Rohmanue, Abdul and Jacobi, Erik S (2024) The influence of marketing communications agencies on activist brands’ moral competency development and ability to engage in authentic brand activism: Wieden+Kennedy ‘Just Does It’. Journal of Brand Management, 31 (2). pp. 126-139. DOI https://doi.org/10.1057/s41262-023-00340-x
Rohmanue, Abdul and Jacobi, Erik S (2024) The influence of marketing communications agencies on activist brands’ moral competency development and ability to engage in authentic brand activism: Wieden+Kennedy ‘Just Does It’. Journal of Brand Management, 31 (2). pp. 126-139. DOI https://doi.org/10.1057/s41262-023-00340-x
Rohmanue, Abdul and Jacobi, Erik S (2024) The influence of marketing communications agencies on activist brands’ moral competency development and ability to engage in authentic brand activism: Wieden+Kennedy ‘Just Does It’. Journal of Brand Management, 31 (2). pp. 126-139. DOI https://doi.org/10.1057/s41262-023-00340-x
Abstract
To compel people to bring about social change, activist brands must develop moral competency to ensure that they are perceived as authentic. However, there is limited research on the processes underpinning brands’ moral competency development. Furthermore, prior research on authentic brand activism has largely conceived of brands as singular entities as opposed to networks of diverse actors. Consequently, little is known about how inter-organisational collaborations influence brands’ moral competency development and ability to engage in authentic activism. We address this gap by presenting a case study of Nike, Inc./Wieden+Kennedy campaigns from 2017 to 2021 centred on women’s empowerment and of controversies from this period surrounding discrimination of female employees at Nike, Inc. By locating brand activism within the advertising client–agency relationship, we develop a cyclical model of activist brands’ moral competency development. Our model highlights that moral competency is not a static feature of brands but develops dynamically, and we identify the mobilisation of interactional expertise as a key driver of moral competency development. Furthermore, our model shows that a brand’s moral competency is not developed by a single organisation but through inter-organisational collaborations. We also demonstrate the challenges emerging from these collaborations and develop practical implications for activist brands.
Item Type: | Article |
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Uncontrolled Keywords: | Advertising client-agency relationship; Authentic brand activism; Interactional expertise; Inter-organisational collaboration; Moral competency development |
Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences Faculty of Social Sciences > Essex Business School |
SWORD Depositor: | Unnamed user with email elements@essex.ac.uk |
Depositing User: | Unnamed user with email elements@essex.ac.uk |
Date Deposited: | 23 Aug 2023 11:35 |
Last Modified: | 19 Mar 2024 13:30 |
URI: | http://repository.essex.ac.uk/id/eprint/36184 |
Available files
Filename: s41262-023-00340-x.pdf
Licence: Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0