How to include tribal marketing in order to close the gap between brand identity and brand image while satisfying target customers?

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to extend the emerging literature on tribal marketing to a case study of the Swarovski company to examine how it bridges the gap between brand image and brand identity while satisfying target customers. This research also provides companies with a more complete understanding of this marketing. Caused by an ultra-individualistic postmodern society, today's consumer seeks through his or her consumption choices to identify with other groups of people but also to distinguish himself or herself from others. The act of consumption becomes symbolic and allows to express one's identity. A person will seek to identify with a brand that allows him to convey his uniqueness (Maffesoli, 1988). Tribal marketing is the new segmentation tool, called social segmentation (Cova & Cova, 2002). It is no longer a question of segmenting a population according to socio-demographic characteristics but according to values, passions and common interests. The goal is to communicate in the most relevant and impactful way possible. Suffering from a brand image that was too classic and old-fashioned, Swarovski has repositioned itself on an accessible luxury market, completely modifying its marketing strategies by adapting to tribal marketing. The new brand identity is based on 5 personality traits: boldly chic, meticulous, conscious, joyful and accessible luxury. The new strategy regarding segmentation is to aim for inclusiveness, advocating that every person will find a jewel in the Swarovski collection. Hypotheses were established based on a qualitative analysis to enumerate the personality traits of the brand identity. Subsequently, these hypotheses are tested in a structured online questionnaire to analyze the gap between the Swarovski brand identity and the brand image as well as between the target tribes and the consumers.