Lifestyle Brand Communications: A Theoretical Conceptualization and Applied Study of Spanish Fashion SME Brands Online
摘要
This chapter aims to further conceptualize on the lifestyle brand/communications concept to continue theory-building. It presents applied research of small and medium Spanish fashion companies and how they communicate the brand’s symbolic dimension in Instagram posts. It presents the notion that lifestyle-oriented small and medium companies (SME) Spanish Fashion brands tend to show lifestyle-oriented images by contrast to product-oriented fashion brands who use it as a window display. Companies that use lifestyle-driven content share a social/cultural compared to those that focus on product communications. Lifestyle branding is ideally suited for a digital communications strategy for lifestyle-oriented brands. This work is useful for students, scholars and practitioners who wish to understand a scantly studied topic. Following previous research, it offers theoretical underpinnings and lifestyle brand dimensions to apply it. The conceptual model presented places lifestyle branding in relation to digital brand positioning and to brand authenticity, which is influenced by co-creation of brand value. The symbolic universe creation is the most salient factor of lifestyle branding, and an innovative contribution is that a diverse product range is not necessary for lifestyle brand communications due to the fact that the brand universe is expanded through collaborations with like-minded people/brands.