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Once upon a time there was a signature story

Kersten, Eileen Marlena LU ; Do, Felicia LU and Brinkhof, Lieke Theadora Adriana LU (2020) In LBMG Strategic Brand Management - Master Paper Series BUSN21 20202
Department of Business Administration
Abstract
Purpose – The term signature story was explored by David Aaker in his book published in
2018. The purpose of this paper is to further investigate, examine and build upon his concept.
This will be done by examining and defining Aaker’s four criteria of signature stories for
non-American brands to improve the criteria’s definition, explanation and usage.
Design/methodology/approach – The research is based on a literature review and qualitative
data collection methods. The empirical data was collected by observing marketing campaigns
from global non-American brands. Eventually, an in-depth analysis was performed on six of
the brands in order to draw conclusions.
Findings – Our findings uncovered Aaker’s criteria to be rather obscure... (More)
Purpose – The term signature story was explored by David Aaker in his book published in
2018. The purpose of this paper is to further investigate, examine and build upon his concept.
This will be done by examining and defining Aaker’s four criteria of signature stories for
non-American brands to improve the criteria’s definition, explanation and usage.
Design/methodology/approach – The research is based on a literature review and qualitative
data collection methods. The empirical data was collected by observing marketing campaigns
from global non-American brands. Eventually, an in-depth analysis was performed on six of
the brands in order to draw conclusions.
Findings – Our findings uncovered Aaker’s criteria to be rather obscure and coinciding
which is why we scrutinised them. This resulted in adding on to the characteristics of the criteria
in a more detailed manner. Furthermore, we chose to break down the characteristics of
the strategic message criterion and divide it into two separate criteria: the strategic core and
customer link. Based on this, we propose a new definition of signature stories which we illustrated
in the signature story tree.
Research limitations – This paper is limited to the amount of available literature about signature
stories. Additionally, we only examine video campaigns of B2C brands which limits
our findings to this specific marketing channel and companies selling directly to consumers.
Lastly, our observation and analysis are solely based on subjective insights provided by us as
researchers.
Originality/value – Our study’s added value lies in giving a critical perspective to Aaker’s
view on signature stories. Moreover, it contributes to making the concept more comprehensible. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Kersten, Eileen Marlena LU ; Do, Felicia LU and Brinkhof, Lieke Theadora Adriana LU
supervisor
organization
course
BUSN21 20202
year
type
H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
subject
keywords
Signature stories, Storytelling, Strategic message, Aaker’s criteria, Brands
publication/series
LBMG Strategic Brand Management - Master Paper Series
language
English
id
9031991
date added to LUP
2020-11-16 11:11:15
date last changed
2020-11-16 11:11:15
@misc{9031991,
  abstract     = {{Purpose – The term signature story was explored by David Aaker in his book published in
2018. The purpose of this paper is to further investigate, examine and build upon his concept.
This will be done by examining and defining Aaker’s four criteria of signature stories for
non-American brands to improve the criteria’s definition, explanation and usage.
Design/methodology/approach – The research is based on a literature review and qualitative
data collection methods. The empirical data was collected by observing marketing campaigns
from global non-American brands. Eventually, an in-depth analysis was performed on six of
the brands in order to draw conclusions.
Findings – Our findings uncovered Aaker’s criteria to be rather obscure and coinciding
which is why we scrutinised them. This resulted in adding on to the characteristics of the criteria
in a more detailed manner. Furthermore, we chose to break down the characteristics of
the strategic message criterion and divide it into two separate criteria: the strategic core and
customer link. Based on this, we propose a new definition of signature stories which we illustrated
in the signature story tree.
Research limitations – This paper is limited to the amount of available literature about signature
stories. Additionally, we only examine video campaigns of B2C brands which limits
our findings to this specific marketing channel and companies selling directly to consumers.
Lastly, our observation and analysis are solely based on subjective insights provided by us as
researchers.
Originality/value – Our study’s added value lies in giving a critical perspective to Aaker’s
view on signature stories. Moreover, it contributes to making the concept more comprehensible.}},
  author       = {{Kersten, Eileen Marlena and Do, Felicia and Brinkhof, Lieke Theadora Adriana}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  series       = {{LBMG Strategic Brand Management - Master Paper Series}},
  title        = {{Once upon a time there was a signature story}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}