Brand Purpose and Sustainability: The Role of Experiential Marketing in Building Brand-Consumer Relationships through Brand Purpose Sustainability Messaging
(A2023-114286)

AUTHORS

Rose Leahy, Munster Technological University; Pio Fenton, Munster Technological University; Holly Barry, Munster Technological University

ABSTRACT

The confluence of relationship marketing with various areas of marketing theory is clear. In accepting its value as an area of practical value and academic interest, it is obvious that relationship marketing has a direct link with the sustainability agenda – potentially from several angles. This paper explores the connection of sustainability messaging with experiential marketing through the lens of brand-consumer relationships. Using qualitative and secondary data, this paper identifies the increasing prominence of sustainability as a brand purpose, in enriching relationships between brands and customers. With this, the potential of experiential marketing as a conduit for such messages is explored with some evidence presented that some practitioners are meaningfully constructing plans and mechanisms to indelibly imbue sustainability messaging through the intimacy of marketing relationships.