How narrative is magically created by the lore of the brand: The consumer brand affinity fan

This paper aims to explore how organisations can build consumer engagement and affinity through creating the conditions for the magic inherent in a shared narrative. Brands are facing up to a serious collapse in consumer confidence, which is having an increasingly detrimental effect on the trust that people choose to place in brands, and a consequential erosion in the depth of emotional connectivity. The consensus view amongst practitioners is that brand engagement appears to be in meltdown; exacerbated further by how the web is redefining the way consumers interact, influence and ultimately consume. Practitioners need to re-evaluate how brands can achieve deeper mutual bonds and be provided with rich insights to assist in this. This paper presents the Consumer Brand Affinity Fan mechanism as a framework for how narrative can and should continually flourish, and how this vision of branding should sit at the very heart of the brand essence. Nine brand-owner characteristics which strengthen authenticity are developed; five organisational traits are introduced, each of which had distinct influence in creating energy for consumer affinity to proliferate; and 13 motivational factors were presented, which drive consumer/brand and consumer/consumer dialogue and ultimately assist in deepening affinity with the organisation.