1 Introduction

In the modern marketplace, consumers are being empowered within social media platforms and are taking on a more active role as creators, facilitators, and editors of online content, as opposed to being merely passive recipients of information. This transformation of communication and its level of interaction open opportunities for “consumer initiated communication” (CIC). The growing use of smartphones has allowed users to access any type of social networking site with just a few swipes of a finger [1]. In 2015, Instagram has more than 300 million active users [2] and currently 193 million public pictures and videos uploaded to Instagram are hashtagged with the words selfie and selfies [3].

As a reaction to this trend, digital media agencies try to integrate selfies in corporate social media campaigns. A selfie is defined as “a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and shared via social media” [4]. Using selfies in a campaign is a two-folded problem. On the one hand a firm must develop strategies that are congruent with, or suited to, different social media functionalities and the goals of the firm. On the other hand scholars note the increasing importance of authenticity to consumers in developed societies, which goes along with the desire to escape excessive commercialization, and with a search for meaning and experiences that feel ‘‘real’’. While previous research focused on the usage of social media as a marketing tool for small business, this paper aims to contribute to the emerging theory about the role and communication of authenticity in marketing and how selfies can be used to interact with potential stakeholders, especially customers, during a social media campaign.

The remainder of this paper unfolds as follows: After presenting the literature on the usage of selfies as a social branding tool, as well as authenticity in corporate branding, we describe the research design. Then we present three types of selfies and distinct ways how marketing agencies include these selfies in their branding campaigns. Finally, we discuss implications for brand management practice.

2 Theoretical Background

2.1 Defining the Selfie Construct

While the usage of selfie is extreme and the usage in social media is increasing [5], its history dates back to an American amateur photographer, Robert Cornelius, and an English inventor, Charles Wheatstone around the year 1840 [6]. Selfies are usually casual, improvised, fast; their primary purpose is to be seen here, now, by other people, most of them unknown, in social networks [7]. A selfie is a self-portrait photograph, typically taken with a hand-held digital camera or camera phone and often shared on social network websites (SNSs) [8]. With new advances of camera phones and digital sharing technologies, mobile photo-sharing has become an important communication activity and an integral part of many people’s social lives.

2.2 Usage of Selfies as Social Branding Tool

Social media tools can be used by business organizations of various sizes and types as a marketing tool [9] as they allow business organizations to connect with customers at the right time, directly with lower cost and higher efficiency than other traditional communication tools [10]. This allows social media not only to be used by large business organizations, but also by small and medium enterprises [11]. Regarding social branding, nowadays the most effective marketing channel cannot be bought anymore, but should be earned and owned by companies who successfully utilize social media tools. Companies who connect with their customers and generate organic conversation about their brands. Social media platforms like Instagram are used not only to create content about brands but also to connect customers with others who admire the same brands and share their views. The virtual social networks created by brand admirers are called “brand communities” and the challenge for companies is to develop and extend such communities.

2.3 Authenticity in Marketing

In the recent years attention has focused on authenticity in marketing. Sub-sets of research focus on authenticity of products, services, experiences [e.g. 12–14], brands [e.g. 15, 16], and advertisement [e.g. 17, 18]. Customers increasingly seek for the “real”, they demand authenticity and person-to-person interaction [19–21]. According to Gilmore and Pine [20], various factors such as an increase in technology-driven interactions, or a professionalization of commercialized and staged experiences drive this demand.

At the first glance, the concept of authenticity seems to be at odds with professional marketing efforts [18]. Addressing the inherent paradox, the definition of authenticity has been expanded [18] to include two forms of authenticity, i.e. indexical authenticity (the original or the “real” thing) and iconic authenticity (a replica or recreation of the original) [13]. Generally speaking, authenticity is conceptualized as a consumers’ perception within a particular context, contrary to an inherent quality of the particular entity itself [18]. This information holds whether the entity is a product, service, a brand or an advertisement.

Brand authenticity is associated with greater purchase intention [15], higher brand equity, and consumers` willingness to pay a price premium [22, 23]. A brand is perceived as authentic if a subjective evaluation of genuineness can be ascribed to a brand [15]. Hold states that “To be authentic brands must be disinterested; they must be perceived as invented and disseminated by parties without an instrumental economic agenda, by people who are intrinsically motivated by their inherent value” [24, p. 83]. The challenge for marketers is to walk the fine line between staying true to an authentic core of the brand while still remaining relevant [25].

Consumers also naturally evaluate the authenticity of an advertisement, which can be perceived to be more or less authentic. Stern defines authentic adverting as conveying “the illusion of the reality of ordinary life in reference to a consumption situation” [17, p. 388]. An ad is evaluated as authentic, if the observers perceive it as reflecting the expected band personality, its particular originality, and its character [18]. Stern points to the importance of stories that convey elements of real life to convince the consumer to accept the illusion as mimetic [17]. Miller shows that ad authenticity positively correlates with ad credibility as well as attitude towards the brand [18]. In a similar vein, Chalmers & Price provide evidence that ad authenticity can influence ad liking [26].

In the recent years, authenticity in the context of digital media communication has received considerable interest. Several authors in particular focus on public affair communication [e.g. 27, 28]. Beyond enabling organizational representatives to communicating with the public, social media provides the possibility to actively integrate “ordinary people” as brand representatives, which are generally perceived as more authentic than faceless organizations, or in the case of public affairs, elite political actors [29, 30]. Gilpin et al. argue that the question of authenticity becomes especially relevant in the context of social media, “as these tools are designed to bring” ordinary people “together in some form” [27, p. 259].

While consumers seem to seek for authenticity, using methods of mass marketing to convey authenticity seems to be at odds with the aim. Beverland and Luxton found that consumers believe that mass marketing undermines claims for authenticity [31]. Consumers might interpret those approaches as attempts of manipulation [24] and over-commercialization, which is inherently contrary to authenticity [23, 32]. Subsequently, Kadirov ask for research exploring how non-traditional advertising – advertisement, which the consumer does not perceive as conventional methods of commercial communication (e.g. guerrilla or covert advertising) influence brand authenticity. In this regard, social media campaigns involving fellow consumers, e.g. by using selfies, might open up new possibilities to communicate authenticity [33].

As social media campaigns and selfies are new, companies seek professional assistance from marketing agencies in designing and implementing campaigns. This leads us to the following research question:

How do marketing agencies use selfies to enhance their brand campaigns?

3 Methodology

We chose an exploratory qualitative research design relying on semi-structured qualitative interviews. A homogeneous sample of marketing agencies representative was chosen to explore the shared sensemaking of the selfie phenomenon in branding campaigns. Interviewees were selected on the basis of their affiliation with a marketing agency and their experience designing and coordinating selfie campaigns for corporate clients. Each interviewee had at least worked on two campaigns for consumer brands. Participants were selected using a snowball sampling technique, starting from professional associates of one of the authors and continuing with participants unknown to the authors. Between July and September 2015, nine face-to-face interviews with respondents from Austrian marketing agencies lasting from 30 min to 2 h (average of 1 h) were conducted (with support from a master student). Interviews included questions exploring selfies such as the usage and integration into social media campaigns, platform for selfies and the selection process of photos for selfie campaigns. In the interviews, respondents talk about 11 branding campaigns.

Interviews were subsequently analyzed following the six phases of thematic data analysis as described in Marshall and Rossman [35]. The coding process was based on a set of pre-defined codes deduced from literature as well as an inductive analysis of the interviews. Reoccurring patterns were organized into themes and are subsequently presented.

4 Findings

The authors structure the presentation of the findings as follows. First, the definitions of selfies as elements of social branding campaigns are presented and second, different categories of selfie campaigns are identified.

4.1 Definition of Selfies

All of the interviewed professionals agreed that different types and variations of selfies exist in social media campaigns. They were asked to give a definition for the term user generated selfie. 7 of 9 mentioned the “classic selfie” as “a photo or picture which the photographer has taken by him/herself”. While the traditional definition focuses on the user as generator of the selfie, we found two other types of photos, which interviewees also called selfies. We named them “polished selfies” and “faked selfies”. “Polished selfies” refer to “classic selfies” which are edited by a marketing agency before being published, e.g. on advertisement posters. Interestingly, marketing agencies include photos in their campaigns, which rely on a selfie style, but are indeed professionally photographed images. They referred to these photos also as “selfies” even if the production of the images is contrary to the prevalent definition of selfies. We named them “faked selfies” (Table 1).

Table 1. Type of selfies in corporate social media campaigns
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While in the prevalent definition, only the user as creator and image content is mentioned, marketing professionals point to the importance of defining the setting in which a selfie is taken allowing also for motion and change. Extending the prevalent definition, an expert pointed to the active role of the user:

“When the user takes a visualization of him/herself and interacts on the visualization.”(Expert E, p. 4)

Our findings show, that experts distinguish selfies in which the users have to photograph themself with objects, performing particular tasks or being in critical situations (e.g. doing extreme sports).

These results demonstrate that from the perspective of advertising agencies a variety of selfies is considered for corporate social media campaigns. Hence, it is critical to decide which type should be used and how this visualization can be integrated in an authentic way into a campaign. Although the interviewees use different notions of the term selfie, they all agreed that a selfie used in a campaign is not always entirely user generated but could be altered by a media agency for the particular purpose of a campaign or even being a professionally photographed image in the style of a selfie.

4.2 Types of Selfie Campaigns

After the definition of selfies as an element of social media campaigns, the second part focuses on the identification of categories of selfie campaigns. The results from the interviews show three categories of selfie campaigns developed by marketing agencies.

4.2.1 User Empowering Selfie Campaigns

In these campaigns, users are asked to post their selfies on social media platforms of their choice. Mostly, they are requested to include pre-defined hashtags in their posts to enable the marketing agency to retrieve the selfies. The main activities of the marketing agency in this category of campaigns are done in the preparation phase. Interviewees stated that they have to carefully define which content should be shown in the selfie. Additionally, the visual appearances of the announcement of the campaigns as well as the prices to be won by the users have to be determined. Interviews revealed several factors motivating marketing agencies and their clients to choose user empowering selfie campaigns. First, clients receive a high-amount of user-generated content. Expert B summarizes the importance of user-generated content as follows:

“The user shifts from king to emperor when creating content!” (Expert B, p. 3)

Second, integrating users by asking them to upload and share selfies takes user involvement to a new level. The following quote illustrates that interaction of customers always played an important role in advertising but the integration of users as producers and distributors of selfies increases the opportunity for interaction. Expert F explains:

Selfie campaigns allow “a higher level of interaction with the customer compared to” customer participation marketing campaigns “in the past and also compared to asking customers to fill out forms on a website.” (Expert F, p. 2)

Third, this approach potentially allows the client company to reach a high number of recipients in a cost-effective and timesaving way. Expert C states:

“As a company we cannot produce such an amount of pictures in such a small amount of time as well as the opportunity to distribute the content in a fast way.” (Expert C, p. 2)

Users not only produce the content, but also share it in a very fast way. For instance, Expert B mentioned the use of incentives such as vouchers or points as instruments for enhanced sharing:

“In reaction to points or vouchers the user shares the photo and this results in higher traffic and sharing for the campaign.” (Expert B, p. 3)

In a similar vein, expert A states:

“The customers advertises the product for you, we create the sharing infrastructure.” (Expert A, p. 4)

Fourth, enabling users to share and discuss their content potentially facilitates the formation of communities of followers. This in turn might increase brand loyalty. Expert C and F state:

“A well prepared selfie campaign allows to build communities of followers and also creates advertising reach.” (Expert C, p. 1; Expert F, p. 1)

Finally, compared to professionally crafted marketing messages, interviewees believe that customers perceive the testimonials of other customers as more authentic, as expert I points out:

“What other customers say about a product is more appreciated than what the company itself says (…) If I see persons similar to myself using the product or the service, of course, I trust them more than a company that promotes its stuff in the best way possible.” (Expert I, p. 2)

4.2.2 Agency Controlled Selfie Campaigns

Agency controlled selfie campaigns are characterized by an involvement of the marketing agency as a mediator within the selfie campaign. The campaigns take place at a pre-defined platform. All of the professionals mentioned that they will search for an appropriate existing social media platform in case that it is not provided by the client. Users are asked to upload their selfie on this platform (e.g. a company website or facebook). Expert C explains:

“(…) the user can upload the photo on a platform he is familiar with which means there is no need for explaining or giving additional in-formation to the user.” (Expert C, p. 2)

The agency filters the user-generated selfies for publications on the platform. Hence, contrary to the user empowering selfie campaigns, the agency controls the content being published.

The selected selfie as a visual element either remains original (“classic selfie”) or is adapted by the marketing agency to increase its appeal (“polished selfie”).

Professionals reported that brand ambassadors, e.g. celebrities, are integrated in the marketing of such a social media campaign. Authentic brand ambassadors should act as influencers stimulating the participation and involvement of the users. Expert D explains the role of brand ambassadors:

“If you want to create a contest or interaction with the brand with a selfie-campaign, then I need brand trust, therefore in advance I need an awareness campaign in order to create trust and to enhance the brand publicity. One way is to select “brand ambassadors” for selfie campaigns as they allow to generate advertising with high authenticity.” (Expert D, p. 4)

Expert B. considers Influencers important because:

“Ideally in this way, user can be convinced to directly or indirectly sell the product for you.” (Expert B, p. 1)

Marketing agencies are motivated to choose agency controlled selfie campaigns, because “the user create a personal connection to the company and brand” (Expert I, p. 1) and “they enable the agency to identify the exact target group through the personal connection” (Expert F, p. 1), but contrary to the user empowering selfie-campaigns, the agency can still select the selfies to be published considering their brand image, as well as their target group from a pool of user-generated selfies. Furthermore, selfies can be visually adjusted to comply with the demands of the client company.

4.2.3 Agency Designed Campaign Integrating Selfies

In the third category of selfie campaigns, agencies design a marketing campaign and integrate “polished selfies” of brand ambassadors or “faked selfies” of photographic models as visual images. Following this approach the agency is in full control of the content of the selfie. If “faked selfies” are integrated, suitable photographs in selfie style are consciously designed. Usually more preparation is necessary to produce selfie-campaigns with objects, as Expert H. illustrates:

“[…] typical challenges for the campaign are the location, the house rule, organizational tasks if the product should be shown with the selfie.” (Expert H, p. 4)

The creation and selection of the appropriate selfie is critical. Expert G states:

“In general it depends upon the target group. I would select and offer something, which no one did before in this way. Something funny, surprising or shocking.” (Expert G, p. 3)

Generally, the selection of the “faked selfie” or the “polished selfie” to be included in the marketing campaign is done in cooperation with client. The client decides which selfie should be included to create an authentic advertisement for the particular company.

Considerations of corporate identity regulations or brand owners’ demands can lead to the selection of this campaign category. Indeed, if a strong adaption to formal regulations is required, user generated selfies would have to be corrected and adapted. “Faked selfies” of photographic models or deliberately chosen “polished selfies” of brand ambassadors are communicated to benefit from the selfie trend. Expert C outlines:

“Selfies are a famous trend phenomenon and they are well known to the average citizen.” (Expert C, p. 1)

Table 2 summarizes the authors identified three categories of selfies used in social media campaigns, starting from campaigns with low involvement of the agency and ending with campaigns which are entirely designed by the agency without any user involvement.

Table 2. Categories of corporate social media selfie campaigns with agency involvement
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5 Discussion and Conclusion

This study contributes to the debate that adequate use and effectiveness of social media is critically affected by the level of professional management because social media activities can not only result in positive effects but they can also cause negative consequences for the company [36]. We focused our research on business-related factors for selecting and implementing selfies in corporate social media campaigns.

We found that marketing agencies can be supportive for translating strategies into persuasive visuals in corporate social media campaigns and identified three different categories how selfies are used as a campaign element in order to enhance interaction with customers. We also note that using user-generated selfies have an impact on campaign involvement and sharing of campaigns.

After categorizing different selfie campaigns we point to the situational conflict faced by professionals from advertising agencies when conceptualizing campaigns for companies as their clients. While the company asks for professional management of a selfie campaign, the marketing agency must have a plan to address the trade-off between a desired high level of user interaction in a campaign and the need for control and intervention in such a campaign (in terms of selecting the adequate platform, visual and communication elements). In order to reduce information asymmetry between the agency and the client, we suggest a coordinated campaign preparation and the clear definition of the role and responsibility of the marketing agency especially when the question of ad authenticity through real life customers is concerned.

However, because of our small sample size, we cannot rule out experience as a potential influence on the selection of selfies for corporate social media campaigns. Future studies that sample greater numbers of advertising professionals, perhaps with the use of a survey method, may be able to refine the role of filtering and the usage of polished or faked selfies in a social media campaign.

Finally, while our findings analyzed the role of media agencies, it would be interesting for future research to do research on the consumer’s perception of the emotional authenticity of the different selfie categories.