Abstract:

To whom do brands belong nowadays? Without a doubt, organizations have legal rights over brands, but the stewardship of the brand's destiny does not depend exclusively on the organization's will any longer: consumers and non-consumers - ultimately, people in general - are co-responsible for the creation and propagation of contents associated to the brand. This determines the end of an era, of a time when brand stewards could see and control the messages that were being transmitted about the brands. After all: •Communication used to be carried out in only a few vehicles; •The same message would be repeated in all of them; •The consumer would just listen, as he could not question, comment or take part in it. This significant shift in the relationship between brands and people inaugurates a new era for global communication, which may witness its own impacts being amplified by certain local components.