No abstract

In the case of visual artists, the product they create is inextricably linked to their identities, personalities and career histories in terms of how the art is produced, presented, consumed and positioned and valued in the market. Although artists' branding initiatives are considered relevant to branding and marketing theory, identifying how these are constructed and managed and identity negotiated through this process is an area that needs further development. This research therefore uses a multi-stakeholder approach to branding theory to examine contemporary artists' careers to understand how value is added to their 'product'. Qualitative analysis of artists' biographies and career histories in the London art market illustrates how value is co-constructed through relationships in a temporal manner that must be strategically managed.Finola Kerrigan is a senior lecturer in marketing at the University of Birmingham, where she teaches and researches marketing and consumption, specifically in relation to arts and culture.

No abstract

This paper reports on findings from a study which investigates our digital identities. Through examination of the process of constructing biographical films derived from users' social media (SM) data, we progress understanding of the digital self. Building on dramaturgical understandings of performance of self, we challenge the dominant views which argue that SM users operating as their 'authentic selves' can be empowered by having the potential for contemporaneous multiple selves. Through the introduction of the concepts of SM leakage and multiple temporal selves, we note the challenge of living with these digital self-representations which are sustained over time. We propose strategies for dealing with temporal shifts, as well as dispensing with the notion of the separation of these selves.

No abstract

This study delineates the process of brand longevity: the achievement of social salience and ongoing consumer engagement over a sustained period. Our study contributes to branding theory by proposing a multilevel approach to understanding brand longevity through application of an assemblage perspective to answer the question: how do serial brands attain longevity within evolving sociocultural contexts? By applying assemblage theory, we scrutinize the enduring success of a serial media brand over the past 55 years. To address this question, a wide range of archival brand-related data were collected and analyzed, including: analysis of films, books, marketing materials, press commentaries, and reviews, as well as broader contextual data regarding the sociocultural contexts within which the brand assemblage has developed. Our findings empirically support the study of brand longevity in and of itself, and conceptualize brand longevity as relying on an evolutionary approach to assembling the brand, which looks outward from the brand in order to consider the potential of brand elements to prevail in contemporary contexts and to ensure both continuity and change.

Purpose This paper aims to contribute to the literature on value creation by examining value within the visual arts market and arguing for a broader, socio-culturally informed view of value creation. Design/methodology/approach The authors develop an original conceptual framework to model the value co-creation process through which art is legitimised. An illustrative case study of artist Damien Hirst demonstrates the application of this framework. Findings The findings illustrate how value is co-constructed in the visual arts market, demonstrating a need to understand social relationships as value is dispersed, situational and in-flux. Research limitations/implications The authors problematise the view that value emerges as a result of operant resources “producing effects” through working on operand resources. Rather, adopting the socio-cultural approach, the authors demonstrate how value emerges and is co-constructed, negotiated and circulated. The authors establish the need to reconceptualise value as created collaboratively with other actors within industry sectors. The locus of control is, therefore, dispersed. Moreover, power dynamics at play mean that “consumers” are not homogenous; some are more important than others in the valuation process. Practical implications This more distributed notion of value blurs boundaries between product and service, producer and consumer, offering a more unified perspective on value co-creation, which can be used in strategic decision-making. Originality/value This paper illustrates that value co-creation must be understood in relation to understanding patterns of hierarchy that influence this process.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of the field of visual arts marketing in the development of wider branding theory and practice. Drawing on examples from visual artists and the art mechanism that connects them, the paper reveals how artists and art professionals foster various types of capital (social, cultural, symbolic) as a way of developing a brand name, ensuring longevity in the field, and gaining financial value on the market. Design/methodology/approach – As a conceptual paper, the authors draw on a range of published works as well as examples from the world of visual arts in order to provide fresh theoretical insight into how branding in the arts may be applied to other industries. Findings – The key findings are the importance of the consideration of the development and nurturing of social and cultural capital in developing brand identity. Additionally, visual art brands are required to be innovative and dynamic, and lessons learned regarding these processes have relevance for mainstream brands. The paper also found that creativity is often collective and that looking to methods for developing work in the visual arts can be utilised by brand managers more broadly in the age of social media and user generated content. Originality/value – This paper follows on the developing body of work, which indicates what mainstream business can learn from looking at the visual arts. The paper highlights the collective nature of creativity in building the art brand as well as the importance of non-economic measures of value in the realm of branding.