Global brand communities

Purpose – The “brand community” concept believes that the meaning of the brand transcends national boundaries. However, such an assumption presents

Global brand communities across borders: the Warhammer case

The Authors

Bernard Cova, Euromed, Marseilles, France

Stefano Pace, Bocconi University, Milan, Italy

David J Park, Xavier University, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Sameer Deshpande at the University of Lethbridge, Canada for his much valued assistance in this paper His keen intellect, insight and rigorous scholarly dedication greatly enhanced the overall presentation and argument in this paper

Abstract

Purpose – The “brand community” concept believes that the meaning of the brand transcends

national boundaries However, such an assumption presents challenges arising out of several reasons including co-existence of sub-tribes within a given brand community that allocate different meanings to a particular brand This plurality of meanings seems exacerbated for global brands where meanings are shaped by tremendously varying cultures Aims to address the issues

Design/methodology/approach – This text relies on a comparative study of the meanings

attributed to one particular global brand, Warhammer, by the members of its brand community in France and the USA

Findings – Findings highlight the elements of homogeneity and heterogeneity that reside in the

cross-border meanings of the brand The authors also discuss the marketplace relevance arising out of this plurality that should be taken into account by global marketers

Originality/value – The present text argues that community attached to a global brand

constitutes a complex phenomenon, one that both integrates and ignores geographical

considerations

Article Type:

Research paper

Keyword(s):

Culture; Brands; Communities

Journal:

International Marketing Review

Volume:

24

Number:

3

Year:

2007

pp:

313-329

Copyright ©

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

ISSN:

0265-1335

Introduction

Over the past decade, a postmodern outlook paved the way for so-called communal approaches

to consumption (Cova, 1997) Two pioneering examples were the group of river rafters which was depicted in Arnould and Price's (1993) ethnographic journey as a “communita” and the subculture of bikers which was detailed in Schouten and McAlexander's (1995) article The behaviour of consumers driven by a similar passion or ethos to assemble into a group, thereby becoming a subculture or tribe as coined by Maffesoli (1996), came to be seen as an object of study with relevance to the field of marketing (Kozinets, 2001, 2002; Thompson and Troester,

2002) Reincorporating recent studies on the complex relationship between brands and

consumers (Fournier, 1998; Holt, 2004) into this communal approach, a “brand community” concept (Algesheimer et al. , 2005; McAlexander et al. , 2002; Muniz and O'Guinn, 2001) then came to the forefront of the marketing scene Although some studies (Muniz and O'Guinn, 2001) have been attempting to clarify the object of study by differentiating between the three

neighbouring concepts of “brand community,” “sub-cultures of consumption” and “consumer

tribes” (or even “brand tribes”), it should also be noted that many authors seem not to be troubled

by a lack of differentiation, moving seamlessly within one and the same text from the concept of community to tribe (Solomon, 2003), or from tribe to sub-culture and even micro-culture

(Thompson and Troester, 2002) It remains that the brand community concept (Muniz and O'Guinn, 2001; Wipperfürth, 2005) refers more to a group of people who share their interest in a specific brand and create a parallel social universe ripe with its own values, rituals, vocabulary and hierarchy

From an international branding point of view, the brand community concept introduced the exciting possibility of managing these brand communities at a global level regardless of

geography (Deeter-Schmelz and Sojka, 2004): the meaning of the brand is supposed to be able to transcend national boundaries However, some problems are faced when trying to manage these brand communities (O'Guinn and Muniz, 2005) One key element in communal consumption (Kozinets, 2001) is the co-existence within a given brand community of a variety of sub-tribes allocating different meanings to a particular brand, and sometimes going as far as to do battle with another This plurality of meanings and proliferation of latent conflicts seems exacerbated

by the existence of global brands that, under the aegis of a brand community, mobilise various groups with deep roots at a regional level Based on their domestic US study Muniz and O'Guinn (2001, p 413) affirm that brand communities are “liberated from geography.” On the other hand, the present text argues that community attached to a global brand constitutes a complex

phenomenon, one that both integrates and ignores geographical considerations

Towards this end, this text relies on a comparative study of the meanings attributed to one particular global brand, Warhammer, by the members of its brand community in France and the USA The study followed the same protocol in both countries Findings highlight the elements of homogeneity and heterogeneity that reside in the cross-border meanings of the brand

Global brand communities

Muniz and O'Guinn (2001) identified the distinguishing features of brand communities, using three constructs:

1 consciousness of a kind, i.e a sense of belonging to an in-group, thanks to a brand that is patronized by all of the group members;

2 evidence of rituals and traditions that surround the brand; and

3 a sense of obligation to the community and its members which is often, but not always, shared by members of the group (e.g in regard to product repairs or more personal services)

However, above and beyond recognizing the diversity in characteristics of sub-tribes, it is also crucial for marketers to note the problems they can cause (O'Guinn and Muniz, 2005) These include:

 Oppositional brand loyalty (the very defining nature of the brand community is its

opposition to another brand and its tribe)

 Marketplace legitimacy (there is a debate around who is a legitimate purchaser of the brand?, i.e who is a true believer and brand community member?)

 Desired marginality (brand community members actively try to keep the community small and marginal)

 The polit-brand (a brand community that has at its centre the particularly politicised brand)

 The abandoned tribe (a brand community in which the marketer has abandoned the brand, but the community still thrives as with Apple's Newton; Muniz and Schau, 2005)

 Who owns the brand?

 This is an obvious question … Brand communities assert considerable claims on

ownership … These impassioned and empowered consumer collectives assert more channel power and make claims on core competencies formerly reserved for the marketer (O'Guinn and Muniz, 2005, p 268)

However, O'Guinn and Muniz (2005) seem to exclude from the above list of problems anything that might relate to geography, since they believe that brand communities “may transcend

geography” (Muniz and O'Guinn, 2001, p 415) Furthermore, by emphasizing members' level of legitimacy, the authors analyse potential oppositions or conflicts between members or sub-tribes

in a religious light (Muniz and Schau, 2005) as opposed to a geographical one This is relatively congruent with the findings of the few studies that currently exist on the creation of meaning within a brand community (Arnould and Thompson, 2005) Few brand community studies have addressed how different groups of consumers co-create meanings regarding the same brand (Broderick et al. , 2003; Schouten and McAlexander, 1995; Wipperfürth, 2005) However, these studies tend to emphasize homogeneity of brand meaning within a particular subculture or subset

of consumers

On the contrary, few works emphasize the co-existence of multiple interpretive sub-tribes within

a same brand community (Kozinets, 2001); a co-existence which can sometimes lead to conflict For example, in the world of Star Trek, one has to distinguish between “trekkers” and “trekkies.” Again, Kozinets (2001, 2002), Muniz and O'Guinn (2001) or O'Guinn and Muniz (2005) studies are essentially built on homogeneous foundations whose nature is either exclusively North American (off-line) or on-line and net-based (a solution that de-territorialises exchanges) No consideration has been given to the possibility of geographic diversity inside a brand community

Kates and Goh (2003) introduce the expression “morphing” when referring to brands in order to describe the phenomenon of meaning alteration that naturally occurs within communities The meaning attached to a given brand is considered local and is anchored to the specific community where that brand is experienced The authors refer to this phenomenon within the international context of advertising An advertiser can adapt its communication strategy according to the strength of the morphing to which its brand is submitted The marketer can also foster this morphing The authors acknowledge that “the brand communities studied by Muniz and O'Guinn (2001) are excellent examples of brands acting as quintessentially morphed and relevant

symbolic figures in consumers' lives” (Kates and Goh, 2003, p 65) Although they recognize the

relevance of the difference of national cultures, the two authors assume a managerial perspective dealing with segmentation and positioning that might be not applicable In fact, the company may face not a traditional market, but a bundle of very small communities whose activity may be totally unknown to the company For example, in Deeter-Schmelz and Sojka's (2004) study of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) subculture, several shared values are identified for US fans However, the authors still wonder if the meaning of this event, which is broadcast in 162 countries and translated into 11 different languages, transcends national boundaries:

… is it possible for a subculture to retain cohesive values within the context of radically different core cultures? Would the values motivating WWE fans in Indonesia, India, Australia and the Dominican Republic, for example, be similar in spite of the diverse core culture? (

Deeter-Schmelz and Sojka, 2004, p 141)

Indeed, a global brand constitutes different local sub-tribes spread across the world – justifying the hypothesis that they attribute varying meanings to it A major reason for this belief is

inherent to the recreation of brand meaning, which is central to postmodern consumption As Arnould and Thompson (2005) would posit, the consumer reworks and transforms any meaning

that the market presents to him/her Consumers are “unruly bricoleurs”: bricoleurs, since they

take diversified meanings encoded in different market sources, such as advertisements and brands; unruly, since they do not respect any rule with the exception of one's own identity This phenomenon becomes particularly relevant when specific meanings are not lived by insulated individuals, but ingrained in a community (Thompson, 2004)

This study hopes to show that for a global brand:

 there are different sub-tribes living in different territories;

 these sub-tribes share some common meanings ascribed to the global brand;

 they also develop their own meanings of the global brand and consequently, a specific local subculture; and

 this plurality of meanings across territories has marketplace relevance that should be taken into account by global marketers

Methodology

Warhammer is a strategic battle game played with various miniatures on a “battlefield.”

Warhammer belongs to Games Workshop, UK (Nottingham), the largest and the most successful tabletop wargames company in the world Its two major brands are Warhammer, and

Warhammer 40,000 It also holds a global license for a tabletop battle-game based on the film

trilogy The Lord of the Rings It has direct sales operations in the UK, the USA, Northern

Europe, Canada, France, Germany, Spain, Australia, Italy and Japan With around 70 percent of sales coming from outside of the UK, the Group and its leading brand Warhammer are truly global It is a social and convivial activity loved by millions of gamers, who spend many of their waking hours collecting, creating, painting, and building up the metal or plastic miniature armies that they will go on to command on a carefully prepared tabletop battlefield (Figure 1)

Multiple methodologies were used to study the two different Warhammer sub-tribes, one in France and the other in the USA Data about the tribe was primarily gathered using naturalistic inquiry and in-depth unstructured interviews Data was also collected using non-participatory observation, photography and audio recording All the interviews were conducted in or around the Warhammer game room In the USA, the game room (C&C games shop) was independent from the Games Workshop company, while in France the game room (Games Workshop shop) was not

The interviews took place on Wednesday evenings or Saturday afternoons Individual

respondents discussed Warhammer at a separate table in the same game room or shop while other enthusiasts played or painted figurines roughly ten meters away Rather than conducting numerous interviews with the same participants, we chose to interview a variety of gamers to acquire as much breadth as possible given the limited experience some informants had with the game Our interviews turned out to be more like conversations, where the questions bounced off the answers Every interview was recorded following the written consent of each participant

We chose not to separate the tribe from its own environment, as we believe the interaction of all environmental factors surrounding the respondents was needed to make a thick characterization

of the tribe Furthermore, we felt the respondents were more relaxed and accommodating when they were interviewed in their own environments They were painting, playing and interacting with each other in the game room

In each of the two selected cities (Marseilles in France and Madison, Wisconsin in the USA), we conducted 11 in-depth interviews to acquire information on how participants consume and ascribe meaning to Warhammer All respondents were males of varying ages and experience levels although most respondents were between the ages of 16 and 24 Given that male teenagers may have difficulty expressing feelings, we sometimes employed a projective approach for acquiring descriptions We asked respondents what they thought about how other people

perceived the issue in question

Later, we categorized our data through classifying and labelling processes suggested by

McCracken (1988) The categorization processes helped develop the themes (Spiggle, 1994) In addition to categorization, we incorporated triangulation in all stages of our research Then, we employed member checks to test some of the analyses with the study's participants (Lindlof,

1995) In our case, member checks involved showing some portions of our report to the project informants Their commentaries on the interpretations in the report were sought as a check on the viability of the interpretations (Belk et al. , 1989) In order to assess the credibility of our

interpretations we went back to the game room and showed our findings on three of the themes

to our informants “Socialization” and “attraction to imaginary violence” themes were omitted because of potential to interfere with the subjects personal relationships The member checks resulted in no significant changes being made in our interpretations In sum, member checks, data triangulation and additional reviewers were used in our data interpretation

Results

Warhammer consumers clearly ascribed communal attributes to their groupings as they have been highlighted in recent studies (Muniz and O'Guinn, 2001) First, unlike other games, the Warhammer members share the sense of forming a specific group even if it's not a close one:

Confrontation, there isn't the same community feeling as we have with Warhammer There's a lot

of us doing Warhammer, and we're all connected by the White Dwarf (William)

A group, oh yes! But not a separate one, since we're open to everyone, we don't believe in segregation Someone who shows up, even if he or she isn't playing, we get them involved specifically so they'll be interested in painting or playing (Georges)

Second, Warhammer members stipulate the existence of rituals and traditions:

There is a community of equals but with a hierarchy You start out with the older players, who have been doing tournaments for at least 3 years Locally we all know each other, we're all friends And there is a hierarchy with the younger players who are just beginning to show up and dream about capturing the scalp of one of the older ones (Reynald)

He's had the empire rule book for a while, because he's developing what we should have in our army because there's very strict rules on building armies and he has to adhere to those rules to make the army (Dave)

Third, they put emphasis on the moral obligation to help one another:

There's a lot of mutual support since no one is familiar with the entire rulebook – we each know just a small portion of it (Christophe)

At the beginning we helped each other a lot, but now we're getting a little more competitive (Michael)

The first theme that surfaced from the US interviews was “socialization.” It connotes how the tribe of Warhammer enthusiasts socializes inside and outside of the “C&C Game Room” that serves them as a community The notion of friendship was mentioned several times as a main reason why the enthusiasts hang out together One of the respondents said:

This game led to a lot of friendships for me and that's one reason why I play it I like the game obviously that's another reason (Jim)

However, we discovered that this can be a superficial and fragile friendship based solely on the game and the game room The game room is the only thing that connects the enthusiasts Here, friendship can be seen as a function of the game and the room In some of the interviews the respondent made that pretty clear to us One respondent noted:

If I didn't work here tomorrow and I didn't go with them we would probably not talk (Jack)

Consequently, this tribe appears as if it may not have much of a social life outside the game room, but it does socialize a lot within its walls Nonetheless, the depth of the relationship can also be questioned Few of the respondents socialized with each other away from the gaming centre Thus, even though they believed the people at the gaming center were their good friends, they rarely spent time with one another As a result, the socialization theme can be seen as simultaneously entailing two opposing elements

The French findings concur with the US results that feature varying degrees of socialisation Some people enter the Warhammer universe via friends who introduce them, whilst others make new friends (albeit not with everyone) thanks to the Warhammer universe Several participants mention the existence of two totally distinct social groups:

70 percent of my group of friends are from there (Reynald)

Players don't see each other except at the shop There is some feeling of friendship, but I do have other friends These are two totally separate social groups (Yann)

The second theme that emerged was “Attraction to imaginary violence.” Almost all of the US respondents held an attraction to violent imagery In fact, there seemed to be two main themes with violence that surfaced within our interviews First, most of the informants used violent imagery in their descriptions of the game We simply refer to this component as “violent

discourse.” The second theme that surfaced in the interviews is referred to as “violent

influences.” Media may have influenced the respondents' attraction to imaginary violence Here are a few examples of respondents' descriptions of why they are attracted to Warhammer:

When I get here it is just fun and kill, kill, kill Also like in classes, if you mess up it is bad, like here if you mess up, so what you live and learn I mean you'll do better next time (Roger)

When I play? Anxious, I want to get in there and kill stuff! (Tex)

I guess it is general nature for humans to be better than everyone else Like my army is better than yours Bragging rights But I don't think there's nothing better than sinking an axe in

someone's head (Tex)

In addition, some of the US males described in detail how they enjoyed imagining some of the

“smells and tastes” of battle One could also observe the US respondents play “Streetfighter” in between Warhammer matches Streetfighter is another violent video game where players can manipulate various fight scenes in urban areas Surprisingly, this theme was never spontaneously evoked in the French interviews and when it was mentioned, it was rejected as something irrelevant What attracts the French male is an imaginary world that is historical, medieval, backwards-looking and full of heroic fantasy – not the violence itself (Figure 2) In fact, no one even mentioned this factor, not even the players' parents:

What I like is the story line, as well as the strategic side of things (Cyril)

No one ever talks to me about a universe of violence They focus on the aesthetic aspects (Georges)

You don't see it … All you get is a really friendly ogre with 3 attacks and 3 life points (Ouard)

It is also interesting to note that the French players we interviewed expressed a general dislike for on-line sites or forums dedicated to Warhammer They do not feel at home in these kinds of

“crazy environments” where an imaginary violence often runs rampant

The third theme in the US interviews was “Accomplishment.” As the informants began to elaborate on the miniatures they revealed a focus on the actual interactions with physical figurines They were drawn by the visual appeal of figures and often invested a lot of time and effort in painting and assembling these warrior replicas When some of the informants lost a

“battle” or discovered their figurines to be slaughtered, they took it personally as if they were hurt The following quotes support these findings:

R: What is it like to win?

I: It's pretty cool, cause I mean you put all this effort into the models and basically all these people put all this effort into their models so they want to see them win (Rob)

R: Do your relationships change across the game?

I: Sometimes if someone is making fun of you when you're loosing a game, you might avoid them the next two days It can get pretty intense if you want it to, because you take so much pride in the models you know (George)

A second facet of the “accomplishment” theme suggests winning over the more experienced players (often referred to as “the vets”) of the tribe is almost as gratifying For example:

R: How about in terms of the outcomes of the game for you – wins, losses and stuff how does that affect you or how do you feel about the outcome?

I: Well if I beat Jack or Paul I feel a little bit prideful its like I beat one of the vets anybody else its “Eh” and if I lose to them its no big deal and if I lose to one of the other guys you know they

at my level right now so its to be expected (Aaron 1)

This quote suggests that the level of experience is important Indeed, one could note that part of accomplishing something meant getting more experienced to eventually master the game Accomplishing social interaction, showing off neatly painted figurines, “beating the vet's” and mastering the game with higher levels of experience all lead to different senses of

accomplishment

This theme is present in French interviews too In particular, the painting activity constitutes a considerable investment (attention to details) that “becomes worth it” when a player is made

proud both by his army and also by any flattering comments that the other players (experienced

or not) might make about it:

It's great showing up with a really well-painted army That makes me proud (Yann)

At home I have a big bay window and when people stop by they see it and tell me that it's cool looking Right away that makes you feel good about yourself, it makes you happy (Georges)

In a match (and unlike their US counterparts), French players' self-fulfilment comes more from a

“clever” strategic move than from beating their opponents For example, some comment on

“Warhammer 40,000” (the game of “futuristic battles,” whereas Warhammer is the game of

“fantasy battles”), which they consider overly simplistic (“too much dice throwing,” “trigger happy yahoos” – Rémy)

Indeed, besides accomplishment, “Competitiveness” is another theme that appears to become more of an issue among experienced gamers in the USA For the most part, competitiveness deals with winning and losing during game playing, not painting For many, Warhammer was only 3-4 months old for them Given its series of steps including mastering of armies and

painting, much of the early game playing is centred on learning the rules and strategy In this early period, competitiveness is reported low:

We're not real competitive around here, we just kind a go with it, what ever is happening during the game is (Jim)

Additionally the nature of Warhammer requires some strategy This planning is taken seriously,

as are the numerous rules Clearly these elements brought out an idea of competitiveness in several of the US informants:

During the game I take a more blase attitude What happens, happens Except when there's a rule questions you know if I think I'm being cheated out of it and I start to get a little heated I don't know why though It's nothing really to get a big fuss about but sometimes its god-damn-it I want my army to be here at this time Whatever It gets a little heated but I dunno with this game, it's hard to describe I mean I enjoy playing it I try not to get stressed out about I mean I rarely

do I think There's been one time where I got mad where a rules question Besides that I sit back and relax try to have a good time and make fun about it (Jesse)

As US informants continued to answer questions on competitiveness as well as winning and losing, it became apparent that in fact winning is more important than initially indicated and players are more competitive than originally conceived Some respondents are aware of this They point out that their preliminary assessment of the environment or of themselves not being very competitive may be incorrect:

At the beginning we helped each other a lot but now were getting a little bit more competitive (Michael)