Entertainment Brand Equity Elements and Relationships: Star Wars and Harry Potter as a Model for, and the Survival of Game of Thrones
Open Access
Author:
Mahon, Jennifer Camille
Area of Honors:
Marketing
Degree:
Bachelor of Science
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Jennifer Chang Coupland, Thesis Supervisor Jennifer Chang Coupland, Thesis Honors Advisor Franklin Jerome Carter Jr., Faculty Reader
Keywords:
Harry Potter Game of Thrones Star Wars Branding Brand Relationships Long Distance Best Friend Model Marketing
Abstract:
Why were Star Wars and Harry Potter so successful and why have their brands spanned decades of success? To answer this question, an empirical study of iconic entertainment brand elements and brand lives is conducted by applying Kevin Keller’s Customer-Based Brand Equity (CBBE) Pyramid and Susan Fournier’s brand relationship model to entertainment brands including movies, books, television shows or a combination of these brands. Based on Fournier’s brand relationship forms and the analysis of them in regards to entertainment brands, a new theoretical relationship form, “Long Distance Best Friendship,” was developed for iconic brands. Keller’s CBBE Pyramid and this new relationship form were then applied to the Star Wars and Harry Potter brands. This analysis yielded key marketing implications about the longevity and success of iconic entertainment brands. In turn, these implications were then utilized to examine how Game of Thrones, the newest pop culture phenomenon, could potentially increase the longevity of its brand’s life.
