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Master Thesis

A new phenomenon in luxury fashion industry: The role of fashion bloggers in luxury fashion brands agenda building

Evgenia Karvouni Student ID: 10696989 University of Amsterdam Graduate School of Communication

Track: Corporate Communication

Supervised by Dr. Pernill van der Rijt

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Abstract

Luxury brands have always been considered as the leaders of the fashion sector, with a strong aesthetic value – creation performance. However, the advent of fashion bloggers, as a new stakeholder, along with the unprecedented economic crisis in 2009 and the extended competition in fashion industry, have increased the demand of luxury fashion brands to develop and sustain a strong identity and image. The aim of this thesis is to explore the corporate agenda of luxury fashion brands along with the fashion bloggers agenda and find any similarities and discrepancies. A non-automated content analysis with visual and textual elements was conducted, by analyzing fashion shows, campaigns and press releases of luxury fashion brands, as well as online posts of fashion bloggers. According to the findings of this research, the portrayal of luxury fashion brands by fashion bloggers differs from the corporate agenda of luxury fashion brands in certain values and attributes, such as the frequency of using the brand name, the country/city of origin and the use of different levels of luxury,

themes/backgrounds, aesthetism heritage branding and the use of denotative words. In order to get a broader perspective, avenues for future research can be included upon the effects of the portrayal of luxury fashion brands by fashion bloggers on the public opinion.

Keywords: luxury fashion brands, fashion bloggers, luxury brand

communication, corporate branding, corporate identity, corporate image, agenda building

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-“Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.” - Coco Chanel

Fashion is about self-expression, passion and identity. It is a continuous changing process, which brings new trends into humans’ lives (Easey, 2002). Luxury is a word, that most fashion brands would die in order to be characterized (Okonkwo, 2007). Luxury is about being unique (Kapferer & Bastien, 2009) and connotes

authenticity, exclusivity, craftsmanship (Okonkwo, 2007), as well as an inventive and intangible worth (Chevalier & Mazzalovo, 2008). The word “luxury” is an old

meaning and has already been written about in ancient Greece (Berry, 1994). However, the idea of luxury brands, as a special form of branding, is still a new concept in the field of communication (Chevalier & Mazzalovo, 2008). Luxury brands differ from premium and mass brands, by their intention to communicate in an alternative and challenging way, rather than to find new communication strategies to increase their sales in the competitive fashion industry (Kapferer & Bastien, 2009).

Luxury brand communication deviates from traditional brand communication. Particularly, luxury brand communication attempts to develop a unique identity and create the impression of a dream world (Okonkwo, 2007), whereas traditional brand communication is based only on generating immediate sales and positioning

(Kapferer & Bastien, 2009). During the old times, luxury brand communication was adequately easy, as there was no competition and the consumers, who were loyal and uncritical, were easy to be convinced (Okonkwo, 2007). Nowadays, as competition has increased between the fashion brands and the consumers’ market has expanded, it is difficult for luxury fashion brands to define and maintain their unique identity. In order to survive and stay successful and competitive, it is crucial for luxury fashion brands to string along with their vision and original values and attributes. They should find a harmony between their traditional origins and the demands of the modern business world (Okonkwo, 2007).

So far, the luxury fashion industry seems to have been slow in embracing the modern business world. Since the emergence of increased new digital technologies, luxury fashion brands are forced to engage with them, in order to enhance their brand exposure and maintain success in the fashion sector. The appearance of Internet and

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social networks is what influences the current fashion industry, by changing the way people interact with fashion and the way fashion is communicated in the world (Sedeke & Arora, 2013). However, there is a controversial dilemma, whether luxury fashion brands should use the new media or not. While there are some brands, putting effort into building a strong identity and image into the digital world, most of the luxury fashion brands still refuse to be incorporated with digital media for fear of losing their unique brand identity and heritage (Okonkwo, 2010).

The last few years fashion blogging has become a new phenomenon,

providing many opportunities to web users, and to some extent even altering fashion industry by offering an online personal space with no barriers that shares fashion news, trends and opinions (Kapferer & Bastien, 2009). Fashion bloggers, by allowing online interaction with consumers, have become trusted sources of new fashion trends and products and they have altered the consumers’ perception of luxury, as they promote the notion of simplicity and accessibility (Sedeke & Arora, 2013). Therefore, the current luxury fashion world can be described as a space where luxury fashion brands stand at the one side and fashion bloggers, as a new phenomenon in the fashion industry, stand at the other side (Sedeke & Arora, 2013).

Fashion bloggers can be considered as a new electronic word-of-mouth that can affect luxury brand communication through the process of agenda setting (Farrell & Drezner, 2008). Agenda setting can be considered as a process that can influence the public agenda (McCombs & Shaw, 1972). As an extension of agenda setting theory, agenda building focuses on how public relation activities of an organization affect and set the media agenda and in turn public agenda (Carroll & McCombs, 2003). With fashion bloggers’ increasing influence on public’s perceptions,

followings within the fashion industry, and their potential role in the agenda building of luxury fashion brands, it is important for luxury fashion brands image to be in line with their brand identity and to build a strong corporate agenda. By the same token, agenda building theory and its impact on the corporate sphere have also been considered as an important field of study to been explored by many researchers (Berger, 2001; Carroll & McCombs, 2003; Kiousis, Popescu & Mitrook, 2007).

Luxury fashion brands are considered amongst the most recognized and respected consumer brands (Fionda & Moore, 2009), while the economic crisis of

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2009 has affected the luxury fashion sector sales by changing consumers’ behavior and purchase intention (Kapferer & Bastien, 2009). Consumers are more sophisticated and make decisions more carefully, as a result luxury fashion brands possibly need to change their branding strategies, in order to please consumers’ motives and values (Kapferer & Bastien, 2009). In the academic discourse, luxury branding has received minimal attention and there is a limited research and limited amount of empirical data relevant to create, develop and sustain a luxury brand identity and image (Fionda & Moore, 2009). The ongoing process of technological developments, and in turn fashion blogging, has caused the access to media fashion content to be less expensive, faster and more approachable to consumers over the years (Sedeke & Arora,2013). Therefore, this changing process has increased the demand of a strong identity and image in the luxury fashion sector (Okonkwo, 2009). Despite the world spread of fashion blogging, no research has been exploring deeply this new phenomenon. For the aforementioned reasons, this study will be exploratory and it will examine if the corporate identity, as communicated by the luxury fashion brands (corporate agenda), is reflected in the fashion bloggers agenda over the years. The research question of this exploratory study is formulated as follows:

RQ: “To what extent does the portrayal of luxury fashion brands by fashion bloggers correspond to the corporate identity of luxury fashion brands during the years 2009-2014?”

Furthermore, sub questions are formulated as well to guide the process of answering the research question. The sub questions are stated as follows:

- How do luxury fashion brands portray their corporate identity over the years 2009-2014?

- How do fashion bloggers portray the luxury fashion brands over the years 2009-2014?

- Do fashion bloggers communicate about luxury fashion brands in a way that corresponds to the corporate agenda of these luxury fashion brands?

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Theoretical background The concept of Corporate Branding

Brands are one of the most valuable intangible assets within a corporation and the basis for differentiation and profits in a competitive market (Keller, 2003). A brand – as a source and a strategic instrument of competition – should be

characterized as unique and difficult for competitors to imitate (Barney, 1997). A brand is a distinguishing name and/or symbol (logo and trademark), which intends to identify the goods and services of an organization (Ghodeswar, 2008). In order for a brand to be successful, a strong brand identity is important as it reflects consumers’ needs, differentiates the brand and represents precisely what the brand stands for (Aaker & Joachimsthaler, 2000).

Branding has come to be considered as being the core of any business activity (Bronn, 2010). The last few years, branding has begun to move up to the corporate agenda. Corporate is described as the symbols used by an organization to identify itself and be recognizable to stakeholders (Bronn, 2010). The ultimate ambition is to develop and present the organization as one united brand: a so called corporate brand (Christensen, Morsing & Cheney, 2008). “A corporate brand is the visual, verbal and behavioral expression of an organization’s unique business model” (Knox &

Bickerton, 2003, p. 1.013). Corporate brands deviate from product brands in terms of being integrative in scope and management, having a multi – stakeholder orientation, being constructed by the brand promise and aligning with the brand identity of the organization (Balmer & Gray, 2003). However, the most essential element of the corporate brand is, that it can create a distinct identity for a corporation (Balmer & Greyser, 2002).

Corporate branding is increasingly identified as a strategic tool that can produce and reinforce value creation performance within a company (Macrae, 1999; Urde, 1999; Balmer, 2001), it can distinguish an organization (Balmer & Gray, 2003) and it makes a contribution to the images, formed by all stakeholders of the

organization (Hatch & Schultz, 2001). Corporate branding deliberates the values and sources of desire, which attract stakeholders, by encouraging them to feel a sense of belonging to an organization (Hatch & Schultz, 2003). In addition, corporate branding comprises two aspects: corporate expression and stakeholders images of the

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organization’s identity (Abratt & Kleyn, 2012). Corporate expression is a major component of corporate branding, as it includes decisions about the organization’s visual identity (corporate name, logotype and/or symbol, colors), brand promise, brand personality and the way these will be communicated across to all stakeholders (Abratt & Kleyn, 2012). The creation of stakeholders’ images of the organization’s identity, through the provision of good brand experiences, is also another important component, as it enables stakeholders to build strong relationships with the brand, support and evaluate the brand positively (Abratt & Kleyn, 2012).

Corporate brand identity can be described as the idea of the organization (Bronn, 2010) and the way it is presented to external stakeholders (Hatch & Schultz, 2002). Corporate identity consists of the vision, mission and the culture of the organization, which drives the brand’s desired positioning, personality and its sequential relationships, all of which are then provided, in order to mirror

stakeholders’ self-images (Bronn, 2010). In particular, the corporate identity of the organization is referred to what the organization is and what it wants to be (Abratt & Kleyn, 2012). It presents the reality and uniqueness of the organization (Gray & Balmer, 1998) and it is based on its different attributes and values (Harris & de Chernatony, 2001). The core values and attributes make up the backbone of an organization’s brand and they affect strategy, product development and

communications within it (Urde, 2003). According to Urde (2003), the core values and attributes of an organization should be based into the products, expressed in behavior and reflect the essence of communication between all its stakeholders.

According to Hatch and Schultz (2002), corporate identity needs to be considered in relation to both image and culture of an organization. Organizational culture, as a symbolic context, is considered in explanations of the development and maintenance of corporate identity (Hatch & Schultz, 1997). Corporate branding is related to the concept of corporate images, by creating brand images in the minds of stakeholders on a continuous basis (Abratt & Kleyn, 2012). Corporate images are the mental pictures that stakeholders have of an organization (Gray & Balmer, 1998) and they are related to the various physical and behavioral attributes of the organization, such as the corporate name, tradition and ideology (Nguyen & Leblanc, 2001). Image can be defined as being like a mirror to the corporate identity of the organization

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(Bronn, 2010). It is “what comes to mind when one hears the name or sees the logo of a brand” (Gray & Balmer, 1998, p.696).

However, stakeholders often perceive and interpret the corporate identity differently from its original purpose. It should be recognized that some stakeholders are more important than others and they have a greater influence on a corporate brand (Abratt & Kleyn, 2012). For instance, the media are more interested in the function of an organization and on finding and exposing any discrepancies between corporate images and organizational actions (Hatch & Schultz, 2002). The media exposure and the attempts of the organization to build strong relationships with external

stakeholders challenge the corporate identity of the organization and increase the access of stakeholders to the organization (Hatch & Schultz, 2002).

Luxury fashion branding: A special form of corporate branding

In the luxury brand industry, brands are different from mass and premium brands by their ability to communicate certain elements of consumer – perceived characteristic of luxuriousness (Vigneron & Johnson, 2004) and to create the notion of a dream (Kapferer & Bastien, 2009). Luxury brands are considered as a complete package that provides an origin of identity by connoting luxury in their particular product categories (Okonkwo, 2009). They offer consumers the opportunity for self – expression, self- realization and self – identity (Okonkwo, 2009), with comparable symbolic profits, such as prestige and social status (Kapferer & Bastien, 2009). In order for a brand to be called “luxurious”, not only the premium quality and the distinctive design of the products are important, but also its commitment to brand building (Seo & Buchanan – Oliver, 2015).

Branding can be considered as the life-line of the luxury fashion industry (Okonkwo, 2007) as it can add the luxurious value to a company’s products by

constructing a unique story behind them and by investing in the brand image of luxury corporations (Holt et al., 2004). Coco Chanel has recognized two important

dimensions of luxury fashion branding: the ability of a luxury fashion brand to be considered as synonymous with a respective lifestyle/social status and that this respective lifestyle cannot be afforded by everyone. Luxury fashion branding is a special form of corporate branding that uses the socio-cultural meaning of modern luxury to create an exclusive brand identity and image (Okonkwo, 2009), which are

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considered as the key determinants of success in luxury fashion industry (Kapferer & Bastien, 2009; Keller, 2009). Particularly, the desired identity is what it is crucial for luxury fashion brands, because it becomes a venture for the association and

perception, developed in consumers’ minds and remains a source of uniqueness and satisfaction (Okonkwo, 2007). Therefore, a successful corporate branding strategy allows luxury fashion brands to create unique brands in return for consumers’ preferences, expectations and loyalty (Chevalier & Mazzalovo, 2008; Okonkwo, 2007).

According to Okonkwo (2007) name, logo, country/city of origin, history, heritage and colors characterize a luxury fashion brand’s corporate identity. The brand name and the logo are fundamental, as they attract the consumers and reflect the luxury brand’s vision and mission (Okonkwo, 2007). For instance, the founders of Chanel and Dior passed on, but their names and philosophies still live on. The properties of luxury fashion brands’ fabrics, colors and shapes, like Louis Vuitton’s monogram, Versace’s faux Roman medallions or Gucci’s green and red stripes are crucial elements of luxury brand identity, as they make the products recognizable and distinguishable (Nueno & Quelch, 1998). The history and the country/city of origin of luxury brands are essential attributes of the corporate identity, having an impact on the perceived luxury of a brand (Okonkwo, 2009), while the aspect of heritage (rich traditions, the founders of luxury brands, long – written history) is also considered as the brand signature, which can be recognizable all over the world (Fionda & Moore, 2009). By the same token, it is expected in this study that the name, logo, country/city of origin, history and heritage of each luxury fashion brand will be prompted

adequately to their external communication with stakeholders.

However, the most vital aspect for luxury fashion brands to communicate is the notion of a dream, which is characterized “as a social dimension that confers social class and empowers the consumers with certain values and identity and as well an aesthetic dimension that is related to the multi – sensorial nature and emotional pleasure of the offerings to consumers” (Kapferer & Bastien, 2009, p.128).The creation of the notion of a dream, surrounding and recharging of this dream to uphold the brand’s value as a luxury, is a crucial element of the brand identity, as consumers expect to be captivated and surprised by the brand (Kapferer & Bastien, 2009). Constructing a dream world around the brand is more about an attempt to create a

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positive brand image (Berthon et al, 2009), which is important, as consumers’

expectations are high (Keller, 2009). As Kapferer and Bastien (2009) also argue, it is expected in this study that luxury fashion brands will express in every occasion this unique dream to the stakeholders, as it increases the exclusiveness and reinforce the value of the brand identity as luxury.

In order to create and maintain a strong and successful luxury brand identity, considered as a fundamental part of the luxury value proposition, there are other important values and attributes that luxury brands should focus on and they will be explored in this research. Particularly, “a luxury brand identity is characterized by authenticity, exclusivity, uniqueness, innovation, craftsmanship, premium pricing, high quality” (Okonkwo, 2007, p.11) and as well by creativity, emotions, aesthetism, artistic sense, individuality, rarity, global presence and ethical and social

responsibility (Okonkow, 2007;Chevalier & Mazzalovo, 2008; Kapferer & Bastien, 2009).

In order to create a favorable brand image, which helps luxury fashion brands in maintaining their unique brand identity in a competitive fashion world economy, effective corporate branding strategies require coherent messages about the self-definition of the organization (Harris & de Chernatony, 2001) and about the cognitive image of company’s representation by stakeholders (Bronn, 2010). An important aspect for luxury fashion brands of creating a better brand image is to create the brand identity by using public relations prestigious events (fashion shows) and campaigns (Keller, 2009). Fashion shows and campaigns maintain and strengthen the luxury brand identity, generate awareness, in order to establish loyalty, and enhance the brand image and reputation as well of the luxury brand (Okonkwo, 2007). The aim of fashion shows and campaigns is to “influence the knowledge and feelings of the luxury brand and its offerings, including identity and image, in order to persuade and build favorable relationships with stakeholders” (Okonkwo, 2007, p. 154). In other words, Keller (2009) stated that the main goal of the public relations of fashion industry is to maintain and strengthen a favorable brand identity and image through positive publicity, managed by building a good relationship with fashion journalists, style editors and fashion bloggers.

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Fashion bloggers as the new gatekeepers of luxury fashion industry

Nowadays, the character and the development of the luxury fashion industry is influenced by technological inventions and new digital technologies (Easey, 2002). Internet development has empowered consumers and has raised the brand awareness (Sedeke & Arora, 2013). The increase of multimedia online technologies, such as fashion blogs, based on their ability to simultaneously combine online texts, images and videos, influences the engagement of consumers with them (Claypool et al., 1999). Due to the nature of the Web 2.0, fashion blogs have altered the dissemination of information among the fashion sector (Okonkwo, 2007) and have established a new media culture (Engholm & Hansen – Hansen, 2014).

In the last decade, fashion bloggers have been considered a new stakeholder in the fashion industry and a popular medium source for consumption of fashion news and trends (Sedeke & Arora, 2013). Fashion blogs provide a channel for reaching a large number of audiences, which in turn increases awareness, participation, and engagement in conversations and influences the purchasing behavior of the consumers (Ahn, Kim & Park, 2010). Fashion bloggers synthesize the information, put out by the fashion brands, with their personal convictions, while their continuous production of fashion content gives them the ability to influence the audience of the fashion industry (Mendola, 2014). According to Ahn, Kim & Park (2010), the network of fashion blogs plays an important role in creating trends and sharing news and opinions about several fashion brands, as they are exposed to a large audience, determined by a combination of blog fans, email subscribers, page views, likes and comments.

Fashion blogs can be considered as the “street of the fashion industry”, characterized by simplicity, accessibility, bringing high levels of interactivity and sharing opinions (Sedeke & Arora, 2013; McMillan, 2006; Kuhn, 2007). They offer aesthetic classic visuality with simple layouts (Engholm & Hansen- Hansen, 2014). Fashion bloggers develop modern styles, allow interaction and communicate the ins and outs of the fashion industry, as they play an important role alongside designers, in shaping tastes and ideas (Ahn, Kim & Parl, 2010). This type of communication, caused the global information spread, where consumers can easily follow and discuss fashion news and trends, underline the importance of a strong corporate identity and image for luxury fashion brands. Therefore, it is anticipated in this research that

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fashion bloggers, based on their nature, will promote the luxury fashion products in a simple, modern and accessible way to the consumers.

In addition, the fashion blogosphere offers an online space with no barriers that shares information at incredible speed and provides a faster reaction to global trends and news (Kapferer & Bastien, 2009). However, through this new

communication channel, luxury fashion brands’ corporate messages are risking of misunderstanding and misinterpretation, endangering their image and reputation. Organizations have less control about the flow of messages entering new media (Grunig, 2009). For instance, luxury fashion brands are not able to control the possible negative comments and virtual complains that can be posted by the fashion bloggers (Sedeke & Arora, 2013). Under these new circumstances, caused by technological developments and the appearance of fashion bloggers, a strong

corporate identity and image are required (Hines & Bruce, 2007). Fashion blogs can be used to consolidate a strong brand identity, image and corporate culture of a luxury fashion brand (Sedeke & Arora, 2013). For the above reason, what is essential for luxury fashion brands is to attempt to control and influence the flow of information in fashion blogs, in order to assure that their corporate identity is portrayed in line with what fashion bloggers communicate about luxury fashion brands. Consequently, the main wander of this exploratory research is, if the style and the ideas of the fashion bloggers about luxury fashion brands correspond to the corporate agenda of luxury fashion brands.

The concepts of agenda setting and agenda building

In order to explore if the corporate agenda of luxury fashion brands is portrayed in line with fashion bloggers agenda, the concepts of agenda setting and agenda building provide a relevant theoretical framework for this research. As abovementioned, the success of a luxury brand identity is also depended on

stakeholders’ images. Building a good brand image, along with the development and maintenance of a successful brand identity, is one of the vital aspects for an

organization to be profitable and to survive (Fombrum & Van Riel, 2007). Most of the companies try to identify the dominant stakeholders (employees, customers, activist groups, etc.) and to find a way to communicate effectively with them (Cornelissen, Carroll & Elving, 2009). One of the most dominant stakeholders that can actually

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alter a company’s identity and make or break a company’s image and reputation is the new media (Carroll et al., 2004). According to previous research, two key

communication factors, linked with corporate identity, image and reputation, are the public relations activities of an organization and its coverage in new media (Fombrum & Shanley, 1990).

New media can affect public’s perceptions about organizations (Fombrum & Shanley, 1990), as information about organizations is widely accessible to everyone with the advent of new digital communication technologies (Grunig, 2009).This specific ability of new media to influence public’s images is named the agenda setting role of new media (McCombs & Reynolds, 2002).Agenda setting can be described as the process in which media can affect and set the public agenda (McCombs & Shaw, 1972; Carroll & McCombs, 2003). At the first level of agenda setting, the salience objects on the media agenda affect the salience of those objects in the public agenda, while at the second level the salience attributes on the media agenda affect the salience of those attributes in the public agenda (Carroll & McCombs, 2003). The second level of agenda setting, which offers a useful theoretical framework for explaining the impact of new media on corporate reputation of a firm, suggests that new media can influence people’s perception of a firm (Kiousis, Popescu & Mitrook, 2007). In other words, agenda setting focuses on how people think about an issue or an object and on describing the attributes, characteristics and the tone of new media coverage (Kim & McCombs, 2007).

On the other side, through the use of information subsidies, such as news releases, interviews, public relations activities and campaigns, an organization can affect and shape the new media content (Kiousis, Popescu & Mitrook, 2007). Public relations activities of an organization - in the case of luxury fashion brands the most prominent are fashion shows and campaigns - are major forces setting the new media agenda and ultimately the public agenda, a process known as agenda building (Curtin, 1999). Agenda building can be characterized as “a give and take process in which sources seek their information published and the press seeks to get that information from independent sources” (Ohl et al., 1995, p.91).The first level of agenda building can be described as the process, where an organization offers information of specific objects in order to affect the new media agenda, while at the second level of agenda

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building the attributes of those objects used by organization can also affect the new media agenda (Turk & Franklin, 1988).

Previous studies provide evidence confirming the impact of public relation activities on new media content. For instance, a research conducted by Kiousis, Popescu & Mitrook (2007) found that the values and attributes in the public relations activities of an organization are significantly correlated with the new media content, while they found also a positive relationship between the positive tone of the public relations messages and new media content. In addition, public relation activities operate as frame activities, who strive to determine how attributes, choices, actions, issues and values of an organization should be posed to achieve a successful identity and a favorable image and reputation (Hallahan, 1999).

Furthermore, the identity of an organization is important of understanding the process and the outcomes of agenda building, as it influences stakeholders’

perceptions and motivations, through the link between organization’s identity and stakeholder’s self- concept (Dutton & Penner, 1993). In other words, what

stakeholders perceive as unique about the identity of an organization, it will affect their perceptions (Dutton & Penner, 1993). In order for an organization to maintain and communicate a healthy corporate identity, it is important for the organization to balance stakeholders’ perceptions against its corporate agenda (Hatch & Schultz, 2009). Consequently, the role of an organization in communicating its corporate identity is to rely upon its corporate expression and influence of stakeholders images (Abratt & Kleyn, 2012). For instance, agenda building efforts have been found to influence an organization’s public prominence (Carroll, 2010), while research by Kiousis et al. (2007) revealed a link between information subsidies of an organization and new media coverage. In particular, the success of agenda building relies not only on organization’s shaping what new media portray about them, but also on increasing the new media audience’s reception and repeating of the desired messages and

avoiding the misinterpretation of their messages from new media (Carroll, 2010). Based on the aforementioned literature, this research attempts to explore if the fashion bloggers agenda about luxury fashion brands corresponds to the corporate agenda of luxury fashion brands. It is expected in this research that the core values and attributes of luxury fashion brands, which reinforce and sustain their identity as

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luxury and exclusive, will be prompted adequately in their external communication. In line with the concept of agenda building, it is expected that certain values and attributes of luxury fashion brands, expressed through their campaigns, fashion shows and press releases, will be correlated with fashion bloggers agenda. However, because of the nature of fashion bloggers, it is expected that there were also some

discrepancies. Fashion bloggers may portray and promote differently the luxury fashion products, in a simple, modern and accessible way.

Methodology

Based on the theoretical framework, this exploratory study attempts to answer the general research question and the three additional sub questions. In particular, it was explored, how luxury fashion brands portray their corporate identity and in turn how fashion bloggers communicate about luxury fashion brands. In that sense, it was investigated in depth, if there is a match or mismatch in the way that fashion bloggers communicate about luxury fashion brands compared to the corporate agenda of luxury fashion brands. As mentioned above, luxury fashion brands identity is portrayed mostly through their campaigns, fashion shows and press releases, while fashion bloggers communicate about luxury fashion brands through posts on the Internet, including images, videos and online texts (Kapferer & Bastien, 2009). In order to test the empirical part of this research, a non-automated content analysis, using both textual and visual elements (videos, images and online texts), was conducted. Content analysis can be considered as one of the most important research techniques on learning and understanding several aspects of the field of communication and mass media, by making applicable assumptions from data to their context (Krippendorff, 1989).

Material and Sampling

The sample of this study was based on four European luxury fashion brands. Two luxury fashion brands from France, Louis Vuitton and Channel, and two from Italy, Gucci and Prada, were selected. The selection of these luxury fashion brands was based on the fact that there were on top of the list of the most desirable luxury fashion brands in 2008, according to an online survey, which was conducted by Nielsen, a market research company. Moreover, France has been characterized as a leading country in the fashion industry along with Italy (Okonkwo, 2009). As far as

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the fashion bloggers are concerned, the selection of them was based on their country of origin. The ranking lists “Top 10 fashion bloggers from Italy” and “Top 10 fashion bloggers The French”, assembled by Chantal van der Meijden, creator of the famous fashion blog “Cocorosa”, were chosen as the most appropriate charts for this research (Cocorosa, 2013). For the above reason, two Italian fashion bloggers, “The Blonde Salad” and “The Fashion Fruit”, and two French, “Le blog de Betty” and “The Cherry blossom girl”, were chosen.

As far as the time period of the analysis is concerned, the expansion of fashion bloggers in 2009 (Technorati, 2009), along with the unprecedented global economic crisis that struck the luxury fashion industry (Kapferer & Bastien, 2009), were taken into consideration. Therefore, the time frame of the analysis was from January 2009 until December 2014. As abovementioned, luxury fashion brands identity is portrayed mostly through campaigns, fashion shows and press releases, while in turn fashion bloggers communicate through their online posts. In particular, luxury fashion brands release two campaigns, while two fashion shows take place every year; one fashion show/campaign for the collection of fall/winter and one for spring/summer collection. The campaigns and the press releases1 of each luxury fashion brand were approached through their official websites, while the fashion shows were approached through uploaded videos from Youtube channels. Fashion bloggers upload many posts continuously, so the selection of online posts, referred to each luxury fashion brand, was based on the selected key words of respectively each brand (name) in the search engine of each fashion blog. Therefore, the units of this analysis are campaigns, fashion shows, press releases and online posts. A detailed overview of the units of analysis can be found in Table 1.

1As Louis Vuitton is incorporated in the “LVMH group”, Gucci in the “Kering group” and Prada in the “Prada Group”, their

press releases were retrieved from the official websites of each group. It has also to be mentioned, that Chanel’s corporate press releases are not accessible, so consumer press releases were selected for the analysis through its official website.

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Table 1

Overview of the units of analysis

Source Media type Documents per luxury fashion brand Documents in total (N = 574)

Luxury fashion brands

Fashion shows

Campaigns

Press releases

Louis Vuitton Chanel Gucci Prada

12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 40 40 40 40 48 48 160

Fashion bloggers The Blonde Salad 25 25 25 25 100

The Fashion Fruit 25 25 2 18 70

Le Blog de Betty 25 25 6 14 70

The Cherry Blossom Girl 25 25 3 25 78 Note. The number of online posts, referred to Gucci and Prada, is not equal to Louis Vuitton and Chanel, due to the limited number of available online posts in the search engine of each fashion blog.

Data analysis

In order to explore the way the luxury fashion brands portray their corporate identity and in turn similarities and/or differences on the way fashion bloggers portray the corporate identity of luxury fashion brands , several attributes and values that characterize a luxury fashion brand identity were taken into consideration. Drawing on the body of the literature retrieved from academic articles (Okonkwo, 2007; Okonkwo, 2009; Chevalier & Mazzalovo, 2008; Kapferer & Bastien, 2009), the name, logo, country/city of origin, heritage and colors are the main attributes that characterize a luxury fashion brand’s corporate identity, while dream, luxuriousness, authenticity, exclusivity, uniqueness, innovation, craftshmanship, aethetism, social responsibility and high quality are some of the most replicable values that characterize a luxury fashion brand. A detailed operationalization of the variables can be found in Appendix 1.

Besides the attributes and values of the luxury fashion brands, the evaluation, concerned with the overall perception of fashion bloggers on luxury fashion brands identity and as well specifically on their campaigns and fashion shows, was measured

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based on the tone of voice from the online texts. The evaluation was divided in three categories: negative, neutral and positive. A detailed operationalization of the evaluation can also be found in Appendix 2. Moreover, the coding sheet of this research was developed intro three different sections: general questions (source, title, months and years), visual communication and textual communication. The coding sheet of the research can be found in Appendix 3.

Intercoder Reliability

As the present research is exploratory and the analysis of data was done by only one researcher, intercoder reliability was conducted by a random coder, through coding 10% of the overall sample of each unit of analysis. Particularly, N=5 fashion shows (10,4% of the overall sample), N=5 campaigns (10,4% of the overall sample), N=16 press releases (10% of the overall sample) and N=32 online posts (10,1% of the overall sample) were coded. By using SPSS and the KALPHA macro software, the intercoder reliability was calculated (Hayes & Krippendorff, 2007). A Krippendorff’s alpha coefficient of .60, as the minimum score for a study to be characterized reliable (Krippendorff, 2004), was chosen for this study. All variables of this study were found reliable with a KALPHA score higher than .60, so the researcher continued with the coding process. A detailed overview of Krippendorff’s alpha results can be found in Appendix 4.

Results

Having examined a big amount of fashion shows, campaigns and press releases during the years 2009-2014, descriptive statistics were conducted, in order to explore the overall average of the way luxury fashion brands portray their corporate identity. In addition, ANOVA tests were also conducted, in order to explore any differences on the portrayal of their corporate identity over the years, but no radical change was found significant (an overview of the results can be found in Appendix 5). According to the findings, from the sample of N=256 campaigns, fashion shows and press releases that were analyzed, 46.5% of them use visual communication. Particularly, N=48 campaigns, N=48 fashion shows and N=23 press releases were found to use visual communication. In analyzing the textual communication of the luxury fashion brands, N=160 press releases were analyzed.

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In addition, in order to explore the overall average of the way fashion bloggers portray the luxury fashion brands, descriptive statistics were also conducted. ANOVA tests were also conducted, in order to explore any differences on the general nature of fashion blogs during the years, but no statistical difference found (an overview of the results can be found in Appendix 6). Particularly, among N=318 posts, 98.1% use visual communication and 78.9% textual communication. A detailed overview of the overall average of the visual and textual portrayal between luxury fashion brands and fashion bloggers can be found in Table 2 and 3.

Table 2

Visual portrayal of luxury fashion brands identity

Values/Attributes of luxury fashion brands Overall Average (2009-2014)

Luxury fashion brands Fashion Bloggers

Name 55.5% 9.5%

Logo 16.8% 10.4%

Country/city of origin

Reference to the country/city of origin 15.3% 22.1%

Photos/Videos take place in the country/city of origin 20.2% 25.8%

Photos/Videos take place in another country 5.9% 22.3%

Photos/Videos do not address where they take place 73.9% 51.9%

Historic monuments of county/city of origin 5% 15.1%

Name of country/city of origin 3.4% 2.8%

National flag 0% 1.3%

Specific theme/backgrounds

Frequency of using specific theme/backgrounds 54.6% 58.2%

Upper/aristocrat class background 51.5% 24.9%

Media/reality class background 7.6% 61.1%

Futuristic/modern class background 40.9% 14.1%

Aesthetism heritage branding

Retrobranding 29.4% 11.3%

Iconic branding 32.8% 79.1%

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Level of luxury Inaccessible luxury 26.9% 10.4% Intermediary luxury 66.4% 51.6% Accessible luxury 6.7% 38.1% Colors Gold 7.6% 3.8% White 21% 34% Black 39.5% 38%

Characteristic color of each luxury fashion brand 31.9% 23.9%

Level of products

Promoted by models 88.2% 88.7%

Models as users of the products 82.1% 28.7%

Models as endorsers 16% 47.9%

Symbolic role of models 1.9% 23.4%

Table 3

Textual portrayal of luxury fashion brands identity

Values/Attributes of luxury fashion brands Overall Average (2009-2014) Luxury fashion brands Fashion bloggers

Name 26.9% 17.1% Logo 17.6% 2.4% Country/city of origin 33.1% 25.6% Main topic Campaign/Fashion shows 8.8% 16.3% New products 13.8% 44.2%

New stores/evolution of luxury fashion brands 15% 2%

Financial issues 31.9% 0%

Corporate Social Responsibility 6.3% 0%

General about luxury products 0.6% 33.1%

General about the brand identity of luxury fashion brand 18.8% 2.8%

Aesthetism heritage branding

No reference to the aesthetism heritage branding 26.9% 47%

Retrobranding 16.9% 10%

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Innovative branding 33.8% 6% Words Luxurious 81.3% 21.1 Dream 17% 22.7% Exclusivity 32.5% 16.7% Uniqueness 60.6% 52% Desire 23.8% 40% Craftsmanship 27% 3.3% Heritage 30.6% 11.3% Inspiration 50.6% 35.1%

In addition, 68.1% of the online texts of fashion bloggers promote also other luxury fashion brands, while the percentage of 38.2% promote also mass and premium fashion brands along with luxury. In order also to examine whether the fashion bloggers will report positively on luxury fashion brands in general during the years 2009-2014, descriptive statistics were conducted. According to the findings, 53% of the online texts evaluate neutrally the luxury fashion brands and 47% positively. As an additional test in this research, ANOVA tests were conducted, in order to compare the luxury fashion brands with each other and find any differences that may occur on the way they portray their corporate identity. A detailed analysis of the results can be found in Appendix 7.

In order to investigate if there is a match or mismatch in the way that fashion bloggers communicate about luxury fashion brands compared to the corporate identity of the luxury fashion brands, independent sample t-tests were conducted. A detailed overview of the results can be found in Tables 4 and 5, while the insignificant results are presented in Appendix 8. Particularly, in the visual communication (Table 4), luxury fashion brands use more frequently the brand name compared to fashion bloggers, whereas no significant difference found on the logo. As far as the

country/city of origin is concerned, fashion bloggers’ photos/videos take part more in other countries and they do not often address the place compared to luxury fashion brands. In addition, fashion bloggers use more historic monuments as a background compared to luxury fashion brands in their photos/videos. However, there is not any significant difference on the use of national flag and on the visibility of the name of

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the country/city of origin in the photos/videos between luxury fashion brands and fashion bloggers.

Furthermore, luxury fashion brands use more the upper/aristocrat and

futuristic/modern class background compared to fashion bloggers that use more the media/reality class background. Luxury fashion brands use more retrobranding and innovative branding in their photos/videos compared to fashion bloggers that use iconic branding. As far as the level of the luxury on the photos/videos is concerned, luxury fashion brands use more the inaccessible and intermediary level and less the accessible level compared to fashion bloggers. Although, there is no significant difference on the frequency that luxury fashion products are promoted by models, luxury fashion brands use more their models as users of the products. Fashion bloggers are used more as endorsers and symbolic to the luxury fashion products. Table 4

Descriptive Statistics and t-test Results in the visual communication

Luxury Fashion Brands Fashion Bloggers 95% Confidence Interval Variables M SD M SD t df p Name .55 .49 .09 .29 -.57,-.36 -9.45 149.80 .000

Photos/videos take place:

In another country .06 .23 .22 .41 .10,.23 5.16 367.58 .000

Do not adress country/city .73 .44 .52 .50 -.32,-.12 -4.48 238.63 .000

Country/City of origin Historic monuments .05 .22 .15 .35 .04,.16 3.53 343.29 .000 Specific background Upper/aristocrat class .52 .50 .25 .43 -.41,.-13 -3.91 99.34 .000 Media-reality class background .06 .24 .61 .49 .45,.64 11.73 220.93 .000 Futuristic/modern class .41 .50 .14 .35 -.41,.-14 -4.12 87.15 .000

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According to Table 5, luxury fashion brands talk more about their logo than fashion bloggers and they talk more about the opening of new stores, financial issues, corporate social responsibility and their brand identity. Fashion bloggers refer more to new and luxury products. In addition, luxury fashion brands use more the words “luxurious”, “craftsmanship”, “heritage”, “inspiration”, “exclusivity” and less the word “desire”, in order to characterize their brands, compared to fashion bloggers. In addition, there is not any significant difference on the frequency when both luxury fashion brands and fashion bloggers refer to the name and the country/city of origin of luxury fashion brands. Fashion bloggers mostly do not refer to the aethetism heritage branding compared to luxury fashion brands. However, when they refer to aethetism heritage, they make a reference more to the iconic branding and less to the innovative branding compared to luxury fashion brands. Lastly, no significant difference found on the reference of retrobranding.

Aesthetism heritage branding

Retrobranding .29 .46 .11 .32 -.27,-.09 -3.97 162.34 .000

Iconic branding .32 .47 .79 .40 .37,.56 9.59 186.51 .000

Innovative branding .37 .49 .09 .28 -.38,-.19 -6.04 150.03 .000

Level of luxury

Inaccessible level of luxury .27 .44 .10 .30 -.25,-.08 -3.73 161.36 .000

Intermediary level of luxury .66 .47 .51 .50 -.25,-.05 -2.86 222.43 .005

Accessible level of luxury .07 .25 .38 .49 .24,.38 8.77 392.90 .000

Level of product

User .83 .38 .29 .45 -.63,-.45 -11.83 221.25 .000

Endorser .16 .37 .48 .50 .22,.41 6.77 250.76 .000

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Table 5

Descriptive Statistics and t-test Results in the textual communication

Luxury Fashion

Brands Fashion Bloggers

95% Confidence Interval Values/Attributes M SD M SD t df p Logo .33 .47 .26 .43 -.21,.-09 -4.78 190.51 .000 Main topic New products .13 .34 .44 .50 .22,.38 7.32 406.02 .000 New stores .15 .36 .02 .14 -.19,-.07 -4.38 190.33 .000 Financial issues .06 .24 .00 .00 -.39,-.24 -8.62 159.00 .000 CSR .06 .24 .00 .00 -.10,-.02 -3.25 159.00 .000

General about luxury

products .01 .24 .33 .47 .26,.38 10.67 271.71 .000

General about luxury

brand identity .18 .39 .03 .16 -.22,-.09 -4.89 195.44 .000 Words Inspiration .51 .50 .35 .48 -.25,-.06 -3.12 326.82 .002 Luxurious .81 .39 .21 .41 -.68,-.52 -14.85 350.35 .000 Desire .24 .43 .40 .49 .07,.25 3.54 371.91 .000 Craftsmanship .27 .47 .03 .18 -.31,-.16 -6.39 191.39 .000 Heritage .31 .46 .11 .32 -.28,-.11 -4.63 255.02 .000 Exclusivity .33 .47 .17 .37 -.24,-.07 -3.58 283.93 .000 Aesthetism heritage Branding No reference .27 .44 .47 .50 .11,.29 4.26 367.00 .000 Iconic Branding .17 .42 .37 .48 .05,.23 3.14 372.45 .002 Innovative Branding .34 .47 .06 .24 -.36,-.19 -6.88 210.47 .000

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Conclusion and Discussion

The goal of this study was to explore the way in which luxury fashion brands portray their corporate identity through campaigns, fashion shows and press releases and in turn to compare how fashion bloggers portray these luxury fashion brands through online posts during 2009-2014. Even though it was expected that there were some discrepancies on the portrayal between luxury fashion brands and fashion bloggers during the years, no significant difference was found. This might be due to the fact that the corporate identity of luxury fashion brands is stable along with the nature of fashion blogs in that particular time period.

Based on selected literature, it was expected that the brand name and the logo of luxury fashion brands, considered as fundamental aspects of attracting consumers and to reflect corporate identity, should be clearly visible in their external

communication. However, the brand names are only visible in half of the fashion shows/campaigns and press releases and it can be concluded that luxury fashion brands do not pay so much attention to their logo. Although, this might be due to the fact, that logos can be found upon the luxury fashion products as a symbol of

recognition, the logo is important to be considered and promoted in every occasion as a fundamental part of a luxury value proposition. In addition, it was expected that the country/city of origin of each luxury fashion brand, considered also as an essential attribute of their corporate identity, would have been addressed continuously in their external communication. According to the findings, in most cases luxury fashion brands do not address where campaigns and fashion shows take place and they do not have any specific reference to their textual communication as to their country/city of origin. This is likely due to luxury fashion brands wanting to be considered as globalized brands. Globalization has internationalized the luxury fashion sector and the competition between the luxury fashion brands has increased all over the world (Okonkwo, 2007).

As aforementioned, the most essential aspect of luxury fashion brands is to communicate the notion of a dream and uniqueness, as a fundamental part of their brand value and as a crucial element of differentiation from premium and mass fashion brands. For this reason, it was expected that most of their external communication would have given the essence of upper class and the essence of

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elegance of a particular epoch and theme, using nostalgia and richness as a theme. According to the findings, most of the luxury fashion brands indeed use specific themes/backgrounds and a mostly upper class/aristocrat background in their

communication. However, their aesthetism heritage cannot be considered as stable as they use a range of innovative, iconic and retrobranding during the years 2009-2014. This is likely due to the internationalization of the luxury fashion sector and the need for innovation and creativity that drives the luxury fashion brands to build a branding strategy combining elements of their history and tradition with new futuristic/modern trends. Furthermore, luxury fashion brands utilize an intermediary level of luxury to promote the essence of exceptional quality (expensive fabrics) and artistic expression with unknown models as users of luxury fashion products. Luxury fashion brands promote models as users of their products, in a way that they are involved with the products, giving the essence of uniqueness and the notion of the dream. Although it was expected luxury fashion brands to belong more to the level of inaccessible luxury, it is estimated, that the economic crisis, the high levels of competition and the sales decrease in luxury fashion market have influenced the designers of luxury fashion brands, so as to produce luxury products that are more accessible and realistic to the consumers’ minds, in order to increase consumers’ purchase intention in recent times.

In addition, the frequency that fashion bloggers communicate about luxury fashion brands has increased over the last few years. This can be attributed to the growing popularity of fashion bloggers and as a result luxury fashion brands potentially wanting to engage with them, considering the fact that fashion bloggers are important stakeholders that have altered the information flow among the luxury fashion sector (Okonkwo, 2007). Fashion bloggers do not pay the same attention to the name and the country/city of origin of each luxury fashion brand, as fundamental elements of their corporate agenda. Based on this, it can be concluded that fashion bloggers use more advertisement and modern techniques to promote luxury fashion products, instead of promoting the notion of the dream and uniqueness that luxury fashion brands try to communicate. However, most of the photos and videos from fashion bloggers take place in the country/city of origin of the luxury fashion brands, but this is likely as France and Italy can be considered as countries with strong

reputation in the fashion industry and as the countries of origin of the selected fashion bloggers of this research.

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Drawing on the literature, communication by fashion bloggers have been characterized by simplicity and accessibility, so it was expected that they use media/reality class background and portray an accessible level of luxury, in order to reach a wider audience. Indeed, fashion bloggers do not follow the same

communication strategies with luxury fashion brands, in order to promote their products, as they use more realistic advertising techniques. In addition, there is also a mismatch in their aesthetism heritage branding, as fashion bloggers do not use a particular epoch and theme as luxury fashion brands and they prefer to focus on the products and promote them as iconic to consumers.

As mentioned in the theoretical background, fashion bloggers may post

negative comments and complaints about luxury fashion brands in their online texts as fashion bloggers develop their own ideas and allow for online interaction. According to the findings, the tone of voice of the fashion bloggers was mainly neutral, while there were also some positive comments. The fact that fashion bloggers do not have any specific opinion and any reference at all to specific campaigns and fashion shows of the luxury fashion brands might be also derived from the fact that luxury fashion brands are not engaged as much with the fashion bloggers as they collaborate with other traditional media, like fashion magazines, for fear of losing their identity, uniqueness and elitism. Moreover, it was also noticed a mismatch in the use of specific words between luxury fashion brands and fashion bloggers, in order to characterize the luxury brands’ identity. Fashion bloggers describe the luxury fashion brands in a different way than luxury fashion brands characterize themselves. Fashion bloggers describe luxury fashion brands and/or products without using denotative words that are associated with “luxury’’. This can be ascribed to the fact, that

communication by fashion bloggers is characterized by simplicity and accessibility, in order to success high levels of interactivity with consumers.

Except for the discrepancies, some similarities were also found between luxury fashion brands and fashion bloggers. Particularly, both luxury fashion brands and fashion bloggers do not communicate as much either the logo or make any specific reference to campaigns/fashion shows of luxury fashion brands. In addition, luxury fashion brands, along with fashion bloggers, communicate on the same way about the upper class/aristocrat and futuristic modern class background and they both use less the inaccessible level of luxury in their photos/videos. In the textual

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communication, both of them communicate less about retrobranding. These

similarities are probably found due to the fact that the concept of agenda building is applicable in these values and attributes that are communicated both by luxury fashion brands and fashion bloggers. In other words, the more or less luxury fashion brands communicate about these specific values and attributes, the more or less in turn fashion bloggers communicate about them.

Overall, it can be concluded that the portrayal of luxury fashion brands by fashion bloggers differ in some way from the corporate identity of luxury fashion brands in the frequency of using the name, country/city of origin and in the levels of luxury, themes/backgrounds, aesthetism heritage branding and the use of denotative words, in order to characterize luxury fashion brands and/or products. Linking the findings to the concept of agenda building, it can be concluded that there are some particular attributes and values used in the external communication by luxury fashion brands that do not influence the fashion bloggers agenda and others that influence. Consequently, fashion bloggers can be considered as the new gatekeepers of the fashion sector using other communication strategies in order to advertise the luxury fashion products. According to the findings, they try to communicate the luxury fashion products as iconic in our daily life by positioning their personal style and ideas without make any specific reference to some particular values and attributes of each luxury fashion brand.

Implications

Fashion bloggers can misinterpret the corporate agenda of luxury fashion brands, as their main goal is the continuous production of fashion content, creating news, trends and opinions about several brands. In order to maintain and create a successful luxury brand identity in the current competitive and internationalized fashion industry, luxury fashion brands need to increase the chances for brand image to correspond with their brand identity. For the above reason, luxury fashion brands should engage with fashion bloggers. Stakeholder engagement can be considered as a necessary activity that can add value to an organization by providing a wide range of benefits, such as to identify new opportunities, achieve competitive advantage and manage risks and potential crisis situations (Noland & Phillips, 2010). In order for an organization to successfully engage with stakeholders, corporate branding

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communication becomes a central activity, as it can manage all communications, in order to create beneficial starting points with stakeholders (Christensen, Morsing & Cheney, 2008).

Although there is a hesitance from luxury fashion brands to be incorporated with fashion bloggers (Okonkwo, 2010), fashion bloggers are officially invited to many fashion shows and since 2006 they have been considered as gatekeepers of the fashion industry. For instance, in the recent Spring/Summer fashion show of Dolce & Gabbana, well known fashion bloggers had been invited. The engagement with

fashion bloggers will also foster luxury fashion brands’ exposure and brand awareness to the consumers, as the fashion bloggers enjoy great popularity and publicity the last few years. Through the process of agenda building, luxury fashion brands will also have the opportunity to affect the fashion bloggers agenda and in turn the public agenda and at some point also to influence the way fashion bloggers portray them. Consequently, it can be concluded that collaborations between fashion bloggers and luxury fashion brands can contribute to their own exposure, awareness about the products and profits.

According to the results of this study, there is no radical change over the years on the way luxury fashion brands portray their corporate identity. This indicates that luxury fashion brands are successful in maintaining a stable brand identity. However, as time goes by the fashion industry becoming more and more competitive and internationalized (Okonkwo, 2010) and fashion bloggers gaining more and more popularity (Sedeke & Arora, 2013), luxury fashion brands need to still sustain successful their identity and strengthen their values and attributes. Consequently, it should be mentioned that name and logo are essential attributes of their corporate identity, as they can create a long lasting relationship between the consumers and the luxury fashion brands. In addition, any specific reference to country/city of origin of the luxury fashion has a positive effect on the heritage and the high quality of the products. The notion of a unique dream is what makes the luxury fashion brands differ from other mass brands. Consequently, their campaigns and fashion shows should signal their name and logos, the exclusivity and the essence to the audience that the luxury fashion brands are not for everyone. Lastly, innovation and creativity play a vital role in the competitive fashion industry. However, luxury fashion brands should use their innovative branding strategies, such as using modern and futuristic

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trends in their fashion shows and campaigns, in coherence with their tradition and distinctive attributes and values, so as to maintain their heritage.

Limitations - Suggestions

This exploratory research contains several limitations that can influence the validity and reliability of the results. Due to the limited time, it was not possible to include on the analysis a bigger sample of fashion bloggers and luxury fashion brands, in order to get a broader perspective on the way luxury fashion brands portray their corporate identity and in turn to compare how fashion bloggers portray luxury fashion brands. Another shortcoming, due to the limited time, was the selected years of analysis. The collection of data started from 2009, the year of the expansion of fashion bloggers along with the occurrence of global economic crisis, but no radical change was found until 2014. Therefore, it would have been interesting to analyze if there is any difference on the way luxury fashion brands portray their corporate identity before the expansion of fashion bloggers and the occurrence of global economic crisis.

In addition, this exploratory research used only quantitative methods. In order to get a broader perspective and detailed results and conclusions, a combination of quantitative with qualitative techniques such as interviews with luxury fashion brands’ employees, fashion bloggers and consumers would have been interesting. Avenues for future research could also include a comparison of the agenda building concept with agenda setting, in order to investigate in depth the effects of the

portrayal of luxury fashion brands by fashion bloggers on the public opinion. As the findings of this research indicated that there are also some discrepancies between luxury fashion brands on the portrayal of their corporate identity, an intercultural comparison between luxury fashion brands would have been interesting. Lastly, as this research only focused on the identity communication of luxury fashion brands compared to fashion bloggers, it would have been interesting also to measure the fashion bloggers’ impact on the image of luxury fashion brands.

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