The Dynamic Construction of Brand Storytelling

Part of: Digital Marketing Topic 4 — Brand Identity & Storytelling · Reading Citation: Aimé, I. (2021). The dynamic construction of brand storytelling. Journal of Strategic Marketing. https://doi.org/10.1080/0965254X.2021.1908404 Key concepts: Brand Storytelling, Co-Creation, Brand Identity, Internal Stakeholders, Brand Performativity

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TL;DR

A single in-depth case study of the French heritage brand Petit Bateau (18 interviews with brand and communication managers) asking whether brand storytelling is really a stable, unified message from inside the company. It is not. Each internal stakeholder interprets and performs the storytelling through their own sensibility, and the proliferation of digital touchpoints fragments the story across channels — producing inconsistency the authors describe as internal "schizophrenia". The paper extends the idea of brand-meaning co-creation from consumers to intra-organisational stakeholders and offers a three-step framework for building consistent 360-degree brand content.

Why It's on the Reading List

It is the empirical, managerial-perspective complement to the storytelling topic: where most storytelling research studies consumers, this looks inside the firm to show how storytelling is actually created and why digital makes consistency hard. Good for exam questions on storytelling strategy, co-creation, and the manager's role.

Background & Research Question

Storytelling is recognised as a powerful branding tool that builds emotional connection, recall (episodic memory), trust and loyalty (Woodside et al., 2008; Singh & Sonnenburg, 2012; Gosline et al., 2017). Yet research has concentrated on consumer behaviour and the narrative process; very little examines how storytelling is created, implemented and embedded inside companies from a managerial/strategic angle.

In parallel, the traditional view (Aaker, Kapferer, Keller) holds that brand meaning is stable, unified and unilaterally set by managers. Recent research challenges this, recognising brand-meaning co-creation with consumers and multiple stakeholders (Hatch & Schultz; Vallaster & von Wallpach), and even a performative co-construction of brand and stakeholder identities (Kornum et al. on Nike; von Wallpach et al. on LEGO).

Research question

If brand meaning is co-created with consumers outside the firm, do all the internal stakeholders — now proliferating in the digital world — speak with one clear, unique voice, or is there co-creation inside the company too?

Key Concepts & Definitions

Definition — Brand storytelling

Telling stories built on the brand's behaviours and communications to give meaning to the brand and create an emotional link with customers; "your brand is the sum of all your corporate behaviors and communications" (Herskovitz & Crystal, 2010).

Definition — Stakeholder co-creation of brand meaning

The view that brand meaning emerges dynamically through interactions among multiple stakeholders, so managers are only co-producers of stories, rhetoric and narratives — they are "losing control" over brand meaning (Iglesias & Bonet's "persuasive brand management").

Definition — Storygiving

The co-creation of brand stories through consumer-generated content, where the narrative switches from the brand's point of view to the brand community's (Üçok Hughes et al., 2016 — Tiffany & Co.).

Definition — Polysemous brand

Michel's (2017) idea that the brand carries multiple meanings — here shown to be true even inside the company, making the brand more an "assemblage" (Lury, 2009) of distinct channel stories than a single coherent message.

Main Arguments / Findings

Twenty-one subthemes collapsed into five major themes:

Internal inconsistency (the 100th anniversary of the panties, 2018)

Communication shot "very press" high-fashion visuals; the web team found them "almost Zara!" and reshot for the site; the landing page differed again. Each department remade the same campaign in its own way — "we all wanted to convey the same message, but each department conveyed it in its own way" (Cécile).

Key paradox

Several senior managers noted that the brand vision is very clear in the customer's mind but blurry internally. Complexity (many targets, products, distribution networks and too many brand values) erodes the "common thread", and a global story is hard across cultures (e.g. Asia perceiving Petit Bateau as stereotypically "French chic").

The control trap

"In 2018, you must know that you don't control anything and that if you do exercise control, people will feel it… You don't have to be in control, but you have to respond" (Catherine). Quality storytelling fed by the brand is the best protection against bad buzz; trying to "realign" consumer co-creation is counter-productive and destroys sincerity.

Methodology

Single, in-depth qualitative case study (Yin; Eisenhardt), chosen because it suits exploratory "how/why" questions on a complex intra-organisational phenomenon.

• Case: Petit Bateau — iconic French children's clothing brand (founded 1893, 380 shops abroad), at a reflective turning point on its storytelling in 2018.
• Sample: 18 semi-structured interviews across marketing/digital communication roles (middle and top management) plus advertising-agency staff, continued to theoretical saturation; 217 pages of transcripts.
• Analysis: thematic open coding in NVivo 12, iterative until saturation; triangulated with archives, webpages, blogs and social media; interpretation checked with two interviewed managers (trustworthiness/internal validity).

Framework / Model

A three-step brand storytelling strategy framework for a consistent 360-degree brand content campaign:

1. Write the story — draw on brand heritage to craft a credible, unique brand story relevant to the target; define brand personality and values precisely.
2. Design a strong common strategy — coordinate content, format (tone, graphic design, photography) and objectives across the distinct storytelling channels.
3. Channel synergy — even with distinct-but-complementary objectives (UGC for attachment, CRM for retention), all channels convey the same storytelling across the whole customer journey, including in-store.

The manager's role is reframed as a conductor who harmonises the various meanings contributed by stakeholders, supported by an inspiring internal "storytelling champion" (e.g. CMO/CEO).

Implications for Marketers

• Treat storytelling consistency as an internal organisational problem, not just an external messaging one — digital fragments the voice across departments.
• Build a 360-degree storytelling platform (semantic/editorial charter, single visuals unit) that allows customisation per target but converges on one story.
• React rather than control consumer co-creation; controlling/"realigning" UGC kills sincerity and customer attachment.
• Look beyond heritage to the future and to meaning (especially for millennials seeking purpose) — e.g. the 2019 "Petit Bateau is committed" claim.
• Sincere, transparent storytelling is the best protection against bad buzz.

Exam Takeaways

Likely exam points

• Core contribution: co-creation of brand meaning extends inside the firm — internal stakeholders each perform their own version → a "polysemous brand" / "assemblage".
• Brand performativity exists within brand management itself (links to von Wallpach et al.).
• The digital ecosystem multiplies touchpoints → threatens consistency of the brand story.
• The 3-step framework: write the story → common strategy → channel synergy (incl. in-store).
• The manager as "conductor"; the principle of react, not control; sincerity as anti-bad-buzz.
• Method label: single qualitative case study, 18 semi-structured interviews, Petit Bateau.

Summary

• Storytelling is central to Petit Bateau's identity and success, built on heritage, childhood values and a humorous tone.
• Internally there is no storytelling strategy; each manager interprets and performs it differently.
• Digital proliferation of touchpoints fragments the story and creates inconsistency and tension.
• Brand meaning is co-created not only with consumers (UGC, storygiving) but among internal stakeholders.
• The fix: a coordinated 360-degree storytelling strategy and a manager acting as conductor — reacting to, not controlling, co-creation.

Related Notes

• Digital Marketing — subject hub
• 04a-Salzer-Morling & Strannegard - Silence of the Brands — conceptual counterpart on co-construction and loss of corporate control
• Brand Storytelling, Co-Creation, Brand Identity, Brand Performativity