Understanding Brand Journalism and Its Role in Marketing Communications: A Study of Selected Firms in Ghana

ABSTRACT

Marketing communications is losing its effectiveness because audiences have become disillusioned with marketing communications messages. Brand journalism has been identified as possessing qualities capable of countering marketing communications’ slumping effectiveness. However, more is yet to be known about brand journalism, due to its status as a nascent field of academic inquiry. This study, therefore, seeks to enhance understanding of brand journalism by exploring its dimensions, key characteristics, and role in marketing communications. Data is collected from a purposeful sample comprising industry practitioners and their potential and pre-existing customers through one-on-one interviews and thematically analyzed. Findings indicate brand journalism has five dimensions; form, execution strategy, actors, content, and ethics. Its key characteristics include the ability to target large and particular audiences, deliver personal messages, credibility, and has a cost-intensive element. Brand journalism is also found to play a dual role, that is, to both the firm and its customers. However, firms are yet to feel its full impact as brand journalism is not being practiced extensively or in depth. The study recommends that firms plan their brand journalism activities along the dimensions, characteristics, and roles to harness the benefits brand journalism has to offer.