Brand Culture and Consumer Interaction

Brand culture is an integral component of our consumer culture. Consumers’ identification with certain brands influences their purchasing behaviors. As such, companies aim to develop an ethos and worldview through their brand that the consumer desires and identifies with. Once this is accomplished, the consumer “buys” into the brand. Harley Davidson, Apple, and Coca-Cola are examples of brands that have excelled in establishing this brand identification amongst its customer base. One method in which companies can further establish this brand identification is by engaging the customer with brand interaction. Nike is a contemporary brand that fully utilizes customer interaction and engagement to promulgate its brand culture. Customer interaction and engagement with the brand leads to effects that are echoed by the authors of this week’s readings concerning brand culture and user commodification. Lee and Klein identify that brands conjure up emotions in consumers and that is what influences their purchasing decisions, as a result of the brand identification established. Nike is able to emotionally tie its customers to its brand by allowing its customers to fully engage with its brand through the ways in which customers can interact with its products and product development. The NikeID program is an example of how Nike allows customers to interact and engage with its brand. Nike allows customers to design their own shoes and accessories, including bags, backpacks, and clothing. In some circumstances, Nike uses this program to challenge customers to create designs that it might market on large scale. By allowing customers to design their own products (within the parameters allowed by Nike, of course), customers feel empowered and are further attached to the Nike brand. The customer can tailor the product to fit its lifestyle, so the Nike brand essentially becomes part of the customers’ identity.
Nike also engages the customer by having customers integrate its products with their everyday lives. An example of this is found in the Nike+ Fuelband and the Fuelband app. The fuelband tracks the users fitness activity and the app allows them to measure their fitness, chart their progress, and compete against their friends. The app also integrates social media by allowing users to announce their fitness accomplishments and to engage in fitness challenges with their friends or against others on a global scale. The activities measured by this device and shared with the world can be done without using the device or its app. However, because Nike allows its customers to use this product in a way that integrates their active lifestyles with its brand, the customer is fully engaged with the brand and becomes emotionally invested with the brand.
Another way Nike engages with its users and increases its brand identification is with its sponsorships and challenges. For example, Nike is the official apparel sponsor for the NFL and many of its consumers already identify with the NFL. Therefore, each Sunday the customer engages in viewing NFL games, it is also engaging with the Nike brand. Also, Nike’s fitness challenges allow customer to interact with the brand and integrate it into their active lifestyles. I run marathons and a few of my running buddies recently ran the Chicago marathon under the Nike+ Pace Team Program, which included months of training and runners were given race gear to wear on race day. While I’m not a Nike guy myself, its safe to say my friends are certainly loyal to the Nike brand now due to their participation with the Nike+ marathon challenge that they completed.