Tracing brand constellations in social media: the case of Fashion Week Stockholm

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of fashion weeks on brand constellations of participating fashion companies in social media. Design/methodology/approach The study analyses how brand constellations take form for seven Swedish fashion companies before, during and after Fashion Week Stockholm. In total, 3,449 user-generated contents referring to the sampled brands were collected and analysed. Findings On average, brand constellations of participating companies are increasingly incorporating other participating brands as a result of the fashion week. Based on the presented results, four brand constellation outcomes for participating fashion companies are identified: brand constellation amplification, concentration, division and dilution. Research limitations/implications As this paper is focussed on the Swedish market, additional results from fashion weeks taking place in other cities would be beneficial to verify the four brand constellation outcomes. Practical implications The results question the resilience of professionally curated brand constellations due to the emergence of user-driven constellations that also shape the position of fashion brands. Therefore, this development can potentially have a considerable impact on often carefully orchestrated brand positioning strategies executed by fashion companies. Social implications Digitally fuelled interdependences of brand constellations by professionals and consumers attest to the dilution of borders between consumers and producers. Originality/value This paper contributes to the field of fashion marketing and management by identifying four different brand constellation outcomes in social media for participating fashion companies as a result of fashion weeks and how to managerially handle these respective outcomes.

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