Storytelling and underdog brands
At the genesis of the logos, there were stories
The subtle art of storytelling in the oral tradition dates back thousands of years as a medium for sharing cultural knowledge (Kent, 2015, p. 481). In the Western tradition, Homer’s Iliad (Homère et al., 2013) and Odysseus (Homère et al., 2017) are among our oldest written texts. In particular, the Iliad is thought to be a compilation of epic poems from various authors.
Similarly, in the Christian tradition, the Old and the New Testaments rely on stories and parables to transmit layers of knowledge and moral lessons refined over the successive generations of believers offering a baseline shared knowledge and normative principles to ensure order within communities of believers. [1]
In the French tradition, the fables of Jean De La Fontaine (2000) encapsulate important morals into one or two-page poems depicting anthropomorphized animals such as his famous adaptations of Aesop’s The Ant and the Grasshopper or The Fox and the Crow.
Stories tap into our episodic memories (Mucundorfeanu, 2018, p. 42; Kent, 2015, p. 481), and the brains of the speaker and the listener(s) synchronize during storytelling (Mucundorfeanu, 2018, p. 42-43; Ben Youssef et al., 2019, p. 4). As such stories are considered to be a powerful tool to convey memorable and easily understandable messages and, when well-crafted, such stories can carry through the ages.
Brand personality vs band biography
A simple definition of brand personality is as follows: “the set of human characteristics associated with the brand” (Aaker, 1997, p. 347). Some brand personality models such as the one of Jennifer Aaker (1997) include non-human traits (sophistication and ruggedness) while some models such as that of Geuens et al. (2009) stick closer to human personality as modelized in the five-factor model (McCrae et Costa, 1987).
Regardless of the personality model, the underlying premise is that personality is relatively stable over time (Paharia et al., 2011, p. 18?19). For example, French students perceive Coca-Cola as an introverted brand (Louis and Lombart, 2010). It would break the current brand associations (Keller, 1993) if Coke suddenly presented itself as a social butterfly.
A brand biography can be defined as “an unfolding story that chronicles the brand’s origins, life experiences, and evolution over time in a selectively constructed story.” (Paharia et al., 2011, p. 2) In opposition to brand personality, the concept of brand biography includes a dynamic aspect because it allows the brand to evolve and mature over time (idem, p. 18-19).
In particular, the concept of brand biography allows one to capitalize on a firm’s long history and heritage. As such, it permits leveraging on nostalgia to create a generational bridge, convey authenticity, and reviving of old memories, and inscribe the brand as part of the collective mythos (Kessous and Roux, 2014, p. 124-128).
Examples of brands using nostalgia include Hipp GmbH, a German supplier of organic food for babies, which built its brand upon a familial tradition dating back to 1899 (Mucundorfeanu, 2018, p. 48?49). For his part, Montblanc capitalizes on the fact that many prominent political figures used their ball pens to sign important conventions (idem, p. 49). Guinness, the famous Irish brewer, still reaps the reputational benefits of their stunt when they dropped 150,000 exclusively labeled bottles in the Atlantic Ocean in 1959 (idem, p. 50).
Finally, based on a questionnaire covering 48 brands (half were nostalgic and the other half non-nostalgic) filled by 606 participants, Kessous et al. (2015) found that nostalgia had a positive and significant effect on brand attachment, self-brand connection, storytelling, and purchase intention (notably as a gift or as a memento).
Storytelling and branding
In public relations, stories are considered a central tool in the asternal used to manage an organization’s reputation (Kent, 2015). A story is a series of interconnected scenes and generally follows a predefined narrative structure minimally composed of an initial stage, a climax, and a conclusion (idem, sect. 2).
All else being equal, it is suggested that a good brand story should be 1) authentic and thus perceived as credible; 2) concise, that is, free of superfluous details and cumbersome wording and syntactic structures; 3) contain reversals and unexpected twists; and 4) rely on humor (when appropriate) (Hofman-Kohlmeyer, 2017, p. 140?141).
According to Jan K?nig (2020, fig. 2), storytelling can be divided into two main dimensions, the story and the telling. The story is composed of the plot (the main frame supporting the story) and the characters (who). The telling refers to the stylistic components of the setting (where), the perspective, the time (when), and the ornate which represents the specificity of the writing styles (idem, sect. 3.1).
Considering the style elements, the setting or world, from a branding perspective, is the firm’s market (Pereira, 2019, fig. 1).
Master plots
In the context of branding, the customer journey is considered to be the plot (Pereira, 2019, fig. 1). The customer journey is composed of all the touchpoints - including those that are not controlled by the focal organization (partner-owned, customer-owned, WOM) – from the prepurchase phase to the post-purchase phase (Lemon and Verhoef, 2016).
The plot points are the anchors allowing the story to move forward from event to event (or scene-to-scene); they represent the problems or challenges that the protagonist must overcome and can be either used to confront the hero directly with the problem moving the story forward or to delay the resolution, thus slowing down the pace of the story (K?nig, 2020, p. 3.2).
There are at least twenty master plots (the story core driver supporting the narration) that storytellers can use, but there are five of them recommended by Micheal Kent (2015, sect. 3):
1.?????? Quest: In this kind of story, the protagonist is invested in a special mission that only (s)he accomplishes. For example, in Lord of the Rings, Frodo must bring the one ring to Mordor for the sake of Middle Earth. Usually, brands use quest as their master plot promising to deliver revolutionary technologies or a panacea (e.g. the cure for cancer).
In a business context, Theranos’ customer value proposition (CVP) was to deliver a technology that promised to revolutionize the detection of illnesses with nothing but a few drops of blood. Unfortunately, it turned out to be one of the biggest financial scams of the century. [2]
2.?????? Adventure: Have you ever dreamed of escaping the torpor of our daily lives (desire of otherness), visiting exotic and faraway places, and connecting with people from foreign cultures (Belk et al., 2003; Beverland and Farrelly, 2010)?
Adventure could be used to promote unique and life-changing memorable life experiences such as rafting on the Colorado River (Arnould and Price, 1993). Similarly, storytelling is a central component of destination marketing in tourism (Ben Youssef et al., 2019). As such, selling an exotic adventure might be an interesting angle destination such as the Village Vacances Valcartier (waterpark in Québec City) or the Zoo of Granby.
Since the whole Harley Davidson brand is about the freedom of riding a bike just like a desperado would ride his horse amid the desert (Schouten and McAlexander, 1995, p. 51-53), using an adventure to promote such a rebellious brand is the best.
In the business world, SpaceX promises no less than conquering space and colonizing Mars…
3.?????? Rivalry: I don’t remember exactly in which books, but in the manga series Bakuman (about two teenagers dreaming of becoming the number one manga author and visual artist publishing in Weekly Shonen Jump), they suggest that the antagonist should be as charismatic, if not more, as the protagonist.
For example, remember that Mac VS PC campaign in 66 episodes aired from 2006 to 2009? That being said, it is important to keep in mind that comparative advertising might be illegal in some countries. For example, at some point, Bell Canada and Videotron – two Canadian telecom companies – took each other to court for their mutual advertising against one another… [3]
4.?????? Underdog: The underdog is the little man or woman fighting against all the odds to win against a bigger opponent. The classic example naturally includes the story of David against Goliath [4] but also cult movies such as Rocky Balboa featuring Sylvester Stallone and those by Jean-Claude Van Damme (e.g. The Quest, In Hell). This angle to branding will be discussed later in this article.
5.?????? Wretched excesses: This angle to storytelling will usually be used by activist groups against the focal firm. Therefore, this is one kind of storytelling that corporations must fight against in their PR endeavors, including pretty much all the scandals one can think of including corruption, environmental damage, fraud, and product harm.
For example, on the environmental front, in 2023, Greenpeace activists occupied one of Shell’s oil platforms to protest against their lack of engagement in protecting the environment. [5] Considering product harm, during the 1970s, the explosion of the engines of Ford Pintos led to the death of 500 people (Sandel, 2010, Chapter 2). Considering fraud and corruption, in Canada, the consulting firm SNC-Lavalin (AtkInsRéalis since 2023) was accused of bribing government officials in Libya from 2001 to 2011. [6]
On another note, some experts such as Daniel Korschun (2021) think that brand activism – that is, when a brand takes strong political stances on political issues [7], such as the campaign Pecan resist by Ben & Jerry’s (Manfredi-Sánchez, 2019, fig. 3) – as consumers are becoming increasingly polarized (Euromonitor International, 2024). Yet, it is crucial to keep in mind that building social credibility is a long process and the brand can easily be accused of woke washing if the controversial engagement isn’t perceived as sincere (Vredenburg et al., 2020).
Furthermore, based on a series of four studies, Mukherjee and Althuizen (2020) conclude that courting controversy is a risky gamble because the gain tends to be minor in comparison to the possible damage caused by a backlash. For example, now more than one year after the failed influence partnership with Dylan Mulvaney, Fox News announced this morning that Bud Light now slipped to third place in terms of beer dollar sales in the U.S. [8]
Characters
The objective when delivering a story is to ensure that the target audience can identify themselves with the characters portrayed in the story (Kent, 2015, sect. 2.3). At the most basic level, telling a story is portraying the character’s personality since it is really how the protagonist interprets the challenges presented to him or her that will ultimately determine the progression of events (K?nig, 2020, sect. 3.3).
Furthermore, it is recommended to use archetypes, those mythological representations of classic character types at the root of all our stories (e.g. legends, fairy tales) since the dawn of mankind (K?nig, 2020, sect. 3.3). In Jungian psychology, we find figures such the hero, the mother/father, the eternal child (puer aeternus), the rival, and the trickster (Beebe, 2017, Chapter 4).
Moreover, sometimes a public figure’s persona (personal brand which does not necessarily represent the artist’s genuine personality), such as Madona’s brand, becomes embedded into the collective unconscious that this persona takes a life of its own and culturally becomes a mythical figure (Qyll, 2020).
In the context of branding, the character is represented by the brand identity (Pereira, 2019, fig. 1), the brand identity is how the firm self-represents whereas the brand image is how the customers interpret the various cues composing the brand (Nandan, 2005). Therefore, there might be a disconnection between how the firm presents itself and how the customer interprets the brand.
For example, Apple advertises itself as an innovative and rebellious brand (e.g. the 1984 Superbowl campaign). As such, it is implied that owning an Apple device (e.g. iPhone, iPad) is a symbol arbored by those who go against the grain. Yet, owning a device for the sake of publicly displaying it as a symbol of rebellion really is a gregarious behavior. As such, for the fair-minded Nietzschean (Nietzsche and Wotling, 2008) [9] to be dubious of such a brand position and all those poor souls wearing their brand allegiance on their sleeves, so to speak.
Gabriella Pereira (2019) proposes a matrix 2x2 matrix comprised of four brand archetypes. According to her, brands can be of two types: they can be relatable (representing the average man or woman) or aspirational (the hero archetype) (idem, p. 150-151). Similarly, there are two types of promises that a brand can make: changing (revolutionizing?) the world or preserving the status quo.
Interestingly, on the psychological front, scoring high on trait openness but low on trait low on conscientiousness predicts a liberal/progressive political leaning whereas scoring low on trait openness but high on conscientiousness predicts a conservative/traditionalist political leaning. [10]
1.?????? The underdog: This archetype is relatable (your average Joe) and committed to changing themselves or the world around them (Pereira, 2019, p. 151?152). In the context of brand biography, an underdog brand must possess two key characteristics: 1) they must possess relatively low resources compared to the market leader, and 2) they must have grit, they must have the will to fight (Paharia et al., 2011).
2.?????? The disruptor: Those are aspirational brands that strive to revolutionize the world (Pereira, 2019, p. 152?153). In their typology of visionary leaders, Westley and Mintzberg (1989, p. 25) refer to Steve Jobs as the proselytizer due to “his evangelical zeal to show people the future potential of the product.” Steve Jobs had a vision and was uncompromising in his goal to revolutionize the market with Apple Computers (later on with iPod, iPhone, and so on).
Similarly, Elon Musk is also a visionary leader who strives to conquer the world with electric cars (Tesla), outer space (SpaceX), and humanity itself (Neuralink). Unfortunately, such brands can be perceived as rather unlikable – Steve Jobs was so unbearable to his colleagues that he eventually got fired in 1985 (Westley and Mintzberg, 1989, p. 25-26) – and therefore it is recommended to show a hint of vulnerability to counterbalance the brand’s forcefulness and rebelliousness (Pereira, 2019, p. 153).
3.?????? The survivor: This archetype is perceived as being relatable and committed to preserving something (e.g. assets, health). Such storytelling is relevant for insurance companies (Pereira, 2019, p. 153-154). It might seem counter-intuitive considering the whole rebellious flair of Harley Davidson, but the brand also has a strong traditionalist and patriotic element. It was perceived by the bikers as the vestige of American manufacturing and, as such, the rampart against the invasion of the American market by the Japanese manufacturers (Schouten and McAlexander, 1995, p. 53?54).
4.?????? The protector: Those are aspirational brands that seek to protect and preserve; although such companies are market leaders or high-end/luxury brands, they are perceived as fighting for the little man just as Superman (Pereira, 2019, p. 154-155). For example, Cascades – a Canadian producer of tissues and packing products – received multiple awards (e.g. for being a good employer) and is considered the 38th most sustainable corporation in the world. [11]
The debate around bona fide storytelling
Interestingly, there’s some rivalry between the competing visions regarding storytelling in the fields of communication versus marketing. Micheal Kent (2015, p. 484) argues that “a good story stands alone”, independently of all the visuals, and public relations (PR) has much more depth than 30-second advertising.
In opposition, Jan K?nig (2020, p. 129) argues that the definition of a story is influenced by the media selected: “A story told in a commercial spot refers to moving images; a company’s history as a written narrative may be published in a printed document or virtually on the Internet; and a story used as a management tool can be presented orally.”
Considering the use of storytelling as a commercial tool, Coker et al. (2017) tested the effect of storytelling (vs straight sell) on a sample of 273 American college students. Their results suggest that, in the case of ads featuring Extra Gum and Mazda, storytelling improves positive word of mouth (WOM), sharing intention, brand promotion, and viewing intention but not purchase intention (idem, p. 82).
Also, after evaluating the content published by the New York Times from August to November 2008, Berger and Milkman (2012, p. 199), found that positive content tended to be more viral than negative content. Moreover, activating emotions including awe, anxiety, anger, interest, and surprise was found to promote virality whereas sadness reduced the virality of the content. The results regarding amusement, anger, and sadness were validated in scenario-based studies.
As a management tool, storytelling can certainly be used by newly appointed leaders to fiddle with the audience’s pathos (emotions) when announcing their radical change strategy (Seignour, 2011).
Similarly, qualitative research based on nine semi-directed interviews with branding professionals suggests that personal branding is becoming increasingly important in employment (especially in marketing) and that storytelling is a great tool to distinguish one’s profile from other candidates postulating on a given position (Korzh and Estima, 2022).
The underdog effect
In psychology, the underdog effect is defined as “people’s tendency to support or root for an entity that is perceived as attempting to accomplish a difficult task, and that is not expected to succeed against an explicit or implicit advantaged opponent.” (Kim et al., 2008, p. 2251)
The underdog effect is the opposite of the bandwagon effect predicting that people prefer to show their support (e.g. vote for a candidate) that has the highest probability of winning (Schmidt et Steenkamp, 2022, p. 91).
Using scenario-based experiments, Kim et al. (2008, experiments 1-2) demonstrated that their participants rooted for the underdog basketball team and businesses. That said, while people showed support for the upcoming artist, they also considered the very same piece of art to be of higher quality when it was allegedly produced by a seasoned painter.
In the context of job application, an experiment on a sample of 78 American university students found that participants were rated as more physically attractive and desirable as mating partners when the candidate was unfairly disadvantaged or fairly advantaged (as compared to fairly disadvantaged or unfairly advantaged) through scenario manipulations (Michniewicz and Vandello, 2013). The photos selected (one man and one woman) were neutral in attractiveness and, most importantly, constant throughout all the conditions...
The third experiment (Kim et al., 2008) used animated balls rolling along a track with a hill to demonstrate that we feel empathy toward the underdog even when they are not overtly anthropomorphized. Not only did participants root, identify with, and sympathize more for the struggling circle in comparison to the non-struggling circle, but those effects were the strongest when a top-dog circle had malicious intent toward a struggling circle.
In the final experience, Kim et al. (2008) wanted to test whether the underdog effect would be maintained if the participants’ best interests were involved. Using a scenario experiment, they demonstrated that when the respondents’ self-reference is high, they identify with the top dog. That said, if they think their water supply might be contaminated with a cancerogenic substance, they much prefer having the most reputable company win the bid for testing the water.
In the context of brand biographies, a national sample of 181 respondents suggests that people have higher purchase intentions toward brands using an underdog (in opposition to a top dog) biography (Paharia et al., 2011, study 1). In an international study, American students (individualistic culture) showed higher purchase intentions toward their Singaporean counterparts (collectivist culture), but in both cultures, purchase intentions were higher under the underdog brand biography scenario (idem, study 3).
A study based on a sample of 210 Chinese university students suggested individualistic participants preferred underdog brand stories while interdependent participants preferred top dog brands. This effect was mediated by the participant’s desire for uniqueness (Li and Zhao, 2021).
Moreover, based on a sample of 301 participants from an (presumably Spanish) online panel, Elena Delgado-Ballester (2021, fig 1) found that underdog (in opposition to top dog) storytelling led to higher immersion in the story and more empathic feelings. In turn, immersion and empathic feelings led to higher identification with the brand.
Furthermore, her result suggests that underdog storytelling had a significant effect on people with a growth implicit mindset and such a story did not affect people with a fixed implicit mindset, that is, on individuals believing that skills and ability are determined and immutable (Delgado-Ballester, 2021, p. 632).
Finally, Paharia et al. (2011) fourth study (n=203) suggested that participants tend to select the chocolate bar brand depicted as an underdog and that this effect is stronger when the participants selected the chocolate bar for themselves compared to the gift scenario.
Underdog brands and small businesses
In most countries, SMEs represent the vast majority of enterprises competing in the market. For example, in 2021, small businesses (less than 100 employees) represented 97.9% of businesses in Canada, employing 67.7% of the workforce in the private sector. [12]
As such there can be only so many giants that dominate a given (or even multiple) industry compared to the number of small firms present. For example, although there are almost 2900 software editors in Canada, the top five firms (Microsoft, IBM, Oracle, SAP, and Constellation Software) share half of the market share, and Microsoft hoards by itself 22% of market shares (Ristoff, 2023).
For small online retailers trying to compete against Amazon, David Aaker (2020) recommends: 1) becoming recognized in a subcategory (specialized in a niche market); 2) offering a simple yet more relevant choice set; 3) building an online community around the brand; 4) building the brand around a higher purpose or mission; 5) adding a personal touch to differentiate the brands (e.g. personal interaction with customers); 6) using humor when promoting the brand; and 7) considering opening a brick and mortar store as a complement to the firm’s online store.
In their theoretical framework, Schmidt and Steenkamp (2022, p. 92?94) a few key themes for underdog brands:
·???????? Philosophy: The brand must be perceived as one persevering against the odds, which is a prerequisite for any underdog brand biography (Paharia et al., 2011).
·???????? Offering: The underdog positioning works best when the offering is specialized, that is, localized and personalized.
·???????? People: Since the corporate personality (Keller and Richey, 2006) is inferred from the employees’ personality, employees must contribute through their work and interactions with the customers to support the underdog brand positioning.
·???????? Targeting: The segmentation should seek people the most likely to support the underdog brand.
·???????? Positioning: The narration built around the brand should support the underdog positioning. For example, a Korean study suggests people feeling higher empathic concerns display more favorable attitudes toward underdog brand ads (but not toward top dog brand ads) (Jun et al., 2015).
·???????? Affection: This is an outcome of the underdog positioning and thus consumer self-identification with the brand personality (Ahmad and Thyagaraj, 2015, p. 40?41).
·???????? Underdog support: Ultimately, the end goal of building an underdog brand and brand affection is to build support toward the brand, especially financial support.
Schmidt and Steenkamp (2022) tested their model with Fritz-Kola, a German competitor of Coca-Cola and Pepsi. They found that the focal brand fitted most of their prediction (idem, table 4).
For their part, Gao and McGinnis (2020) propose strategies for small businesses that want to use an underdog positioning:
·???????? Product strategy (p. 95-98): Product and service design should reflect the underdog toughness, work ethic, and genuine care. The product should have a unique touch to them (e.g. local tradition) and the service should be highly personalized.
·???????? Pricing strategy (p. 98-99): Small businesses lack the same scale economies as larger and, as such, need to demonstrate to customers that their pricing is due to their inability to compete on the same ground as big corporations.
·???????? Communication strategy (p. 89-90): The brand biography should focus on the brand’s uniqueness and the challenges the underdog faces as it competes against well-established firms.
·???????? Channel and supply chain strategy (p. 100): An underdog firm can collaborate with local suppliers to reduce their supply chain costs and collaborate with local retailers to mutually promote each other’s business.
·???????? Target marketing strategy (p. 101): Although smaller firms have fewer resources, they should nevertheless seek to collect as much data as possible to target those customers most likely to empathize with their underdog positioning.
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Positioning strategy (p. 101): It is recommended to enunciate a clear customer value proposition (CVP) and build a unique brand identity
Yet, firms using an underdog brand positioning should be aware of the “underdog trap”.
Notably, based on samples of Korean students, Kim et al. (2019) found that respondents had more forgiveness intentions and less anger toward brands with underdog (vs top dog) biographies in the case of product failures (study 1-2), service outcome failure (study 3), and self-serving technology (SST) failures (study4), but that underdog identification led customers to judge the underdog brand harshly in case of relational transgressions (study 4).
In a follow-up study, Kim and Park (2020) sought to clarify those results. They found that respondents, Korean university students, judged the underdog brand more harshly in case of an ethical transgression than functional transgression and that this effect is mediated by perceived betrayal (study 1-2). More specifically, the stricter moral standards in case of autonomy-related ethical transgression (e.g. violating human rights) but not in the case of community-related ethical violation (e.g. threatening the livelihood of local merchants) (study 3). Those results were replicated with an American sample (study 4).
The self-relevance between customers and the underdog brand is a crucial part because relationship quality increases the perception of betrayal which leads loyal to distance themselves more from the faulty brands (which is not the case for low-relationship quality) but, at the same time, their desire to revenge decrease more slowly than in the case of low-relationship quality (Grégoire et al., 2009).
Revenge behaviors include vindictive complaining, negative word of mouth (WOM), and online complaining (Grégoire et al., 2009). It is also interesting that 83% of the respondents indicated that they reached the focal firms multiple times in an attempt to solve the problem (idem, p. 22).
Similarly, Johnson et al. (2011) found that self-relevance with the betraying brands leads to anti-brand actions ranging from benign retaliation such as negative word of mouth to illegal actions such as theft and vandalism. Interestingly, study 2 suggests that anger is not the driver behind the desire for revenge but rather self-conscious emotions such as shame, guilt, and embarrassment.
Conclusion
Mankind has used stories to communicate with one another since the dawn of time (Kent, 2015, sect. 1). As far as branding is concerned, storytelling helps to communicate the brand’s personality, ethical values, the product’s functional value, and customer value proposition (CVP).
There are at least twenty master plots that marketers and relationists can use when communicating with the firm’s target audience (Kent, 2015, table 1). Since archetypes are rich in meaning (K?nig, 2020, sect. 3.3), marketers can use popular archetypes to build their brand’s character (Pereira, 2019).
One of the most researched archetypes in marketing is that of the underdog, notably in the context of brand biographies (Paharia et al., 2011). Such a brand position can be used by small businesses to differentiate themselves from bigger firms offering more of a standardized customer value proposition (Aaker, 2020; Gao et McGinnis, 2020; Schmidt et Steenkamp, 2022).
That being said, SMEs are by no means obligated to rely on an underdog brand positioning. There are many master plots and archetypes that can be used to build a strong brand. For a young brand, transparency, virtuousness, and proximity to the target audience seems particularly important (Guèvremont, 2018).
Finally, marketers opting for an underdog positioning must be mindful of the underdog trap: the strong self-identification with the underdog brand can have a protective property in case of functional failures but is a double-edged blade in the case of relational and ethical failures (Kim et al., 2019; Kim et Park, 2020).
Footnotes
1.?????? I strongly recommend Jordan B. Peterson’s conferences in which he presents an interesting interpretation of the Old Testament from a psychological perspective. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-wWBGo6a2w&list=PLaA-IE4oHtCtQ39sQyi7pN6H94xbPQwEj
2.?????? Boyle, P. (2021). Top Five Corporate Frauds of The Century. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9KPcQqG0ao
3.?????? Brousseau-Pouliot, V. (2015, 18 avril). Bell et Vidéotron s’accusent de pubs trompeuses. La Presse, économie. https://www.lapresse.ca/affaires/economie/201504/17/01-4862185-bell-et-videotron-saccusent-de-pubs-trompeuses.php
4.?????? Samuel 1:17 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Samuel%2017&version=NIV
5.?????? Greenpeace International. (2023, 3 février). How Greenpeace activists occupied a Shell platform heading for a major oil and gas field. Greenpeace International. https://www.greenpeace.org/international/story/58080/greenpeace-activists-have-occupied-a-shell-platform-heading-for-a-major-oil-and-gas-field/
6.?????? Gollom, M. (2019, 14 février). What you need to know about the SNC-Lavalin affair. CBC News. https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trudeau-wilson-raybould-attorney-general-snc-lavalin-1.5014271
I find this marketing trend worrisome because it breaks the fundamental principle of the separation of power between economics, laws, and politics. What would happen if globalized firms such as the GAFAM were to use their influence to temper our electoral rights?
Briant, E. (2018). Written evidence submitted by Dr Emma L Briant. https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/39329/pdf/
7.?????? Arias, P. (2024, 18 juillet). Bud Light falls to No. 3 beer brand more than year after Dylan Mulvaney controversy [Text.Article]. FOXBusiness. https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/michelob-ultra-now-tops-bud-light-number-2-beer-brand-more-year-dylan-mulvaney-controversy
8.?????? In Beyond Good and Evil, Frederich Nietzsche distinguishes between the aristocrat who is perceived as strong, rebellious, and the creator of moral value and the slave who is perceived as weak, obedient, sheepish, and blindly following Christian dogmas.
9.?????? Peterson, J. (2017). Jordan Peterson: Conservatism & Liberalism. University of Toronto. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyN_pUDNc2U
11.?? Government of Canada. (2024). Key Small Business Statistics 2022. https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/sme-research-statistics/en/key-small-business-statistics/key-small-business-statistics-2022
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Delgado-Ballester, E. (2021). Effect of underdog (Vs topdog) brand storytelling on brand identification: exploring multiple mediation mechanisms. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 30(4), 626?638. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-11-2019-2639
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Guèvremont, A. (2018). Creating and interpreting brand authenticity: The case of a young brand. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 17(6), 505?518. https://doi.org/10.1002/cb.1735
Hofman-Kohlmeyer, M. (2017). The role of storytelling in building a brand. Zeszyty Naukowe Wy?szej Szko?y Humanitas Zarz?dzanie, 18(3), 0?0. https://doi.org/10.5604/01.3001.0010.6494
Johnson, A. R., Matear, M. et Thomson, M. (2011). A Coal in the Heart: Self-Relevance as a Post-Exit Predictor of Consumer Anti-Brand Actions. Journal of Consumer Research, 38(1), 108?125. https://doi.org/10.1086/657924
Jun, S., Sung, J., Gentry, J. W. et McGinnis, L. P. (2015). Effects of underdog (vs. top dog) positioning advertising. International Journal of Advertising, 34(3), 495?514. https://doi.org/10.1080/02650487.2014.996199
Keller, K. L. (1993). Conceptualizing, measuring, and managing customer-based brand equity. Journal of Marketing, 57(1), 1?22. https://doi.org/10.1177/002224299305700101
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Kent, M. L. (2015). The power of storytelling in public relations: Introducing the 20 master plots. Public Relations Review, 41(4), 480?489. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2015.05.011
Kessous, A. et Roux, E. (2014). Nostalgie?: de l’optique des consommateurs à celle des marques: Décisions Marketing, N° 75(3), 117?133. https://doi.org/10.7193/DM.075.117.133
Kessous, A., Roux, E. et Chandon, J.-L. (2015). Consumer-brand relationships: a contrast of nostalgic and non-nostalgic brands: consumer relationships to nostalgic brands. Psychology & Marketing, 32(2), 187?202. https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.20772
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Kim, Y. et Park, K. (2020). When the Underdog Positioning Backfires! The Effects of Ethical Transgressions on Attitudes Toward Underdog Brands. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 1988. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01988
Kim, Y., Park, K. et Stacey Lee, S. (2019). The underdog trap: The moderating role of transgression type in forgiving underdog brands. Psychology & Marketing, 36(1), 28?40. https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.21155
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Korschun, D. (2021). Brand activism is here to stay: here’s why. NIM Marketing Intelligence Review, 13(2), 10?17. https://doi.org/10.2478/nimmir-2021-0011
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Manfredi-Sánchez, J.-L. (2019). Brand activism. Communication & Society, 32(4), 343?359. https://doi.org/10.15581/003.32.4.343-359
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Mukherjee, S. et Althuizen, N. (2020). Brand activism: Does courting controversy help or hurt a brand? International Journal of Research in Marketing, 37(4), 772?788. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijresmar.2020.02.008
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Pereira, G. (2019). Brand storytelling: A three-dimensional perspective. Journal of brand strategy, 8(2), 146?159. https://www.henrystewartpublications.com/sites/default/files/JBS8.2BrandstorytellingAthreedimensionalperspective.pdf
Qyll, N. (2020). Persona as Key Component in (Cultural) Person Branding. Persona Studies, 6(1), 56?71. https://doi.org/10.21153/psj2020vol6no1art941
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Schmidt, H. J. et Steenkamp, P. (2022). Beware, an underdog may bite: literature review and brand management framework in the context of underdog brands. Journal of Brand Management, 29(1), 85?110. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41262-021-00259-1
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Books (English)
Beebe, J. (2017). Energies and patterns in psychological type: the reservoir of consciousness. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.
Sandel, M. J. (2010). Justice: what’s the right thing to do? Penguin Books.
Books (French)
De la Fontaine, J. (2000). Les fables de La Fontaine illustrees par Gustave doré. Cumulus.
Homère, Métayer, J., Riedinger, J.-C. et Lasserre, E. (2013). L’Iliade (éd. revue et augmentée). Flammarion.
Homère, Pellegrin, P., Dufour, M. et Raison, J. (2017). Odyssée (éd. avec dossier). Flammarion.
Nietzsche, F. et Wotling, P. (2008). Le gai savoir Par-delà bien et mal. Flammarion.
Professional reports
Euromontitor international. (2024). Top global consumer trends 2024. https://lp.euromonitor.com/white-paper/2024-global-consumer-trends/
Ristoff, J. (2023, november). Software Publishing in Canada (51121CA). IBISWorld. https://www.ibisworld.com/