The meaning of Sámi culture in brand building of duodji
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7557/sda.8122Keywords:
brand, brand genealogy, cultural brand building, duodji, Sámi arts and crafts, Sámi culture, Sámi enterpriseAbstract
This article deals with the concepts of brand and brand building in Sámi duodji i.e. arts and crafts. A brand captures the main idea and value of an enterprise. These values are transformed into a commodity in the process of brand building. In this study, three Sámi craft enterprises connect their brand building with the cultural and social changes that the Sámi people have experienced. The historical, social and political circumstances of the enterprises are identified, analyzed and finally compressed into representative and symbolic brands: the luxury brand, the prêt à porter brand and the brand of democratic design. The luxury brand presents the meaning of traditional duodji, Sámi handicraft, formulated by the Sámi ethnopolitical movement. The prêt à porter brand represents the easy way of doing Sámi culture, and the brand of democratic design relates to the building of the Scandinavian welfare state. The brand of democratic design is democratic because everyone has an equal opportunity to consume design products.
The main findings appear on two levels: cultural and commercial. Brands are strongly connected to the Sámi culture. Brand building requires enterprises to master indigenous cultural norms and values in order to communicate with customers. Cultural branding research opens new venues for cultural studies and facilitates study of the commercial part of Sámi culture from the Sámi point of view.
References
Askegaard, Søren 2006: Brands as a global ideoscape. – Jonathan E. Schroeder & Miriam Salzer-Mörling (doaimm.), Brand culture. London: Routledge. 91–102.
Banet-Weiser, Sarah 2012: AuthenticTM. The politics and ambivalence in a brand culture. New York & London: New York University Press.
Beltrán, Gastrón J. & Miguel, Paula 2014: Doing culture, doing business: A new entrepreneurial spirit in the Argentine creative industries.– International Journal of Cultural Studies 17 (1): 39–54. https://doi.org/10.1177/1367877912461906
Bourdieu, Pierre 1984: Distinction. A social critique of the judgement of taste. London: Routledge.
Coronado, Gabriela 2014: Selling culture? Between commoditisation and cultural control in Indigenous alternative tourism. – PASOS. Revista de Turismo y Patrimonio Cultural 12(1): 11–28. https://doi.org/10.25145/j.pasos.2014.12.002
Dlaske, Kati 2014: Semiotics of pride and profit: interrogating commodification in indigenous handicraft production. – Social Semiotics 24(5): 582–598. https://doi.org/10.1080/10350330.2014.943459
Dubois, Bernard & Laurent, Gilles & Czellar, Sandor 2001: Consumer rapport to luxury: Analyzing complex and ambivalent attitudes. Research paper series 736. Paris: HEC Paris.
Edvardsson, Bo & Enquist, Bo & Hay, Michael 2006: Values-based service brands: narratives from IKEA. – Managing Service Quality 16(3): 230–246.
Eidheim, Harald 1997: Ethno-political development among the Sami after World War II. – Harald Gaski (doaimm.), Sami culture in a new era. The Norwegian Sami experience. Kárášjohka: Davvi Girji. 29–61.
Guttorm, Gunvor 2010: Duodjáris duojárat. Duddjon ealiha duodjedigaštallama. Artihkkalčoakkáldat. [Kárášjohka]: Davvi Girji.
Hartmann, Benjamin J. & Ostberg, Jacob 2013: Authenticating by re-enchantment: The discursive making of craft production. – Journal of Marketing Management 29 (7–8): 882–911. https://doi.org/10.1080/0267257X.2012.732596
Holt, Douglas B. 2004: How brands become icons. The principles of cultural branding. Boston, Mass: Harvard Business School Press.
Holt, Douglas B. 2006: Jack Daniel’s America. Iconic brands as ideological parasites and proselytizers. – Journal of Consumer Culture 6(3): 355–377. https://doi.org/10.1177/1469540506068683
Hyltén-Cavallius, Charlotte 2014: Om organisering av äkthet, erkännande och identification i sámi duodji. – Katarina Ek-Nilsson & Birgitta Meurling (doaimm.), Talande ting.: Berättelser och materialitet. Uppsala: Institutet för språk och folkminnen. 105–121.
Hyrsky, Kaisa 2012: Kertomuksia kultaseppien yrittäjyydestä. Kotitalous- ja käsityötieteiden julkaisuja 30. Helsinki: Helsingin yliopisto, Käyttäytymistieteellinen tiedekunta, Opettajankoulutuslaitos.
Kapferer, Jean-Noël 2012: The new strategic brand management. Advanced insights and strategic thinking. London: Kogan Page.
Kapferer, Jean-Noël & Bastien, Vincent 2009: The specificity of luxury management: Turning marketing upside down. – Journal of Brand Management 16(5): 311–322.
Kristoffersson, Sara 2014: Design by IKEA. A cultural history. London: Bloomsbury.
Lehtola,Veli-Pekka 2015: Saamelaiset. Historia, yhteiskunta, taide. Inari: Puntsi.
Kuokkanen, Rauna 2009: Boaris dego eana. Eamiálbmogiid diehtu, filosofiijat ja dutkan. Karasjok: ČálliidLágádus.
Machin, David & Thornborrow, Joanna 2003: Branding and discourse: the case of Cosmopolitan. – Discourse & Society 14(4): 453–471.
Magga, Sigga-Marja 2012: Saamelainen käsityö duodji kansallisen identiteetin rakentajana. – Veli-Pekka Lehtola & Ulla Piela & Hanna Snellman (doaimm.), Saamenmaa. Kulttuuritieteellisiä näkökulmia. Kalevalaseuran vuosikirja 91. Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura. 216–225.
Magga, Sigga-Marja 2014: Geahčastagat, olggušteapmi ja albma duoji gáibádus – duodjekontrolla duojáriid vásáhussan. – Sámi dieđalaš áigečála 2/2014: 29–46. https://doi.org/10.7557/sda.8309
Mukherjee, Roopali & Banet-Weiser, Sarah 2012: Introduction. Commodity activism in neoliberal times. – Roopali Mukherjee & Sarah Banet-Weiser (doaimm.), Commodity activism. Cultural resistance in neoliberal times. New York: New York University Press. 1–21.
Pietikäinen, Sari & Kelly-Holmes, Helen 2011: The local political economy of languages in a Sámi tourism destination: Authenticity and mobility in the labelling of souvenirs. – Journal of Sociolinguistics 15 (3): 323–346. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9841.2011.00489.x
Reinach, Simona Segre 2005: China and Italy: Fast fashion versus prêt à porter. Towards a new culture of fashion. – Fashion Theory 9(1): 43–56. https://doi.org/10.2752/136270405778051527
Schroeder, Jonathan E. 2009: The cultural codes of branding. – Marketing Theory 9(1): 123–126. https://doi.org/10.1177/1470593108100067
Sullivan, Katharine 2013: Crafting identities: Indigenous artisans and the politics of the handicraft industry. – Washington University Undergraduate Research Digest 8(2): 80–120.
Turunen, Linda Lisa Maria 2015: Consumers' experiences of luxury – Interpreting the luxuriousness of a brand. Acta Wasaensia 323. Business Administration 133. Vaasa: University of Vaasa.
Wethey, Eliza 2005: Creative commodification of handicrafts, the encounter between the export market and the indigenous weaver: Comparisons of Latin American weaving communities. – Lambda Alpha Journal 35: 2–28.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2016 Sigga-Marja Magga
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
How to Cite
