Mumby Key Terms 10 - Branding and Advertising

attention economy

A term used to describe the idea that, particularly in the context of social media, followers (attention) can be translated to economic value.

brand

"The total constellation of meanings, feelings, perceptions, beliefs, and goodwill attributed to any market offering displaying a particular sign" (Muniz, 2007). A brand is a carefully constructed set of meanings that a company attaches to a particular product, including the company itself.

brand extension

The process of leveraging the meanings and emotions associated with a particular company to a variety of different products that don't necessarily have any relationship to one another.

brand public

The community of people who are strangers to each but are connected through their identification and shared affinity with a particular brand.

branding from the outside in

The process of drawing on the cultural and social knowledge and forms of expertise that employees already possess (in contexts external to the organization) as a way to maintain and enhance the brand. In this sense, brands create organizations rather than organizations creating brands.

brands as institution

The role of brands in providing a framework through which we experience our sense of self, others, and the world around us. Companies engage with consumers through their brands in an effort to mediate their everyday experiences.

communicative capitalism

The idea that a strong connection exists between the creation of economic value and the construction of meanings through communication processes. In a brand economy, value is created through management of meanings.

consumer engagement

The branding strategy that involves consumers directly in the branding process, hence blurring the relationship between production and consumption.

enterprise self

The condition of thinking and acting as individual enterprises that must compete against all other individuals/enterprises. The "enterprise self" is closely tied to what it means to be a citizen under neoliberalism. We are defined by our relationships to the market.

floating signifier effect

The notion that the meaning of any particular brand is arbitrary. Literally any meaning or quality—any floating signifier—can be attached to any object, product, company, or person.

mecosystem

A term used by brand strategists to describe how brands attempt to create customized experiences around a single individual (an individual brand ecosystem).

murketing

A marketing strategy that attempts to integrate brands into the expression of individual identities by blurring the distinction between marketing and everyday life and popular culture.

niche marketing

The development of brand strategies that appeal to specific social identity groups through a focus on the authenticity of the brand.

unique selling proposition

A branding principle that enables a brand to distinguish itself from its direct competitors (regardless of whether any unique quality actually exists).