Co-Brand Activism: Girls’ Empowerment in Sports

Year 2025, Volume: 9 Issue: 2, 1039 - 1054, 25.05.2025

Şahver Omerakı Çekirdekci

https://doi.org/10.25295/fsecon.1563875

Abstract

Brands increasingly become advocates of sociopolitical issues by aligning brands’ purposes and values with prosocial practices, a strategy defined as brand activism. Recent research on the theoretical construct of brand activism calls for an investigation of the construct from the multiple stakeholders involved in the development and execution. Drawing from the premises of brand activism and femvertizing, the study explores how a co-brand activism campaign on girls’ empowerment in sports was developed and communicated through the collaboration of two activist brands, Dove, and Nike. Data was collected from the official websites and Instagram accounts of the activist brands, the internet website of the activist practice and the media news that resulted from this collaboration. Identified themes explain the process for the formulation and communication of the co-brand activist strategy – body confident sport program and #KeepHerConfident respectively. Research findings contribute to brand activism, femvertising and co-branding literatures by providing evidence for the dynamic interactions that shape the development and execution of co-brand activist strategies and the multiple-fit drivers that make this possible in the intersection of multiple female identity categories.

Keywords

Brand Activism, Femvertizing, Co-Branding, Female Empowerment, Sports

Ortak Marka Aktivizm: Kızların Sporda Güçlenmesi

Abstract

Markalar, marka aktivizmi olarak tanımlanan bir strateji ile amaçlarını ve değerlerini toplum yanlısı uygulamalarla uyumlu hale getirerek sosyopolitik konuların daha fazla savunucusu haline gelmektedirler. Marka aktivizminin teorik yapısına ilişkin son yapılan araştırmalarda, kavramın geliştirme ve uygulamaya dahil olan birden fazla paydaş tarafından araştırılmasını gerektiği tartışılmaktadır. Marka aktivizmi ve femvertising literatürlerinden yola çıkan bu çalışma, kızların sporda güçlendirilmesine yönelik Dove ve Nike iş birliğiyle ortak marka aktivizm kampanyasının nasıl geliştirildiğini ve iletildiğini araştırılmaktadır. Veriler, aktivist markaların resmî internet sitelerinden ve Instagram hesaplarından, aktivizm pratiğinin internet sitesinden ve bu işbirliği sonucunda ortaya çıkan medya haberlerinden toplanıldı. Belirlenen temalar – vücuda güven veren spor programı ve #KeepHerConfident – ortak marka aktivist stratejisinin oluşumunu ve iletişim sürecini açıklıyor. Araştırma bulguları, ortak marka aktivizm stratejilerinin geliştirilmesini ve uygulanmasını şekillendiren dinamik etkileşimlerine ve birden fazla kadın kimliği kategorisinin keşisiminde bunu mümkün kılan çoklu uyum faktörlerine dair kanıtlar sağlayarak marka aktivizmi, femvertising ve ortak markalama literatürlerine katkıda bulunmaktadır.

Keywords

Marka Aktivizmi, Femvertising, Ortak Markalama, Kadının Güçlendirilmesi, Spor

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