There is a current reframing of marketing pedagogy and practices through both competitive and cooperative approaches: Pedagogy Assignment, UOL, Ireland

There is a current reframing of marketing pedagogy and practices through both competitive and cooperative approaches; brand community engagement is part of this search for a more effective management methodology. The purpose of this study is to add to the existing body of knowledge regarding the strategic implications that arise from creating high-level engagement with external brand communities. The specific research objectives are as follows

• Investigate the strategic implications that arise from creating engagement with external brand communities.
• Discover what challenges and opportunities arise from engaging with these external brand groups.
• Examine methods of creating and sustaining that engagement and possibly elevating initial engagement to a higher level.

Existing relevant research is reviewed and then the author adopted the existential-phenomenological methodology to interview professional managers working in organizations with strong brand communities. This is followed by the interpretation of feedback from interviewees who, as active branding practitioners from a diverse range of industries, demonstrate differing degrees of trust between the consumers, the company, and the brand itself.

The use of the existential-phenomenological research approach allows theoretical themes to emerge directly from the working experience of these professionals. This study then concludes by summarizing the findings and briefly outlining recommendations for further research.