The paper belongs to the nascent academic literature on consumer-brand engagement
(CBE). The aim is to deepen the managerial perspectives towards CBE by considering
two key players’ categories within the marketing communication network: advertisers
(‘clicks-and-mortar’ and ‘pure play’ enterprises) and agencies (traditional and digital).
Following an exploratory inductive and qualitative approach, we have drawn upon 44
in-depth interviews with European marketing and communication experts (consultants
and managers). The findings show similarities and specificities in the managerial
perspectives towards CBE depending on the players’ category. Previous research on
CBE mainly focused on the analysis of the consumer’s point of view. Focusing on
advertisers and agencies, our study provides the first academic contribution to the
understanding of the managerial point of view. Academic and managerial implications
are presented along with future research directions.
