A Brand Meaning Approach to User Generated Branding: An Empirical Case-study on the Impact of a Ugb Campaign on Perceived Brand Meaning of a Streetwear Fashion Brand

Abstract

Given a substantial paradigm shift in branding literature in line with the new Service Dominant logic
of marketing, and the concurrent rise of Social Media, the last 20 years have seen an increased
interest among researchers and practitioners on Brand Meaning and the management of brand
related User Generated Content (UGC). However, despite a call for it by both managers and
academics, a modern brand meaning approach to the management of such content on social media
is not found in branding literature.
Through the selection of Dr Martens global branding campaign #worndifferent as the case study at
hand, this research aims at addressing this gap in literature by analyzing the impact of the User
Generated Branding (UGB) campaign on perceived brand meaning of two relevant stakeholders
groups, namely customers and prospect customers. Thus, through a single-case study, made up of
3 stages of qualitative data collection and analysis, the researchers believe the results bring
significant theoretical and managerial contributions.
Brand meaning gains validity as a construct that should be more considered by brand managers and
researchers when it comes to planning and executing a sponsored UGB campaign. Conversely, the
key dimension to focus on should be that of Brand Image, as results show how this construct’s
subdimensions are the ones most impacted by the brand related UGCs analyzed. Finally, brand
knowledge and knowledge of contextual factors to the brand should be taken as a discriminant
when segmenting target recipients of a sponsored UGB campaign.
Finally, future research that address fundamental and methodological limitations of the study are
suggested.