Retro Branding and Brand Revival (2003) PDF

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Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore - Milano (UCSC MI)

Stephen Brown, Robert V. Kozinets, & John F. Sherry Jr.

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retro branding brand management marketing nostalgia

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This academic paper by Brown, Kozinets, and Sherry explores retro branding, analysing two examples, and linking it with the concepts of allegory, aura, arcadia, and antinomy. It investigates how retro brands, as revived historical brands, rely on a blend of nostalgia and new features to resonate with consumers. The analysis discusses the connection between brand revival and community, and the interaction of historical associations with contemporary needs.

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Stephen Brown, Robert V. Kozinets, & John F. Sherry Jr. Teaching Old Brands New Tricks: Retro Branding and the Revival of Brand Meaning Retro brands are relaunched historical brands with updated features. The authors conduct a “netnographic” analy- sis of two prominent...

Stephen Brown, Robert V. Kozinets, & John F. Sherry Jr. Teaching Old Brands New Tricks: Retro Branding and the Revival of Brand Meaning Retro brands are relaunched historical brands with updated features. The authors conduct a “netnographic” analy- sis of two prominent retro brands, the Volkswagen New Beetle and Star Wars: Episode I—The Phantom Menace, that reveals the importance of Allegory (brand story), Aura (brand essence), Arcadia (idealized community), and Antinomy (brand paradox). Retro brand meanings are predicated on a utopian communal element and an enliven- ing paradoxical essence. Retro brand management involves an uneasy, cocreative, and occasionally clamorous alliance between producers and consumers. America has no now.… Our culture is composed of personality, person–brand relationships, and brand commu- sequels, reruns, remakes, revivals, reissues, re-releases, nities? We investigate retro brands to develop practical the- recreations, re-enactments, adaptations, anniversaries, ory that contributes to marketing principles and practice, memorabilia, oldies radio, and nostalgia record collections. particularly brand management. Akin to Keller (1993), we —George Carlin, Brain Droppings, 1998 aim to inform managers and researchers interested in the strategic aspects of brand equity. We study retro brands from rand extension, the use of an existing brand name to B the perspective of consumers and conceptualize the implica- introduce a new product or service (Keller 1993, tions of this information for marketing practitioners. 1998), is an important marketing tactic that has We animate and illustrate our investigation of retro attracted considerable academic interest (e.g., Desai and brand marketing through an empirical analysis of two Keller 2002; John, Loken, and Joiner 1998). However, prominent exemplars. After briefly examining the back- another form of brand extension strategy is gaining promi- ground literature on three interdependent concepts—brand nence and requires urgent research attention. Many long- revival, brand heritage, and nostalgia—we develop our con- abandoned brands have recently been revived and success- ceptualization of retromarketing and retro brands. We then fully relaunched (Franklin 2002; Mitchell 1999; Wansink describe our methodology, which is followed by a detailed 1997), so much so that marketers appear in the midst of a analysis of two retromarketing exemplars, and we conclude “retro revolution” in which revivals of old brands and their with a consideration of our findings’ implications for prac- images are a powerful management option (Brown 2001). ticing brand managers. The rise of retro brands places marketing in an interest- ing conceptual quandary. On the one hand, marketers are continually reminded of the need for product differentiation, Theoretical Foundations that today’s marketing environment demands strong brand Nostalgia and Heritage identities and decries imitation (Aaker 1996). On the other hand, contemporary markets are suffused with updated imi- As the epigraph exemplifies, the late twentieth century was tations, such as retro brands, many of which are proving characterized by an astonishing “nostalgia boom” enormously popular (Franklin 2002; Naughton and Vlasic (Naughton and Vlasic 1998, p. 58), and many marketing 1998; Wansink 1997). scholars have examined that phenomenon (see also Harris How can marketing academics and practitioners make 2000; Leadbeater 2002; Redhead 2000). Stern (1992), for sense of this conceptual conundrum? What are the causes of example, attributes the latter-day advent of nostalgic adver- retro brand proliferation? How do retro brands help improve tising to the fin de siècle effect, or humankind’s propensity understanding of the management of brand meanings? What to retrospect as centuries draw to a close. Belk (1991) con- do retro brands reveal about such important issues as brand tends that personal possessions, such as souvenirs, pho- tographs, heirlooms, antiques, and gifts, serve as material- izations of memory and evoke a powerful sense of the past. Stephen Brown is Professor of Marketing Research, University of Ulster, Holbrook and Schindler (1989, 1994, 1996) have developed Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland. Robert V. Kozinets is Assistant Profes- a “nostalgia proneness scale” and have tested it in various sor of Marketing, and John F. Sherry Jr. is Professor of Marketing, Kellogg memory-rich domains (e.g., music, movies, fashion models, School of Management, Northwestern University. The authors thank Brian classic cars) and among different demographic cohorts. Sternthal and the Kellogg marketing faculty for constructive suggestions. Peñaloza (2000, p. 105) notes the importance of expanding The authors also thank the three anonymous JM reviewers for their con- structive advice, enthusiasm, and encouragement. the conception of history as “a source of market value” and a cultural marker of legitimacy and authenticity. Thompson, Journal of Marketing Vol. 67 (July 2003), 19–33 Teaching Old Brands New Tricks / 19 Pollio, and Locander (1994) report that classic brands not a particular brand, including all its personal and cultural only embody the moral values of craftsmanship and lasting associations. An example is the rich historical associations value but also hark back to a time when the world seemed of the Coca-Cola brand with Americana, patriotism, global- safer, more comprehensible, and much less commercial. ization, Santa Claus, and Christmas. However, because cul- There are also numerous conference papers and analogous tures are complex and individuals heterogeneous, heritage is academic analyses of the recent retrospective propensity often an ambivalent legacy. In launching new, improved, or (Baker and Kennedy 1994; Baumgartner 1992; Goulding cutting-edge products, aspects of heritage might prove a lia- 1999, 2000; Havlena and Holak 1991, 1996; Hirsch 1992; bility. Heritage, moreover, might need to be created and Holak and Havlena 1992; Rindfleisch and Sprott 2000; managed, as the literature on “invented traditions” attests Romanyshyn 1989; Stevens, Brown, and Maclaran 1998). (Hobsbawm and Ranger 1983). Although conceptions of Although there is a rich marketing literature on the brand heritage provide one route to an understanding of the mainsprings of today’s nostalgia boom, the scholarly touch- process of brand renewal, they do not holistically capture the stone remains Davis’s (1979) much-cited distinction intriguing dynamics of retromarketing in general and brand between personal and communal nostalgia. The former is revival in particular. associated with individual life cycles; as people age, they are wont to reflect on the palmy days of their youth. The latter, Brand Revival and Retromarketing conversely, occurs at a societal level in the wake of epochal There is considerable overlap among nostalgia, brand heritage, changes precipitated by wars, revolutions, invasions, eco- and brand revival. Revived or retro goods and services (we use nomic dislocations, or environmental catastrophes. Thus, the retro synonymously with revived brands) trade on consumers’ Great Depression of the 1930s was accompanied by a pro- nostalgic leanings. Familiar slogans and packages, for exam- foundly retrospective perspective (Lears 1994); the social ple, invoke brand heritage and evoke consumers’ memories of turmoil of the late 1960s triggered the nostalgia outbreak of better days, both personal and communal. The success of the the 1970s (Schulman 2001); and the post-Communist, new Museum Store, Past Times, Restoration Hardware, and similar world order of the early 1990s created conditions conducive retailers of “exact” reproductions and the continuing popular- to the subsequent rise of retro (Leadbeater 2002). ity of heritage-based campaigns for brands such as Budweiser, Personal and communal nostalgia are closely intertwined, John Hancock, and Ivory indicate that demand exists for nowhere more so than in marketing. Long-established brands allegedly authentic reproductions of past brands. evoke not only former epochs but also former selves. Old The problem with exact reproductions, however, is that brands serve to bind consumers to their pasts and to the com- they do not meet today’s exacting performance standards. munities that shared those brands. According to McAlexander, Retro products, by contrast, combine old-fashioned forms Schouten, and Koening (2002), brands link people into com- with cutting-edge functions and thereby harmonize the past munities with common interests (see also Muniz and O’Guinn with the present (Brown 1999, 2001). In this regard, consider 2001). A temporal component can readily be added to this the Chrysler PT Cruiser, which amalgamates the shape of a (Bergadaa 1990), whereby old brands evoke past events. 1940s sedan with the latest automotive technology to produce Because brands can be linked with events (Keller 1993), the a futuristic car with anachronistic styling. Another striking associations of the event become associated with the brand. example is Nike’s Michael Jordan XI Retro Sneakers. These Indeed, old brands may link people together even more shoes may look like a monument to 1950s hoop dreams, yet powerfully, because they strongly evoke a sense of a utopian their cushioned soles, aerated uppers, and recommended retail past and because of the close-knit “caring and sharing” com- prices are state of the marketing art. Denny’s retro diner is an munities that are associated with it (Kozinets 2002a, p. 21). homage to eateries of the 1950s, but its registers are comput- Therefore, it might be expected that in times of threat or of erized, the kitchen equipment is cutting edge, smoking is pro- sociocultural and economic turbulence, nostalgia would pro- hibited in the dining area, and vegetarian dishes are available vide a sense of comfort and close-knit community, a safe for those unwilling to revert to carnivorous habits of yore. haven in an unsafe world. Conceptualizing brands is this We define retro branding, therefore, as the revival or manner combines the individual nostalgia that Belk (1991) relaunch of a product or service brand from a prior historical explores and Holbrook and Schindler (1989, 1994, 1996) period, which is usually but not always updated to contempo- psychometrize with the communal nostalgia that Stern rary standards of performance, functioning, or taste. Retro (1992) cogently theorizes. In this conception, old brands are brands are distinguishable from nostalgic brands by the ele- rich with both personal and communal associations. They ment of updating. They are brand new, old-fashioned offerings. can be invested with the same legitimizing, authenticating, market value of history that Peñaloza (2000) finds in entire Reconceptualizing Nostalgia industries and that Thompson, Pollio, and Locander (1994) uncover among contemporary consumers. To begin to understand the elements of retro brands and their The scholarly implications of this personal–communal implications for brand management, we employ a more melding are clear. Conventional marketing wisdom suggests nuanced idea of nostalgia than the notion that “things were that repositioning is one method of revitalizing a brand better back then” (e.g., Holbrook 1995). For example, in his (Aaker 1991) and that the royal road to rejuvenation lies in monumental history of Western culture from 1500 to the the skillful exploitation of the associations linked to a present, Jacques Barzun (2000) describes the alternation and brand’s heritage (Aaker 1996). Brand heritage is perceived coexistence of two powerful antithetical themes, progress as using marketing-mix variables that invoke the history of and primitivism. The former is characterized by a secular, 20 / Journal of Marketing, July 2003 scientific, technological, and future-looking worldview; the gral part of retromarketing’s appeal, insofar as an idealized latter is dominated by a profound sense of loss, a feeling that past is festooned with the latest technological magic. The there is a price to be paid for progress and that price is the presence of this utopian communal ideal has only barely destruction of community, solidarity, empathy, and close- been hinted at by scholars who have examined various man- ness to nature, which are markers of the past (see also Gom- ifestations of brand community (McAlexander, Schouten, brich 2002). and Koening 2002; Muniz and O’Guinn 2001; Schouten and Boym’s (2001) recent reflections on the future of nostalgia McAlexander 1995). In this article, we attempt to explore further develop this notion of an uneasy balance between past further the conceptual links among brand meaning, ideal- and future. Moved by the post-Communist nostalgia sweeping ized place, consumer community, and times past. Eastern Europe, Boym asserts that people live in a world where Aura. In Benjamin’s most celebrated conception, aura progress and primitivism combine, where the latest technolog- pertains to the presence of a powerful sense of “authenticity” ical and scientific advances increasingly are used to re-create that original works of art exude. As many scholars note (e.g., visions of the past, whether of the sinking of the Titanic, the Belk and Costa 1998; Holt 1997; Kozinets 2001, 2002a, b; gladiatorial contests of ancient Rome, or the scientifically Peñaloza 2000; Thompson and Tambyah 1999), consumers’ cloned dinosaurs of Jurassic Park. Progress and primitivism, search for authenticity is one of the cornerstones of contem- Boym argues, are like Jekyll and Hyde—two contrasting per- porary marketing, notwithstanding the “inauthenticity” of sonalities simultaneously occupying the same body. today’s consumer culture (Hartman 2002). Authenticity is Boym’s (2001) bittersweet yearning for what is gone but also vitally important to brands; uniqueness is an important not forgotten is counterpointed by the theories of the leading aspect of brand identity (see, e.g., Aaker 1986; Keller 1993). literary critic Fredric Jameson (1991), who contends that Kelly (1998) considers “brand essence” the core values for today’s “neo-nostalgia” has nothing to do with the deep which a brand stands, which he compares to its “marketing emotional disturbance that afflicted nostalgia sufferers of DNA.” Brand essence is thus highly related to authenticity; times past. To the contrary, Jameson argues that contempo- it is composed of the brand elements that consumers per- rary nostalgia is essentially emotionless, an aesthetic ceive as unique. In this study, we explore aura-based rela- response to evocations of the past. Another prominent liter- tionships among the authentic, the past, and brand essence in ary critic, Walter Benjamin (1973, 1985, 1999) has proposed the context of consumer dialogue about retro brands. theories that are rich with references to marketing, consumer behavior, and advertising. Although he was affiliated with Antinomy. Irresolvable paradox lies at the heart of Ben- the critical theorists of the Frankfurt School, who abhorred jamin’s philosophy. For example, he considers scientific and commercial life, Benjamin was fascinated by marketing, technological progress both as unstoppable, and almost obsolete objects, abandoned possessions, superseded tech- overpowering, and as the root cause of people’s desire to nologies, long-forgotten fads, and the remarkable fact that return to simpler, slower, less stressful times. In the market- new ideas often come wrapped in old packaging. ing field, paradoxes are a central theme that explains how We discern four themes relevant to our investigation of technology products are consumed (Fournier and Mick retromarketing and to contemporary brand management 1999; Mick and Fournier 1998). The paradox premise also from Benjamin’s interwar writings. These themes relate to offers a rich departure point for investigations of the com- and usefully synthesize extant conceptual elements of brand plexity and open-endedness of brand meaning management. management and marketing. These elements are Allegory In this regard, the novelist Alex Shakar (2001, p. 61) pos- (brand story), Arcadia (idealized brand community), Aura tulates that every product has “two opposing desires that it can (brand essence), and Antinomy (brand paradox). Together, promise to satisfy simultaneously. The job of a marketer is to these themes constitute the 4As of retro branding. cultivate this schismatic core, this broken soul, at the center of every product.” Shakar suggests that this paradoxical essence, Allegory. Brand allegories are essentially symbolic stories, or “paradessence,” is the crux of consumer motivation. Liter- narratives, or extended metaphors. As Stern (1988) notes, alle- ary theorists likewise maintain that ambiguity and paradox gory is frequently used in advertising. Allegories successfully offer places for readers to insert their hopes and dreams into convey didactic messages that invoke and then offer resolu- texts (e.g., Derrida 1985). Analogously, it is arguable that this tions for consumer states of moral conflict. In addition, alle- paradoxical “soul” of brands offers an opening for consumers gories are dynamic; they alter and change in response to pop- to invest themselves emotionally into mass-produced goods ular tastes and trends (Stern 1988). We examine allegorical and services and thereby form the elusive connections that brand stories from the perspective of consumers (as Keller result in lasting loyalty. Through the inherent paradoxes of suggests; see also Stern 1995, 1998; Thompson 1997). retro brands, we consider consumers’ responses to the simul- We use the reception and discourse surrounding retro- taneous presence of old and new, tradition and technology, marketed products, or those products that combine qualities of primitivism and progress, same and different. old and new, to study the links among brand meanings, brand heritage, and the morality tales that consumers tell one another. Arcadia. For Benjamin, arcadia relates both to his own Method (unfinished) study of Parisian shopping arcades and to the To develop our conceptualization of retromarketing, we golden age of the ancient Greeks. In arcadia, an almost explore it in its empirical context, as realized in the interac- utopian sense of past worlds and communities is evoked. tions of relevant consumers. We focus on two prominent, This sense of the past as a special, magical place is an inte- much-lauded retromarketing exemplars, both of which are Teaching Old Brands New Tricks /21 cult brands with high levels of customer commitment and see Spiggle 1994). Through group comparison and in- strong ties to popular culture. The first is Volkswagen’s New person discussion, we then allowed a more impressionistic, Beetle, a modern brand that builds on a famous and indeed hermeneutic, and grounded interpretation to emerge from infamous brand heritage. The second is Star Wars: Episode the data. We identified recurrent social and cultural tenden- I—The Phantom Menace, a long-awaited brand revival of cies within the data and constantly compared these emergent George Lucas’s celebrated cinematic trilogy of the 1970s themes with our preconceptions derived from Benjamin’s and 1980s. work. In this step, unexpected findings led us to stretch the In keeping with the study’s retrospective spirit, the boundaries of our original definitions (e.g., to place more empirical investigation uses a brand new, old-fashioned emphasis on community and its influence) and to devise research technique called “netnography.” As Kozinets new notions (i.e., antinomy, or brand paradox). Our overall (2002b) explains, netnography involves the transplantation approach is in keeping with the precepts of mainstream of ethnography, one of the most venerable marketing qualitative inquiry (e.g., Arnould and Wallendorf 1994; research procedures, to cyberspace, the latest marketing Sherry and Kozinets 2001; Thompson 1997). milieu. As in the case of its offline counterpart, netnography All told, we examined several thousand news-group necessitates in-depth immersion in and prolonged engage- messages and dozens of Web sites and Web rings represent- ment with the many consumer cultures that populate the ing the perspectives of several hundred consumers of New World Wide Web (Kozinets 1999, 2002b). According to Beetles and Star Wars prequels. Muniz and O’Guinn (2001), the Web is a place where abun- dant information on online consumer groups’ belief systems, buying behaviors, and object relations is readily available. Findings We began our investigation with an overview of the rele- The New Beetle vant topical news groups and the Web pages related to them The original Volkswagen Beetle was the stuff of motor- that were available from our local server (see the Appendix). enthusiast legend. Created by the pioneering automotive We chose sites both for the quantity and for the directed focus designer Ferdinand Porsche, with a past grounded in the of their Web postings (e.g., alt.fan.starwars holds Google’s common classes of Third Reich Germany, the car proved highest activity rating, at approximately 130 messages posted wildly popular across postwar Europe and North America. per day). Recent statistics are difficult to find, but Arbitron The Volkswagen Beetle was globally cherished for its dura- ranked rec.arts.sf.starwars 294th of all news groups and esti- bility, economy, user-friendliness, and idiosyncratic design. mated that it was read by 118,545 people worldwide (in At the time, it was considered an exemplary vehicle of the 1995). Similarly, Arbitron ranked rec.auto.vw 599th and esti- people. Everyone from commune-bound hippies and mated that it had 82,315 worldwide readers (Reid 1995). middle-class couples with children to eccentric multimil- As part of an ongoing research project on popular brands, lionaires drove Beetles. The Beetle even begot a series of media fans, and virtual communities of consumption, we fol- live-action Disney movies starring the “Love Bug” as “Her- lowed the aforementioned news groups and downloaded bie,” the sentient vehicle with a heart of gold. noteworthy messages during three months beginning in spring The same enthusiasm coalesced around the New Beetle, 2001 (we performed follow-up data collection and member which Volkswagen launched in 1998 at the Detroit Motor checking in spring 2002). In this regard, it should be noted Show. A happy combination of the traditional bubble shape that using carefully chosen message threads in netnography is and state-of-the-art automotive technology, the New Beetle akin to purposive sampling in market-oriented ethnography rapidly attained cult status. With their totemizing and fetishiz- (Arnould and Wallendorf 1994). Because findings are inter- ing of the retro auto’s shape and flower-power history, New preted in terms of a particular sample, it is not necessary that Beetle enthusiasts are analogous to the ardent fans of Beatle- the sample be representative of other populations (Kozinets mania. The result is a retromarketing exemplar that potentially 2002b). Although we attempted to find diverse message types extends our understanding of brand meaning management. and message postings in our data set, we intended our sam- pling strategy not to offer representativeness or transferability, Allegory: The Beetle’s brand stories. To understand the but to focus on analytic depth and the provision of realistic brand management implications of the New Beetle, it is nec- examples of retro brands and their receptions. essary to be attuned to the narratives surrounding it, which The volume of downloaded text amounted to 560 includes attending to the heritage stories circulated by pro- double-spaced, ten-point type size pages, which represents ducers and cultural intermediaries such as the media and 432 postings containing 131 distinct e-mail addresses and advertisers. In this consumer-oriented study of brand mean- user names (likely related to the number of distinct message ing, this attention also includes consumers. We therefore pay posters). There were 76 unique message-poster identifiers particular attention, as Stern (1988) does in her study of within the downloaded New Beetle messages and 55 unique advertising allegories, to the moral overtones present in the poster identifiers included with the downloaded Star Wars narratives that consumers tell one another about the brand. messages. The messages we downloaded were posted These “morallegorical” qualities are captured in the narrative between 1999 and 2002. We classified the 432 postings of “Adam,” a news-group poster who sought to encapsulate (before downloading) into topics either relevant or not rele- the perceived significance of the Beetle’s history as follows: vant to the brand management topics of interest. We each The VW [Beetle] was designed at a time when only big manually coded the data and analyzed it in an initial step to businessmen and other wealthy individuals were able to identify themes relevant to our hypotheses (on data analysis, have an automobile. The VW [Beetle] was designed 22 / Journal of Marketing, July 2003 specifically to and did bestow on the working man, who the back window! This makes the top surface of the dash could otherwise never afford it, the feasibility of obtaining absolutely huge. The dashtop is so big and deep, in fact, the freedom that comes with automobile ownership. The you could probably set up an entire model train track on it. noble thoughts that went into the production of this :) You could put a good sized dog on it. Or your entire col- machine included considerations of economy of operation lection of Star Wars action figures. You could plant a lawn and ease of repair. (posted by “Adam,” rec.autos.makers. on it. It’s simply the strangest looking and feeling dash- vw.aircooled news group, June 21, 1996) top/windshield design I’ve ever seen in any car. Period. (posted by “Larabee,” alt.volkswagen.beetle news group, Adam’s posting recapitulates Adolph Hitler’s propagan- April 12, 1998) dist use of Porsche’s design for the Volkswagen Beetle; it is also notable for overlooking this historical fact. The original Larabee’s posting is seeded with autobiographical detail Beetle was grounded in Nazi Germany’s narrative of egalitar- and structured as a story. It has all the hallmarks of personal ian totalitarianism, which in turn is related to the Volkswagen narrative, which folklorists recognize as a genre. At points, brand’s genealogy as car of the people. As historical commen- Larabee’s evaluation reads less like a dispassionate, deliber- tators have often noted, Hitler’s regime was nothing if not ative analysis than an emotional family saga chronicling an utopian for the German people, and it seems that populist adoption. In the multifaceted narrative, Larabee reveals not brand meanings are inextricably intertwined with the reliable only his anthropomorphization of the product and the brand, design and do-it-yourself qualities of the original Volkswagen but also that he is not seeking a perfect copy of a classic Beetle. However, Adam’s narrative also reworks the populist Beetle. He emphasizes the brand’s individuality and filters Nazi-utopian narrative in terms of an American discourse of this through his own idiosyncrasies. It becomes clear from self-reliance, autonomy, and a can-do attitude. Slotkin (1992), the way Larabee negotiates the changes between old and for example, makes a compelling case that these mythic val- new—judging some of them positively, some of them nega- ues are central to the construction of American identity. tively—that consumers like him consider retro brands not It is easy to find moral standing, even moral brand mean- reproductions of namesake brands, but radical redefinitions ing, in Adam’s recounting of the Beetle brand’s Ameri- of them. Larabee considers the New Beetle brand a restyling canesque egalitarianism. An honest, brand-of-the-people that updates and transcends. The allegory of the New Beetle ethos was also articulated in the groundbreaking advertising reflects this because it tells a tale of thrift. It is thus a brand campaign of DDB Needham for the Volkswagen Beetle in story with moral overtones. Old Beetle and New Beetle the 1960s. Using copy such as “Lemon” and “Ugly is only share personalities, origins, names, and values, forming a skin deep,” the campaign used ironic, reflexive, self- brand allegory that is moral, functional, and yet prone to deprecating humor, which helped make Volkswagen the individualization through consumer storytelling. best-selling foreign automaker of its time (see Kiley 2002). Arcadia: The Beetle brand’s idealized communities. We Given that honesty has intrinsic moral overtones, the cam- previously mentioned the original 1960s advertising cam- paign creatively counterpointed the infamous puffery of paign for the Volkswagen Beetle in relation to the moral advertising with a healthy dose of truthfulness, albeit qualities of allegory. These moral qualities are extended and marketing-mediated truthfulness. romanticized into a type of utopian brandscape by Arnold In an important extension of this history, online con- Communications’s more recent, award-winning marketing sumers create tales of their own that build on the brand, campaign for the New Beetle. The campaign references both emphasize its uniqueness, personalize it, and demonstrate to Sixties nostalgia and the cheap-and-cheerful brand associa- others how they can individualize the brand. For example, tions of the original Beetle. Arnold’s campaign uses lines the following story of singularity, personality, and idiosyn- such as “Less flower, more power” and “Comes with won- crasy is typical of the types of postings of many Beetle derful new features, like heat.” The reference to flower enthusiasts as they carefully recount their brand experiences power intends to evoke more than the old vehicle itself, but for other news-group members: also a romanticized, upbeat, optimistic, times-are-a- I inspected it in the driveway of our mom’s home, where changin’ attitude associated with the Sixties. However, just my brother and I were visiting, and then drove it around as Adam’s allegory overlooked the Volkswagen Beetle’s for half an hour on her neighborhood’s streets, with light Nazi propaganda past, so too today’s happy-hippie market- to no traffic, in a suburban area with no traffic signals, and ing campaign suppresses much of the turmoil of the Sixties. in light rain and mist.... The overall impression of the exte- By stressing superficial symbols such as flower power, rior styling is “extremely cute.” Almost huggable. The front of the car presents an almost literal face that appears Arnold Communications co-opts and converts the tempestu- to smile. The old running boards are just hinted at in the ous Sixties into a marketable golden age. new design, which is nothing but round, sensual curves This association of the brand with a time and place is no from stem to stern. The seats are VERY comfortable and less evident in the multiplicity of books dedicated to peo- firm, although they’re equipped with perhaps the most ple’s affectionate memories of their original Beetles (see, bizarre set of adjustment controls I’ve ever used.... The e.g., Jacobs and Klebahn 1999; Rosen 1999). In these recol- strange looking, wide stereo system is in the middle of the lections, the car evokes the rose-tinted interlude of peace, dash. Now comes one of the weirder parts of the styling— the huge, steeply sloped windshield must have been almost music, and love that was the 1960s. The New Beetle repre- three feet from the steering wheel. It’s the most unusual sents an eternal return to such utopian dreams and associ- windshield placement I’ve ever experienced.... The wind- ated attempts to better the material and spiritual condition of shield is SO far away from your face as you sit in the seats, humankind. Among online community members, the hippie it’s almost like you’ve turned around and are looking out associations of the Beetle brand are a common topic of con- Teaching Old Brands New Tricks / 23 versation. In one large message thread (41 postings) titled (2002) study, the arcadian ethos of the retro brand seems to “Hippies and Volkswagens,” “Frank” and “Richard” be strongly associated with the upstanding individuals and describe the relationship as they see it: caring-sharing society of a dear departed golden age. Hippies wanted to be different and defy society. They did Aura: Authenticating the Beetle brand. Aside from his- it by driving a car that at that time went against every other torical and trademarked continuity, the challenge to Volk- car on the road—If you drive an older VW you are no dif- swagen’s managers was animating the New Beetle with the ferent than the ’60s hippies—and as history shows the hip- same brand essence as the original. As the Sixties references pies were right because the Japanese took off where VW and advertising examples indicate, brand managers left off and filled the gap of what people really wanted. (posted by “Frank,” rec.autos.makers.vw.aircooled news attempted to rebuild the Beetle’s brand essence and the group, June 21, 1997) physical vehicle by piecing it together from pop culture and retro references. They tried to make the car an “original” I think that the interest that the hippies have in VW own- again, refashioning it to read as both old-fashioned and new- ership has a lot to do with the unity of owner and vehicle. fangled, simultaneously retro and techno. Readapting the With a Volkswagen, you attain a certain self-sufficiency when you can do most of the work on your car yourself. vehicle to a new social and historical context refreshes the This fits in a lot better with the ideals of less participation brand meaning that has been denuded through time and by in the horrifically wasteful commercial/industrial process, repeated reproduction, just as Benjamin asserted that aes- where half of all employed people waste time and thetic aura was wont to do. In conceptualizing design in the resources quarreling, in one form or another, over what broadest, most culturally significant sense possible, the belongs to whom, instead of doing anything productive product’s creators sought to reanimate the brand’s mojo, so and beneficial to society as a whole. Hippies like to feel a to speak. direct connection with the things in the world that support them, and a Volkswagen is conducive to that, both in the Our study of consumer reception to the New Beetle, way the owner should communicate with it frequently however, reveals bitter skeptics and true believers. Con- through maintenance and in the way it feels to drive one. sumers demonstrate that they are sophisticated interpreters (posted by “Richard,” rec.autos.makers.vw.aircooled news of marketing cues about a brand’s authenticity. “Jane” group, June 23, 1997) posted a simple, one sentence statement that precipitated a heated debate: “In my view, the ‘new’ Beetle is a Beetle in Frank casts the brand in quasi-moral terms of Sixties name only” (alt.volkswagen.beetle news group, February rebellion and revolution, mixing that with a striking eco- 17, 1998). Jane’s comment and its polarizing effect on the nomic vindication. For Richard, the brand takes on many news group were profound. In an immediate response, meritorious characteristics. It is associated with indepen- “Matthew” expressed his agreement: “I agree. It’s nothing dence, environmentalism, anticommercialism, social partic- but a smart trick. Add a bit [of] old shapes and there you are. ipation, and a sense of the mechanic’s mindfulness that Let’s hope the commerce will fail. The end of the so-called recalls Pirsig’s (1974) New Age classic Zen and the Art of beetle.” As with Jane, Matthew expresses his outrage at mar- Motorcycle Maintenance. keters and refuses to equate the shared brand name with a Frank’s and Richard’s brand meanings both hint at the shared authenticity. He is searching for other, less superfi- way old Volkswagen cars allowed the expression of noncon- cial cues. formity, of individuality, similar to the meanings ascribed to Another emotional debate about supporters of the old other cult brands such as Macintosh computers (Muniz and versus the new unfolded on the alt.volkswagen.beetle news O’Guinn 2001) and the Star Trek franchise (Kozinets 2001). group in mid-September 1998. All three are inimitable brands that have attracted enormous consumer loyalty among their customer bases. Three “Jaco”: Does the term “New Beetle” in this news group refer to a “new” Air Cooled, Rear Engined, Beetle or the Front aspects—low market share and struggling brand (Volkswa- Engined, Water Cooled, Marketing Con Trick vehicle?... I gen in the United States, Star Trek, Macintosh), an idealized see no direct lineage between the “old” Beetle and the “new” time (the Sixties in each of these examples), and a somewhat Beetle in terms of engineering. And lets face it, the old Beetle marginalized yet cohesive social group (hippies, television was pure engineering.... The bottom line is that ANY auto- nerds, computer geeks)—seem to have become associated motive company could have produced a modern car with a with a strong sense of affiliation and belonging in these couple of styling cues suggesting it “looked” liked a Beetle. brand communities. For example, “Trevor” celebrates “Orrin”: It’s by VW, it has the styling cues you mentioned, another new member coming into the fold of Volkswagen and people love the car for the car itself. What would it ownership. The new owner inquired about the presence of a take for you to call it a New Beetle? To have a rear engine Beetle owners’ club (common for Beetles). Trevor wel- that’s air-cooled? To be prone to fire? To be uncomfort- able? To be unsafe? Obviously, they wouldn’t release that. comed him with these words: “Trust me, buying a Beetle It’s 1998, things have changed. As beautiful as the old v- causes you to be part of a club whether you realize it or not. dubs are, people want something that has more power If nothing else, you have to wave ‘hi’ to the other Beetle dri- stock, has all the creature comforts of a ’90s automobile, vers, because they’re waving ‘hi’ to you” (posted by doesn’t require someone to be mechanically inclined to “Trevor,” alt.volkswagen.beetle news group, April 3, 2000). maintain, and has that intangible charm the old one did for Muniz and O’Guinn (2001) term this type of identification so many. (exchange posted between “Jaco” and “Orrin,” alt.volkswagen.beetle news group, September 15, 1998) through brand community “consciousness of kind” and the type of welcoming behavior “shared ritual.” Yet unlike the This debate between Beetle fans revolves around defini- brand communities McAlexander, Schouten, and Koening tions of authenticity. Jaco equates certain physical charac- 24 / Journal of Marketing, July 2003 teristics, particularly engine-related ones, of the old Beetle and must be updated if it is to be used rather than merely with the brand’s values and thus its brand essence. Orrin, admired. conversely, is looking beyond these physical characteristics Yet there are others who believe that the old Beetle for definitions of Beetle brand essence. He is more con- brand has lasting relevance. They collect the cars; refurbish cerned with design and ineffable atmospherics; he refer- them; correct their defects with specially engineered new ences the brand associations that are more closely related to parts; and buy the newer, updated models still produced in advertising and marketing than to automotive assembly Mexico. Another old Beetle detractor, “Alex,” did not under- lines. Jaco lashes out at Beetle brand managers in terms sim- stand this and asked the news group, “Why would anyone ilar to Matthew, suggesting that the brand managers are want an old Beetle, especially when they cost thousands of devious tricksters. The debates among consumers raise dollars now?” (rec.autos.makers.vw.watercooled news important points about the management of brand essence. group, May 24, 2002). The answer he received from Part of the challenge for the New Beetle’s marketers is to “David” illustrates the perspective of an old Beetle shift the terms of comparison so that the core values of the supporter: brand are maintained while the physical properties of the car Because they’re the last remnant of when quality meant are radically altered. something—a car not meant to be disposable. They’re fun Antinomy: Brand paradox in the Beetle brand. Recall that to drive, reliable, and cheap to run. Supers in particular we have conceptualized brand paradox as an irresolvable con- have handling that front-wheel-drive cars can only dream tradiction that manifests itself at the level of brand consump- about. Compared to [old] Beetles, Rabbits/Golfs (or any tion. The New Beetle brand, as with retro brands per se, modern car [such as the new Beetle], for that matter) are exhibits many such irresolvable tensions. For example, we tinny, plasticy, flimsy, overweight pieces of junk where most of the engineering work has gone into making sure have illustrated how the car juxtaposes a Third Reich history you’ll need to replace them when the factory wants some with a worker’s utopia, the rebellious American Sixties, more money from you. (posted by “David,” rec.autos. flower-power hippies, and the middle-class ethos of contem- makers.vw.watercooled news group, May 24, 2002) porary American consumers. We have also demonstrated the anthropomorphization of the patently mechanical automobile, David’s perspective helps provide an understanding of expressed perhaps best in Disney’s cartoonlike “Love Bug,” the irresolvable temporal paradox underlying retromarket- Herbie (for an argument that this human sense of relationship ing. David regards the old brand as a repository of better building obtains in all brand relationships, see Fournier 1998). times. To David, it is physical evidence, a fast-fading signal, The New Beetle also expresses the central retro brand that affordable and durable cars once existed. David’s narra- paradox between old and new, then and now, past and future. tive is a testament to tradition, conservatism, the enduring In the case of the Beetle brand, a tension between past and quality of times past, and times past of enduring quality. In present is made manifest in a debate between supporters of stark contrast to James, David dismisses the progressive and old Beetles and new Beetles. In a heated exchange in the the modern as cheap marketing gimmicks. Similar to rec.autos.makers.vw.watercooled news group in May 2002, Richard, Jaco, and Matthew, David’s anticorporate and anti- “James” contends that the old Beetle is inferior: marketing comments reveal a popular discomfort with cor- porate power in contemporary culture, which consumer and In this era of the Cadillac Escalade, Lincoln Navigator, and even the modern crashworthy Passat, it astounds me marketing scholars have recently begun to explore (see, e.g., that anyone would dream of venturing out into regular traf- Holt 2002; Kozinets 2001, 2002a, b; Thompson and Haytko fic in one of these 1930s-era death traps. Even in moderate 1997). collisions (that wouldn’t even trigger an airbag in today’s Can this brand paradox be resolved? A posting from cars) old Beetles collapse like beer cans at a frat party.... “Tony” illustrates a careful negotiation of the consumer Old Beetles are nostalgia pieces, no doubt. Romantic even. ambivalence surrounding the conflicting meanings of retro But safe in today’s driving conditions? No more than a Model A. I say preserve a few old Beetles as trailer queens, brands: Sunday drivers, and museum pieces, and let the rest of ’em There’s no way in hell a car could be sold in today’s mar- rot. (posted by “James,” rec.autos.makers.vw.watercooled ket based on the original. The design is simply obsolete.... news group, May 23, 2002) The old beetle was designed in the mid-1930s for a nation James’s advice demonstrates that he believes the Beetle in economic trouble with few cars, at the request of Hitler. The new beetle was designed in the ’90s in the U.S. for brand must be updated. The reason for this is straightfor- mostly the U.S. and Europe, for people with more money, ward, as James explains in a later, follow-up e-mail: “The in an utterly different marketplace.... In other words, OF old Beetle’s 70-year-old technology incorporates NO mod- COURSE the new Beetle has very little in common with ern safety design” (rec.autos.makers.vw.watercooled news the old other than the outline. It couldn’t realistically be group, May 24, 2002). There is a strong progressive under- any other way. It’s essentially a Golf with a different shell. current here: James considers the Beetle brand part of the This is a very good thing.... Is there another car on the mar- entire progressive project of modern society. As technology ket with a design more audacious than the new Beetle? The sixties are long over. So are the thirties, for that mat- is brought to bear on product categories, brands become ter. I’d thank VW for still making small cars with excellent more sophisticated, more reliable, and more advanced. design and personality. You can always blend in with a Although the Beetle brand of the past may have rich sym- Civic, Corolla, Cavalier (yech), etc. if you’d rather. (posted bolic meanings (as evidenced by James’s references to nos- by “Tony,” alt.volkswagen.beetle news group, February talgia, romanticism, and museum worthiness), the brand can 17, 1998) Teaching Old Brands New Tricks / 25 Tony argues from the perspective of a moderate ratio- nary experiences and give them a taste of the philosophical nalist laying out a logical argument to ease the tensions and the sublime previously associated mainly with religion, between two warring factions. Discounting the intrinsic mysticism, and other spiritual practices. For example, con- value of the past, he insists that the old brand must be sider the importance of the central brand story and its adjusted for a new time, place, and set of target consumers. mythic references in the following news-group postings: Akin to Orrin, he shifts the argument about brand essence to As Yoda said, the Dark Side is always hard to see. superficial design elements and advertising-laden symbolic Except with someone like Darth Maul, who just reeks of associations. The result, for Tony, is an up-to-date vehicle evil. Still, even him, when he’s on Coruscant, probably that still shares the enchanting personality of the old Beetle doesn’t go anywhere near the Jedi Temple. Especially brand. Enchantment indeed is the operative word, as many for (some might say cliché) views on good (heroic and Star Wars fans testify. brave) and evil (sneaky and in-Sidious, pun intended), it would be natural for Sidious to be disguised and decep- Star Wars tive. (posted by “Randy,” parenthetical comments in original, rec.games.frp.gurps news group, May 22, The original 1977 Star Wars movie attempted to disorient its 1999) consumers temporally by offering a faraway future world of Darth Vader may have ended up becoming a twisted ver- spacecraft and intelligent robots subsumed within a fairy sion of Anakin Skywalker but he started out acting with tale set in the distant past. Star Wars: Episode I—The Phan- the best intentions. Unfortunately, we all know the road to tom Menace attempted to top this temporal dislocation. Set- hell is paved with the best intentions. Sure, Palpatine ting the fourth movie three episodes before the first was a admits to using the Dark Side of the Force in E6 [Star stroke of marketing genius that created the neologism pre- Wars: Episode 6—Return of the Jedi], but that’s just [the] quel. This prequel demonstrates retro branding in the realm name the Jedi have applied to the side they don’t use. Pal- of connected products and services that characterize today’s patine is willing to use it in order to achieve the ordered and peaceful galaxy he doesn’t see existing under the “entertainment economy” (Wolf 1999). As a retro brand, Republic and the Senate. Jedi would never use an ends to The Phantom Menace stamps an established brand name, justify a means and that what separates the dark and light Star Wars, on a new movie that couples cutting-edge special sides. This is why the young Anakin will be willing to fol- effects with a cast of contemporary actors. As with the new low Palpatine, because of the good he can do, not the evil. Beetle, it imaginatively melds a familiar brand name with an (posted by “Cam,” rec.arts.sf.starwars.misc news group, all-new, up-to-date product. July 10, 2002) The Phantom Menace not only contained history but “Erik”: In Return of the Jedi the emperor is not able to also created history. People waited in lines to sit through the detect Luke or seemingly Yoda. In the Phantom Menace trailers for the movie and then left the theaters before the the Jedi are not able to detect Darth Sidious or Darth Maul main feature (Gaslin 1999). Die-hard fans in 30 U.S. cities even though Darth Sidious was amongst them the whole camped out on sidewalks for more than a month to be time. Does this mean if you are totally good and totally among the first to see the film, which spawned a documen- evil you can not see one who is your opposite? tary movie about their rite of endurance (Gaslin 1999). Fans “Roseanne”: Well, while the Emperor/Sidious is presented exhumed old Star Wars collectibles, new Star Wars toys as totally evil, who is totally good? I don’t think that Luke graced toy store shelves, and box office records were broken is meant that way at all. In fact, a good deal of the psy- once more. The buzz surrounding the rerelease was closer to chological drama is made out of Luke’s struggles against a din. Our analysis of consumer responses to this retro brand the temptations of evil. (exchange posted between “Erik” and “Roseanne,” rec.arts.sf.starwars.misc, January 30, reveals additional insights into the management of brand 2001) meaning. Allegory: Star Wars’s brand story. The movies Star These postings powerfully demonstrate two important Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, The points about the consumption of the Star Wars brand story. Phantom Menace, and Attack of the Clones are parts of a First, the archetypal characters and plot elements of The saga set in a mythical world that blends past and future. The Phantom Menace are interpreted allegorically as timeless saga is branded by the name Star Wars, and its story is a didactic symbols alluding to a reality that transcends con- coming-of-age morality tale that segues into a tragic fall sumers’ mundane daily existence. Star Wars is a myth of from grace. As an entertainment brand, Star Wars contains a good versus evil. It refers to human universals such as the rich set of associations deriving from the narrative that is its battles between temptation and resistance, selfishness and core product. The brand is a universal myth populated with generosity, personal and political, means and ends. As con- familiar mythic signs and boasting archetypal heroes, sor- sumers decode George Lucas’s cosmology—inspired by the cerers, sages, demons, fairy princesses, clowns, and elvish archetypal reflections of the comparative religion scholar entities (for more on consumer myths, see Stern 1995). Each Joseph Campbell—they inevitably are also defining and character in the Star Wars movies forms a subbrand in a processing moral characteristics and the meaning of morals complex, multidimensional brand constellation. for themselves. For example, it may not be acceptable to Many of the consumers who discuss Star Wars and its favor ends over means, as Darth Vader does, but Cam finds sequels, prequels, and even sequels of prequels often refer to it comprehensible and even honorable. The brand story is the moral aspects of its narrative arc. The heroic quest and deeply implicated in this personal activity of mapping out its obstacles and overall purpose transcend consumers’ ordi- acceptable definitions and behavior. 26 / Journal of Marketing, July 2003 Second, the way consumers weave together notions from character was going to be had spread like wildfire though all five Star Wars movies is noteworthy. Interpreting the story the Star Wars fan community that it was impossible for Jar as a continuing saga, they treat the brand as one single text Jar to live down to it. (posted by “Peter,” rec.arts.sf.star- wars.misc news group, May 23, 1999) rather than five separate texts. By using common characters and motifs in marketing images (such as the giant head of the Peter’s posting also reinforces the close connection villain as the looming background for both movie posters), between Star Wars’s retro brand and childhood or adoles- the producers cue consumers to make comparisons. These cence. It is as if the brand has magical powers to transport comparisons between texts suggest that the prequels suc- consumers back in time, to thrill them in a way they have not cessfully blend into the same brand story of the first motion been thrilled since they were children. In his detailed review picture. Consumers consider the separate products a single (most of which is cut here for brevity’s sake), Peter’s narra- narrative, a single brand, a single “morallegory.” tive also shows that he sees himself as a spokesperson for an Arcadia: Star Wars’s idealized community. The first Star enormous Star Wars fan community of which he is a mem- Wars movie begins with a trumpet flourish and the words, ber. The brand community had been anticipating the film for “A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.” With this reso- a long time, and its word-of-mouth connections, especially nant phrase, the creator George Lucas marks the imaginary over the Internet, were formidable (see Kozinets 1999, realm of Star Wars as a “liminal,” or borderland, state that 2001; McAlexander, Schouten, and Koening 2002; Muniz exists beyond ordinary life (Turner 1967). It is in the open- and O’Guinn 2001). Peter must defend his own opinion of ness that accompanies this displacement that consumers find the character Jar Jar Binks against the extant strong negative their sense of connection and meaning. Consumers have consensus of the community, which demonstrates how the roamed for almost three decades in the wild, if imaginary, brand community influences consumer opinion. frontier that Star Wars founded. Anthropologists report that In this vein, some community members contend that the liminal places and states contribute to altered states of con- revived Star Wars film was not sufficiently distant from the sciousness, assist people in escaping from everyday rou- present—a necessary condition for it to enable suspension tines, and hold out the possibility of self-transformation. of disbelief and evoke a wondrous place set apart. A com- Like sidewalk squatters outside movie theaters, consumers mon news-group complaint was that the film contained too occupy the space created by Star Wars’s brand story and use much contemporary vernacular, such as “that’s gotta hurt.” elements of it to construct their own utopian domains. “Calvin,” for example, unequivocally stated: “Look. I’m a This process is encouraged, and even accelerated, by fan here. I’m willing to really work to suspend disbelief. I’m Star Wars’s setting in a bygone age of adventure, imagina- willing to go out of my way to try to get into the mood. But, tion, and magic. As a brand, Star Wars represents a timeless c’mon, George Lucas—meet me halfway!” (rec.games.frp. tale of liberating empowerment. In addition, for many Star gurps news group, May 22, 1999). Calvin’s comments sug- Wars consumers, the sense of nostalgia they derive from the gest that though he is highly motivated to believe in the brand also derives from their personal experiences with the movie, the text must also conform to accepted conventions. brand during childhood (see also Holbrook and Schindler Even before the release of Star Wars: Episode II—Attack of 1989, 1994, 1996; Moore, Wilkie, and Lutz 2002). By turn- the Clones, there was a major fan outcry reported in the ing the inner sanctum of a darkened theater into a summon- news and shared on the news groups. The outcry pertained ing space for viewers’ inner child, the saga combines the to the cameo roles given to the pop-music boy band N’Sync: nostalgic with the paradisiacal. “Allan” said that seeing The Phantom Menace’s opening title, with its direct evocations The online response from the huge Star Wars fan commu- nity was immediate and condemnatory; many felt that the of Star Wars symbolism, “took me back to when I was 11, independent, fly-in-the-face-of-convention sci-fi franchise and me and my brother got to see Star Wars in my grandfa- was become [sic] just another pop culture marketing gim- ther’s theater. Front-row center when the blockade runner mick, and that N’Sync’s involvement was another nail in and Star Destroyer wooshed right over my head” its coffin. This week, however, LucasFilm proved that it (rec.games.frp.gurps news group, May 25, 1999). Allan’s does listen to its fans. Because of the outcry and dismay recollections precipitate a para-Proustian return to the past expressed on various fan Web sites (notably TheForce. by commingling family ties, privileged viewing positions, net), they made the decision to cut N’Sync’s parts from the film. (news release posted by “Anthony,” rec.music.artists. and preteen fantasies. His wonderment mixes fantasy with kings-x news group, January 14, 2002) reality; the demarcation between being part of an audience in a theater and floating suspended in outer space has This posting reinforces the existence, power, and peril of become one. Many other message posters echoed Allan in an active, involved brand community. The inference from exhibitionistic displays of childhood dreams and nostalgia: these complaints is that if the film is too contemporary it Having seen the original Star Wars films more times than shatters the illusion of iconic events unfolding in a place set I can count (more times than any adult cares to admit), I so apart from today. Ironically, the original Star Wars films (not wanted to love this movie. I was mentally prepared to be least, the notorious Star Wars Holiday Special) were as swept back into a world I haven’t seen anew since I was much a part of their own era, the Seventies and Eighties, as 17. With the imagination behind the first trilogy reinvigo- the retro prequels are a part of theirs. In addition, there is rated by a long rest, and equipped with technology not concern, as there is for the New Beetle, that the retro brand even imagined in 1977, I expected an unequalled triumph of the imagination.... I have to admit that I did not mind the is merely a marketing gimmick. For the Star Wars brand, its character of Jar Jar Binks, Qui-Gon Jinn’s reluctant comic idealized community is composed of not only the famous sidekick. So much negative hype about how annoying this fan base but also the communities associated with at least Teaching Old Brands New Tricks / 27 two other idealized past times partially evoked by the story, authenticity issue and cannot agree on the criteria that which are held in high esteem by community members. should be used to judge it. Although the concepts of brand These are, first, the brand story’s close-knit community of identity and brand essence seem relatively straightforward, rebels and sorcerers and, second, the rich associations of this analysis of the Star Wars brand suggests that they are childhood delight evoked by the original Star Wars brand. much more complex from the consumer standpoint. Con- Aura: Star Wars wanes. As Peter’s aforementioned post- sumers cocreate the brand meaning by carefully reading and ing attests, when the new Star Wars movie was released, interpreting brand-related communications, adding their many Internet news groups were awash in rankings, ratings, own personal histories, and continually delving into defini- interpretations, and autopsies of the movie. The majority of tions of the brand’s authenticity. these messages assessed the extent of the movie’s authentic- Antinomy: Star Wars’s brand paradox. The stewardship ity, that is, the presence of the original Star Wars brand of Star Wars’s commercial cosmos offers important insights essence in the prequel. There was considerable commentary into brand meaning management. The series creator George on the precious, incomparable, singular, and sacred qualities Lucas and his creative team have spent more than a quarter of the original, which is analogous to Benjamin’s conception of a century carefully managing their brand extensions. To of the almost holy aura of original artworks. Consumers do this, they have had to control the antinomy, or the para- complained that the movie’s representation of “medichlori- doxical essence, the “paradessence” (Shakar 2001), of their ans,” an essentially biological explanation for the hitherto brand. One of the key challenges Lucas and his marketing ineffable Force, was “lame,” “anti-mystical,” and generally team have faced is consistency. In the dynamic deal-making ran against the grain of the original movies (see various and almost embarrassingly merchandized world of success- postings at rec.games.frp.gurps news group, May 22, 1999). ful entertainment opportunities, could they bolster brand Consumers’ concerns are captured in a more general sense essence and avoid brand dilution? If one story maintained in the following news-group message: that the Force was all-powerful and another maintained that it had limits, what would the effects be on the extended Seriously. People who think Phantom Menace and Jedi brand story? are in any way close to the quality of the first two movies just did not get what was special about those two movies To answer this question, consumers must and do follow in the first place. Phantom Menace and Jedi are JUST sets of rules about what constitutes a “real” or “authentic” MOVIES. Star Wars and Empire seemed something more. Star Wars brand story. In fan debates on the alt.startrek.vs. (posted by “Todd,” alt.fan.starwars news group, August starwars news group, “Pat” (May 23, 2002) told other fol- 18, 1999) lowers to consult the official guidelines on the Star Wars Web site to help determine what constitutes its actual brand Todd’s comments, which must resort to emotional gener- story. According to the Web site, the “real story of Star Wars” alities, suggest that consumers can only struggle to describe is contained in the films “and only the films.” It discounts the precisely their judgments of brand essence—whether the authority and authenticity of book and comic book noveliza- reproduction has the core values and authentic identity of the tions, trading cards, and other subnarratives. On the official original brand. In Todd’s posting, these qualities seem Web site and in Star Wars fan idiom, the guidelines are beyond rational terms; they are only recognized when vis- called “canon” and generally considered sacrosanct. cerally grasped. Consumers appreciate the ineffable, mysti- However, some Star Wars fans resist the edicts of the cal nature of their attachment to the brand in frequent self- series’ marketers and those telling them that any product deprecating jokes about their own obsessions. After one bearing the official brand is the genuine article. As is clear message poster stated that The Phantom Menace is just a from the preceding comments of Calvin and Todd, despite movie and people need to get on with their lives (apparently the increased technological sophistication of the prequel, a reference to the extreme sidewalk-sitting behavior preced- some perceive the newer Star Wars film as failing to fit in ing the prequel’s release), “Chandler” replies: with the spirit of the past. The retro brand is thus perceived Foolish Heretic. The Archangel Gabriel descended from as inauthentic, inadequate, and ultimately unacceptable. heaven and instructed the prophet Lucas with the Fourth In the fascinating, activist, emotionally charged com- Testament. He is in the process of filming the more dra- ments of “Bill,” precipitated by the latest Star Wars prequel, matic parts. This is authentic Holy Scripture you pass off Attack of the Clones, it seems that virtually everything from with “it’s just a movie.” Do you accuse the Bible of just being a book? The Tablets of Gold and the Ruby Specta- the retro-branded movie is deemed inferior to the original cles of just being jewelry? The Ark of the Covenant of just (see alt.fan.starwars news group, May 10, 2002). In perhaps being a bug lamp?” (rec.games.frp.gurps news group, June the ultimate act of consumer resistance, Bill vehemently 10, 1999) argues that fans should wrest control of Star Wars from its official owners and produce and distribute their own, more Although Chandler is clearly being playful with his use authentic version of The Phantom Menace: of religious language, many Judeo-Christian believers might consider his comparisons blasphemous. His comparisons We the fans need to take Star Wars back from its evil cre- are founded on the assertion that The Phantom Menace pos- ator. I propose that we form a secret, rebel group that will create a REAL EPISODE I, in secret, and release it over sesses vivid brand authenticity and powerful authority. They the Internet using encrypted e-mails and distributing also suggest that the Star Wars brand is a deeply meaningful DVD’s. Once it gets out, there will be no stopping it, creation affecting some people’s lives profoundly. As with because people will copy it to each other. It will be illegal, the New Beetle, however, consumers are divided on the but what will happen, will the F***ING THOUGHT 28 / Journal of Marketing, July 2003 POLICE OF GEORGE LUCAS come and try to take it neglected brands such as DUZ detergent and Aero Shave foam from us? Nobody owns the characters of Star Wars. That’s to attempt to relaunch them nationwide (Van Bakel 2002). Our so much bullshit. You can’t own my religion! You can’t analysis suggests that these two reasons, the rapidity of new own the very metaphor I interface reality with! Well, OK, maybe you could if you were going to MAKE A GOD- product launches and the increasingly unstable cultural envi- DAMN GOOD STAR WARS MOVIE, but this crap just ronment, are important causes of the rise of retro branding. won’t do. (alt.fan.starwars news group, May 10, 2002) Yet despite the evident popularity of old-style products among contemporary consumers, our findings suggest that In a different discussion about the religious responses to managing retro brands is a complex affair. It is not simply a the Star Wars brand (a message thread titled “Star Wars—A matter of rebroadcasting an old advertisement, relaunching New Religion”), fans reached equally resentful conclusions. a long-delisted brand, or boasting about an organization’s “Adam” began by suggesting that Australian Star Wars fans illustrious heritage (cf. Aaker 1996). It is more intractable write “Jedi” as their religion on the country’s census form, than this because the brand is reanimated jointly by stake- because if 10,000 people subscribe to the same sect, it holders. The brand is a milieu where marketing management becomes a fully recognized and legal “religion” (see aus.dvd and consumer commitment coexist. As Fournier (1998) news group, April 3, 2001). The “Jedis” then might even demonstrates, consumers have deep relationships with name their own holidays and gain government benefits. To brands; our data bring to light some of the complex histori- this, “Zack” responded: cal, allegorical, and paradoxical qualities of those relation- There is a downside to this business. Since George Lucas ships. Consumers’ arguments and agreements about the is THE CREATOR, that would make him GOD. It’s bad New Beetle and Star Wars, for example, demonstrate that enough in the ancient religions having a God that is either the management of brand meanings can be a jointly told tale cruel or apathetic but to have one that constantly milks you for money while in return giving you extra Computer Gen- or a vicious verbal duel. erated muppets as a Special Edition is just ludicrous. In relation to past research, our data especially bring to (aus.dvd news group, April 4, 2001) light the communal elements of brand meaning management in a retro context. Given its mythological status and histori- Bill’s diatribe offers opposing poles of the profane mar- cal context, retromarketing represents the acme of ket and the sacred myth (see Belk, Wallendorf, and Sherry community-based relationship management. A retro brand 1989). Zack’s posting is resentful of the myth- and money- is a powerful totem that regathers its loyal users into a con- making power manifested in George Lucas as a person. Both temporary clan. Members of the clan share an affinity that message posters demonstrate that though the brand is clearly situates them in a common experience of belonging, both to recognized as a commercial creation, it is also a deeply a brand community (Muniz and O’Guinn 2001) and to a par- meaningful part of some consumers’ lives—it is enthusiasti- ticular era and its ethos. The retro brand carries and con- cally represented as a powerful metaphor for living and even cretizes these important symbolic elements in perpetuity. for religion. These comments suggest not only that com- Furthermore, our findings demonstrate that retro brands merce and the sacred are cultural opposites but also that enable consumers to negotiate the moral geography of their their intermixing in brands such as Star Wars has consider- able cultural power (see also Kozinets 2001, pp. 76–78). In lives. Despite, or perhaps because of, the nomadic character support of these findings having wider marketing relevance, of contemporary social relations, consumers use retro Peñaloza (2000, p. 105) finds similar tensions between brands to return briefly to an imagined era of moral cer- “commerce” and “soul” among ranchers of the American tainty. This moral element is an important source of a West and concludes that the West is a site for “the produc- brand’s continuing reinvigoration and a singular contribu- tion of profound cultural meanings.” Bill’s and Zack’s post- tion of this study. It is inscribed, for example, in the Star ings express these important tensions in terms of a brand and Wars paradox, in which good and faithful consumers are the different responses to them. They respond to the brand exploited by the evil, moneygrubbing George Lucas. Moral- paradox behind Star Wars’s combination of creed and com- ity is also at the core of brand essence, which is the central merce, piety and profanity, mana and money. tension driving the Volkswagen Beetle’s brand story of ide- alism, environmentalism, independence, and nonconformity. In summary, the communities that coalesce around retro Discussion brands differ from other brand communities (e.g., McAlexander, Schouten, and Koening 2002; Muniz and Implications for Understanding Retro Brands O’Guinn 2001) in the moral and utopian character of the Retro brands will have continuing appeal as a marketing strat- “consciousness of kind” (Muniz and O’Guinn 2001, p. 418) egy for two important reasons. First, technology and imitation to which their members subscribe. The retro brand is a por- quickly eradicate first-mover advantage, yet a competitive tal to a temporal sanctuary, which admits the community edge is gained by tapping into the wellsprings of trust and loy- periodically for purposes of renewal and rejuvenation. The alty that consumers hold toward old brands. Second, consider retro brand is a creative anachronism, imaginatively Davis’s (1979) contention that communal nostalgia increases employed by the community as a metasocial commentary on during chaotic times. The tumultuous post–September 11 the contemporary cultural scene. The preservation and active world is likely to see more rather than less retro branding. Early reconfiguration of collective memory is the lifework of the indicators seem to confirm this trend. Firms such as River West community. It should come as no surprise, then, that brand Brands LLC, headquartered in Chicago, are actively acquiring managers are increasingly turning to the mythological and Teaching Old Brands New Tricks / 29 poetic (Randazzo 1993) as well as the archetypal (Mark and Loken, and Joiner 1998). A study of the process element of Pearson 2001) in their attempts to reinvigorate ailing brands. brand meanings is valuable, but it does not and should not Which brands most qualify for revival? Our analysis substitute for a sophisticated knowledge of the cultural con- suggests several salient qualities. Although it may lie dor- tents of those meanings. By seeking singular, aggregate mant in collective memory, the brand must still exist as a brand meanings among populations, these association-based brand story, yet it should remain relatively undisturbed by network approaches tend to underplay the complexity and recent marketing attention. The brand must have a vital difference among consumers—let alone consumers’ own essence; that is, it must have existed as an important icon active making of meaning—that our approach brings to the during a specific developmental stage for a particular gener- fore. ation or cohort. It must be capable of evoking vivid yet rel- In this article, we show consumers to be partners in the evant associations for particular consumers. Perhaps most cocreation of brand essence and importers of meaning from important, the retro brand must be capable of mobilizing a beyond the marketplace. Consumers draw holistically from utopian vision, of engendering a longing for an idealized their lived experiences with products, history, mass media, and past or community. In this respect, the brand must inspire a one another, as well as marketing sources, for the meanings solidarity and sense of belonging to a community. Ideally, they ascribe to brands. Whereas Stern (1988) recommends that the brand should be amenable to both technological and advertising be considered intrinsically allegorical, our research symbolic updates so as to ensure its perpetual relevance to suggests a broadening and extension of this perspective. Sum- consumers, who constantly revise their own identities. In marized by the 4As abbreviation, we believe that brands them- these considerations, we find the central elements of Alle- selves can be usefully considered complex stories and that the gory (brand story), Aura (brand essence), Arcadia (idealized most successful brands have “morallegorical” qualities. community), and Antinomy (brand paradox) that inform our Brand stories are partly composed of the meanings and 4As analysis. associations emanating from advertisers and marketers; however, they are also constructed by the mass media, press Implications for Brand Meaning Management releases, news stories, and related celebrities. Most impor- Marketing scholars from Alderson (1957) to Zaltman (1997) tant for retro brands, they are redolent of historical periods; have recognized the importance of the experiential nature of temporal connections; and their attendant national, regional, the brand, but perhaps not since the heyday of motivation and political associations (e.g., the Beetle’s vestigial links to research (e.g., Dichter 1960) has there been such a resur- Nazi Germany). Consumers construct their own brand sto- gence of interest in brand phenomenology. The most suc- ries using the raw material of producer and cultural inter- cinct if overstated justification for this interest is the con- mediary stories and adding their own idiosyncratic view- tention that some conceptualize a product as “no more than points, needs, goals, and experiences. As our data set an artifact around which customers have experiences” (Pra- demonstrates, networked information technology has made halad and Ramaswamy 2000, p. 83). From the pioneering the widespread sharing of these brand stories among inter- work of Levy (1999) and Hirschman and Holbrook (1982) ested consumers much easier and much more global than it through the current wave of postpositivist inquiry (e.g., has been previously. These consumer communities play an Brown 1995; Fournier 1998; Fournier and Mick 1999; Holt important role in cocreating brand stories. They can also 2002; Kozinets 2001; Peñaloza 2000; Sherry 1998; Thomp- serve as settings in which those stories take place. As son 1997), the tendency to regard brands as symbolic cre- Meredith and Schewe (2002) note, cohorts of consumers are ations has led to the conclusion that the management of nostalgic together and can idealize similar versions of meaning must underlie marketing strategy. That marketers utopia. Consumers use idealized times and places—those of are quintessentially meaning managers, shaping the experi- Seventies childhood innocence and Sixties flower power, for ence of consumers, is intuitively plausible. That meaning example—as settings that lend depth and vitality to brand management involves attending to the creative activity of meanings. The result of this animation is a brand with core consumers, or that consumers might justly be regarded as values, a brand animated by its story and containing a moral the cocreators of brand essence, is equally plausible, if less character and identity. Our study thus suggests that Aura fully appreciated. (brand essence), Allegory (brand stories), and Arcadia (ide- Strategic brand management models, both comprehen- alized community) are the character, plot, and setting, sive (Keller 1998) and circumscribed (Aaker 1991, 1996), respectively, of brand meaning. tend to downplay the complex, heterogeneous, and experi- Antinomy, the final element of our 4As abbreviation, is ential nature of consumer–brand relations. These models perhaps most important of all, for brand paradox brings the generally adopt a more cognitive or structural view of the cultural complexity necessary to animate each of the other brand and overlook much of the emotional complexity that dimensions. The brand is both alive and not alive, a thing endows the brand with texture, nuance, and dimensionality. and a personality, a subject and an object: This is the para- Furthermore, although customer-based approaches to brand doxical kernel of brand meaning. The story is both truth and equity allow for the existence of idiosyncratic consumer fiction, composed of clever persuasions and facts, devised response, they encourage managers to view this experience by distant copywriters and real users. This is the central as a passive or reactive result of marketing intervention. For conundrum of brand story and consumer–marketer co- example, recent studies on brand extensions conceptualize dependence. The idealized community is both a real com- brand meanings as well-developed networks of associated munity and a pseudocommunity, moral and amoral, in thrall beliefs and feelings (e.g., Desai and Keller 2002; John, to a commercial creation and a rebellious uprising, depen- 30 / Journal of Marketing, July 2003 dent and independent, a gathering of both angry activists marketers, consumers in turn uncover and activate their own and covetous consumers. For a retro brand, the tension brand meanings, which are communicated back to marketers between past and present—and even, as in our two exam- and the associated brand community. This is not to say that ples, the future—also vivifies brand meanings. Retro prod- brand management is impossible in a world of consumer- ucts seem custom-made to address a core paradox at the mediated meanings, but only that it is more complex than heart of brand management. Retro combines the benefits of before and cocreated rather than imposed by managerial uniqueness, newness, and exclusivity (with its hints of dictate. higher functionality, class, styling, and premium prices) Our analysis of brand stories and their managerial sig- with oldness, familiarity, recognition, trust, and loyalty. nificance complements the increasingly accepted view that These intrinsic paradoxes underpin a product’s élan vital, brands are no longer expected to be reassuring to consumers; the creative life force at the heart of the retro brand’s extra- they must inspire consumers to take risks (Kapferer 2001). ordinary appeal. Fournier and Mick (1999) note that consumer satisfaction with technological products should be built on surprise, the unexpected, a challenge. To create this challenge, brand man- Conclusion agers must take risks and boldly go where managers have According to the acerbic comedian George Carlin (1998, p. been reluctant to go before. Nike’s championing of global 110), contempora

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