Managing integrated marketing communication (IMC) through strategic decoupling: how luxury wine...

Increasingly, marketers are turning to brand histories and historical associations as sources of market value (Penaloza 2000) and a "cultural marker of legitimacy and authenticity" (Brown, Kozinets, and Sherry 2003, p. 19). Authenticity is a core component of successful brands because it forms

part of a unique brand identity (Keller 1993). Consumers are also seeking out authentic brands and experiences (Fine 2003; Holt 1997; Penaloza 2000; Thompson and Tambyah 1999). As Brown, Sherry, and Kozinets state, "the search for authenticity is one of the cornerstones of contemporary marketing" (2003, p. 21). Despite this, little is known about how firms create and maintain images of authenticity (Fine 2003). This paper addresses this gap by examining the means by which luxury wine marketers create and maintain authentic brands.

The deliberate creation and management of authenticity presents several difficulties for brand managers. Creating authenticity involves a number of paradoxes because brands must remain true to an authentic core while also remaining relevant (Keller 2003). Brown, Sherry, and Kozinets (2003) identify a number of pressures when seeking to exploit the heritage of an established brand. Brand managers must constantly manage the paradox at the heart of strong brands by balancing actions that reinterpret (in response to changing tastes) symbolic stories involving moral conflicts and solutions, evoking aspects of an idealized past in brand imagery and creating an aura that "pertains to the presence of a powerful sense of authenticity that original works of art exude" (Brown, Sherry, and Kozinets 2003, p. 21). This aura is a core brand component because it communicates a sense of authenticity and directly reflects the core values for which the brand stands. However, no research reports exist on how firms create and maintain such auras.

The term "authenticity" is problematic for researchers because no consumer-based definitions of authenticity currently exist (Grayson and Martinec 2004). We have therefore adopted Fine's (2003) definition from sociology because it is consistent with a number of proposed attributes of marketing-based authenticity. Fine defined authenticity as, "Sincere, innocent, original, genuine, and unaffected, distinct from strategic and pragmatic self-presentation ... linked to moral authority of the creator and simultaneously to the fact that the object was made by hand, not mechanically produced ... [with an] absence of cognitive understanding, creating an unmediated experience" (2003, p. 155). Within the context of service encounters, Price, Arnould, and Tierney (1995) identified the personal, experiential qualities, and honesty (versus contrived for commercial effect) as attributes of authenticity, attributes consistent with Fine's definition. Holt (1998) also identifies artisanal goods (small hand-crafted production runs), rejection of mass-market production, and being untainted by commerce as attributes of authentic goods. What also matters is that goods and experiences conform to customers' mental frames of authenticity (Grayson and Martinec 2004). Effectively, consumers attribute authenticity to real and imagined components of the offer (Grayson and Martinec 2004).

However, authenticity does not imply "no change." Authentic images need to be constantly adapted and updated as they represent an interplay between creators, commercial interests, critics, competitors, and consumers (Carroll and Swaminathan 2000; Peterson 1997). Peterson's examination of country music performance found that organizers managed the conflicting pressures of remaining true to perceived views of authenticity (in this case, rustic hillbilly imagery and spontaneous informal amateurism among the players) and the need to craft a viable commercial product.

One example of this practice in a marketing context is found in Banknorth Group in the United States, which has built an enviable reputation and loyal customer base positioning itself as a local bank that gives localized hometown service (similar to what consumers nostalgically perceive about small local banks) while being a large multibillion-dollar, multistate banking group. The bank's large resource base and size enables it to deliver customers a full suite of services at their local branch. This complete product line is precisely what small banks could never deliver, and Banknorth manages the outward projected imagery of being local and part of the community separately from the reality that it actually remains a very large and growing corporate operation.

Banknorth's strategy is subtle; it needs the efficiencies of size to deliver the very suite of services that customers desire--the same services that local banks lacked, causing them to switch to larger competitors. By downplaying its behind-the-scenes operation, it can effectively deliver on its brand promise of personalized local service and compete against larger players.

This is similar to the strategy of decoupling (Meyer and Rowan 1991), where performances are far more tightly programmed and scripted than consumers were aware of(Peterson 1997). The concept of decoupling comes from the institutional school of organizational theory. Institutional theory predicts that firms survive to the extent that they are seen as legitimate by their respective publics. In many cases, this may involve conforming to industry standards (Scott 2001), or at the very least, giving the appearance of doing so. Meyer and Rowan (1991) proposed that organizations attempt to present an external facade to give the impression that they are conforming to external, institutionally acceptable norms, while behind the scenes they engage in practices that contradict their external image. Meyer and Rowan labeled this practice "decoupling," which involves decoupling the firm's day-today operations from its technical core (effectively splitting the espoused philosophy and practices of the firm from the firm's actual practices).

One example of this practice is found among mainstream environmental activist organizations that publicly denounce the acts of affiliated extremists while using these events to advance their own, seemingly more moderate agenda (Elsbach and Sutton 1992). Following an incident of tree spiking, (1) mainstream environmental groups deny support for such acts while at the same time stating that they understand why some people would go to such extreme lengths (that is, they still support the end goals of the extremists, just not the means), and calling for piecemeal restrictions on logging, thus edging closer toward their goal of ending the practice. In doing so, mainstream environmental organizations conform to societal expectations of rejecting violence (thereby gaining legitimacy) and appear more responsible, thus gaining influence with government. Hence, by decoupling their shared philosophical agenda from the actions of other affiliated groups, they avoid being painted as violent, antidemocratic extremists, and reinforce their image as responsible, moral advocates for the environment, thus gaining support for their agenda (whose end-goals remain unquestioned). These organizations also build support for their agenda and avoid causal links being drawn between their environmental philosophy and the necessity of violent action.

We propose that this strategy is necessary for some brands, particularly niche brands, or brands facing large, entrenched, mass-market competitors. The Snapple case shows what happens when firms fail to understand the need to decouple to appear to support their positioning around "authenticity" and noncommercial values. When Snapple was taken over, the new managers destroyed the value of the brand by overtly replacing what appeared to be an ad hoc low-key marketing approach (consistent with the authentic positioning of the brand) with a "professional," mass-marketing approach. Consumers of the brand now rejected it because of the firm's now-overt commercialization. The new team would have been better off formalizing its approach behind the scenes while selectively communicating aspects of its operation to give the appearance of being authentic. That is, Snapple could have engaged in market-oriented practices consistent with keeping the brand relevant behind the scenes, while at the same time communicating that its brand extensions were created for nonmarketing reasons, such as a desire to continue the experimentation at the heart of the brand or to bring new tastes to the masses.

Creative people also often downplay commercial considerations as part of their brand approach. Tom Peters (1994) noted how Prada's one attempt to develop a seasonal line based on formal market research backfired as critics and consumers reacted negatively toward a bland line. Peters noted how Muccia Prada was constantly in the market, and contrasted this approach against "being of the market." Rather than using formal market research, Muccia Prada drew on her own personal knowledge of ideas gained from many years of in situ observation of global clothing styles. This allowed her to give the appearance of drawing on her own inner creativity for each season's designs. Bowing to pressure within her firm, Prada used conventional market research techniques for her 1989 collection, with negative results. "The clothes were overdesigned, and it seemed that commercial considerations and self-consciousness ... were leading her" (Peters 1994, p. 108).

This process of decoupling the external message from internal processes lies in contrast to integrated marketing communication (IMC) models that emphasize the necessary tight integration between the two (Duncan and Moriarty 1997; Kitchen et al. 2004). As such, the study of firms that simultaneously achieve consistent communications and strong brands while rejecting commercial practices may result in new insights into the structuring and management of IMC.

Empirically, this paper examines how luxury winemakers create and recreate images of authenticity. Given the lack of research in this area, we conducted an exploratory single-industry study in the luxury or fine wine industry. Luxury wines potentially hold important insights for brand marketers because they represent some of the oldest brands still in existence. Special reference was made in Pepys's diary of a wine called "Ho Bryan" (Haut-Brion). In 1707, the London Gazette identified the "growths of Lafitt [Lafitte Rothschild], Margouze {Chateaux Margaux} ... La Tour {Latour} ... {and} new Obrian {Haut-Brion}" (Faith 1999, p. 26) as commanding significant price premiums at a time when wines were not labeled by name but often blended by merchants. It is important to note that luxury wine producers simultaneously embraced basic marketing techniques while also distancing themselves from images of industrial production and commerce (Faith 1999).

However, the histories of these brands reveals that outright rejection of commercial imperatives does have negative consequences, such as dilution of perceptions about quality, falling price premiums, and decreased brand value (Faith 1999). In 1974, for example, a comparison tasting of top American and French wines received widespread publicity (including a Time magazine front cover) when even French judges were forced to admit that new American wines were superior. Also, concerns in the late 1980s that champagne quality had fallen due to the use of fruit from poor-quality vineyards within the region, and even fruit from outside of Champagne (an illegal practice), caused a number of houses, including Champagne Bollinger, to make public commitments about sourcing only from vineyards within the Champagne region and only from the very best vineyards. In both cases, public commitments about improved quality and more popular wine styles saw prices rise, and equity of these established brands returned to, and then exceeded, historic levels of equity. While such commitments are important, wine critics and long-term consumers of these brands have criticized brands that overtly seek to appeal to the mass market. As such, these brands must walk a fine

line between their publicly avowed commitment to tradition and the need to remain relevant in the marketplace.

For our purposes, luxury wine brands are wines selling at more than $100 per bottle (Geene et al. 1999), with an established track record of performance (both in terms of quality and price premiums). The study of authenticity in luxury wine will contribute to theory and research on IMC because it will examine firms that have historically managed to truly integrate their communications and/or firms whose brands have suffered when inconsistencies between their positioning and communications emerged. Thus, these firms represent those few firms that have managed to integrate their communications over a long period, and represent an important context for studying the implementation of IMC (e.g., Kim, Han, and Schultz 2004; Kitchen et al. 2004).

METHOD

We ask two research questions. First, how do firms project an image of authenticity? Second, how do firms consistently maintain this image when the market is believed to taint claims of authenticity (Holt 2002)? Do firms follow a consistent "one look, one voice" approach, or do they engage in decoupling, selectively downplaying certain aspects of their operation in an attempt to build a brand aura based on authenticity?

A case study design was chosen for several reasons. First, there is a lack of research on the practice of IMC, suggesting that a more exploratory/theory-building approach is appropriate (Eisenhardt 1989; Strauss and Corbin 1998). Also, the long histories of each brand, and the use of that history by the brand owners, means that each brand's development is path-dependent. To understand and analyze path-dependent processes requires detailed case histories (Holt 1998). Finally, understanding practice requires surfacing participants' "tacit knowledge," which can only be reached by close interaction between the researcher and participant after significant time in the field. Such approaches can also help marketers gain new insights about market behavior, forcing them to reconstruct their views of market realities (Zaltman 1997).

Because few studies have examined the positioning and strategies of luxury producers, we sought to conduct case studies to understand the philosophy and positioning of each firm. To do so, we had to address sample selection issues. Characteristics of luxury brands include high price, excellent quality, specialized distribution channels, a prestige image associated with the brand, an element of uniqueness or exclusivity, and a history of high performance. Data were collected from 26 identified luxury wine producers (4 from Australia, 14 from France, 1 from Lebanon, 5 from New Zealand, and 2 from Portugal). These firms were selected because they had a history of achieving price premiums and brand awareness in their respective niches while being silent on, or downplaying, their commercial motivations. Two local wine journalists moderated the final list. The average age of the sampled firms was 131.1 years (range 14-400+). Two measures of size were used. The sampled firms had an average of 360.65 employees (range 3-2,000), and an average vineyard size of 106 hectares (range 3-270). A total of 53 interviews were conducted across these firms. (See Table 1 for details.)

Each firm was contacted via e-mail and given a detailed outline of the study. Interviews were conducted with case respondents at their place of business and lasted for three hours on average. Questions evolved around the firm's history (when it was founded, early aims and decisions); guiding philosophy; important events in the life of the brand; marketing practices (including knowledge of the market, marketing activity, relationship use, promotional activity); positioning; product quality (including a description of how the product was produced); and competitive pressures (future concerns and aims). The average time spent at each case was 4.85 hours (range 2-18 hours). All interviews were taped and then transcribed. Over 120 hours of interview material was recorded.

At each winery, a tour of the production facilities was taken in order to carry out observations and ask further technical questions (each tour lasted one hour on average). These tours and interviews were conducted over a three-year period. As icon or ultra-premium wineries exist in a stable niche (Geene et al. 1999), conducting the interviews over an extended period was unlikely to be affected by external changes. Observations carried out over this period confirmed this, with no major market changes affecting the wineries studied. Following this, interview data were integrated with secondary information from the general wine press, news media, specialist wine books, and secondary data gained from the firms. Secondary data were analyzed to provide further background and help triangulate the data and identify the nature of the industry (Anand and Watson 2004). In all, over 200 sources were reviewed covering a period of 600 years. Together, these three sources of data provided the basis for the case studies.

Two other sources of primary data were used to triangulate the espoused views of the producers (these were not integrated into the cases but provided interesting insights into the winery's practices). Twenty interviews with regular Australian luxury wine consumers were carried out to identify support for the firm's practices. To identify marketing practices for these wines, a purposive sample of eight international luxury wine distributors/retailers/agents were interviewed. These will not be commented on in detail in this study, as the central questions concern the espoused and actual practices of the wineries (Miles and Huberman 1994).

Cases were analyzed through within-case and cross-case analysis (Eisenhardt 1989). Copies of each case and a report were returned to each respondent. The first author and the respondents then worked collaboratively over a period of three months on the report to further understand the findings and develop strategies for the future. Throughout the study, a number of methods for improving the quality of the research were adopted. First, experts were used to help select the cases, two researchers provided independent interpretations of the findings, interviews were conducted over three years, and respondents were given the opportunity to provide feedback on initial findings, all of which reinforced reliability, and while colleagues performed independent coding of the transcripts, long-term interviews were conducted by the same interviewer (the first author), reducing the role of bias (Lincoln and Guba 1985; Strauss and Corbin 1998).

FINDINGS

The findings are presented around three key themes that were identified in the cross-case analysis of the 26 case studies. Data supporting these themes will be provided in the form of interviewee passages, examples from field notes (taken during the tours), and secondary sources relating to the case studies. Where relevant, quotes from the consumers and distributors will be provided to support the themes. The main themes include the need for a consistent sincere story, the tension between this story and commercial considerations, and decoupling day-to-day operations from espoused philosophies.

A Consistent Sincere Story

Throughout the interviews, it was clear that the interviewees were intensely passionate about their brands, as evidenced in quotations such as the following: "We feel we must live up to the brand that has been gifted to us, and pass it on to the next generation" (F3). The extended encounters with each firm and the development of cases using multiple methods identified the constant desire to ensure a sincere brand story. Sincerity related to using place, history, and culture as referents; commitment to traditional production methods; stylistic consistency; and appearing to be above commercial considerations. This was a key means of building brand authenticity; we therefore propose that sincerity of story is critical to claims of authenticity.

Relationship to Place

Sincerity of story is reflected in relating the brand to a particular place. This was tied up in the realization that many of the firms simply faced limitations in what they could produce, and thus needed a form of differentiation with which to compete. Again, the creation of a sincere story was critical, although this was often more selective when compared to the absolute dedication to quality enhancements. The relationship to place reinforced a point of uniqueness--granting authenticity to the product--although this was useful only if the wines met a certain level of quality. This last point saw many wineries having to temper their commitment to authenticity as purity (expression of place) with the need to ensure consistency of quality (within certain boundaries).

This view of authenticity was expressed in the commitment to terroir (in wine terminology, this refers to the imprint that the soil, climate, and other topographical factors leave on the taste of a wine), with the notion that wines express differences due to seasonal variations being seen as "real." For example, the following quote expresses this view, relating it to a sense of uniqueness and a defined positioning. This is contrasted directly with marketing or commerce.

   The sheer question of our wine being or not being a luxury
   product is, weirdly enough, almost controversial for us.... yes,
   we have a centuries-old track record of fine wine production,
   and yes, we are at the top end of the wine market. Still, ours is
   a very special situation, for, to make a long story short, the
   quality and the resulting prestige of our wine is due, in the
   first place, to a very French--albeit very real--concept of
   terroir. The meaning of which, as you surely know, is a combination
   of soil, microclimate, grape varieties, and so forth. At
   this point, I don't need to tell you about all the work that is
   being done to enhance this quite unique situation even more.
   What I am trying to say is that we do not have a true marketing
   approach; nor do we have our own distribution channel,
   for that matter. I could not even give you accurate numbers
   concerning our export markets! In view of those quick remarks,
   you may have some difficulties in selecting us as a
   typical case study. (F3)

The use of terroir as a positioning statement and guiding philosophy is expressed in a number of ways, and results in a number of strategies to create and protect authenticity around this issue. Some winemakers identify themselves as merely stewards of the land, taking a great deal of care to emphasize that they are noninterventionist in their approach, even though their actions to ensure consistency of quality during poor seasons require quite a degree of intervention. In poor years, for example, winemakers will gain more fruit concentration by heavy pruning of the vines, using helicopters to blow fog away from the grapes, and reverse osmosis to remove water from under-ripe grapes, resulting in more flavor and relatively lower alcohol levels. The following quote from a Burgundian winemaker evidences this noninterventionist perspective, and is reflected in the branding approach of Burgundian firms that market every high-quality brand under a label that is a combination of the village and quality rating of the vineyard, such as "Gevrey Chambertin [village] Premier Cru [formal vineyard status classification]," and in downplaying the name of the house and winemaker (the grape type was not mentioned at all).

   The Bordelaise say to us Burgundians, "Where is the art?"
   For them, their wine is a blend of different parcels and varieties
   in a vineyard. For us, our wine comes from a single variety,
   and a single vineyard. Therefore, we are hands off, letting
   nature do her work. (F2)

Other approaches take a broader view of expression of place, identifying the important role of the individual and the efforts of previous owners and workers as an expression of uniqueness and distinction. In contrast to the quote above, the relation of the brand to a place is moderated by the need to create a blended product, undermining absolute claims to terroir.

   The myth of [name] develops outside our control and we have
   no power over it. On the contrary, when people come here, we
   try to remove the mystery, we show them what we have done
   openly--we show them that a great wine comes from a specific
   piece of earth and a lot of hard work. A great wine is not
   simply a gift of the Holy Ghost. It comes from a piece of soil
   that has perhaps been blessed by the gods, but in any case,
   has been chosen, assembled, worked on by the hand of man
   over the centuries. And in the case of [name], we are talking
   of parcels of land brought together between the thirteenth
   and seventeenth centuries. (F3)

Along with legal sanctions and educational campaigns, the wineries also reinforce their links with place through actions aimed at enhancing the strength and sincerity of their commitment to place. For example, many of the wineries have invested in integrated viticulture, which seeks to remove the use of pesticides from the production of wine, in an attempt to reinforce the naturalness and authenticity of their products. The New World (2) firms, in particular, often enhance this with the adoption of formal, externally audited environmental standards (e.g., ISO [International Organization for Standardization] standards), and by forming groups dedicated to natural production (the New Zealand wineries were part of a group called "Living Wine"). At one extreme, the commitment to place led one winery to run cattle on the property to provide fertilizer for the vines.

Continuing Traditional Methods of Production

The linking of the brand to place or traditional methods of production led the wineries to seek protection for the use of that name, and traditional expressions associated with the production of wines from these areas. The following example is taken from a tourist brochure given to consumers:

   Due to their unusual shape, the [brand name] champagne
   bottles are positioned on a special workbench and are riddled
   manually [riddling involves moving the bottle a half turn
   every few months to allow the bubbles in champagne to develop],
   according to the traditional method still used by a
   very small number of specialists whose know-how has been
   handed down from generation to generation. (F6)

Champagne producers have long sought to limit the use of the name "Champagne" to wines produced in the area. Recent wine trade agreements signed between New World producers and the EU (European Union) have seen the use of terms such as "Port" outlawed by non-Portuguese fortified wine producers, as well as attempts to limit traditional production expressions (e.g., M&hode Champenoise) and requirements that New World countries also identify legally enforceable geographic boundaries for their wine-producing areas.

Maintaining Stylistic Consistency

Long-run brand management requires firms to balance brand constancy with activities that create relevance (Keller 2003). That is, firms cannot solely repeat past practices without changes. The wineries all mentioned the difficulties associated with remaining true to past styles (brand and region), while adapting to changing consumer tastes. The importance of continuity of style is borne out by cases that had undertaken revolutionary stylistic changes. For example, in Australia, a merger between two leading wineries saw questions raised about the style of the firm's leading luxury brand (A2), with critics and consumers believing it had been diluted to encourage early drinking and greater accessibility for the American market (the two port producers sampled also vigorously defended themselves against this claim). The resignation of the winemaking team and heavy discounting of the 1995 vintage (which led to widespread press claims that the wine in question had lost its status and that an "Australian icon was being destroyed for short-term commercial gain"), combined with a poor-quality 1997, led the firm to undertake a major overhaul of its winemaking practices for the brand, investing heavily in communications focusing on the return to traditional styles. The following quote identifies the dilution of style, resulting in loss of status:

   They forgot the great story of [brand]. They forgot that the
   wine's intrinsic qualities were established over time, and involved
   a long-term and secretive commitment by the
   winemaker to make a wine against the odds. The board actually
   ordered [name] to stop making the wine and he made it
   in secret because he believed in it--and eventually it won
   people over. They forgot that, and attempted to change the
   taste of the wine for a few writers and the Americans, and it
   destroyed the mystique. (A2)

The cases studied managed to ensure authenticity through the slow evolution of wine style in an attempt to retain a link to the past. For example, houses that made a specific style of wine were keen to ensure that the style evolved, but also remained distinctive. Port houses, for example, blended various parcels of wine into the final blend for their vintage port. They used teams of three to five (to ensure a result if a vote was required) tasters to put together the final blend. One taster was in his sixties (the senior taster), one was in his forties, and one was in his twenties (PI, P2). This process meant that the house style was retained over time, while also being open to new ideas and influences.

Drawing on History and Culture as Brand Referents

Making links to the past also enhances sincerity. Rituals have an important influence on production of culture in culture industries (Anand and Watson 2004). New World producers would typically use traditional public relations and marketing activities, or regional festivals, to highlight the release of new wines, and would have fairly fixed pricing policies. Other regions and wineries repeated historical ceremonies to establish pricing patterns for the vintage. For example, the price that wines fetch at Beaune Hospice auction in Burgundy is an invaluable guide to the market. This event repeats established ceremonies, and attempts to change it have met with resistance from the trade.

The importance of history to each of the firms was self-evident. The majority of the firms involved were either old relative to their region or country of origin (in the case of the Australian and New Zealand firms) or were actually very old (see Table 1), with the French and Portuguese firms deliberately drawing on their histories in their marketing. During the tours of facilities, the historical links these firms had were made obvious. These tours focused exclusively on two things: the historical events associated with the firm (many of which emphasize the dedication to quality) and how the production processes led to enhanced product quality. These were selective stories that reflected a desired brand positioning.

By comparing Old World and New World cases, we found that in Australia and New Zealand, the expression of history was often different in cases where the wineries had less history to draw on than their Old World counterparts. Younger wineries placed a greater emphasis on their pioneering history, focusing on how they were the first to pioneer a regional style and/or varietal of wine. Others often told "rags to riches" stories of immigrant families, while others told stories of "beating the odds" or "taking on the world and winning," which were myths celebrated widely in both countries. One brand started with one winemaker attempting to develop a uniquely Australian, world-class wine, by blending the very best parcels of fruit from the company's vineyards. The results of the experiments were mixed, but after a few years, the company's directors ordered him to cease working on the product, which they felt was terrible. The winemaker carried on in secret. When the wines had aged they were released and immediately captured the attention of the world's wine press, becoming one of the world's great wines. This story was celebrated in a company-published book on the brand and reflects the myth of Australians as entrepreneurial experimenters who challenge the powers that be and win out.

Drawing on historical associations and building links to cultural events was another means of ensuring authenticity. Authenticity was communicated through heritage and links with past events. This selective focus on historical production centers has resulted in the continuance of myths regarding the production processes of certain wine styles. For example, the common view of laborers hand turning individual bottles of champagne is a far cry from the reality of modern production, where most of this is carried out by machines, just as images of port workers stomping the grapes with their feet and sailing the barrels of port in traditional seventeenth-century boats contrasts with the modern-day reality that these boats are only used for new-vintage ceremonies.

Managing the Tension Between Authenticity and Commercial Necessity

Although many of the producers here did not openly adopt the language of brand marketing, there were real commercial motives to production. Further examination of all the data sources revealed a more nuanced view of winemakers and marketers struggling to remain authentic while also remaining current in the marketplace (see, for example, the first quote from case F3 examined in the section "Relationship to Place").

   We need to make it maybe a little bit more fashionable, a bit
   more cooler [sic]--use a more modern way of advertising ...
   talking to consumers who are a bit younger. We need to keep
   the special heritage that we have. It's something to work on.
   Even on the marketing team, some people feel more traditional
   and some people feel more modern, so that's how it
   works and that's how we keep the balance. (F12)

The above quotation identifies the importance of leveraging the brand's heritage to appeal to younger consumers, while also being aware of not going "too far." For example:

   But, clearly, we have to face the world changing, and those,
   you know, aristocrats--the consumers--still exist, but we can't
   reference that to consider, you know, running a company; it's
   always anticipation, so you can't rely on what is satisfying
   right now. You have to think about how you are going to be
   in 10 years, and obviously, on one side, sales we used to have
   we no longer have. Here, the objective is instead of just living
   on our loyal customers, we have to keep on living with them,
   keep on satisfying them [sic], make sure they will never feel
   betrayed because we are not living up to their expectations.
   (F14)

This quotation reveals that marketers were aware of the need to walk a fine line between tradition and appealing to new consumers, and ensuring that they did not abuse loyal consumers by failing to evolve the product's

style appropriately.

Decoupling Day-to-Day Operations from Espoused Philosophies

The firms integrated their desire to project authenticity with the need to remain commercially current by downplaying their marketing expertise. One means of ensuring integration was to encourage marketers to "be in the market," whereby winemakers and marketers travel widely to pick up on new trends. To gain insight into stylistic trends, many of the winemakers served as judges in wine shows where they had to taste a wide range of wines. For example:

I [INTERVIEWER]: Do you taste other people's wines widely?

R [RESPONDENT]: Very widely, and especially imported wines, too.

I: What for? What are you looking for?

R: To keep my palate impartial and open, [to] know what's going around in the world, in Australia. (A4)

Such an approach was common in all the cases studied. Also, consumers often prefer to meet the winemaker rather than marketers, and many of the winemakers traveled globally to hold dinners and tastings during new release time, interacting with agents, key buyers, consumers, and critics. We have labeled this approach as "being in the market" informally rather than "being of the market" (Peters 1994). The approach of being in the market enables the winemakers to effectively operate with a market orientation (the above quote supports a competitor orientation), while also rejecting claims that they adapt their products to suit particular fashions and segments. For example, the winemaker quoted above (A4) could honestly say he never adapted his product to formal consumer research, even though by adopting small changes based on tasting other competitors' products, he is adjusting to stylistic trends.

The firms interviewed downplayed their actual scientific prowess and conformed to the expected rules and norms of craft production, handmade methods, intuitive expertise, historical continuity, conservative attitude to change, and of being "above commercial considerations." Behind-the-scenes technical tours and secondary research revealed that these firms had a very high degree of scientific and technical proficiency, and are quick adopters of modern practices and technology. Although tours of the firms focused on the historical production equipment, it was clear that there was also state-of-the art equipment at each winery, which was confirmed by interviews with wine experts and secondary analysis on each of the firms. Even the New World producers, where emphasis on scientific excellence and marketing prowess is seen as critical to the success of these industries, downplayed this expertise in favor of discussing the use of traditional methods, dedication to quality, and the importance of place.

Examples of downplaying expertise also occurred in relation to marketing. Earlier, a number of quotations evidenced an outward rejection of the four pillars of the marketing concept (target market, customer needs, integrated marketing, and profitability) identified by Kotler (2000, p. 19). For example:

I: Some of the houses I've talked to are trying to target new consumers.

R: Who are these new consumers? I have no idea who the new champagne consumers are.

I: Well, they're worried that the market is getting older and that they need to find new people to sell the wine to as well, and also perhaps to move it from being purchased only for special occasions.

R: Yes, so does it mean these are new consumers or new occasions?

I: Is it both?

R: I don't know if it's both. I am not sure that the people who have never drunk champagne are going to drink it for new occasions. If you tell me that the champagne consumers who used to drink champagne only for great occasions are going to broaden their consuming space with champagne, I would say yes, probably. New consumers mean that we have something special to do to promote champagne. No, I think we have to do what we have been doing for three centuries--to find the irregular champagne consumer. We have to explain why the product is exceptional, why it is expensive, and when and how we should drink it. For the rest, to me, it's mismarketing, all the attempts to do the small bottle that you drink with a straw. (F6)

The above quotation refers to the actions of another well-known producer, which had developed new products for consumers in nightclubs. The passage, expressed with some degree of anger, reveals antagonism to a customer-centric approach consistent with mass marketing, while exhibiting a significant understanding of the market for champagne, including consumer behavior and market opportunities.

Despite this espoused rejection of a customer focus, the above quote supports the view that the wineries did have a real understanding of their customers. Indeed, all the marketers interviewed had a subtle understanding of their customers. For example: "It is wherever you are with [brand name] or wherever you take your [brand name]--the reference is always the same. So I told you one element they love: the great constancy" (F14). Because of this, the marketers understood the need to evolve the style of their wines, and their approach to production. This is consistent with research on other creative individuals who hold accurate mental frames of their consumers (cf. Kover 1995). They also placed limits on how far they were willing to go in changing the style to suit every customer, however. Rather, like other specialist firms (cf. Carroll and Swaminathan 2000), they publicly voiced that their wines were not for everyone: "Either you love it, and the beginning of the love story will generally be [brand name], or you don't like it" (F4). Such a view is consistent with a production orientation (Kotler 2000).

This understanding of marketing and, in particular, positioning is evidenced in the following quotation:

   I would say that we are extremely different, because I come
   back to what I was saying in the beginning: They are really
   wine-oriented--wine lovers--and the only thing they want
   to do is to produce the best wine and to offer the consumer
   what they have been able to achieve without any elaborate
   consumer marketing. It's more the approach of a producer
   that offers the best he can to consumers, and then the consumer
   maybe makes his choice. Well, of course, you should
   not appear as an old-fashioned company, because then you
   have a problem, but I don't think [brand name] wants to appear
   as an in-fashion, trendy, champagne brand. They really
   base their marketing on true values and not on invented or
   fake marketing values, lit is a] timeless message, really, so the
   way you might communicate the message might change
   slightly from one period to another. But as you say, it's a timeless
   message. (F8)

Here we see another example of the firms' espoused rejection of "fake marketing," which evidences a clear understanding of marketing theory and practice in relation to their brand's position. In this case, as with the others, we see the deliberate downplaying of the adoption of marketing philosophies, accompanied by attempts to marry design values with a form of marketing that is seen as representative of "true values"-values that are neither invented nor false.

The cross-case analysis revealed further evidence of practicing marketing while openly rejecting its use. Few firms openly adopted the artifacts of a marketing culture such as job titles (there were few formalized marketing roles such as marketing manager), separate marketing functions, and formai marketing planning. Despite this, the firms did have people responsible for marketing (evidenced by each firm's choice of a relevant staff member to be interviewed), and had dedicated marketing staff (who worked very closely with other functions). Also, many staff had formal marketing training (one owner interviewed even had an old copy of Kotler's Marketing Management on the bookshelf, which was brought out when he was asked how she defined "marketing").

The above discussion provides support for integration through "decoupling." The sampled firms manage tensions between market needs and their projection of authenticity by espousing philosophies that downplay their real scientific and business acumen, in order to appear above the commercial realm. Meyer and Rowan (1991) proposed that the more an organization is associated with institutionalized myths, the more it maintains elaborate ceremonies to display confidence to external and internal publics. Holt (2002) and Fine (2003) identified how creative businesses risk devaluing themselves by being perceived as too commercial, or too effective at understanding and exploiting their franchise. Instead, they must, to some extent, appear disinterested or distant from commercial considerations. One way of achieving this is to decouple formal structures and day-to-day work activities in order to maintain legitimacy and support, while also conforming to expected norms (Meyer and Rowan 1991). The espoused values of the wine marketers enabled them to directly contrast their approach with large mass-market wineries that positioned themselves as scientifically based enterprises committed to making profits through the provision of well-priced, mass-marketed, consistently-tasting wines.

Consistent with decoupling (Meyer and Rowan 1991), these firms give the outward appearance of traditional firms dedicated to continuing craft production, refusing to respond to fashions and the dictates of the market, and refusing to engage in "bad" or "false" marketing. Nevertheless, behind the scenes, the reality was quite different, with the winemakers evolving their styles in relation to changes in competitors' products and a desire to grow with their customer base and achieve excellence, investing in marketing information (usually through customer interactions at high-profile tasting events) and scientific innovation, with marketers/winemakers downplaying this in their marketing programs as a means of balancing claims of authenticity with commercial imperatives.

DISCUSSION

This exploratory research examined the IMC implications involved in projecting images of authenticity, and offers a number of insights for IMC practitioners, niche marketers, and researchers alike. First, this paper examined firms that have practiced consistency for a number of decades (even centuries) with positive results, thus providing case examples of successful IMC practice, which has been noted as critical to progressing understanding in the IMC arena (Duncan and Mulhern 2004). The identified practice of decoupling provides an alternative view to managing consistent messages and the dominant view that IMC is executed as "one voice, one look."

In terms of executional approach for decoupling, the outward appearance of these firms is totally consistent, but behind the scenes, these companies undertake policies that are not strictly consistent with the espoused view. This is the key point in decoupling: From a strategic point of view, these firms are positioned around authenticity, and to achieve this tactically they must project an outward image consistent with this positioning (by drawing on the attributes identified here), but at the same time, they engage in decoupling to ensure relevance.

In contrast to the literature on IMC (see Duncan and Moriarty 1997), the marketers studied here deliberately downplayed their marketing expertise, which enabled them to project a powerful image of appearing to be above commercial considerations, while also adapting slowly to market changes. This revealed the firms decoupling their outward projected image and their internal supportive strategies. These findings add further weight to recent criticism of the "one voice, one look" view of IMC (Duncan and Mulhern 2004).

The approach identified as decoupling was a deliberate attempt to separate communications from operations. It also allowed firms to appear rooted in the past, while also forever relevant. To date, no research has examined alternative approaches to integration such as those identified here. The findings, drawing on institutional theory, identify another means by which marketers (niche strategists, in particular) can execute IMC. The findings do not neatly fall into the process or functional approach to IMC (see Cornelissen, Lock, and Gardner 2001). For example, none of the cases adopted IMC as a guiding philosophy; rather, sincerity was a guiding principle for the firms, which then resulted in a series of consistent messages being communicated to the marketplace.

While consistency of message and experience remains authentic, what is crucially important is that the message draws on attributes that indicate authenticity and demonstrate it in product performance (as opposed to saying "we are authentic"). The companies sampled here usually only have one message (except for some of the champagne and port brands that target multiple segments, whose core message remains the same, although their products targeted at younger consumers or low-value markets use only stylized aspects of the brand).

The relationship between an organization's values and vision and the adoption and practice of IMC deserves future examination. This could be achieved through firm-based ethnographies examining the actual practices of marketers in their attempts to achieve consistency (or manage the inconsistency) between the firm's chosen strategy and actual market needs. Quantitative research could also examine relationships between certain types of strategies (such as Miles and Snow's 1978 typology) and different IMC practices. This would help reveal approaches other than "one voice, one look" and decoupling, and provide a contingent view of IMC practice.

The cases suggest a third approach to IMC--a cultural approach, whereby firm management educates their members with the core values and vision of the firm, and this then guides their behavior. This approach achieves the benefits of the process and functional approaches because it is both efficient and gains widespread commitment and buy-in. An interesting research question arising from this approach would be how firms manage to ensure consistency across different functional subcultures. Cross-disciplinary research, drawing on the organizational culture literature is needed to shed light on this question.

Transferability of Results

The findings contribute in a number of ways. First, aspects of sincerity of story can be transferred to other settings. Brands such as Gucci, Prada, and Adidas reference their history in their stores through historic photos of designers in old workshops. Many luxury brands also reinforce heritage and pedigree by referencing past and present celebrities that have used their products and by drawing on museum stocks for in-store displays. Stylistic consistency is also transferable to other contexts, such as Coke's disastrous choice to introduce New Coke in the mid 1980s. Many brands also refer to place in their communications. Also, brands have often suffered a crisis of identity when they attempt to remove links to place. For example, British Airways suffered when they attempted to rebrand as a global airline and remove the British flag from their tails in favor of more multicultural designs that reflected their global customer base. Many brands also make reference to craft production methods or the role of designers or craftspeople in production. For example, Rolls Royce always promoted the fact that parts of the car were handmade (particularly, the famous grill).

Decoupling examples also exist in other industries. For example, Gucci mythologizes links between the brand's founding family and the Medici by maintaining the fiction that they were saddle makers for the Medici in order to build links to the past (Forden 2001). The Snapple example provided earlier also illustrates the dangers of appearing to be too commercial. However, while consumers may be happy to "play along" with a brand's claims of authenticity, they do not like to feel duped (Grayson and Martinec 2004). As such, the need for tight control over all public messages by brand managers (cf. Kitchen et al. 2004) is even greater when embarking on decoupling. Further research is needed on how firms manage such control over their external messages. This could be done by examining induction processes for new firm members and also by identifying how brand-related myths and stories are passed down from member to member.

Finally, strategies such as those identified here are likely to be of particular relevance to niche marketers, or older firms seeking to differentiate themselves from larger dominant competitors (see examples of such brands above). Organizational theorists note that market specialists (that is, niche marketers) often use their status as small, handcrafted producers committed to product excellence for positive competitive effect (Carroll and Swaminathan 2000). Strategies that project authenticity or downplay commercial considerations to enhance brand value may also be used by design-focused firms, and luxury firms (Beverland 2004). We also propose that long-established firms facing low-cost competitive threats (e.g., Adidas), late entrants looking for a form of differentiation, established brand holders looking to revitalize brands (e.g., Apple), or firms from less-developed nations entering developed markets (e.g., Dilmar Tea) can also benefit from the use of authenticity and decoupling strategies in projecting their brand image.

Managerial Implications

The findings have a number of managerial implications. First, firms looking to build a position around being authentic need to convey sincere messages to consumers. To do so, a sincere story needs to be developed, and then enhanced over a period. This requires consistency of external communications. Such communications should draw on a number of relevant rhetorical and industrial attributes. It is important to note that these communications should not necessarily convey the full story of the firm's operations to consumers. A crucial component of a consistent and sincere authentic message was appearing to be above commercial considerations. This appearance offers the greatest challenges to brand marketers because it requires them to appear less expert than they may be. Indeed, marketing managers need to manage the dual tensions between appearing authentic and delivering value to customers and shareholders. Based on these findings, we recommend that firms seek to actively decouple their projected image from the realities of their business prowess.

A Final Caution

The findings raise several ethical questions. Although we reject the cynical, political exploitation involved in the decoupling example of environmental organizations (Elsbach and Sutton 1992) presented earlier, are we recommending that firms lie to, or intentionally deceive their customers? Certainly the wineries selectively downplay certain aspects of their operation that would not fit with claims of authenticity (such as their actual production methods, their scientific understanding, and their full relationship with the market). Nevertheless, it is also true that their espoused claims, while not the full truth, do have "truth-value" (that is, for all their decoupling, their projection of authenticity through the methods identified here involve real commitments). We believe that selectively playing up certain aspects of a firm's operation, while obscuring the full truth (assuming the firm is not engaged in anything illegal) by downplaying or denying commercial motivations, is consistent with brand management techniques.

Also, given the ubiquity of brand marketing today, we question whether at the end of the day, consumers really are duped by decoupling efforts. Research on authenticity suggests that many consumers effectively suspend disbelief about claims of authenticity to gain a more positive experience. For example, Grayson and Martinec's (2004) study of the Sherlock Holmes tourist site in the United Kingdom reveals that consumers actually believe Holmes (a fictional character) inhabited the stylized Victorian mansion because it looks like "the type of house a person at that period of time would live in." Research into how consumers respond when they find out the full truth to claims of authenticity remains an area for future research. Firms should also address the ethics of such a stance, and be careful to avoid making claims that do not have some semblance of truth-value.

NOTES

(1.) Tree spiking involves placing a metal spike in a tree in the hope that the person cutting down the tree will hit it with a chainsaw, causing the saw to break and inflict potentially fatal injuries on the timber worker.

(2.) "New World" firms refers to wine producers from non-European/Mediterranean countries. In this paper, they refer to the cases from Australia and New Zealand. The term "Old World" is used for all the other cases. These terms are used commonly within the wine industry.

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Michael Beverland (Ph.D., University of South Australia) is a senior lecturer with the marketing group in the Department of Management, University of Melbourne, Australia.

Sandra Luxton (M.Bus., University of South Australia) is a senior lecturer in the Department of Marketing, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.

The authors thank Arch Woodside, Chris Dubelaar, and Francis Farrelly for their constructive comments on earlier drafts of this paper. They also thank the three guest editors and two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments.

TABLE 1

Summary of Ethnographic Interviews and Organizational Characteristics
of the Sample

Case      Region       Age (years)    Size

NZ1     New Zealand        24         8 hectares,
                                      16 employees
NZ2     New Zealand        14         30 hectares,
                                      12 employees
NZ3     New Zealand        26         53 hectares,
                                      24 employees
NZ4     New Zealand        19         100 hectares,
                                      57 employees
NZ5     New Zealand        22.        85 hectares,
                                      45 employees
A1      Australia         100+        65 hectares,
                                      55 employees

A2      Australia         52 *        Hectares n/a,
                                      120 employees *

A3      Australia          45         211 hectares,
                                      80 employees
A4      Australia          19         3 hectares,
                                      20 employees
L1      Lebanon            77         78 hectares,
                                      75 employees
F1      Burgundy          100+        62 hectares,
                                      500+ employees
F2      Burgundy           37         10 hectares,
                                      23 employees
F3      Bordeaux          400+        90 hectares,
                                      250 employees
F4      Bordeaux          400+        113 hectares,
                                      240 employees
F5      Bordeaux          400+        94 hectares,
                                      240 employees
F6      Champagne         200+        270 hectares,
                                      1,000+ employees
F7      Champagne         150+        200 hectares,
                                      1,000+ employees
F8      Champagne         150+        150 hectares,
                                      500+ employees

F9      Champagne         150+        42 hectares,
                                      200+ employees
F10     Champagne         150+        140 hectares,
                                      500+ employees
F11     Champagne         150+        200 hectares,
                                      1,000+ employees
F12     Champagne         200+        285 hectares,
                                      2,000+ employees

F13     Champagne         150+        10 hectares,
                                      200+ employees

F14     Champagne         150+        30 hectares,
                                      100+ employees
P1      Portugal           23         72 hectares,
                                      120 employees
P2      Portugal          200+        250 hectares,
                                      1,000+ employees

                                                                 Hours
                                                                 spent
                                                               on field
Case    Sources of information                                   visit

NZ1     Two interviews with owner/founder, notes taken
        during tour of facilities, 14 magazine articles,
        brochures from 1985-2002, 6 wine books, 1985-2002
        reviews of wine releases, auction records.                 3
NZ2     Two interviews with owner/founder, winemaker, and
        viticulturalist, tours of facilities, 7 magazine
        articles, reviews of wine releases, brochures from
        1990-2002, 3 wine books, auction records.                  3
NZ3     Two interviews with owner/founder, tour of
        facilities, 23 magazine articles, brochures from
        1978-2002, 13 wine books, reviews of wine releases,
        auction records.                                           3
NZ4     Two interviews with founder, winemakers, and
        viticulturalist, tour of facilities, 44 magazine
        articles, brochures from 1985-2002, 32 wine books,
        reviews of wine releases.                                  3
NZ5     Four interviews with founder and winemaker, tour of
        facilities, 35 magazine articles, brochures from
        1982-2002, 18 wine books, review of releases.             12
A1      Two interviews with founder and winemaker, tour of
        facilities, 1 brand-specific book, 32 magazine
        articles, 6 wine books, review of 20 years of
        marketing material, attendance at launch events,
        auction records.                                           4
A2      One interview with winemaking team, tour of
        relevant facilities, 32 magazine articles, 1
        brand-specific book, 17 wine books, review of
        releases, attendance at vintage launch events,
        auction records.                                           2
A3      Two interviews with founder and winemaker, tour of
        facilities, 12 magazine articles, 4 wine books,
        review of releases, auction records.                       3
A4      Two interviews with founder and winemaker, tour of
        facilities, 9 magazine articles, 4 wine books,
        review of releases, auction records.                       3
L1      Six interviews with winemaker, marketing team,
        viticulturalist, tour of facilities, review of 20
        years of releases, 1 brand-specific book, company
        marketing material, 6 wine books, 32 articles.            16
F1      Three interviews with winemaker, marketer,
        current-generation owner, tours of facilities, 1
        brand-specific book, company marketing material, 4
        wine books, 16 articles, 5 regional histories.             5
F2      One interview with marketing manager and winemaker,
        tour of facilities, company marketing material, 17
        articles, 5 regional histories, auction records.           3
F3      Two interviews with owner/marketing manager, estate
        manager/winemaker/viticulturalist, tour of
        facilities, 4 brand-specific books, company
        marketing material, involvement in logo design
        decision meeting, 25 wine books, 67 articles, 15
        regional histories, auction records, reviews of
        releases.                                                 18
F4      Two interviews with managers, tour of facilities, 5
        brand-specific books, company marketing material,
        25 wine books, 33 articles, 15 regional histories,
        auction records, review of releases.                       4
F5      One interview with current owner, tour of
        facilities, 2 brand-specific books, company
        marketing material, 25 wine books, 43 articles, 15
        regional histories, auction records, review of
        releases.                                                  4
F6      One interview with current owner, tour of
        facilities, 1 brand-specific book, company
        marketing material, 20 wine books, 14 articles, 6
        regional histories, review of releases.                    3
F7      Two interviews with marketing manager, CEO, tour of
        facilities, 2 brand-specific books, company
        marketing material, 20 wine books, 34 articles, 6
        regional histories, review of releases.                    4
F8      Three interviews with current owner, marketing
        manager, winemaker, tour of facilities, 2 brand-
        specific books, company marketing material, 20 wine
        books, 45 articles, 6 regional histories, review of
        releases.                                                  6
F9      One interview with current marketing manager, tour
        of facilities, 1 brand-specific book, company
        marketing material, 20 wine books, 9 articles, 6
        regional histories, review of releases.                    3
F10     Two interviews with current owner and marketing
        manager, tour of facilities, 1 brand-specific book,
        company marketing material, 20 wine books, 24
        articles, 6 regional histories, review of releases.        4
F11     Two interviews with current owner, marketing
        manager, tour of facilities, 1 brand-specific book,
        company marketing material, 20 wine books, 44
        articles, 6 regional histories, review of releases.        4
F12     Two interviews with current marketing manager and
        winemaker, tour of facilities, 1 brand-specific
        book, company marketing material, 20 wine books, 26
        articles, 6 regional histories, review of releases.        4
F13     One interview with current owner/marketing manager,
        tour of facilities, 1 brand-specific book, company
        marketing material, 20 wine books, 14 articles, 6
        regional histories, review of releases.                    2
F14     One interview with current owner/marketing manager,
        tour of facilities, company marketing material, 20
        wine books, 8 articles, 6 regional histories,
        review of releases.                                        2
P1      Two interviews with owner/marketer and winemaker,
        company marketing material, tour of facilities,
        review of 20 years of releases, 4 wine books, 14
        articles, 6 industry-specific histories.                   4
P2      Two interviews with CEO, marketing manager, tour of
        facilities, 1 brand-specific book, company
        marketing material, reviews of releases, 27
        articles, 15 wine books, 6 industry histories,
        auction records.                                           4

Notes: Review of releases refers to book/magazine features charting the
quality of the firm's releases and their subsequent development. Number
of interviews refers to summary totals at firm. The term "wine book"
refers to specialist wine books where the firm under investigation was
featured. "Magazine articles" are mostly specialist wine trade
publications featuring the firm. Regional histories refer to historical
analyses of the specific wine-producing region that featured the firms
investigated.

* Refers to the age of two luxury brands (and the team responsible for
them) in total portfolio only. Hectares for Champagne vineyards and
port houses understate the true size of production, as the majority (on
average, two-thirds) of production is purchased from growers.