Dissertation
Models, Musicians and McLaren Racing Drivers: Why does a brand create a hero?
Brand loyalty investigation awarded a first-class mark
A dissertation investigating the concept of the 'brand hero' and how they can generate brand loyalty, with case studies on Gigi Hadid, Taylor Swift, and Lando Norris. This is one of my proudest achievements of my degree considering the adversity I faced in the year I wrote it. The abstract and a link to the full piece is below.
Abstract
This dissertation explores the reasoning behind the use of brand heroes to elicit brand loyalty. Case studies on three brand frameworks are selected - a brand (Maybelline New York), a human brand (Taylor Swift) and a brand with human
sub-brands (McLaren Formula 1 Racing Team) - analysing how Gigi Hadid, Taylor Swift and Lando Norris, respectively, have been transformed into a hero that services efforts to generate brand loyalty. Once the heroes were defined, a cross-case analysis was undertaken. This discussion exposed the strengths and weaknesses of the brand hero strategy as well as identified which framework it was best suited to. It was concluded that a brand hero is a vehicle for strengthening a brand's relationship with the consumer, manifesting the brand's core values and acting as an external voice to motivate the increase of loyalty.