Football Fans, the Magic of Co-Creation, and the MAGICR Framework for Managing Brand Communities

This paper argues that a form of magical creativity is at play in football fandom whereby fans craft experiences, symbolism, mysticism, mythology, value, and even, central to this study, their own consumption object. The... [ view full abstract ]

This paper argues that a form of magical creativity is at play in football fandom whereby fans craft experiences, symbolism, mysticism, mythology, value, and even, central to this study, their own consumption object. The research method combines netnography, traditional ethnographic principles, and grounded theory. Data collection took place between summer 2008 and autumn 2011. Findings illustrate that fans are intensely loyal or spell-bound by their club. However, this study observes a mythical marketplace battle between fans and owners of Liverpool Football Club. This battle is theorised as magical, involving a cabal of fans rebelling against the brand they love by crafting a co-created fan protest jersey, manufactured and sold in opposition to the official marketplace-offered jersey. Findings have implications for marketers in showing how consumers, even in situations of extreme consumer loyalty, may appropriate brand symbolism and reject marketer produced goods in order to reject business practices in situations where these business practices negatively affect consumers. Fans wish to damage the income of the company, in the short term, to, in their view, protect the brand in the long term. The novel MAGICR Framework for Managing Brand Communities is introduced as a potential solution.