Cultural Mediations of Brands

11The Conditions for Institutionalization

The links between brands and culture, increasingly mentioned in research, press articles, and memoirs, are not yet fully institutionalized in the sense that the operations that link them are not recorded by the public authorities. Indeed, public authorities have not necessarily taken the measure of their weight, and branding professionals have no interest in seeing their initiatives grouped together (outside the spheres that value their work) and categorized. The very purpose of their mission is to blend brands into the public space, to naturalize them in order to differentiate them while enhancing their value, without highlighting the seams of their connection and intentionality.

However, branded cultural events are often valued in the public space and instituted as legitimate and worthy activities, promoting not only the recognition of a particular brand but also, through the recurrence of processes, the recognition of brands as cultural objects, or even subjects. This shift from the singular to the plural acts as the authority of brands in the public space, their economic existence now seeming to be just one part of their raison d’être.

Their recognition as potential cultural actors depends on their ability to be present in the most prestigious places, the reputation attached to their cultural productions, the seriousness of the collaborations they have enjoyed for their implementation, and the success obtained with audiences that ...