Perhaps by making fun of the rite of passage, the transition becomes easier to accept. Part of the irony that consumers derive from the Reino is also about making fun of a fundamentally serious matter; the fact of aging. The Reino slipper that symbolizes aging and old people can be used to negotiate old age in a humorous, tension relieving manner.
Besides using the humorous aspects of the Reino slipper itself, consumers use Reino & Aino slippers as props for humorous activities, like in the case of one female student: We always joke around with them. At one time we had this game that one of us would on purpose hide the other person’s slippers. . . Especially my boyfriend did these pranks to me that he hid my Reinos and then I supposedly looked so funny when I was trying to find them. (Kiira, interview)
The Reino & Aino slippers seem to contain a funny aspect that can then be used in consumers’ strategies of having fun, also creating a sense of togetherness. Another of my interviewees told me that they had bought Aino slippers for their grandmother for Christmas and then invented a humorous prank of putting only one of the slippers inside the gift•wrapped container box.
In the Reino book, there are numerous stories in which the Reino slippers are used for something exceptional, funny, or remarkable. These include using Reinos for winning the championship in speedless triple jump during the 1960s, going to a barn dance with Reinos, performing on a theatre or a rock festival stage with Reinos on and so on. Some of these activities have been institutionalized by consumer communities into competitions, such as the Reino football contest or the Reino running contest. The funny aspect to all these activities comes from taking the slipper to unusual contexts by unusual people. As Mikko Närhi explains: We tell stories about our relatives and older relatives and the stories are the ones that are really special somehow. There is a certain edge to them. Somebody had a funny way of 59
speaking, someone could do amazing things and then they had Reinos on. We do not tell the stories that are about those people wearing Reinos every day and nothing ever happened. (Mikko Närhi, interview)
Thus, the repertoire of fun and humor is adopted by consumers in having fun with their slippers and especially in making fun of aging. The repertoire of fun makes the phenomenon easy to accept for everyone. It is very rare to encounter someone who is totally against Reinos & Ainos. Even though there is a sense of hillbilly and even tacky associations, most people have a humorous, sympathetic attitude toward the slippers.
5.4.2 Network strategies
The network participants that particularly use the repertoire of humor and having fun are the consumer communities that invent all kinds of events and activities connected with wearing Reinos. Many of these communities have been reported in the Reino book. For the people organizing the Pyterlahti running contest, it is part of the activities of the village community that is very lively. The aim of the competition is to have a relaxed atmosphere, and the organizers depict the event as Reino & Aino spirited: Our principle is that everyone should be having fun, and nobody should be too burdened about the arrangements… It [the competition] is relaxed, and fair. There is no need to be dead serious about something. Instead it is about straightforward countryside spirit, something genuine. (Pyterlahti, interview)
The playful and humorous attitude of the competition is shown for example in the rules of the competition as well as the length of the run, which is exactly 1440, 40 meters, the length measured between two “maitolaituris”11. The rules also emphasize humor, being supervised by a “slipper inspector”, a dedicated person who checks the competitors’ slippers before the run, in order to make sure that they are genuine (Enclosure 1: Photo 2). It is a performance of its own, the inspection. There is a sense of fun and playfulness when people are queuing for it .” (Pyterlahti, interview)
Part of the fun in organizing a sport contest where participants wear Reino slippers comes from the fact that the slippers are not in any way designed for running. The representative of the contest tells me that the runners have invented a particular style of running by lifting their feet
11 Maitolaituri (milk platform) is part of old Finnish countryside infrastructure. It was a construction on the side of the road, where the farms would bring the milk of their cows in big cans to be transported to the nearest dairy. The maitolaituri is part of the Finnish cultural landscape, even though they are no longer in their traditional use. 60 higher so that the slippers will not fall off their feet as they are competing. In addition, the contest participants dress in humorous costumes. One team in the contest of 2009 had dressed as cats and another as ice hockey players.
These humorous costumes have also been seen in the Vesanto football tournament where a team had dressed up as French maids, for instance (Enclosure 1: Photo 3). The use of costumes as props accentuates the ritualistic aspect of the event. This effect in enacting memorable consumption experiences has also been documented in earlier research (e.g. Belk & Costa 1998, 219). The rules of the football contest also emphasize humor and especially forbid all seriousness during the game (Vesannon kunta 24.4.2008). The representative told me that the competition is very audience friendly and fun, since the slippers tend to fall off the players’ feet, and the rules forbid players from continuing the game before they have the slippers back on (Enclosure 1: Photo 4). Organizing such humorous contests is connected to Finnish culture, since the country is famous even outside its borders for curiosities, such as the “wife carrying world championship” organized since 1992 in Sonkajärvi. Some of my interviewees compared the football and running contests to this well•known event, in which there is also a lot of humor and fun involved.
Such events naturally gain a lot of media publicity, and that helps not only to get the event itself promoted, but also the Reino & Aino phenomenon, because the slippers are an integral part of these events. The Pyterlahti running contest was reported in a national radio channel, Radio Nova, and commented in a newspaper causerie (Nenonen 2009) for example. As argued above, the Reino & Aino phenomenon in general seems to have captured the interest of the media. Reporters use the repertoire of fun and humor not only to report the events, but also to report about the company in general. Humorous headlines include wordplays such as “Suo, kuokka ja Reinot”12 (Taloussanomat 17.6.2007), “Reinot rokkaa!13 (Lieksan lehti 18.9.2008), or “Tappara• Reinot, nuo joulun seksikkäät tohvelisankarit”14 (Kauppalehti 18.12.2009).
12 ”Suo, kuokka ja Reinot” associates the headline with one of the most well•known Finnish novels by Väinö Linna, that starts with the phrase “Suo, kuokka ja Jussi” • meaning “Swamp, hoe and Jussi”, Jussi being the protagonist of the novel. 13 ”Reinot rokkaa!” means ”Reinot is rock’n roll!” 14 ”Tappara•Reinot, nuo joulun seksikkäät tohvelisankarit!” is about the ice•hockey slippers that came to stores before Christmas. The headline calls these slippers sexy and plays with the word “tohvelisankari” which literally means “slipper hero”, but denotes to someone who is lazy and a sissy. 61
The fact that the events are organized by consumers and consumer communities themselves increases interest toward the phenomenon and again downplays the commercial side. However, the organizers of the events have been active in contacting Suomen Kumitehdas. Hence, interaction between network participants has emerged: My husband filmed the event and sent it to Suomen Kumitehdas so they can take advantage of it and show people what we are doing here. They have also sent us some slippers for prizes in this competition, and that’s a real good thing….Some of our villagers also visited the Reino exhibition when it opened . (Pyterlahti, interview)
The company’s decision not to be too involved in the events organized by consumers can be considered strategic. Maintaining the events and competitions as consumer•led minimizes the risk for the company and emphasizes the unselfishness and modesty in not trying to take commercial advantage of them. The company has lately started to organize their own events at the Reino store (Enclosure 1: Photo 5). The program of the Valentine’s Day event included listening to the new Reino & Aino record as well as meeting the artists. New models were introduced and black sausage, a local specialty dish was served to customers. Events that draw on the cultural repertoire of fun thus help to gain positive publicity and interest toward the Reino•store. As evidenced in earlier research (Arnould & Price 1993, 27), companies can be part of the “communitas” created from participation in consumption experiences, which is why becoming involved events related to the Reino & Aino phenomenon will probably benefit marketing.
Table 8 Summary of the humor and fun repertoire
HUMOUR AND FUN Core meanings Consumer strategies of action Network strategies of action Representing oneself as a humorous person Organizing funny events "Morning" * Shared symbolic/personal characteristics * having fun together slipper * Shared cultural humor * transforming original purpose Careless, Humorous gift•giving Humorous news stories & informal * making fun of aging & rites of passage headlines in the media Using as props in joking & having fun * lots of media publicity * games and pranks * humorous subject to report
The humor and fun repertoire (Table 8) is interesting in terms of theory development. Not much attention has earlier been directed to the part that humor plays in consumption. However, it is arguably a strong aspect in the Reino & Aino. Thereby this repertoire is worthy of further 62 exploration. As argued above, the fun•loving consumers are also keen to organize events where the humorous aspects of the product can be emphasized. Hence, the consumers become members of communities. Next, the repertoire of communities and subcultures will be discussed.
5.5 Communities and subcultures
The repertoire of communities and subcultures in the Reino & Aino phenomenon comes apparent especially from the consumer communities and consumer•organized events that have started to gain ground, taking Reino & Aino as their symbol. As argued above, these communities have not actually been created on the basis of an imagined community of Reino & Aino enthusiasts, like brand communities usually are (e.g. Muñiz & O’Guinn 2001). Instead, communities like villages, sports teams or groups of friends have taken the Reino & Aino as their symbol, something to unite the group and create a further sense of belonging together. This side of the phenomenon is related to the playful aspects of consumption, when people commune and socialize with one another in an attempt to share the consumption experience (Holt 1995, 9). From the network perspective, the subcultural connections have been noticed by the company, and there is an aim to support these consumer communities.
5.5.1 Consumer strategies
During the data generation phase, I visited a work community of an advertising agency in Helsinki where the employers had bought each employee a pair of Reinos or Ainos to wear at work. For them, wearing the slippers represented the overall culture and ideology of the home and family that the employers were trying to communicate. In the interview, the manager of the advertising agency, “Janne”, explained that they want to consider the workplace community more like a family; a warm community that you feel good coming into: We always aim at creating a sense of family because family is quite a good community. Nobody can determine a company as a better community than a family. A family will stand up for each other and fight for the right things. (Janne, interview)
Thus, wearing Reino & Aino was connected to resisting the cold and hard values of the advertising business world. The slippers also created a shared consciousness ( Muñiz & O’Guinn 2001, 318) between the workers, which can also be distinguished from the interviewee’s constant use of the pronoun “we” to talk about the work community. Even though he was one of the 63 owners of the company, he wanted to emphasize the home and family ideology by talking about the organization as a collective agent.
Another community I visited represented the original user spectrum of Reinos and Ainos, since it was a veterans’ old•age home. There, the most common slipper that the inhabitants used on a daily basis was the Reino slipper, being warm and easy to slip on. Wearing the Reino slippers seemed to standardize how the inhabitants dressed, making everyone equal and creating a sense of friendship between them. As one of the veterans explained: Almost everyone has Reinos here.[What kind of things do you do here with Reinos on?] We walk about and listen to one another and start discussing all kinds of topics. (Veteran at the old age•home)
The old men who inhabited the old•age home were all war veterans, so they would also have the war memories in common, uniting them to a much greater extent. Also, many of the men remembered wearing Reinos already before moving to the old•age home. However, in discussing Reinos with the men, they would refer to how Reinos were particularly important for them in their current life situation.
For school kids, wearing Reinos may create a sense of belonging, like in the case of the Demi.fi discussion board, where teenagers referred to their school communities when they discussed their Reino usage: I love them! At our school, very many people have them. All of my friends have Reinos and three other people in my class, also a few guys. They are so nice and warm and they look really cool. <3 <3 (Demi.fi discussion board 2009b, nickname blingstagangsta)
Our school is not such a place that you should be extremely finely dressed and made up all the time, so I don’t feel I’m breaking any dressing codes when I go around wearing Reinos there. We are all such a tight group of friends that nobody worries whether you are wearing Reinos or high heels. (Demi.fi discussion board 2009b, nickname Puta)
For these young female discussion participants, wearing Reinos is about belonging in the community of ‘our school’, where there are certain ways of dressing that are followed. As the nickname Puta says, for her wearing Reinos is not about breaking established dressing codes. On the contrary, she is following those norms by wearing the same kind of clothes as her close group of friends, thereby emphasizing their small community. In her use of the repertoire of 64 community, she downplays the repertoire of fashion and trends and instead pays attention to friendship and mutual acceptance.
Yet another subcultural group of ice•hockey players is also connected with wearing the Reino slippers. During data generation, I visited teenagers’ ice•hockey practice, where using Reinos had started to spread within the team as two members had received the slippers as gifts and were using them at the stadium. Ice•hockey is very popular in Finland and it can be even argued that, like the Reino slippers, it represents something that is truly and genuinely Finnish, as is evident from the amount of spectators that watch it from television, for instance. Thereby it also connects to the nationality repertoire. In Helsinki, there is also a senior ice•hockey team that has named themselves HC Reinot, taking the Reino ideology to describe their attitude toward the sport, which they think is gentlemanly (HC Reinot webpage). The HC Reinot club has an evaluation system of rewarding best players after each game with one, two or three Reino symbols.
Further, there are a lot of smaller groups that have taken the Reino slippers as their icon, creating a sense of community and togetherness. As Mikko Närhi says: All these groups that organize the Reino themed events, they are approaching Reino in two ways: they use Reino for their advantage in marketing but the group that invents the idea of, say, Reino skiing contest, they must also be congenial with the spirit so that they understand it. Otherwise you cannot…you cannot market Reino without thinking about it. (Mikko Närhi, interview)
In a sense, Närhi depicts a kind of shared moral consciousness as evidenced in the brand community theory (Muñiz & O’Guinn 2001, 424) characterizing all the different groups that use the Reino & Aino. Even though they are not directly connected with one another, all of the groups have an authentic intention to be congenial with the Reino spirit. Moreover, the Reino usually works as a symbol to connect a group of friends, not as the symbol for organized and bureaucratic action. Mikko Närhi told me that he recently met a guy who told him about his Reino society of 6 friends who just meet every year to do something together, not even willing to expand their club by acquiring new members. Mikko Närhi explains his observations: The clubs are not like non•profit•making organizations usually are, following some principles to act on behalf of some issue. Instead the club functions for the benefit of the internal spirit and the members who belong in it. And there are many of these kind of clubs that are just united through Reino… [they] don’t want to make [themselves] big that [they] are founding this grand organization, but instead the Reino has been found as the 65
connecting factor. And there are tens of these, some of which are introduced in the book but afterwards I have found so many more. (Mikko Närhi, interview)
Thus, for the consumers, expanding the clubs or organizations like a brand community is not the aim. Instead, they want to keep the Reino as a symbol for their existing, close relationships with one another. Within the small group, Reinos can be used for instance in communal rites of passage, as the people of Pyterlahti do by giving a pair of baby sized slippers to welcome each new habitant of the village. Similar ritual practices that reinforce the community have been documented in the brand community literature (e.g. Schau et al. 2009).
In the Reino book, there is the story of Reiska club that was founded by a couple Anne & Arska Bröms that used to spend time together at a summer cottage, always borrowing one another’s Reino slippers. The club takes new members by the recommendation of existing members, so that it is a closed community based on friendships (Närhi 2007, 121–22). Another community, the Reino society at Vehmaa bases its membership on locality, and accepts members on the basis of living close by: Here at Vehmaa, we thought of organizing a group that could come together in good spirit. It does not have any other purpose. We would meet together with our families and children, chat and do whatever activities we could think of. We help each other in any way we can, tells the chairman of Reino society, Matti Laine. (Närhi 2007, 135)
Thus, instead of a unified brand community regulated by a set of shared rules, norms and values, the Reino & Aino phenomenon consists of several smaller scale groups and communities.
5.5.2 Network strategies
The existence of all the small communities and groups was a surprise to the entrepreneurs, who noted it only when Mikko Närhi started to collect stories for the Reino book. Later, all of the different communities were also documented in the Reino exhibition. Some of the communities thus existed before Reino & Aino had become a phenomenon. The company and its entrepreneurs have a very positive attitude toward the consumer communities, so long as they do not abuse the trademark: I think it is part of the core of Reino that the commercial aspect is downplayed, so people feel that it is their common property because it has always been there, grandparents have used it. So in my opinion, it is why these communities have emerged, that have not 66
originated from us. We have no reason to control them other than what comes to the trademark rights, of course. (Tuire Erkkilä, interview)
Arto Huhtinen says that he does not even know what kind of communities there are, let alone knowing about what is happening online, where hundreds of people are founding and joining online fan groups and communities for Reino & Aino. However, the phenomenon being such an extensive and networked in nature, there is a challenge involved for the company in allowing Reino & Aino to be an open source phenomenon where everyone can participate on the one hand, and controlling the trademark on the other. The Vesanto football contest representative told me that they had an idea of making caps from the Reino fabric and selling them during the football event. This was, however, denied even though permission was granted to make such gear for the organizing committee. Arto Huhtinen explains: Sometimes I’ve had to say no to some of these. When we have put such a great effort in protecting the fabric, and they want to make their own hats and coats and things for sale. So of course it can be used but…as long as they don’t claim it as their (Arto own. Huhtinen, interview)
What comes to strategies of action, the company has tried to maintain good friendly relations with the communities. They have initiated interaction with these communities by inviting them to visit the Reino exhibition and Reino store, for instance: Now there was one group from Eastern Finland, it was the Pyterlahti community that visited Lieksa last summer. They were taken on a tour in the factory, sewing room and such. It was really nice for the both of us. (Arto Huhtinen, interview)
The Pyterlahti representative also told me about their village excursion to Lieksa to see where Reino & Aino slippers are made, and she thought that the company had a really positive attitude toward them in giving them a tour and organizing Aino & Reino themed events (Enclosure 1: Photo 6). The village trip was also documented through photos at the Pyterlahti village’s website (Pyterlahti.net 2009b). The company has also donated slippers to be given as prizes for the participants in the running contest and football tournament.
Thus the company’s strategy is to reinforce the communities’ relationship with their symbol, the Reino & Aino slipper, by allowing them quite a lot of freedom in contributing to the 67 phenomenon. As the Pyterlahti representative says, the company’s friendly welcome at Lieksa was returned by a significant amount of purchases as souvenirs: [Do you think you have a role in spreading the Reino phenomenon?]Yes, I suppose. At least in our village, when we went to the factory, we bought at least 80 pairs of Reinos and Ainos...We made a lot of purchases for gifts and of course we got a little discount too, so nobody could resist the temptation. Grandchildren, grandmas and grandpas and everyone else got something when we got back. So in our village at least, there are multiple pairs in each house. (Pyterlahti, interview)
A visit to the factory was thus more like a visit to a touristic destination or a pilgrimage for the Pyterlahti community. As evidenced in the Reino book, the Lieksa factory is not a typical modern factory. It is described in the Reino book by Mikko Närhi more like a casual hang•around and not a workplace at all: There is such a good atmosphere at the factory. The factory hall is like a big cottage, with a pile of Reino and Aino fabrics on one corner, a bunch of sewing machines, pressing gear and piles of ready slippers. Machines and hands are at work as slippers are being made. Some are sewing with earphones on, listening to music, some are chatting casually while working. Everything is handmade. There is nothing automatic except for the coffee maker. (Närhi 2007, 26)
The repertoire of community thus reaches the company from inside as well. The familial aspect of the work community becomes even more credible through the fact that the Lieksa factory is managed by Tuire Erkkilä’s son and Arto Huhtinen’s daughter works as the Reino store manager.
In terms of connecting with consumers, co•operating with the existing communities may be a good channel for company participation. The Vesanto representative says that he has received the full support of the company in organizing the contest. Further, he talks about the company more in terms of friendship than commercial partnership: We were discussing whether we should make a deal on paper and he said that we take a man for his word; we won’t start signing any futile contracts. I have to say that the co• operation has been good; we have got what we have been promised. I am pleased about everything that we have done together. (Vesanto, interview)
In marketing Reino & Aino, the community aspect has always been present, from the campaign of taking Reinos to rock festivals in order to appeal to that subculture (cf. Ilosaarirock web page 2007), to the company’s current production of Tappara and Ilves slippers in the colors of local ice•hockey clubs and equipped with their logos (Enclosure 1: Photo 7). Thereby the company 68 wants to support the group ideology by enabling consumers to dress in the namesake Reinos of their favorite hockey team. Before Christmas 2009, the slippers turned out to be a success, and the media further supported their popularity, even telling readers where they can buy the products: Tappara Reinos are becoming the hit of this Christmas. In Tappara’s fan shop at Tampere there has been an active few past weeks...Everyone is asking for Reinos. Tappara people have become slipper heroes! The enormous demand has surpassed expectations to such extent, that the producer has not been able to make enough Tappara Reinos. Besides Tappara’s fan shop in Kissanmaankatu, the Tappara•Reinos are for sale also at the Reino store that operates in the Finlayson area of Tampere. (Kauppalehti 18.12.2009).
Reinos have been connected with the ice•hockey fan subculture also in a news story about the Winter Olympics in Canada, in which there is a picture of a hockey fan drinking beer out of his Reino slipper (Hufvudstadsbladet 23.2.2010). The picture is a good illustration of how the media uses Reino imagery as it connects repertoires of nationality, ice•hockey subculture and humor.
Regarding the connection between Reinos and the rock subculture, Arto says that the festival summer revealed its importance to them: Many people noticed it in those places. It was interesting to us to find the consumer groups that were of the age 20 to 40, young adults. But then we noticed that the rock people wore these too. It was very surprising to us that almost all of them talked about wearing Reinos. (Arto Huhtinen, interview)
The connections with the rock subculture have been brought forward especially through the parasocial network, the celebrities who wear Reinos. Juice Leskinen has been reported to have donated his slippers to a young musician, Juri Lindeman, and Kari Tapio has given a younger generation musician, Ville Valo, a pair of Reinos. Thus, there is the aspect of the cross• generational transfer in those activities as well. Pate Mustajärvi’s band, Popeda, has also performed and recorded a song about Reinos in 2006 when the Reino phenomenon was heated.
Recently, involving especially young rock musicians has become important. Currently the company is launching a new color in Reinos, designed in co•operation with a famous Finnish rock band, Negative. The company is thereby reinforcing the use of the community and subculture repertoire by connecting with the ice•hockey tribe as well as the rock tribe (cf. Cova & Cova 2002). Interestingly, Negative’s lead singer Jonne Aaron has registered as fan in the Reino 69 facebook profile, making himself visible for fans also online, which is very important regarding youth subcultures today. As argued by Holt (2002, 84) and Cova & Cova (2002, 611), weaving a brand within a subculture or a tribe is one branding strategy that is fruitful in today’s postmodern marketplace, increasing the cultural authenticity and meaningfulness of the brand.
During the fall of 2009, the entrepreneurs took advantage of the subcultural connection also by employing a group of business students doing their final project for the company. The inventive students participated in the Internet discussions, set up a profile for Reino and Aino in Facebook, making the slippers seem like people and thereby anthropomorphizing them (Enclosure 1, Photo 8). The Reino and Aino profiles could have a relationship status and people could register them as friends. Then the students updated the profiles by making Reino join fangroups of Pate Mustajärvi and Kari Tapio, musta makkara [a local specialty dish] Suomi, or Iskelmäradio. The students looked for all kinds of associations or repertoires (in terms of this thesis) that Reino has been connected with, and made those associations visible in the Facebook profile. Despite that the project ended, the students along with Linda Huhtinen are still updating the profiles, accepting people as their friends, joining fan groups and posting news about everything related to the phenomenon. The campaign was also reported in the media (Aamulehti 4.12.2009).
Table 9 Summary of the repertoire of communities and subcultures
COMMUNITIES AND SUBCULTURES Network strategies of Core meanings Consumer strategies of action action Emphasizing group belongingness Negotiating access * work community as family * perceiving as common Group unity * habitants of a nursing home property Tailored * villagers, 'our school' * protecting trademark slippers Emphasizing company Friendship Adopting Reino as a symbol community Ice•hockey & * 'hang•around' factory, * informal activities, being together rock music families Subcultural connections Supporting communities * rock people, ice•hockey * part of being a musician, ice•hockey player slippers * Facebook profiles 70
The repertoire of communities and subcultures (Table 9) thus emphasized the communal aspects of Reino & Aino phenomenon, which have been to a large extent consumer•led. Next, the repertoire of brands and fashion will be introduced, placing more emphasis on the network side. As will be argued below, consumers have somewhat contradictory attitudes to perceiving Reino & Aino as a brand, which might be largely the cause of their feeling of ownership that was evidenced in the communities and subcultures repertoire.
5.6 Brands and fashion
The Reino & Aino phenomenon is often connected to the ongoing trend of retro products in the marketplace. Partly because the slippers have been adopted by young people, they have been associated with youth fashion. Consumers have contradictory attitudes and feelings about this development. Even though more consumers may become interested in the slippers because of the trend status granted them during the last couple of years, some of the devoted users may feel betrayed that the company is extending the brand to new colors and models that may be quite far from the original, genuine Reino or Aino.
5.6.1 Consumer strategies
During the last couple of years, the slippers previously worn by old people have suddenly become “hip” and trendy. One of my interviewees, a young male student explained that there is a sense of old a new combined in the slipper: I think it has become a trend thing. I don’t know whether the slippers have remained precisely the same, but anyhow it is connected to the retro phenomenon. The colors are definitely retro. But I think in a way it’s also modern. So even though it has all these kind of retro colors, the shoe itself is kind of modern. It is something fresh, that’s how I see it. (Tero, interview)
Similar products as the Reino slipper have appeared in the marketplace, including Marimekko fabrics, Hai wellington boots, and Suomen Virvoitusjuomatehdas soft drinks in old glass bottles. Many of my interviewees referred to these products in talking about Reino & Aino, proving that consumers readily include Reino & Aino within the category of retro fashion. Retro brands are often characterized by a strong story based on history, updated features and a sense of personal and communal nostalgia (Brown, Kozinets & Sherry 2003, 20–21). 71
One of my interviewees explained that in order for Reino & Aino to become trendy, it is crucial that people extend their traditional use context somehow: They have become a sort of fashionable thing. Especially when you wear them apart from their traditional context, because originally they have been just home shoes that you wear when you are at home with your family. Now people have detached them from that type of thing and they can go to the town with them or like I wear them here at work. I think it makes it a conscious choice: I choose to use them here, and thereby it becomes a trend. (Katariina, interview)
Part of the interest in the Reino slipper as a trend shoe comes from the fact that the look of the slipper is not really close to anything that young people are accustomed to wearing: the material is wool and the model is very simple, with an old•fashioned design. However, it may be the ugliness of the slipper that actually appeals to the fashion•conscious, who are always looking for something exceptional and unanticipated. One of my interviewees mentioned that he actually thought that Reinos looked ugly because of the brown striped fabric: Well, yes it’s [the fabric] ugly, but basically, because they are so ugly, they become almost cool. That’s what special in it, in my opinion . (Pekka, interview)
Thus, the look of the Reino may be old•fashioned, but that’s what makes them special. As the professional fashion designer Paola Suhonen remarks in the Reino book: It is cool to break limits. It is typical for fashion that if something is gone long enough, it later becomes popular culture. Maybe there’s something vulgar and hillbilly about Reinos, but that is especially part of the roots of Finnish people. (Suhonen in Närhi 2007, 35–6)
In the Internet discussion boards, there has been a debate on whether Reinos are fashionable or hip, or whether they are just pure ugly. Some consumers argue that the lack of style and vulgarity is actually fascinating. For the young female interviewees I interviewed, wearing Reinos was connected to their personal style and they liked to combine Reinos with a certain “look”. Mixing and matching styles and taking on different identities through dressing can be considered a characteristic of the postmodern consumer (Firat & Venkatesh 1995, 252). One of my interviewees explained: I usually use them with jeans, or black trousers. I don’t remember wearing them with a party dress…but when I feel that I want to dress a bit more comfortably, then I usually wear Reinos. [So you do have the partying dresses for other occasions then?] Yes. It varies from one extreme to the other. Sometimes I wear the party dress and high heels, 72
and then at other times…it varies according to my moods very much ... I can very well go to the same place wearing the dress and high heels or Reinos, it just depends on how I’m feeling. (Malla, interview)
Some of the young consumers who are using the traditional, brown Reino model were very critical of the new colors and models. One of the young female interviewees, who wore brown Reinos, explained the new colors as not being “the real thing”. The interviewees were of the opinion that the genuinity of the Reino slipper is somehow lost when the color is changed: I generally like traditional things so that in my opinion, they[the new colors] are not my thing. I find that they deteriorate the brand somehow…that they are not the genuine slippers anymore, when you can choose for example pink ones. I don’t know, someone else might like them a lot so I guess that’s a good idea from that point of view, but I support the traditional ones; I’d like them to remain original . (Raisa, interview)
The interviewees thus seem to acknowledge that there might be demand for the new colors, but they firmly set themselves apart from those people interested in them. Another interviewee, a 35• year•old family man, claimed that the brown fabric of the Reino shoe is even their most important property. He explained its importance to him though the repertoire of rational purchasing, differentiating himself from fashion trendsetters: [So you are not a fan of the new models?] Well, let’s say that I would not buy them for myself. And I would be very disappointed if someone close to me would give them to me. Let’s say that I am a fundamentalist in that sense. They need to be the brown ones. [Can you say a little more about that?] I don’t know. Maybe it’s because they are generally accepted and neutral. I am not such a trendsetter in my clothing choices. I am quite conservative, so I don’t purchase clothes because they are the hottest thing out there . (Juha, interview)
The same interviewee was somewhat critical of the company’s brand extension efforts and suspected that the trend phenomenon of Reino & Aino will pass, because it is expensive for the company to maintain such a wide variety. Not merely commenting on the possible fate of the Reino & Aino, some of the interviewees also strongly criticized the extensions and saw them as exploitation of the brand, referring to other commonly known cases of brands that have been destroyed. There is no limit to the greediness of people. Well, I sort of think that because there is the familiar fabric and they extend it…it does not differ much from the over•exploitation of the Ostrobothnian salmiac symbol15 but at some point it will go overboard. It has been
15 The Ostrobothnian salmiac symbol referred here by the interviewee is a symbol that has been traditionally used in a woolen sweater called “Jussipaita”, worn particularly in the Ostrobothnian area. It has been the symbol for 73
used so many times that it becomes…I started to think about the fabric that it will have the same fate as the English Burberry that only hillbillies wear Burberry anymore. Those people who think that it is cool . (Juha, interview)
It [brand extensions] is partly innovative in a sense. But I’m also afraid that the same thing will happen as what happened to Unikko 16. I would never wear Unikko nor buy it, because it has been exploited for ten years to such extent. I hope the same thing does not happen. (Hanna, interview)
For many consumers, the idea of Reino bags or Reino ties, or even Reino bread was alien and many of them connected the brand only with shoes. Many consumers said that the shoe was the core of the brand, and not the name Reino nor the fabric as such. Therefore, new colors and slightly updated slipper models were more easily accepted than other extensions to other product categories: For me it’s a tradition, it is simply the shoes. I don’t think that I would buy a Reino bag. For me it’s the memories and the image that is somehow dear. More than the fabric as such. It is the whole idea of the shoes that is important to me . (Malla, interview)
Thus, the repertoire of fashion and brands is used by consumers in several ways to implement their strategies of action. Some of them only comment upon the Reino & Aino phenomenon by drawing on the repertoire of brands and fashion, comparing the slippers to other retro products for instance. For some, the Reino slipper is an integral part of their personal style while others use it occasionally and in a postmodern manner as part of a certain look. Most consumers are also able to draw on the repertoire of business, acknowledging that the company needs to take advantage of the popularity while it lasts. However, some of them position themselves firmly against the ‘trend’ and the extension of the Reino & Aino brand. From this positioning, consumers are able to take a very critical stand toward the company and claim that the brand is even being exploited. There is a delicate balance to be considered by the entrepreneurs as they are developing the brand; extending it too far may mean losing the loyal users even though inventing new things all the time is the only way to feed the phenomenon.
independent, strong men and their regional identity as diligent, brave, honest, or even defiant people. The symbol has been used by the popular Extreme Duudsonit group that does crazy stunts and pranks in their own reality tv show.
16 Unikko is a sub•brand of Finnish fashion house Marimekko, that was originally designed in the 1960s and became popular again at the beginning of the 2000s. The flower print was extended from fabric to all kinds of products ranging from clothing to decoration, dinnerware, cellphone covers, and so on. 74
5.6.2 Network strategies
While part of the consumers has taken a critical attitude toward seeing Reino & Aino as a brand and particularly toward the brand extensions, the entrepreneurs themselves see the extensions as explanatory for the recent popularity and increases in sales. In a way, the new colors and models have worked as resources for different kinds of consumers to participate in the meaning•making. Arto Huhtinen traces the extensions back to children’s sizes, the success of which encouraged the entrepreneurs to extend further: The children’s slippers were the first. We estimated that we would be able to sell 20 000 pairs, but they were sold quite speedily. Then we started to make the different colors, different packages… (Arto Huhtinen, interview)
Tuire Erkkilä sees the extensions as important especially in explaining why the brand has become popular among young people: I think it was the extensions that invited young people to adopt it. When the pink Reino started to roll ahead, I think that it caused the popularity of the brown one to arise with young people. (Tuire Erkkilä, interview)
For Huhtinen and Erkkilä, the extensions therefore are not negative. Instead, they see them as integral in the development of the Reino & Aino phenomenon. The basis of brand extensions must, however, always be an existing, strong brand. The spin•doctor Mikko Närhi comments on the phenomenon and emphasizes the strength of the brand by comparing it to well•known brands: The shoes are so extremely good. The brand cannot come from overflowing speech or continuing talk…the product itself must be good. Like Coca•Cola and Nokia’s brand, the basic product is pleasing and good. You just cannot invent that. (Mikko Närhi, interview)
Thereby Närhi draws on the repertoire of perhaps the most valued and well•known brands to include Reino in their league. Tuire Erkkilä explains that due to the strength of the brand itself, there has been no need for them to do paid advertising. Instead, they have relied on the strong values connected with Reino & Aino.
Thus, the entrepreneurs themselves see it very clearly that there has not been any kind of traditional brand management involved. Instead, they construct their role more as communicators and developers, building on top of an existing legacy of Reino & Aino. From their point of view, they have not built the brand from scratch. In a sense, the entrepreneurs work as gatekeepers: 75
We want to honor the spirit of Reino in that we are not going to change the basic properties of the product, because they are part of its popularity. The certain characteristics and images will always be retained. (Tuire Erkkilä, interview)
The strength of the brand influences everything related with it, even the entrepreneurs themselves. Arto Huhtinen is somewhat amazed at the reaction of the readers of Tamperelainen newspaper, who have voted for him in the contest of “Citizen of the Year”: They say that I’m a good nominee for Citizen of the Year because I’m building a brand! How about that for a rationale? Maybe it’s just because it is such a good brand. They say that the CEO is an honest, fair man. They compared me directly with their image of the product! (Arto Huhtinen, interview)
There is a certain humble attitude connected with how Huhtinen and Erkkilä want to perceive the brand. They do not want to restrict the phenomenon too much because they feel that it is not just their property, even though they do own the property rights of the trademark. Part of the humility regarding the development of the brand is that the entrepreneurs really listen to their enthusiastic customers. The entrepreneurs told me that they receive direct feedback from consumers, telling them what kind of extensions or new products they would like. Consumers also react very actively to the new extensions that they see. Arto Huhtinen says that the consumers of Reino & Aino serve the company as supervisors: The users, they monitor these things. They often call us saying that “Are you aware that in this and that store, they sell copies of Reino & Aino?” They report it to us and they report it to the media. I find that it is a good thing, most of all. (Arto Huhtinen, interview)
Some consumers are thus showing exceptional support for the company in guarding the product from being exploited by retailers and other companies, for instance. This is an interesting aspect, since some of the consumers I interviewed thought that it is the company that is exploiting the brand. Everyone seems to want to protect Reino & Aino from unwanted meddling. This proves that Reino & Aino is more than just any product; it is the common symbolic property of many parties within a network. The entrepreneurs themselves realize this in their intentions to extend the brand: We are taking a few steps back regarding the extensions and concentrating only on those things that we can produce ourselves. There are two things in favor of this: there is the quality issue and then the aspect that we want to keep it Finnish. We must be careful. Everyone always asks “Why don’t you extend the brand when it’s so strong; why don’t you do this and that?” But we want to keep the basic values of the brand intact. And we would like to maintain some control over the design and manufacturing. (Arto Huhtinen interview) 76
The rapid increase in popularity and sales has been widely reported in the media. Headlines include: “Reino fashion speeds up the slipper factory (Taloussanomat 11.1.2007)”, “Stores running out of Reinos and Ainos” (Taloussanomat 22.12.2007), “Ainos and Reinos are being sold at a record pace” (Taloussanomat 28.11.2007), “Demand and production of home shoes is record•breaking” (Lieksan lehti 1.12.2007), “People are willing to buy more Reinos than the factory is able to make” (Hämeen sanomat 20.12.2009), “Reino•store broke a sales record” (Aamulehti 4.12.2009), and “Reino is leaping with the power of the brand” (Talouselämä 5.3.2010). In the articles, the speed and impact of the popularity is well documented as a commercial success story (Taloussanomat 28.4.2008). Even though the company had to undergo financial difficulties, they were not reported in the media. The slipper seems to have won the reporters on the side of the company. In my view, the ongoing economic downturn has further supported positive media publicity for Reino & Aino. The media needs positive news from the business world that boosts entrepreneurship and the value of Finnish quality.
Table 10 Summary of the repertoire of fashion and brands BRANDS AND FASHION Network strategies of Core meanings Consumer strategies of action action Following the trend Extending the brand Retro fashion * extending use contexts * new colors and models * emphasizing brand Breaking limits * mixing and matching to personal style strength Resisting brand Criticizing brand extensions * safeguarding property extensions * differentiating from mainstream trend rights Success detailed in the * fearing for brand exploitation media * ignoring difficulties
The repertoire of fashion and brands (Table 10) shows the contradictory strategies of action involved in the Reino & Aino phenomenon. The network is not always in unison regarding the goals and objectives of marketing. Whereas the company may want to develop and extend the brand, some consumers are hesitant to accept it. These consumers are particularly the ones that emphasize Reino & Aino as something essential to their identity as different from others. Therefore, should everyone wear the slippers, they would become too common, too mainstream. These strategies will be discussed in the next repertoire of uniqueness and individuality. 77
5.7 Uniqueness and individuality
The repertoire of uniqueness and individuality is especially connected with the young consumers of Reino & Aino who use clothing to express their selves. Thereby it is also related to the Reino & Aino as a fashion phenomenon as discussed above. The network strategies of using this repertoire are connected to the company’s customization options and how the slippers are associated with particular well•known personalities who have something in common with the product at a symbolic level.
5.7.1 Consumer strategies
As argued above, for some consumers, using Reino slippers is part of differentiating themselves from others. As argued by Newholm and Hopkinson (2009), especially young consumers have the need to individuate themselves through their clothing choices. For one of the interviewees, wearing Reinos is a conscious stylistic choice, to differentiate from the masses: When making dressing choices, I like this kind of things that other people don’t have. I guess that’s why I like to wear Reinos in public, because you don’t see them out there so much. At least girls don’t wear them . (Helmi, interview)
Belk (2003) has argued that footwear can be a significant expression of the self. Shoes are seen as expressing the wearer’s personality and especially young adults use them to negotiate issues such as identity, individualism, conformity, lifestyle, gender, sexuality, ethnicity and personality. Furthermore, Thompson and Haytko (1997) have shown that there is a dialogical relationship between consumers and fashion discourses. Consumers use these repertoires to navigate between individuality and conformity, for instance. A sense of self can be maintained through constant differentiation and contrast to others.
The same interviewees who thought of Reinos as part of their personal style claimed that for them it is important that the Reinos remain the choice of a small group and not become mainstream fashion: If Reinos become such a horrible trend phenomenon, then I won’t necessarily care to wear them anymore. There’s that side to it as well. It might be cooler to wear the kind of things that are kind of smaller…for fewer people…or that are not as famous or popular. [Why do you think that is? Can you tell me some more about it?] I guess it’s about 78
choosing your own path in a way. That you don’t use some mass produced things. There’s something unpleasant in that kinds of things . (Leevi, interview)
Because the slippers were originally meant to be worn inside as morning slippers, wearing them in public may signal bravery or positive defiance toward conventional dressing codes. One of my interviewees said that she had received positive comments from people at the pub when she was wearing Reinos, admiring her style. However, this is not always the case. One young male interviewee who did not wear Reinos in public thought that it might also reveal a person’s lack of competence in how to dress: If I need to dress up finely, I would not put Reinos on because then it would give a contradictory message… something that I did not intend to…or maybe I only wear them in situations in which I don’t really care what I look like. It’s the thing that I personally don’t much appreciate, basically that if you look like you’ve dressed up and then you wear Reinos, is it because you don’t know how to dress properly or…? (Pekka, interview)
Thus, for some people wearing Reinos is a conscious stylistic choice to differentiate from the mainstream crowd whereas some consumers see it more like a way to let go of their normal clothing style in order to relax. These two strategies are fairly different from each other, despite the fact that the interviewees are about the same age. This shows that the meanings connected with Reino & Aino are constantly negotiated by consumers in their daily life situations.
There has also been a debate in a popular teenage magazine’s message boards about whether or not wearing Reinos is “cool”: The pink ones are cool but I am bored with the brown ones. In any case, I personally would never wear them. // I’m going to throw up! Luckily I haven’t seen anyone wearing them outside…at least not YET. // One person in my school uses Ainos outside and I must say I was a bit amazed when I first saw it. I started feeling like ‘Has she been in such a hurry that she hasn’t had time to put real shoes on?’ // It depends on the personal style whether you want to wear them. I wouldn’t. // I laugh at the idea. They are for inside use and for taking the garbage out, so I wouldn’t wear them. //I saw one girl at school wearing Reinos and I have to say they looked good on her. She looked confident and she had a strong personal style. (Demi.fi discussion board, 2009b)
The riotous debate encircled on the issue of personal style or lack of it, and the aspect of individuality or self•confidence to wear what you like despite other people’s opinions. For some of the teenager discussion participants, wearing Reinos had already become a thing of the past, and not wearing Reinos anymore was the new way to differentiate from the crowd. 79
The gendered nature of wearing the slippers is connected to the fact that traditionally, the Reino slippers were intended for men and the Aino slippers for women. With the new pink color, female consumers have started to break down the pre•defined masculinity of the Reino slippers, but when asked whether they could imagine a man wearing Ainos, interviewees reacted with laughter. The look of the Aino slipper is clearly feminine, whereas the Reino slipper is more neutral. One young female interviewee even said that she defies the traditional gender aspect in wearing Reinos instead of Ainos: I think it has an influence on me that people think that I would buy Ainos because I am a woman. It just makes me want to buy Reinos even more. (Helmi, interview)
Thus, wearing traditional male shoes can be considered as a rebellion against conventional gender roles. However, the same interviewee told me that the usual outfit she wears with Reinos is a short skirt. Another young female interviewee who wore Reinos could wear high heels and dress very femininely at another occasion. Combining this kind of male and female symbols of clothing can be interpreted as part of the interviewees’ postmodern identity play.
5.7.2 Network strategies
For the company, the aspect of especially young people using Reino as part of their personal style has been a source of inspiration. The entrepreneur Arto Huhtinen’s daughter Linda Huhtinen, herself a young fashion•conscious woman, caught the trend early on as she and her friends took the Reino slipper booth to rock festivals during the summer of 2007. First feeling a little weird about wearing the slippers in public, Linda and her friends captured the interest of other young people: I don’t remember whether we even had pink Reinos yet. I don’t think so. So what we had was brown Reinos and Ainos. Some of the young women were very amazed that we wore Reinos “How can you wear those, ain’t they only for old men?” And then we said that “Yeah, we wear them when we go downtown as well.” They didn’t believe us and they were very suspicious. It was still weirdness back then . (Linda Huhtinen, interview)
By going where the young people naturally meet each other and interact, disseminating the slippers and showing example through wearing them, Linda and her friends may have created the basis for young consumers to adopt Reinos & Ainos as part of their personal style and for young women to wear Reinos. Linda Huhtinen thinks that even though the main reason for older people to wear Reinos and Ainos has been their warmth and comfort, for young people, wearing them is 80 more about identity. Even though Linda Huhtinen explains that the popularity of Reinos and Ainos has spread, she also says that the users are somehow different from mainstream: They are kind of lonely riders, in a sense, these people who use Reinos. It is not ‘fashion’ like some kind of sneakers or such, that suddenly everyone must have a pair. They are original; they have their own sense of style. (Linda Huhtinen, interview)
After the festival summer, Linda Huhtinen started to decorate Reinos in the spirit of personalization or crafting, which is a strong trend currently in fashion and popular culture (cf. Campbell, 2005). She had a website on which there were pictures of the slippers she had modified. People were able to order the personalized slippers directly from the company and the employees also sold them at an event in Stockmann department store. The company’s decision to incorporate the new colors and models as well as the option to embroider the customer’s name on the slippers can be interpreted as a result of Linda’s experiment: I used to put all kinds of tags and chains, sewing different kinds of ribbons on them. We did not have any other colors in Reino then, so it was a way to add color to the brown ones. Partly, they also influenced our product development. (Linda Huhtinen, interview)
Linda explains that it was her own idea to start decorating the Reinos, but people were and still are very enthusiastic about them: They would pay me 80 Euros to do slippers with a fur lining, and even more. I have some of the personalized models here just to show them to customers, and every day somebody asks whether they could buy them. I usually say to them: “Why don’t you go and buy your own materials”, it is very easy and doesn’t cost much to personalize. (Linda them Huhtinen, interview)
As I discussed the matter with Linda, she wondered whether it would be a possibility to start selling some materials for personalization at the Reino store. Perhaps that would be another step in supporting the phenomenon, adding one more gear to it. Linda told me that when she did the personalization, it caught a lot of media interest as well.
However, during my interviews I did not meet any such person who would be interested in personalizing their slippers. Instead, many of them said that they do not want to change the appearance of their Reino or Aino slippers in any way, because that would mean losing part of their genuinity and authenticity: I haven’t done any modifications to them. I know that some people for example cut the bobbles from Ainos, but I think that’s a sacrilege; something out of the question. And I 81
know that somebody bends the edge up, but that’s not good either. They have to be in their original form. (Anne, interview)
Using such a strong word as ‘sacrilege’ in connection with the Aino slippers again seems to denote the strong symbolic value that consumers understand as part of them. Consumers want to keep the slippers in their original form to retain those strong symbolic meanings like tradition and cross•generational transfer of values. Yet, by providing new colors and models, the company has extended the ways in which consumers can creatively express their individuality (Campbell 2005, 24). This strategy might appeal to younger consumers, who necessarily do not have the kind of historical relationship with Reino & Aino as older consumers do (Enclosure 1: Photo 9). From this contradiction, there emerges a sense of paradox between authenticity and personalization that has been argued to be an essential characteristic of retro brands (Brown et al. 2003, 21).
However, in using the repertoire of uniqueness, there is also another very important part of the network that is active, and that is the parasocial network. The company has adapted the label of “Reino•mies” (Reino man) to refer to the celebrities in their advertising (e.g. leaflets promoting events at the Reino store). When celebrities wear Reinos & Ainos and publicly declare themselves as users, or are declared as users by the media, interest and allure around the product is strengthened: It is very positive to us. Many people that come to the store comment to me that this and that famous person, don’t they use Reinos & Ainos too? And I think it’s even more important to young people. (Linda Huhtinen, interview)
For the celebrities to be able to support the Reino & Aino phenomenon in their own way, they also have to have something in common, to symbolize something similar as the slippers do, and in their case, it is often the repertoire of uniqueness that is evoked. The celebrities connected with the Reino phenomenon thus mirror the uniqueness and bohemian personalities of the users. Many of them are performing artists and musicians.
At the Reino store 29.10.2009, I met Pate Mustajärvi, and he commented his Reino usage to me, saying that to him Reinos symbolize masculinity, which is very much connected to his public image as a hard•boiled rocker. Thereby connecting his name with Reino is beneficial to him as well and does not harm his street credibility. Juri Lindeman, a musician to whom Juice Leskinen wanted to donate his Reino slippers, is one of the younger generation users, and profiled in the 82
Reino book as a unique person. He himself tells the story of a time when he was confronted about using Reinos: Once I was going to play a gig at this NHL player’s wedding at Rymättylä. When we arrived, there was a grumpy catering lady welcoming us, saying that “Those shoes we don’t tolerate in this house, nor will you be performing in them”. I wore a suit and the shoes that I found suitable, Reinos. “Then I suppose there won’t be any music.” I had to announce. (Närhi 2007, 39)
Thus, for Juri Lindeman, wearing Reinos was an important part of his gig gear that he was not willing to accommodate. It was Juice Leskinen who first wore Reinos as part of his rock style when performing. He was thus a kind of a groundbreaker for the younger generation rockers. In a news story reporting the purchasing of Juice Leskinen’s library, a picture of the artist as an interesting, unique personality is drawn: The master read everything. From Päätalo [a famous Finnish author] to motorbike fixing guides…There’s Finnish literature, third of them rock literature, map books and a lot of traveling books. He has signed almost all books and glued his ex libris on them. Then some of them have Juice’s notes and comments. (Tamperelainen 31.10.2009)
By connecting this unique and since his death, almost sacred personage with Reinos, the uniqueness of the slippers is emphasized. The media has also helped in profiling different celebrities as “Reino men”. In many of the articles published about Reino & Aino, their names are being referred, sometimes even as the explaining factor behind the slippers’ popularity. Just by evoking the name of the rockers adds interest and street credibility to the news stories about Reino & Aino: In Finland, Reinos sprang up to cult status as Ville Valo[an internationally famous rock band HIM’s lead singer] wore them. (Tampereen kauppakamarilehti 6/09)
Behind the popularity are young musicians. The idols of young slipper users include rap artist Mariska, HIM’s singer Ville Valo and the lead singer from the Crash, Teemu Brunila, who have used the slippers . (Taloussanomat 11.1.2007)
The celebrities carry strong symbolic properties in their images and many have been profiled as Finnish icons, like the late infantry General Adolf Ehrnrooth or Mika Häkkinen, a successful Finnish race car driver. Thus, there is also a connection to the repertoire of nationality. 83
Table 11 Summary of the repertoire of uniqueness and individuality UNIQUENESS AND INDIVIDUALITY Network strategies of Core meanings Consumer strategies of action action Differentiation from Using in individualization Initiating new use contexts others Rebellion * part of personal style * rock festivals, the street Resisting brand Encouraging to * walking one's own paths extensions personalize * personalized slippers, Unique personalities Rebelling against conventions materials Unique personalities Personalization * against mainstream dressing codes profiled as users * against stereotypical gender roles * celebrities & idols
The repertoire of uniqueness and individuality (Table 11) staged the meaning of Reino & Aino as a resource for identity construction particularly for younger users. In order to be different, the users associated Reino & Aino with uniqueness. Next, the repertoire of heroes and myths pulls the above presented repertoires together and argues that the mythical potential in Reino & Aino is ultimately what attracts network actors to participate in the phenomenon.
5.8 Heroes and myths
The heroes and myths repertoire is related to the strong symbolic value within the Reino & Aino slipper that has become clear from the previous sub•chapters. However, in arguing that the Reino & Aino are more than just slippers, they might even be considered as actual beings. Consumers use the heroic repertoire to position themselves as heroic and tell stories related to the slippers. The Reino book and the exhibition have played a major part in mythologizing the phenomenon, constructing even a greater cultural influence for the product. The heroic repertoire is also apparent in the heroic deeds committed by various parties within the network.
5.8.1 Consumer strategies
According to storytelling research, consumers naturally think in narrative and make sense of the world by telling stories, and enacting common cultural myths (Woodside, Sood & Miller 2008; Holt 2003; Shankar et al. 2001). As argued by Holt (2003), some brands are able to become 84 iconic in enacting a myth that is deeply embedded in culture and that often resolves some tension between prevalent values and modern contradictions. According to previous research, this function is not necessarily related to the brand as such, but more to the whole experience of consuming (cf. Peñaloza 2000; Belk & Costa 1998; Arnould & Price 1993). In the case of Reino & Aino, this may mean visiting the museum, writing a news story, or taking part in a Reino running contest. The Reino & Aino evokes a sense of nostalgia and stability, because it has remained the same throughout the years. Because of the long history, the Reino and Aino stories are often connected to memories of old times, traditional values and people who have worn them. The memories connected with my father…they are warm. I remember when we did all kinds of chores together in the evening, making bath whisks [vihtoja], we would bring the ingredients to the kitchen and I got to use the knife already from a young age…Sitting beside him as he was making the whisks… And I was really proud. He had Reinos on. (Ritva, interview)
For this informant, a woman of 56, memorizing her father through Reinos was very emotional even though the interview was otherwise characterized by a discussion about the practicality of the slippers. In discussing her own product use, the symbolic aspects of the slippers did not surface. However, when I inquired about whether Reinos were connected to any feelings, she instantly started talking about her father and his Reino slippers. Mikko Närhi sees this connection to past generations through the slippers as explaining the meaning•making potential that consumers look for. The stories and memories are not necessarily very extraordinary to begin with, but they are made such by the storyteller: I find that there is a certain fanaticism connected with the Reinos. People are very eager to tell stories about it, whether they themselves wear Reinos or they have memories of somebody using them…if we tell that our grandmother had Ainos, we make it into a heroic narrative somehow; even if she didn’t do anything else than go to the well every day, we attach some kind of heroism to it. So this is a second generation brand. That’s where the edge comes from and the greatness in it . (Mikko Närhi, interview)
In fact, while researching the phenomenon and interviewing people, sometimes it seemed that their own Reino usage is not as important to them as a source of meaning making. Instead, people framed their own use of Reino or Aino slippers within a generational continuum by remembering and telling peculiar stories about the previous users, such as the following interviewee: I remember when I was a child and my grandmother lived with us, and she always had her old maid cousin to visit her. Her name was Helmi and she was really thin; she always had a black gown and the kind of thick, brown stockings that must have been 50 deniers and then she had really thin legs; just like sticks and then the Ainos. I found her really 85
cool…and she had one single black purse where she had a wallet, lots of handkerchiefs which were bundled there and then a men’s old pocket watch where she would check the time. So I thought she was an awesome gal. So there’s my first relationship to Ainos. (Anne, interview)
For this interviewee, the Ainos were connected to an almost mythical character from her childhood; an elderly relative that the interviewee thought was a really interesting and peculiar persona. The same interviewee used the word ‘sacred’ a few times when talking about her Ainos. When prompted to explain the sacredness, she said that the fact that Ainos have remained the same throughout the years is important to her in bringing back memories. The slippers seemed to have become a symbolic container of memories for her. She even wondered what she would do when her Ainos wear out and she has to give them up, because the idea of throwing them to the garbage seemed upsetting: They are kind of above other slippers in a way, because they are Ainos. They are so much a part of me. So when these Ainos wear out, and a follower takes their place, I imagine that…I don’t know how I’ll dispose of them, because I cannot throw them to the garbage. I guess I have to organize a funeral for them. (Anne, interview)
Even though the reference to a slipper funeral was humorously made, the interviewee clearly thought of her Ainos more like an heirloom than just a pair of any old footwear. Talking about the slippers like a person gives a certain sympathetic air to the consumers’ relationship with them.
What comes to the heroic repertoire, consumers seem to connect wearing Reino and Aino to being courageous and independent in a way. Thereby it is connected to the individuality repertoire. For one of my interviewees, the Reinos brought self•confidence in her high school final exams. She had just moved away from home and as we discussed what Reinos meant to her, she referred to them as magical shoes that help her deal with the challenges ahead: I get a sense of security from them. So I guess I could wear them here now, when I have this big change going on and a lot of challenges… [So you use them to deal with…] yes they are kind of magical shoes in a way. (Raisa, interview)
The interviewee mythologized her Reino shoes as something that works like a magical item in helping her through the challenges in life. For another young interviewee, wearing Reinos was more about being courageous enough not to care for what others think. He described the kind of 86 people, who do not wear Reinos as fashion•conscious and still in search of their “true self”, not having the “guts” to wear Reinos: [What kind of people won’t wear Reinos in your opinion?] The kind of people that go with the mainstream…are still looking for themselves, don’t dare to wear them . [So do you find that it’s courageous to wear Reinos?] Yes in a way I guess it is...Originally, I used them just because they are handy, but maybe there’s a sense of courage. So that you don’t need to think about what other people’s opinions are. (Leevi, interview)
This interviewee explained that he was tutoring a younger student in playing the guitar, and the pupil had started using Reinos after seeing him wear them. Also the interviewee’s younger brother had started wearing Reinos. Thereby, the interviewee had adopted a kind of heroic position of a role model for the younger boys. Other interviewees described their role when wearing Reinos through using the same kind of words, not having to care about what other people think: I don’t have any restrictions on where I can wear them. I think it is a good shoe and I don’t need to be ashamed or that it would not be appropriate for some situation. I can do whatever I like. (Matti, interview)
Besides telling stories of peculiar people who have worn Reinos and using the slippers for heroic purposes, consumers also told stories about events and instances in which the slippers have been used. As the interviewees were telling their stories, the actual process of storytelling seemed to make the interviewees laugh and thus create positive feelings for them. Thereby, the heroes and myths repertoire can be used by consumers to engage in an entertaining and pleasurable interpersonal function (Woodside et al. 2008, 100). The sheer amount of stories collected for the Reino book also proves that the phenomenon is surrounded by stories and storytelling: When we started writing the Reino book during the summer of 2007, newspaper advertising was used to ask people send their memories and experiences of Reinos. Tens of stories were received, from all around Finland, from outside the country and through all mediums. (Närhi 2007, 58)
The consumer stories printed in the book all start similarly, by recounting the time of the event in the past and where it happened: ‘It was the year of… ’’I remember when in the 50s… ’ The stories contain funny incidents where people have worn Reinos outside of their traditional context, such as in a sports’ contest, in a formal occasion (e.g. graduation ceremony, at a wedding), on the theatre stage, in a barn dance, living or traveling abroad and so on (cf. Enclosure 1: Photo 10).
However, the eager consumers are still sending their stories and photos to the company: 87
We get calls almost on a daily basis. Often it is that they are thanking us, or want to tell us how good they have found the slippers. But then they say that “I have this and this kind of idea, and this color would be nice…” People call us and say that they’ve had a party where everyone wore Reinos…or send photos from their travels when they are for instance in New York wearing Reinos and a suit. (Arto Huhtinen and Tuire Erkkilä, interview)
As can be concluded from the discussion above, there is a huge mythical potential in the Reino & Aino slippers, used by consumers to tell stories about peculiar people and events, as well as to position themselves as somehow heroic by wearing the hero slippers. The basis of these stories might be really ordinary and banal, but it reinforces consumers’ relationship with the Reino & Aino phenomenon. Mikko Närhi says that the stories he received for the Reino book all applied similar kind of patterns, reinforcing the mythical repetition of some themes: It was astonishing how common stories, even boring stories that repeated the same things were sent to us. The approach was similar . (Mikko Närhi, interview)
5.8.2 Network strategies
As argued above, especially Mikko Närhi has been taking advantage of the mythical repertoire in the Reino & Aino phenomenon by documenting the stories in the Reino book and initiating the exhibition at the Vapriikki museum. In the book, Närhi connects the current entrepreneurial spirit of Huhtinen and Erkkilä to the first owners, making a cross•generational implication: Suomen Kumitehdas has grand roots in history; four entrepreneurs founded the company in 1898 as they noted that 200 000 pairs of galoshes were imported from Russia every day. They decided to make Finnish people’s shoes in Finland and from thereon, the history of the company is grand…The owners have changed but the spirit has remained. (Närhi 2007, 25)
A historical review of the development of different models and introducing the current employees working at the Lieksa factory together with pictures detailing the making of the product help in creating a coherent, triumphant and legitimized story of the Reino & Aino slippers. Thereby the book becomes something more than a marketing instrument or a written history of a product. It becomes a good story that has potential to entertain and to arouse strong emotions. As the representative of the Vapriikki museum says: I suspect Mikko Närhi has had a significant role in the phenomenon too. He seems to have a skill in connecting things and giving from to the phenomenon. So then it’s easier for other people to join it too. (Museum, interview) 88
In interviewing Mikko Närhi, I noticed that he refers to the phenomenon many times as ‘Reinoism’ or ‘Reino spirit’; as something deeper than just supporting a good consumption object or even brand enthusiasm. For him, ‘Reinoism’ represents a mentality. He also sees the Reino slipper as a person. In discussing the company’s troubles in being able to manufacture as many slippers as they would have been able to sell, he ponders: They [the company]have had to increase their capacity in every way possible. And they’ve had many problems, and the problems have been quite funny in nature…It seems like Reino is struggling against it at times: “Don’t you produce me so hastily… ” This is kind of an old•fashioned way of thinking. (Mikko Närhi, interview)
Constructing the ‘Reinoism’, Närhi has succeeded in mythologizing the Reino & Aino. Even though the ingredients for the phenomenon might have been there all along, Närhi has cleverly managed to pull them together; in his own words to ‘poke at it’ so that a coherent story has been created to help further advance the phenomenon.
The media has also had a significant role in mythologizing the Cinderella story of the company “from rags to riches”. A success story of two brave entrepreneurs who had the courage to take a sleeping product, bring it back to its home country Finland and start developing it with the help of hard•working employees and good traditional values is a myth that goes deep into our cultural consciousness. It is a story about courage, resilience and strong faith, hard work and empathy, which makes it something valuable, genuine and respectable. Not making a great fuss about their success, the entrepreneurs appeal to a core Finnish value, modesty. As comes clear from Linda Huhtinen’s comment, the commercial aspect is downplayed and the mythical “Reinoism” is emphasized: The best I’ve heard people say is that Reinos are a state of mind or an attitude. So we need to keep it that way and not go bragging about it. So that we’re not forcing it to anyone. (Linda Huhtinen, interview)
As an example of this mythical repertoire in the media, Talouselämä’s article uses words like ‘journey’, ‘savior’, ‘Reino’s home squad’. A heroic picture of Huhtinen and Erkkilä as well as the Reino slipper itself is depicted in the article: The business return last year was 0.1 million. This year it is to be 0.7 million, and one million the year following. The return would be even more if Kotikenkä [slipper business] had not supported the Kumitehdas [rubber business]. “We have given all the help that the tax authorities have allowed us,” Huhtinen says…. Reino became the savior of Erkkilä and Huhtinen’s businesses. (Talouselämä 5.3.2010) 89
The heroic repertoire is clearly apparent in this article similarly to the articles that documented the company’s heroic deed of saving Juice Leskinen’s library that has been discussed earlier in this thesis. The company and the entrepreneurs are therefore portrayed as heroic as the slipper itself. This is also seen in the comment of the Halavatun papat representative: Arto Huhtinen is strongly involved in this as well. He wants to see something else than…just business. And I’m always pleased to be involved in the kind of things where one’s heart is involved… .you cannot do charity only through business activities, you have to have your heart in place, and Arto truly does. He doesn’t think whether it costs to me more than I get in return or that you budget something from the charity to your own business. (Halavatun Pappa, interview)
Part of the heroic repertoire is of course the presence of the celebrities that by nature are idols and heroes to their fans. Besides being idolized, the celebrities tell similar stories of ‘daring deeds’ they have done while wearing Reinos. One of these was when Kari Tapio went to Kalastajatorppa, one of the finest restaurants in Helsinki, wearing Reinos. By telling the story, Kari Tapio is constructing himself as a hero, but an everyday hero as such. In an Internet discussion board, it is commented in a positive manner, praising Kari Tapio for his courage and sense of style. The next time some musician goes to Europe or the States, just put Reinos on. It won’t take long for Reinos to be the world’s best selling footwear. And they have to award a sales promotion award to Kari. Well done Kari! (Suomi24 discussion board 2007, Nickname M;m;m 13.1.2007)”
Thus, it could be argued that consumers are happy about their idols wearing Reinos and are also imitating them. In the Reino book, the heroic repertoire is connected with Finnish war veterans as one person tells a story about Adolf Ehrnroot as a Reino user: I remember how significant it felt to see this honorable general in his dignified attire with badges of honor, homely Reino slippers on his feet. Then I believe those present felt him truly to be their own general. (Inkeri Kivisaari in Närhi 2007, 59)
Thus, connecting the heroic repertoire with national myths, a particular sense of the slippers being nationally heroic is brought forward. The company has also aimed at supporting the celebrity heroism by bringing them forth as users and inviting these celebrities to visit the Reino store. Ice•hockey players have also been incorporated to the marketing of the Tappara and Ilves Reino slippers. In mythologizing the phenomenon, the Reino slippers have also been awarded ‘Shoe of the year’ reward (Mtv3.fi 9.7.2007). The older musicians donations of slippers to the 90 younger rockers discussed above also brings a further symbolic edge to the heroic repertoire. Heroes involved in the Reino & Aino phenomenon thus address different kinds of consumers: there are old heroes and new heroes, traditional heroes and rebellious heroes, extraordinary heroes and everyday heroes involved in the phenomenon.
Table 12 Summary of the repertoire of heroes and myths HEROES AND MYTHS Network strategies of Core meanings Consumer strategies of action action Telling a story about past users Mythologizing into a book Storytelling * making own usage meaningful * 'Reinoism' as a mentality Memorable events Using the product as memory container * Historical narrative Memorable personages * retaining original look Media's stories Myth of the company * difficulties in disposing * 'From rags to riches' Old & modern heroes Anthropomorphizing * Anthropomorphizing Celebrities' heroic Portraying self as heroic & role model storytelling * from generation to the Submitting stories to the company next
The above presented repertoire of heroes and myths (Table 12) exhibits the most symbolic aspects of the Reino & Aino phenomenon, proving that the product itself is just a resource for various strategies of meaning•making, including storytelling and anthropomorphizing. Mikko Närhi’s role as a network actor in building this repertoire has been significant. The mythical power inherent in the Reino & Aino has been concretized and materialized as the stories have been documented to a book and an exhibition. This repertoire thereby concludes the empirical discussion, the results of which are further interpreted in the next chapter of this thesis. 91
6 CONCLUSIONS
6.1 Summary of the research and discussion of the results
The purpose of the study was to investigate and analyze the phenomenon of Reino & Aino by identifying network actors and their strategies of action for using the cultural repertoires related to the phenomenon. The phenomenon was considered theoretically inspiring, because the product at its center has received unforeseen popularity and media buzz despite the lack of company attempts to conduct traditional marketing management procedures. Furthermore, the sociocultural meanings related to the phenomenon have multiplied radically as Reino & Aino has experienced a re•awakening from decades of stability and deterioration of the user base. The phenomenon was perceived in the thesis as a network, with the aim to understand its complexity and context. Despite insightful conceptual contributions, there has been a shortage of empirical studies that are able to incorporate the macro level network perspective, especially in the context of consumer marketing. Studying the Reino & Aino phenomenon was considered relevant in terms of this research gap.
The theoretical part of the thesis positioned the study within the network and cultural perspectives. Evert Gummesson’s many•to•many theory was adopted, paying attention to the multiple parties participating in the marketplace. To complement this macro perspective, insights from the cultural paradigm were introduced. From the cultural point of view, the focus is on the sociocultural meanings that are enabled by marketplace interaction. To answer the research questions, a rich and thick dataset was generated through case study research. The data was approached from the position of social constructionism, i.e. as constructions of reality. The aim of generating data was to get as many perspectives and viewpoints to the phenomenon as possible, allowing for new insights to emerge. The approach of poststructuralism was adopted as an analytical toolkit for the interpretation of data as cultural text.
The combining of the macro network perspective with the more empirically grounded poststructural analysis resulted in the identification of several network actors depicted in a 92 graphical illustration (Chapter 4) and the delineation of eight cultural repertoires (Chapter 5). These repertoires were then discussed in terms of how the network actors, both consumers and other parties, use them in their strategies of action.
The results of the study give a profound understanding of the mechanics of the Reino & Aino network from a cultural point of view. It can be noted that some of the identified repertoires are overlapping. This is not surprising, since the nature of meaning is always accumulative: new meanings can only be created on the basis of old ones and meanings are not disconnected (Lehtonen 1998, 35). The pervasiveness of the nationality repertoire, for instance, is perhaps due to the impact of the national ideology in the myth market, as Holt argues (2003, 44). For Americans, the nationality ethos stems from the myth of rebellion and the self•made man. For Finnish people, heroic national history of the Finnish wars and the hard work in rebuilding of our country could work as a basis on which we reflect upon our sense of ethics, family values and consumption habits, for instance. This becomes apparent especially as network actors refer to a product that is inherently Finnish. The mythical power inherent in it addresses a wide audience as well as the media, explaining on its part the popularity of the product.
The repertoires were represented in the thesis in a particular order, starting from the repertoire of nationality and ending up with the heroic repertoire. Reflecting upon this order from the point of view of consumers, it can be argued that with each new repertoire, the focus shifted from more ordinary or profane uses of the slippers toward more symbolic or extraordinary functions (cf. Belk, Wallendorf & Sherry 1989). Whereas it was fairly common for consumers to talk about the slippers as Finnish (1st repertoire) and as an ethical gift for family membersnd and (2 3rd repertoires), the real intriguing strategies of action emerged as they were using the slippers to join consumer communities (5th repertoire), or to communicate uniqueness (7th repertoire).
Figure 4 A continuum of repertoires 93
This continuum aspect of the results (see Figure 4) was realized in late phases of analysis, and it would be fruitful to investigate it further. It can also be noted that the first repertoires on the continuum are connected with the traditional meanings of Reino & Aino, whereas the latter repertoires are more related to the reawakening that has taken place during the last couple of years.
The identified repertoires can also be placed on a rough scale of network versus consumer orientation in terms of how significant the network actors’ contribution to the repertoire is compared with consumers own meaning•making strategies. The nationality repertoire, for instance, was very network centric, because various different network actors (the company, public organizations, the museum, consumer communities, the media) used it in their strategies of action. The heroes and myths repertoire was also network centric because several network actors’ roles in building this repertoire have been significant. On the other hand, consumer centric repertoires are the ones that were more connected with consumers’ personal meaning•making and product use, not necessarily in need of network support, such as the empathy and caring as well as the uniqueness and individuality repertoires that are related to identity construction and affiliation with family, friends and other social relations (see Figure 5).
Figure 5 Network centric versus consumer centric repertoires 94
In conclusion, the results of the study indicate that the popularity of Reino & Aino is largely due to the rich and deep cultural repertoires that are implicated in the phenomenon. Reino & Aino seems to appeal to consumers not because they satisfy the need for practical footwear. Instead, consumers are able to relive their memories with their loved ones, negotiate their identity as a Finnish person or a local habitant, differentiate themselves from others, heroically break conventional dressing codes, participate in fun and humorous events, or feel that they are promoting something genuine and ethical by giving the slippers as gifts.
According to Holt (2003, 43) today’s most potent brands access cultural myths and contradictions. The Reino & Aino also seems to address some of the current contradictions in our culture, thereby raising media buzz, storytelling and word•of•mouth. The heroic repertoire is proof of the mythic potential inherent in the phenomenon, but there are also intriguing contradictory meanings involved that create positive tension, allowing different meanings and strategies of action for network actors. The slippers are simultaneously tacky and fashionable, individualizing and connective, comforting and rebellious, heroic and ordinary. Representing old• fashioned values connected with past generations and national history, but also related to young rockers and other subcultures gives an interesting edge to the Reino & Aino that appeals to different network actors. The activities of these actors form a complex system that together creates meaning, reworks it and in effect, markets the commercial product.
The results of the study thus clearly indicate the need for marketing to broaden its perspective toward the analysis of networks. Combining the macro perspective with empirical research may prove challenging, however. The further development of theory requires more empirical research to be conducted, using various methods of data generation. The study of cultural meanings benefits from the poststructural approach that takes into account both the meanings as such and also how they are used. It does not reduce the study of meaning to only interpreting consumers’ subjective experience or cultural texts as distinct from their use. However, in focusing on language, it is necessary to remember that social reality should not be reduced to text: instead, social reality is something that can be analyzed as it is represented in textual form (Alvesson & Sköldberg 2000, 179). 95
6.2 Further research possibilities and managerial implications
Possibilities for further research are manifold. After conducting the research, I feel that there are several doors that have been slightly opened, waiting for further exploration. This thesis has only provided an outlook of the phenomenon, which is constantly in flux. As such, the thesis is a freeze frame that depicts the results of a single research process within time boundaries. In an attempt to retain the complexity of the phenomenon, a broad and extensive approach was employed, leaving detailed analysis of particular themes for further exploration. Thus, there is potential to deepen some of the aspects identified through analysis. For example, it was noted in the thesis that the communities formed within the Reino & Aino phenomenon are not like brand communities. Instead, they are inward oriented small groups with previous history together. A further study could contribute to the brand community literature by illustrating these differences and reflecting upon their significance. The research method in the thesis was based on the analysis of cultural texts and speech, but a further study could benefit from the use of ethnographic methods in which the researcher aims at gaining a deep emic understanding of the patterns of action within the culture (Arnould & Wallendorf 1994). Through ethnographic inquiry, the limitations of the poststructural method in explicating consumers’ practices and patterns of action could be overcome, because it would favor participant observation in real•time instead of analyzing cultural texts. In other words, with a good knowledge of the cultural repertoires gained from this study, an ethnographic inquiry could focus more on theorizing the strategies of action.
It was also noted in the analysis that consumers use Reino & Aino in humorous purposes connected with rites of passage. This could make an interesting contribution to the literature about consumption rituals. The ritual of giving Reinos to a new father, for example, could be explored in the context of what kind of other consumption objects are connected to similar rites of passage. The role of humor in consumption is an area where there are possibilities for further research. For example, the question of how humor is used in consumers’ strategies to negotiate cultural tension, such as the idolization of youth, appears to be relevant. 96
The issue of authenticity in connection with the Reino & Aino and other such phenomena is also an interesting avenue for further research. There have been earlier contributions about consumer resistance and culture ‘jamming’ (Holt 2002; Carducci 2006) showing that consumers are becoming increasingly conscious of companies’ branding strategies and ever more critical toward outward commercialism. This aspect could also be seen in my data, especially in connection with the executed brand extensions. The importance of authenticity and honesty in the marketplace, even modesty and humbleness in the case of Finnish consumers, needs further investigation. To conclude, one possibility for further study would be to compare the case of Reino & Aino with another similar kind of phenomena. This would enable further conclusions and implications to be made in terms of developing theory.
Finally, the results of the study also have managerial implications. Instead of learning new techniques for managing the brand, this study shows that yielding more control to consumers and other network participants may prove to be profitable. Investing large sums of money to planning and developing successful marketing campaigns could be replaced by paying more attention on building a network of actors that together engage and participate in marketing. Besides organizing their own events, companies can participate and support consumer•led activities and events. In building the network, all kinds of relationships and implicit links should be recognized from personal relationships to media connections, and of course, the Internet. Much can be learned simply by charting all the different parties that are somehow connected to the company or the product.
The starting point of any marketing activity is getting to know the customers as profoundly and thoroughly as possible. This thesis has yielded insights on consumers, but also on the cultural and social context in which they consume. Yet, the thesis has also shown that consumers are increasingly skeptical toward companies’ branding techniques. In the case of Reino & Aino, there is a strong sense of common ownership felt by the participants of the network. Thus, companies need to become more humble and take a supportive and enabling role rather than aggressively promote their products. The thesis shows that the successful marketing of a shared cultural icon requires empathy, honesty and genuine care for the product. Having an iconic brand is not enough if consumers feel that it is being exploited for mere commercial gains. In companies’ 97 strategies of action, commercialism and exploitation are to be avoided and instead, important cultural values should be emphasized. Hence, the thesis yields insights on branding as well. In developing and extending the brand, it is important to take into account the perspectives of the other network participants, especially the loyal users. This means respecting the strategies of action that are employed by consumers and other parties in their meaning•making. Thus, instead of skills in brand management, companies are increasingly in need of cultural knowledge and skills in networking.
This study has provided a starting point for the research of complex cultural phenomena that are the reality of today’s marketplace. By identifying the cultural repertoires that are used by network actors, companies can understand what the product really means to people. Thereby companies gain a lot of important insights in terms of knowing their customers and the whole sociocultural context in which they operate (cf. Peñaloza 2001). They can then aim at reinforcing the repertoires that seem to address consumers’ cultural consciousness by initiating stories or creating positive memories. Linking the product with cultural narratives and stories as well as values important for the society will help in creating positive attitudes, media publicity and interest. The network links and interaction between various participants can be encouraged and further reinforced. Companies should not forget the authenticity granted to their products when they are connected with charity organizations or cultural authorities such as museums. By providing resources for related strategies of action for the network actors, companies can provide support for the collaborative marketing of their products within the network. 98
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Ilta•Sanomat.fi 22.4.2009. Reino•kotikenkä osti Juicen kirjaston. Printed 5.3.2010.
Ilta•Sanomat.fi 17.2.2010. Muusikot intoutuivat ylistämään Reinoja ja Ainoja. Printed 5.3.2010. http://www.iltasanomat.fi/viihde/uutinen.asp?id=1948329
Ilun handu duunaa blog 8.5.2008. Oi Reino: Oottekos tämmöisiä nähneet? Printed 5.3.2010.
Jokipojat.com 2009. Reino & Aino Jokipoikien pääyhteistyökumppaniksi. 23.9.2009. Printed 5.3.2010.
Jussi Lähde’s blog 24.4.2009. Ostakaa Reinot! (+ 12 comments 24.4.–26.4.2009) Printed 5.3.2010.
Kauppalehti.fi 4.9.2009. Yritysuutiset: Reino•buumi roihuaa – Oma liike Tampereelle. Printed 5.3.2010.
Kauppalehti.fi 18.12.2009. Tappara•Reinot, nuo joulun seksikkäät tohvelisankarit! Printed 5.3.2010.
Maijan jutut blog 11.1.2008. Jatka tästä – valokuvatorstain haaste. Printed 19.4.2010.
Markkinointi & Mainonta 4.9.2009. (Juvonen, A.) Reino–tossut saa oman kaupan. Printed 5.3.2010.
Mtv3.fi 9.7.2007. Reino•tossut valittu vuoden kengiksi. Printed 5.3.2010.
Pyterlahti.net 2009a. Aino ja Reino •maantiejuoksu 2009 Pyterlahti. Printed 5.3.2010.
Pyterlahti.net 2009b. Kyläretkellä oltiin Aino• ja Reino•tossujen alkulähteillä: Kyläretki Lieksaan 18.–19.7.2009. Printed 5.3.2010.
Reiska•MM 2010. Tossujalkapallon MM •turnaus Vesannolla 23.–24.7.2010. Kuva•albumi vuoden 2009 kisoista. Printed 19.4.2010.
Suomen Kumitehdas 2008. Hyvä Reino •näyttely Tampereen museokeskus Vapriikissa: Alexander Stubbin tervehdys. Printed 5.3.2010.
Suomi 24 discussion board 2007. Kari Tapio on muodinluoja! 13.1.–4.5.2007. 5 messages. Printed 5.3.2010.
Taloussanomat 11.1.2007. (Ruohonen, A.) Reino•muoti vauhdittaa tohvelitehdasta. Printed 5.3.2010.
Taloussanomat 17.6.2007. (Rydman, V.) Suo, kuokka – ja Reinot. Printed 5.3.2010.
Taloussanomat 28.11.2007. Ainoja ja Reinoja myydään ennätystahtiin. Printed 5.3.2010.
Taloussanomat 22.12.2007. Ainot ja Reinot loppuivat kaupoista. Printed 5.3.2010.
Taloussanomat 28.4.2008. Naiset halusivat omat Reinot. Printed 5.3.2010.
Tampereen kauppakamarilehti 6/2009. Niin Printed Reinoa! 5.3.2010.
Tamperelainen 31.10.2009. Juicen kirjoille löytyi koti. Printed 5.3.2010.
Vesannon kunta 24.4.2008. Reiska•jalkapallon MM•kisat Vesannolla 26.7. Printed 5.3.2010.
ENCLOSURES
ENCLOSURE 1: Photos related to the Reino & Aino phenomenon.
Photo 1: A shelf containing the employees’ Reino & Aino slippers at the advertising agency. (24.9.2009, Researcher’s photo)
Photo 2: Pyterlahti Reino & Aino running contest • slipper inspector at his work. (Pyterlahti 2009a) 108
ENCLOSURE 1 Photos related to the Reino & Aino phenomenon continued
Photo 3: A football team dressed as french maids. (Reiska MM 2010)
Photo 4: Reiska football world tournament at Vesanto 2008. (Reiska MM 2010) 109
ENCLOSURE 1 Photos related to the Reino & Aino phenomenon continued
Photo 5: The representative of the charity organization Halavatun Papat playing the barrel organ at the opening of the Reino•store (9.9.2009, Researcher’s photo)
Photo 6: Pyterlahti community’s summer trip to Lieksa, visiting the Reino & Aino factory. (Pyterlahti 2009b) 110
ENCLOSURE 1 Photos related to the Reino & Aino phenomenon continued
Photo 7: The Reino slipper designed in the colors of Tappara ice•hockey team at the counter of Reino•store (29.10.2009, Researcher’s photo)
Photo 8: Reino Facebook profile 111
ENCLOSURE 1 Photos related to the Reino & Aino phenomenon continued
Photo 9: Personalized Reinos posted at a blog (Maijan jutut blog 11.1.2008)
Photo 10: Reinot Pariisissa. Reinot Facebook group members’ photo, added 7.1.2009. 112
ENCLOSURE 2: Description of the dataset
Reino Consumer Age or Interview Duration Occupation Recruited from interviewees category Aino context (min) user Researcher's 40 Anne 35•44 Bank employee Researcher's personal contact Aino home Author of Researcher's 57 Arja 55•64 books Notice at the Reino store Reino office Advertising agency Advertising 20 Grandpa 65•84 Pensioner observations Reino agency Sales Researcher's 40 Hanna 25•34 representative Recruited from a lecture Aino office University Researcher's 30 Helmi 15•24 student Email list Reino office Owner of Advertising agency Advertising 28 Janne 45•54 company observations Reino agency Snowball technique (Hanna's Researcher's 43 Juha 25•34 Researcher husband) Reino office Katariina 25•34 Researcher Reinot facebook group message Reino By phone 45 University Researcher's 25 Kiira 15•24 student Email list Reino office Approached at the university Researcher's 38 Kirsi 25•34 Researcher café Aino office Office • Kristiina 35•44 employee Reinot facebook group message Reino By email High school Researcher's 39 Leevi 15•24 student Email list (snowball) Reino office University Approached at the university Researcher's 41 Malla 15•24 student yard Reino office Matti 35•44 Mechanic Reinot facebook group message Reino By phone 46 Stay•home Interviewee's 38 Mirja 25•34 mum Email list Aino home University Researcher's 35 Pekka 15•24 student Email list Reino office University Researcher's 39 Raisa 15•24 student Recruited from a lecture Reino office Office Interviewee’s 56 Ritva 55•64 employee Notice at the Reino store Reino workplace University Researcher's 37 Tero 15•24 student Email list Reino office
Duration Network interviewees Representative of… Interview form (min) Arto Huhtinen & Tuire Erkkilä The company At company headquarters 64 Linda Huhtinen The company At the Reino•store 75 Mikko Närhi Spin•doctor At Närhi's office 95 Pyterlahti The running contest By phone 62 Vesanto The football tournament At a restaurant 52 Lieksan lehti reporter The community of Lieksa By phone 48 The museum Vapriikki exhibition At the museum 38 113
ENCLOSURE 2: Description of the dataset continued
Observations Duration and form 15 hours of observation + attendance in Valentine's Day event and Pate Mustajärvi's Reino•store visit. Old•age home 2 hours of observation and group discussion with veterans Advertising agency 2 hours of observation and interview with the owner and present employees Ice•hockey practice 2 hours of observation and discussing with the teenage players
Cultural materials Quantity Articles published 12 offline Articles published 26 online Blog posts 11 Discussion boards 3, approx. 300 messages 50 researcher’s photos +countless photos in the Photos internet Advertisements, leaflets 5 Reino book 144 pages of text and pictures