The power of social media storytelling in destination branding

Abstract

A large part of the global population is now connected in online social networks in social media where they share experiences and stories and consequently influence each other's perceptions and buying behaviour. This poses a distinct challenge for destination management organisations, who must cope with a new reality where destination brands are increasingly the product of people's shared tourism experiences and storytelling in social networks, rather than marketing strategies. This article suggests a novel interpretation on how these online social networks function with regard to generating engagement and stimulating circulation of brand stories by offering a conceptual framework based on the sociological concepts of storytelling, performance, performativity, and mobility. These concepts are characterised as 'technologies of power', for their role in shaping the social mechanisms in social media. VisitDenmark, the DMO of Denmark, is used as a case to put the framework into practice. The case demonstrates how DMOs can use the framework to strengthen their social media branding, and five practical recommendations for how to do so are provided.

Full text

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Please refer to the definitive version of this article when citing:
Lund, N.F., Cohen, S.A. & Scarles, C. (2018). The power of social media storytelling in
destination branding. Journal of Destination Marketing and Management, 8, 271-280.
The power of social media storytelling in destination branding
ABSTRACT
A large part of the global population is now connected in online social networks in social
media where they share experiences and stories and consequently influence each other’s
perceptions and buying behaviour. This poses a distinct challenge for destination
management organisations, who must cope with a new reality where destination brands are
increasingly the product of people’s shared tourism experiences and storytelling in social
networks, rather than marketing strategies. This article suggests a novel interpretation on
how these online social networks function with regard to generating engagement and
stimulating circulation of brand stories by offering a conceptual framework based on the
sociological concepts of storytelling, performance, performativity, and mobility. These
concepts are characterised as ‘technologies of power’, for their role in shaping the social
mechanisms in social media. VisitDenmark, the DMO of Denmark, is used as a case to put the
framework into practice. The case demonstrates how DMOs can use the framework to
strengthen their social media branding, and five practical recommendations for how to do so
are provided.
Keywords: Social media; Destination branding; DMOs; Storytelling; Technologies of power;
Netnography
1. Introduction
Consumers are increasingly connecting in social media where the sharing of personal stories
influences their behaviour, including where they go and what they purchase (Adams, 2012).
As social media provide popular spaces for people to communicate and share content, they
have also become an important source for prospective tourists to find information and search

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for prices, suppliers, availability and product features (Buhalis & Foerste, 2015). Social media
have therefore evolved into important channels for marketing (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010),
with for instance approximately 60% of destination marketing organisations (DMOs) having
dedicated budgets for social media related activities (Barnes, 2015). However, social media
also elevates the role of consumers in the co-creation of brands and communications. Social
media therefore pose a particular challenge for marketers, as they must deal with a new
situation where brands are increasingly the product of people’s conversations in social
networks, rather than formal marketing strategies (Fournier & Avery, 2011). The classic
marketing model premised on control and predictability is no longer viable (Fisher & Smith,
2011). The emergence of social media thus requires a fundamental rethink of marketing
practises as brands are now co-created through informal conversations by authors largely
outside marketers’ control. While a brand may initially embody a manufactured
commercialised story, consumers’ storytelling of personal experiences and opinions becomes
absorbed into the brand narrative, hence changing, diluting or disintegrating its identity.
Social media are therefore facilitating a democratisation of media production and a power
shift towards consumers who can now produce content and publish via communication
channels where marketers are not invited (Peters, Chen, Kaplan, Ognibeni & Pauwels, 2013;
Kietzman, Hermkens, McCarthy & Silvestre, 2011; DesAutels, 2011). As Berthon, Pitt, Plangger
and Shapiro (2012, p. 289) suggest, the effects of social media “are sociological and little short
of revolutionary in their implications for business”.
This article advances on recent perspectives on social media as spaces of storytelling, which
focus on consumer generated brand stories, co-creation, open-source branding and
improvised performances (Gensler, Völckner, Liu-Thompkins, & Wiertz, 2013; Singh &
Sonnenburg, 2012; Fournier & Avery, 2011). It offers a conceptual framework that draws on
particular sociological concepts to illustrate how a combination of individuals’ performative
acts, mobilities and storytelling competencies enable stories to spread and influence
narratives, discourses and perceptions. Specifically, it is argued that the concepts of
storytelling, mobilities, performance and performativity can be conceptualised as
‘technologies of power’, which are techniques used in the practical operation of power that
can be utilised by individuals and groups in social media to exert influence on others (Foucault,
1977).

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The conceptual framework is applied in a netnographic case study of Facebook posts by
VisitDenmark, the Danish national DMO. This brief practical example from VisitDenmark’s
social media branding practices is provided to illustrate the power of the conceptual
framework. The case demonstrates how DMOs can use the framework to strengthen their
social media branding, and the paper concludes with practical recommendations for how to
do so.
2. Social media and Marketing Destinations
DMOs responsible for marketing tourism destinations offer an ideal case for analysing the
potential of the conceptual framework developed in this paper. Tourism is an integrated
part of many people’s lives, which is observable on social media where the third most
popular topic on Facebook after music and television is holidays and travel experiences
(Bertino, 2014). Traveling presents countless photo opportunities and experiences in
extended phases where social media offers a suitable outlet for sharing these experiences
with social networks. DMOs can engage with these social media users and their stories.
Particularly DMOs can connect with Generation Y as technology and online social
networking is integrated into nearly every aspect of their lives and is a central part of their
leisure experiences (Leask, Fyall & Barron, 2014). As not all prospective tourists are active
social media users, the conceptual framework and its implications is therefore applicable to
people who are social media users.
The tourism sector is a place with a high visibility of consumption, which make the brands
of destinations more susceptible to social media conversations and stories. Research shows
that 93% of travellers are influenced by reviews in their travel planning and 80% of people
about to make a travel purchase will ask members of their social network for a
recommendation first (Digital Tourism Think Tank, 2013). Online stories have the potential
to influence substantial numbers of future visitors who go online in search of first-person
unbiased accounts (Martin, Woodside & Dehuang, 2007). Tourism products are sold in
advance of consumption, and decision-making in purchases relies significantly on positive
stories and electric word-of-mouth (eWOM) via sites such as TripAdvisor and Facebook. If
consumers do not trust in the destination or tourism company, they are unlikely to take the

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risk of buying. The tourism sector is thus sensitive to the countless mediated tourism
experiences in social media.
To successfully brand destinations, DMOs have to mine social media data to capture and
interpret its visitors’ positive and negative images (Kladou & Mavragani, 2015); DMOs must
examine their visitors’ stories to understand how they enact the myths facilitated by the
destinations (Woodside, Cruickshank & Dehuang, 2007). Social media is a key focus area for
DMOs’ branding strategies (Hays, Page & Buhalis, 2013). The conceptual framework that
follows gives DMOs new insights into the complex social mechanisms of social media and it
provides answers as to why some stories become popular and widely shared while others
fail to gain traction. DMOs can utilise the framework to analyse the social media behaviour
of users and use the technologies of power discussed below to circulate their preferred
version of the brand effectively among social media users. It thus facilitates a practical basis
for DMOs to improve branding practices and strategies.
3. A Sociological Approach to Social Media Marketing
Even though companies are mainly interested in social media to find ways to market their
products, marketing is a moderately small and peripheral part of the social media consumer
culture and consumers pay little attention to it (Kohli, Suri & Kapoor, 2015). Social media are
primarily communication systems that allow their social actors to communicate (Peters et al.,
2013), often using relatively informal and organic narratives that exist separate to formal
spaces of marketing strategies. Social media are a new tool for speaking with friends, family
and organisations, and as such should not be regarded as separate from the offline world.
They can be viewed as more than just an evolution of technology. Rather, social media
represent a social revolution (Tiago & Verissimo, 2014), as offline and online worlds become
intertwined, facilitated by mobile technologies such as tablets and smartphones (Adams,
2012).
As social media generate spaces for socialising and connecting with friends and relatives,
thereby resembling social networks in the offline world, it is surprising how few articles within
the field of social media marketing have turned to sociology to increase understanding of
their social processes. Some exceptions include, for instance, Wang, Yu and Wei (2012) who
apply consumer socialisation theory in social media branding in order to understand how peer

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communication through social media impacts consumer decision making and thus marketing
strategies. Wang et al. (2012) identify socialisation agents (peers) within social media, who
transmit norms, values, attitudes, motivations, and behaviours to others via a social learning
process. Similarly, Labrecque (2014) applies parasocial interaction theory (PSI) in order to
design successful social media strategies. PSI is described as an illusionary experience that
makes consumers interact with media representations of presenters, celebrities or characters
as if they are present and engaged in a reciprocal relationship (ibid). While both Wang et al.
(2012) and Labrecque (2014) step into the sphere of sociology, consumer socialisation theory
and PSI are still theories that are developed for marketing purposes. One notable exception
is the conceptual framework developed by Peters et al. (2013), who draw on social network
theory and see social media as a social structure made up of a set of social actors within
communication systems that enable them to communicate along dyadic ties. On that basis, a
brand can be seen as essentially a node, or an actor, just like any other in a network with no
special authority to impose commercial messages on others (Peters et al., 2013).
The lack of sociological approaches in social media marketing is problematic as social media
are a sphere for social networking and conversations. If DMOs are to better understand the
social mechanisms of social media, there is a need to gain an understanding of how people
act, socialise and influence each other within social media using a sociological approach. The
conceptual framework developed in this article helps to facilitate this. However, it is first
necessary to consider how social media has given a voice to its users for sharing stories and
co-creating brands.
4. Democratisation and the Co-created Brand
The emergence of social media facilitates a democratisation of media production, which shifts
the locus of market power from firms to consumers as they can now produce and publish
content (Berthon et al., 2012; Kietzman et al., 2011; Tiago and Verissimo, 2014). This is
egalitarian in nature as consumers and social media managers are repositioned as equal
actors in the network (Peters et al., 2013). In contrast to the traditional integrated marketing
communications paradigm, where a high degree of control was present, social media-based
conversations are now occurring outside managers’ direct influence (Mangold & Faulds, 2009).
Once brands are out in the market, consumers now have growing power to renegotiate, alter
and fragment the brand narratives according to personal experiences and opinions (Kohli et

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al., 2015). DMOs therefore have to cope with a new reality where traditional media no longer
control the value and importance allocation within the domain of traveling (Lo, McKercher,
Lo, Cheung, Law, 2011). As Peters et al. (2013) observe, companies do not have panoptic
authority to impose advertisements anymore as this conflicts with the dialogic nature of social
media. This new situation make brands more transparent and marketing campaigns more
susceptible to parody and criticism (Fournier & Avery, 2011). Users are likely to shut out
brands that push too much and are a nuisance (Kaplan, 2012; Kietzman et al., 2011).
Consequently, marketers who used to seek people to consume their products, now seek
people to produce the value they want to leverage (Berthon et al., 2012). Co-creation entails
strategically passing off control of the brand and letting it go (Fisher & Smith, 2011) and
engage in dialogical relationships with consumers; recognising and embracing the role of
consumers in the co-construction of brand identity.
According to Labrecque, vor dem Esche, Mathwick, Novak and Hofacker (2013), there are
four sources of consumer power: two of these are individual-based power sources (demand
and information-based power); while the others are network-based power sources (network-
and crowd-based power). This paper builds on two of these four sources. Firstly, information-
based power where users can create user-generated-content, which enables empowerment
by providing an outlet for self-expression, extending individual reach and elevating the
potential for personal opinions to influence markets (Labrecque et al., 2013). Secondly,
network-based power where users can build personal reputation and influence social
networks. These two types of power play a critical role in the co-creation of brands as users
can produce individual content about brands while also modifying and commenting on brand
narratives created by marketers.
The democratisation of information production means that the construction of brands
within social media can be interpreted as a collective, active co-creational process involving
multiple brand authors who all contribute their stories (Gensler et al., 2013). Marketers and
consumers are both active agents within the production, sharing and consumption of
knowledge. Brand narratives flow through social networks, from one user to the next,
splintering into various sub-stories and versions depending on the interests and
personalities of the users. Fournier and Avery (2011) call this co-created process ‘open
source branding’ where brands are embedded in cultural conversations. Brands emerge as
products of co-constructed improvised performances where social media users choose to

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play different roles that vary from narrator to listener, director to spectator (Singh &
Sonnenburg, 2012). The co-creation of brands therefore makes the image and lifestyle of
consumers more visible and active in the construction of brand identity (Gensler et al.,
2013). Thus, brands emerge as an amalgam of multiple identities, driven by a fusion of
organisational and consumer characteristics and requirements. In this new environment, it
is especially important for DMOs to create connections and alliances with tourists as they
have an immense impact on the destination brand via their shared experiences.
5. Branding and destination management organisations
DMOs are stewards of the destination reputation by facilitating brand management in
cooperation with the whole tourism system (Morgan, Pritchard & Pride, 2011). However, the
reality for DMOs is that the destination image is derived from a host of sources, of which
tourism marketing is but one (ibid). It can therefore be difficult to develop an umbrella brand
as DMOs struggle to control the messages coming from the local community, the tourism
industry and politicians (Pike, 2004). DMOs also lack control of their product and they can
seldom be involved in pricing and quality unless they are coordinating a campaign with some
tourism sector players (Morrison, 2013). In addition, tourists are co-creating their experiences
with locals and marketers and contribute to forming the destination’s identity as they share
these personal experiences on social media. Tourists thus have a stake in the destination’s
brand as well. Due to these factors, the destination image may bear little resemblance to the
intended brand identity (Pike, 2004).
Destination branding therefore has some unique characteristics as opposed to branding
more generally, where companies market products and services which they fully control in
terms of production, distribution and marketing. However, as stewards of the brand, DMOs
have a commitment towards constructing or at least influencing brand narratives through
their social media activities. As Morgan and Pritchard (2004) advocate, the brand winners are
the destinations that are rich in emotional meaning and hold great conversational value.
Social media storytelling provides a conduit for DMOs to generate emotional responses and
enter into a dialogue with tourists.
Due to the co-creative characteristic of social media, DMOs should not try to control or
manipulate consumer response and communication. As brand managers, DMOs should

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utilise these co-creating consumers as their positive brand stories can be an invaluable asset
(Gensler et al., 2013). This is particularly the case for consumers who hold greater influence
than others. Brands must be flexible as they are identity resources used as a basis for
creating meaningful consumer interactions and experiences (Fisher and Smith, 2011). The
stories of brands developed through social media can therefore be integrated into
marketers’ communication mix where the inclusion of personal stories and lived
experiences can create an emotional connection with the consumer. Marketing can no
longer solely be about capturing attention via reach; instead, marketers must focus on both
capturing and continuing attention via engagement through dialogue (Hanna, Rohm &
Crittenden, 2011). They can provide consumers with the necessary tools and the branding
‘raw material’ by which to actively encourage them to provide brand stories (Gensler et al.,
2013). It is important that the raw material is easily incorporated into the content that users
utilise for self-promotion and personal marketing as it must add value to their communal
newsfeed (Anderson, Hamilton & Tonner, 2016). Hence, by creating resonant culturally-
driven conversations, social rituals and cultural icons, marketers can inspire consumer
conversations about the brand (Fournier & Avery, 2011). Thus, they can act as curators of
social media content and provide a space where conversations can occur and entice
consumers to participate through relevant and valuable content while shaping discussions
(Mangold & Faulds, 2009; Muñiz & Schau 2011; Kietzman et al., 2013). Marketing therefore
has become increasingly about mediating relationships between different parties and
managing multiple social network profiles influencing and directing the agency of others.
6. Spaces of Storytelling
When people connect in social media and share content with their virtual friends and
acquaintances, they are in essence all storytellers and the sharing of stories is how they
perform socialities. If a story has sufficient appeal and interest, it can spread beyond people’s
own networks in social media and potentially be shared around the globe. It can go ‘viral’.
Hence, if people have the right storytelling competencies, the potential dissemination and
reach of stories can result in them influencing millions of people. Thus, great storytelling leads
to influence and power; it can affect discourses.

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Stories have long provided people with a deeper meaning of life (Fog, Budtz and Yakaboyu,
2005). Humans are seen as “homo narrans” where telling stories are an essential part of their
nature (Fisher, 1984, p. 6). Through the exchange of stories, people negotiate and find their
role in society (Escalas, 1997). Stories are the foundation of human identity (Gubrium and
Holstein, 1998). Stories also provide humans with a mechanism for escape, becoming
immersed in the plots, characters and descriptions of the stories (McCabe & Foster, 2006).
Stories thus provide humans with values and teaches them right from wrong, while also
delivering entertainment and leisure.
As mentioned, stories affect discourse. Discourse are a group of statements that constructs
a topic while discursive formations sustain ‘regimes of truths’, which are types of discourse
regarded by society as true (Foucault, 1980). The mechanisms of social media illustrate
Foucault’s (1977) ideas about knowledge, power and fluidity: individuals, media, marketers
and other parties are circulating stories and contending to influence discourse. Due to the
establishment of regimes of truth, certain ways of interpreting the world are privileged, given
credibility and status as knowledge, while other information is discarded, subjugated and
deemed untrue (Foucault, 1980; Haugaard, 2002). DMOs should try to influence the
discourses in social media and try to impose their way of interpreting the world; their regimes
of truth.
This paper utilises two terms, stories and narratives, which as Van Laer, De Ruyter, Visconti
and Wetzels (2013) point out, need distinguishing. Stories are the storyteller’s production; a
storyteller’s account of an event or a sequence of events. A narrative, on the other hand, is a
story the consumer interprets in accordance with his or her prior knowledge, attention, and
personality (ibid). Interpretation thus constitutes an act of consumption through which a
story is converted into a narrative. However, there are no binary structures as co-creation
creates a cycle of multiple agents of production and consumption as these processes become
intertwined.
It is widely accepted among scholars that storytelling is imperative in branding a product
(Bierman, 2010; Fog et al., 2005: Herskovitz & Chrystal, 2010; Jensen, 1999; Mathew &
Wacker, 2007; Wachtman and Johnson, 2009). Stories come with many touch points to the
lives of the listeners, facilitating an emotional connection (Woodside, 2010), and
communicating brand values (Fog et al., 2005). Without a special story, there is nothing
distinctive about brands (Bierman, 2010). Consumers can use brands to enact archetypal

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myths (Woodside, Sood & Miller, 2008). Hence, they can identify with the brand persona and
become the protagonists of their story. Brands can thus differentiate themselves through
authentic stories with interesting characters rooted in the reality of the product (Gunelius,
2013). As proposed in narrative transportation theory, when consumers lose themselves in a
story, their attitudes and intentions change to reflect that story, which explains the persuasive
effect of stories on consumers (Van Laer et al., 2013). Attractive brand narratives convince
consumers to buy products.
Contemporary travel is about consuming and producing narratives; it is about narrative
identity and entitlement (Noy, 2012). Narratives of travel are not only an essential ingredient
in the construction of personal, collective and place identities, but are also important in the
process of contemplating, experiencing, remembering and disseminating travel and tourism
experiences (Tivers & Rakić, 2012). Tourists are co-creators of tourism experiences in which
narratives are co-constructed through interaction between the producers and consumers
(Chronis, 2012). Hence, narration lies at the very heart of tourism as experiences are
essentially co-constructed stories (Bendix, 2002).
Destinations are essentially storyscapes where stories can transform otherwise
indifferent spaces into attractive tourist destinations (Chronis, 2005). Stories can make the
destination visible and unique (Hsu, Dehuang & Woodside, 2009). However, rather than
identifying the destination as the protagonist in the story, destination marketers can position
the destination as an enabler for the visitor to be a protagonist, encountering and overcoming
antagonists and achieving particular archetype outcomes (Woodside & Megehee, 2009).
Every great story needs forces of antagonism that the protagonists need to confront in their
pursuit of desired objectives (Mckee, 2016). Tourists are thus the central character in a
narrative staged by DMOs, and stakeholders and marketers may utilise the story structure of
classical folktales in creating, for instance, a dream world in which tourists can become
immersed (Mossberg, 2008). Storytelling about a protagonist on a journey can therefore be
used by DMOs to market the destination as it arouses the audiences’ emotions and energy
(Woodside & Megehee, 2009). Ultimately, the success of a narrative presentation in tourism
destinations depends on the tourists’ involvement, willingness and ability to actively
participate in the storytelling experience (Chronis, 2012).
The narratives co-created and consumed at destinations are often mediated through
storytelling on social media. DMOs must also actively re-engage with their tourists online to

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utilise, repackage and spread the positive narratives experienced at the destination. The most
engaging and effective social media campaigns engage users in some form of interactive story
or game, which create a shared experience between the company and the users (Kaplan,
2012). The co-created narratives by DMOs and tourists are hence an effective way to connect
with tourists in an embodied and emotional manner while also reaching their social networks.
As many media producers are competing for attention on various social media platforms, the
appeal of their stories is vital in attracting consumers who face a plethora of media choices.
Emotional and personal storytelling is thus a powerful technology for socialising and creating
influence.
Social media are spaces of storytelling as millions of stories representing multiple identities,
realities and brands are circulating within them, influencing values and perceptions. Due to
these spaces of storytelling, brands are also changing and being renegotiated; they are not
demarcated coherent entities. They come in multiple versions and are fluid and part of
individuals’ bricolages of self-representations. Brands should therefore be seen as a result of
embodied performances of storytelling in social circles. They are employed in the
construction of social roles and identities.
7. Technologies of Power
Influence in social media is a function of reach, which is the degree of the person's
embeddedness in the social network, and persuasiveness with regard to the relevance of the
content the person creates online (Labrecque et al., 2013). In order for marketers to achieve
influence they must utilise what Foucault (1977) termed ‘technologies of power’.
Technologies of power are techniques used in the practical operation of power, which can be
used by individuals and groups in social media to exert influence on others. According to
Foucault (1980), power is everywhere; it is not a resource in the hands of a specific group or
institution. Power is not an entity; it is fluid; it circulates and flows in multiple directions
towards interesting and relevant knowledge/stories and the individuals who produce it. The
production and circulation of meaning and knowledge is what produces power (Foucault,
1977). It is ingrained in the social network (Cole & Church, 2007). Social media thus facilitate
a democratisation of media production and communication because they afford every user
the opportunity to produce power.

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Technologies of power enable individuals and their social groups to stimulate engagement
and exert influence within their social networks and beyond. They shape the social
mechanisms of social media networks and determine social interactions. With the
democratisation of content production, users can use their individual storytelling capabilities,
their mobilities and their performances and performativities as technologies of power in
gaining influence within their social networks. Individuals can express identity, construct
social roles, increase status, expand their social networks and influence discourses and
consequently brand narratives. Technologies of power therefore centre on the expressions of
self and identity of individuals or groups and their associated social practices. There are
‘agents’ and ‘targets’ within the power relationship (Cheong & Miller, 2000). The targets are
the subordinate actors in a power relationship while the agents perform their power through
the construction and exertion of knowledge and the ‘truth’. The agents are also responsible
for repression and exclusion. However, there is no binary structure of dominators and
dominated as people can possess and dispossess power in different circumstances at different
times (ibid). In order to preserve power, DMOs must keep creating and participating in great
stories, so they can remain agents. Attracting power through storytelling is thus the main
focus of social media branding. If DMOs can influence discourses, they can influence brand
narratives.
For DMOs, it is therefore not only about producing exciting stories, but also about
becoming an integral part of these politicised online social networks where individuals are
socialising, interacting, conversing and sharing stories for mostly non-commercial reasons.
They can do that by utilising the technologies of power that are available to individuals in
social media. Not only can marketers understand how people act, socialise and influence each
other but they can also become agents who penetrate and embed themselves into social
networks where they share stories and promote brand narratives. The particular sociological
concepts constituting the technologies of power – storytelling, performance, performativity,
and mobility - thus give leverage in understanding social mechanisms and should therefore
move into the centre stage of branding and marketing theory, as DMOs have to understand
and utilise the social processes of social media before they can do branding within the context
of these social relations. Based on this understanding, a conceptual framework demonstrating
the social processes of storytelling within social media is presented.

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8. The Conceptual Framework
A framework is proposed that draws upon four key sociological concepts which are discussed
sequentially here as technologies of power, for the leverage they provide in in the practical
operation of power that can be utilised by individuals and groups in social media to exert
influence on others. These key concepts are storytelling, mobilities, performances, and
performativities. The conceptual framework has two main objectives: first, for researchers, it
illustrates the politics and social mechanisms within social media and provides a tool for
conducting research into the users’ influence on social media branding. Second, the
framework provides DMOs with insights on how to strengthen their brands by considering
and utilising the technologies of power that users have at their disposal.
8.1 The centrality of storytelling
The concept of storytelling has already been introduced above due to its essential role in
social media branding. However, it is important to consider its role relative to the other
technologies. Storytelling is the most central of the four technologies of power as social media
consist of text and images through which users tell stories to communicate their actions and
ideas and to produce self-representations. As stories are the means of communication, it
underscores the notion of social media as spaces of storytelling. While storytelling is the
primary technology, the three other technologies of power - performances, performativities
and mobilities - are the secondary technologies, as they are instrumental in increasing the
attractiveness of the users’ stories (Figure 1). The effective use of these secondary
technologies can potentially make users’ stories more personal, meaningful and energetic and
thus increase their interaction with their social networks. Hence, they contribute to the act
of storytelling and create an appealing social role. DMOs must utilise all four technologies of
power in order to penetrate online social networks.

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Figure 1. Technologies of power in social media. The storytelling of a user influences other
users.
8.2 Mobilities and reach
The fluidities of knowledge, power, identities and brand narratives puts mobilities at an
important position as a secondary technology of power in the conceptual framework.
Mobilities distribute and facilitate the flow of stories. As Peters et al. (2013) point out, social
media are living organisms and are therefore in a constant mode of flux as users come, go,
and share content among their social networks. The content flows from one user to another
and is renegotiated, distorted and fragmented. It is important to view mobilities of
information as a limited resource wherein some stories are privileged while others are
subjugated, which leads to an unequal distribution of power. If the stories are not liked,
commented on or shared, they are not easily mobilised within storytellers’ social circles and
beyond. This is not an uncommon phenomenon in social media, as only 12% of Facebook
posts reach their friends (Constine, 2012), and 71% of tweets go unnoticed (Bosker, 2010).
Corporeal mobilities also play a role in the distribution of stories. Research shows that the
representation of corporeal mobilities on Facebook are framed positively; users who present
themselves as always on the move, as always active, receive admiration from their
connections and gain social status (Gössling & Stavrinidi, 2015). Hence, mobilities increase
the likelihood of mediated experiences being shared, and contribute to a greater distribution
of knowledge through networks. In the offline world, mobilities give access to travel,
education, career opportunities, exploration and new insights while in the online world it

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gives access to social networks, new connections and further knowledge. It is the mediation
of these in the fusion of the physical and virtual worlds through which higher status and even
greater influence are achieved. Mobilities therefore produce social relations as they enable
networking and socialising (Cresswell, 2010). However, socialities also produce mobilities, as
storytellers with large social networks have a greater chance of having their stories shared.
Mobilities and power therefore generate further access to socialities in social media, which
in return generate further access to mobility and thus power.
Although the resource of mobility can to some degree be purchased in social media by for
instance paying for Facebook ads, it is essential for marketers to build up their reach in social
media by focusing on the mechanisms generated by corporeal mobilities and social reach and
try to create memorable stories that accrue them more influence. However, in order to
succeed fully in these online social networks, DMOs have to also utilise the last two
technologies of power, performance and performativities, in order to generate more
personable and relevant stories for social media users.
8.3 Performance and Performativities
Performance and performativities are the last two technologies of power in the conceptual
framework, and are closely interconnected. It is for this reason that they will be addressed
under the same subheading. For DMOs, they are vital in producing personalised stories that
engage social media members. With regard to the concept of performance, a range of studies
draw on the theories of Goffman (1959), and consider social media as spaces for staging
performances and conducting impression management (Grasmuck, Martin & Zhao, 2009;
Krämer & Winter, 2008; Manago, Graham, Greenfield & Salimkhan, 2008; Zhao, Grasmuck &
Martin, 2008). Social media are therefore spaces for self-representation where people
through consistent and sustained actions and social interactions are able to assume certain
social roles and shape an image, which is in line with how they want to be perceived within
their network (Kaplan, 2012: Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010; Peters et al., 2013). Social media users
employ popular cultural icons, catch phrases, music, text, images and film clips in collages and
these assemblages of different media constitute their self-representation (Williams, 2008;
Smith, Fischer & Chen, 2012).

16
Brands are used in this context as a resource to construct and express identities: brands
are changed and customised in order to fit user’s individual identity projects (Gensler et al.,
2013; Smith et al., 2012). Furthermore, as social roles are dynamic concepts, they are
continually reshaped through the process of social interactions and communication within
socialities (Peters et al., 2013), and brand narratives may therefore be changed in line with
changing roles. Brands are thus absorbed into individuals’ self-representations, where they
are modified and personalised to construct desired social roles and then mediated through
improvised performances to audiences within the social network. This affects the way brands
are interpreted and perceived on social media. If users are delivering competent
performances in their acts of storytelling, they are, consciously or not, utilising their
performances as a technology of power. It means that engaging in enjoyable performances
of storytelling attract audiences and through the connection made with them, storytellers can
impose their values and worldview on them. Crucially, storytellers also impose their
interpretation and customisation of the brand narrative on audiences. Ultimately, brands are
reliant on how these individual performances are staged and DMOs have to interact with
these performing storytellers and affect their interpretations of the brand while finding ways
to create their own performances. Thus, brands and brand identities are co-created in an
active negotiation of organisational and consumer identities.
While performances are self-representations and construct social roles, the performative
does things: it constructs meaning and constitutes reality through individual’s social
interactions (Cohen & Cohen, 2012; Harwood & El-Manstrly, 2012). The mediated
experiences of storytellers become performative when they create subjective and alternative
versions of reality that potentially change perceptions. Adopting the ideas of Butler (1993),
online social networks can be seen as frameworks of performativity in the sense that the self
is discursively produced by the given norms and categories established by the social media
site (Cover, 2012; Van House, 2011). Values and practices of other social network members
also influence people’s performances. Storytellers are therefore not entirely independent
agents as the performative can signify the function of social structures, practices and
discourses in constituting identities and constructing performances. However, strong
performances of storytelling by individuals can construct meaning, resist dominant discourses
and change narratives in their custody.

17
Performativities may be the least demonstrable technology of power, as they are concerned
with the construction of spaces, meanings and realities and consider how social structures,
practices and discourses constitute identities. However, performativity’s role in influencing
discourses, the regimes of truth and consequently brand narratives is vital. Without
recognising the powers of performativity to influence discourse, DMOs will find it difficult to
influence brand narratives in social media. Ultimately, it is essential that marketers
acknowledge and deploy performances and performativity as technologies of power, as these
can shape social interactions, perceptions and discourses in social networks and therefore
also brand narratives.
In summary, storytelling, mobilities, performance, and performativity are crucial concepts
that further understanding of the social mechanisms of social media and their implications
for brand management. Memorable entertaining stories can break down barriers to social
networks and invite marketers in; they are the vitals vessels through which to reach audiences
and influence narratives. How, by whom and through which conduits these stories are told
are, however, equally important. Without personal passionate performances, without social
connections and without the right distribution channels, stories will fail to gain traction. Brand
narratives draw from an amalgam of storytellers’ mobilities, performances and
performativities, enabling multiple constructed realities and discourses that are dynamic and
changing in fluid social networks. As marketers, DMOs must learn how to manoeuvre in these
complex politicised social spaces utilising the technologies of power social media place at
their disposal. The conceptual framework developed here shows how the individuals’
identities and social interactions play a key role in the co-created brand.
9. The case of VisitDenmark
This paper is primarily conceptual with a focus on presenting the framework’s technologies
of power and their role in destination branding. However, a brief practical example from
VisitDenmark’s social media branding practices is provided to illustrate the usefulness of the
conceptual framework. VisitDenmark is the national DMO of Denmark and it is appointed by
the Danish Government to market the country internationally to tourists and business
travellers (VisitDenmark, 2015). According to VisitDenmark, they have a large impact on
tourism receipts to Denmark. For instance, over 800,000 people visited Denmark in 2014
due to their marketing and branding efforts (VisitDenmark, 2014a). A large share of their

18
marketing takes place via digital media where VisitDenmark are active on all the major
social media platforms. Their social media strategy recognises the active co-creative role of
consumers in marketing and branding (VisitDenmark, 2014b). Specifically, the DMO is
focused on Facebook where on a daily basis they publish posts and frequently create
campaigns in cooperation with tourism stakeholders and social media users (Go
VisitDenmark, 2017). The practical example that follows, which is based on a case study
approach with netnography as its central method, is from Facebook and illustrates how
VisitDenmark uses tourists’ social media content to create branding campaigns for
Denmark.
9.1 Case study approach
A case study examines a phenomenon within a real-life context (Guest, Namey & Mitchel,
2013). Its purpose is to develop an in-depth understanding of what is happening and why it
is happening at a specific point of time in a specific context (Garrod & Fyall, 2011). Case
studies are characterised by an intensive analysis of a specific individual unit (Flybjerg,
2011), which will provide a clearer picture of what is going on in the broader context
(Garrod & Fyall, 2011). They are especially applicable in exploratory research where a new
phenomenon is studied (Veal, 2006). The aim for this brief case study of VisitDenmark is to
explore and understand the phenomenon of how DMOs use the relatively new marketing
channel of social media to co-create the brand narrative of a destination by utilising the
storytelling and mediated experiences of social media users.
As VisitDenmark is very active on social media, one case study is deemed sufficient for
the enquiry into a new phenomenon. It provides an insightful case to learn wider lessons
about how to use social media for co-created branding campaigns. The study of
VisitDenmark is thus an instrumental case study (Garrod & Fyall, 2011).
8.2 Netnography
The central method for the case study is netnography, as the analysis of social media users’
stories calls for a qualitative approach. Netnography (Kozinets, 2010), also called a virtual
ethnography (Hine, 2000), is employed as an appropriate data collection technique to
understand their online social behaviour. Netnography is participant-observational research
based on online fieldwork (Kozinets, 2010). As with offline ethnography, it facilitates the

19
opportunity to investigate newly identified social issues or behaviours (LeCompte &
Schensul, 2010). A netnography in social media provides an opportunity to understand
peoples’ everyday social behaviour as social media increasingly become part of human
nature (Kozinets, 2015). Netnography facilitates the research of peoples’ concerns, needs,
feelings and ideas as they exchange life narratives choosing from a range of identities (ibid).
A netnography is thus appropriate for this inquiry which examines the social behaviour in
which people utilise technologies of power to share stories, perform identity and influence
perceptions and narratives as part of increasing their influence in social networks.
The netnography of this paper’s case study focuses on Facebook posts by VisitDenmark
that are co-created with social media users who provide stories and images. Specifically it
concentrates on a particular example, a post from one of VisitDenmark’s Ambassador
Albums. Social media users are asked to contribute their photos to an Ambassador Album
and write stories about their experiences which accompany each photo. A total of 25 posts
published by VisitDenmark, between July 2014 and December 2015, were sampled and their
content subjected to discourse analysis. The focus on the performative and power
dimensions in storytelling justifies the use of discourse analysis to interpret the data.
Discourse analysis is the study of language use and its role in social life and in constructing
the world (Potter, 2008). It views language as constructive and constructed (Gill, 2000;
Phillips & Hardy, 2002). In other words, texts are the product of reality while also producing
discursive-based understandings of aspects of reality (Cheek, 2008). Peoples’ storytelling
constructs identities and realities and therefore also destination brands.
8.3 VisitDenmark
VisitDenmark has a strong interest in sourcing user generated content (UGC) for their social
media activities as they recognise that people’s recommendations and shared experiences
influence consumers’ perceptions and decision-making process (VisitDenmark, 2014b). One
of the ways that they source UGC is through Instagram where users share photos with
VisitDenmark’s account. If VisitDenmark spots interesting photos, they will use them for
their Ambassador Albums on Facebook. The procedure is that they ask the Instagrammers
for permission to use the photos while encouraging them to write a story to supplement
them. According to Sylvest Jensen (personal communication, October 7, 2015), head of

20
Digital Media at VisitDenmark, the tourists nearly always agree to have their photos
published, as they feel proud to be selected.
In a conversation with Sylvest Jensen (personal communication, October 7, 2015), a
specific Ambassador Album (Figure 2) by an Instagrammer was mentioned as an example of
one of the most engaging stories they had posted on Facebook (Go VisitDenmark, 2015, 10
September). The album was successful as the author of the story had given a personal
account of his experience on the Danish island of Rømø and there were many comments
from people who reminisced about their own trip to the island (Sylvest Jensen, personal
communication, October 7, 2015). The album reached more than 45,000 people and had 90
comments and 255 shares (Figure 2). As the album was held up as an example of good
storytelling, it is worth examining for its application of technologies of power in order to
assess the usefulness of the conceptual framework.
Figure 2. Ambassador Album by Jason Hort and his trip to Rømø (Go VisitDenmark, 2015, 10
September).
It can be argued that that the success of Jason Hort’s posts in this album is owing to
VisitDenmark inadvertently utilising all four technologies of power of the conceptual
framework. First, they utilise Hort’s corporeal mobility as he has travelled in Denmark.
VisitDenmark also utilises his online mobility capital as he has 931 followers on Instagram
(Serialtourist, 2015) in addition to his social network on Facebook. Second, VisitDenmark
provides Hort with a stage to act on, where he can put on a performance and establish a

21
social role, and he utilises it. He puts on a strong storytelling performance where he writes a
long text about the trip around the island, providing a humorous tale about how he cycles
around the island meeting friendly people and engages in various interesting activities. He
utilises the island to establish himself as an adventurer, explorer and competent observer.
The destination therefore becomes part of his social role and self-representation, whilst
simultaneously, his performance and social role reflects how the destination is perceived
and has been consumed. He becomes a protagonist that users can identify with so they can
imagine their own trip to Rømø. Users begin to come to understand a destination through
his subjective interpretation of place; his personal story provides the brand with a
personality. Third, his performance is performative as he frames the island as a cycling
destination with room for everyone. Reading the comment section, the storytelling
performance of Hort has a strong influence on VisitDenmark’s followers: some are reminded
of their trip to the island and reiterate the positive story of the island, while others are
looking forward to their forthcoming trip and feel the story shows they have made the right
choice (Go VisitDenmark, 2015, 10 September). Hence, the story appeals to loyal visitors as
well as potential new visitors. VisitDenmark and Hort are two agents joining forces to create
a fleeting alliance that draws in power and serves their own interests. Hort achieves status
and recognition while VisitDenmark acquires a credible source to promote their destination.
Together they co-create the brand of Rømø. The example illustrates how DMOs can be
successful in promoting the brand narrative by engaging with consumers through the
technologies of power.
9. Implication for DMOs
The conceptual framework developed in this paper has significant implications for how
DMOs understand social media and how they approach their branding strategy. Utilising the
technologies of power provides DMOs with practical tools for reaching and influencing
consumers in social media. Five recommendations for strengthening branding practices in
social media are offered based on the conceptual framework and the role of technologies of
power:
1) DMOs have to break the barrier between the online and offline world so as to merge
virtual and physical mobilities. Users have to feel that there is a real impact when they

22
like, comment on or share a post, with an impact either on their own lives or on others’.
This can for example be through a campaign where users’ virtual actions affect the
appearance or character of a product, place or person and they can play a part in
developing the campaign further, taking ownership of its course. This creates a
personal connection between users and marketers where users feel acknowledged and
influential. These campaigns are strongly performative in the sense that
communications change things; it empowers the users and engages them.
2) DMOs have to recognise the importance of collaborative storytelling with a range of
storytellers in social networks. DMOs and users are telling stories and creating
narratives; both are giving and taking and mutually moulding the brand through
improvised and strategic performances. DMOs have to be proactive as well as reactive.
They have to sit back and let unpredictable conversations run, sometimes stepping in
to fuel the dialogue, while energising the communicative mobilities and creating reach
and influence. As curators, they must pick and choose the stories that benefit their
preferred narrative and involve the users in these evolving storylines. For example,
photos, videos and descriptions of users feed into the brand narratives and strengthen
the products’ appeal, as its personality is the consequence of amalgamated co-created
accounts.
3) DMOs have to be constantly active in daily conversations, listening and maintaining
dialogue, continually co-creating stories with the users. Power is fluid and flowing
towards influential and active storytellers. When DMOs have created an emotional and
personal connections with users, they need to maintain relations. If users feel they are
not part of the conversations, social relations will cease and influence will fade away.
Hence, DMOs must keep creating great stories to retain their power and thus their
ability to impose their regimes of truth. For smaller DMOs the continued co-creation
of stories will be a challenge, as they lack the resources to maintain a dialogue with
high volumes of social media users. The answer is to concentrate exclusively on
influential users with large social networks or to focus on the most engaging stories
that can facilitate reach and goodwill.
4) DMOs have to think of social media users as potential allies with whom they have a
common agenda. The users can be motivated to engage if they feel that they can gain
something, such as status, appreciation or support. For instance, Instagram users who

23
share various images of their experiences with a certain product or place can be
swayed to contribute to a campaign if they are given the opportunity to promote
themselves, stage spaces of self-representation, mobilising and expanding their
network and influence. DMOs also benefit as they acquire a credible source to promote
their products and utilise the user’s social networks and influence. The user and DMO
are storytelling agents joining forces to create a brief alliance that draws in power.
However, there will be times when users are antagonists who spread negative
narratives as part of an opposing agenda. Most of these narratives can be ignored. They
quickly fade away in the fluidities of social media spaces if they are not replenished by
new contributions. Only if negative narratives are continually flourishing due to
persistent inputs or powerful users, should DMOs try to enter in dialogue with the
users and demonstrate interest in order to pause or halt their storytelling activities.
5) DMOs have to think as individual storytellers and consider how they would perform
their social role and mediate their experiences in a social network. Marketing and
branding has become individualised as well as collective. DMOs need to consider how
they stage strategic sustained performances through mediated emotional and
personal experiences, enabling them to assume a certain social role with which users
can identify. The creation of personal emotional bonds enable trust and commitment,
generating ambassadors and allies advocating the brand narratives. For instance, an
on-going sequential story acted out by an individual personifying the brand narrative
can create spaces of rapport and engagement.
The underlying lesson from these recommendations is that DMOs should consider the four
technologies of power each time they plan a campaign, publish a post or engage in
conversations. DMOs must ask themselves if the stories they share have an exciting
protagonist with whom users can identify, who stage enjoyable active performances as part
of their social roles. These stories have to do and change something, creating performative
spaces physically and virtually, which generate virtual and communicative mobilities and thus
reach - the fundamental antecedent for power.
10. Contribution, Limitations and Future Research
This paper provides a number of key contributions to existing research. First, it argued that
particular concepts from the sphere of sociology must to be moved to the centre stage of

24
branding strategies, as DMOs need to understand the social mechanisms of social media in
order to successfully brand their products. Second, social media are characterised as spaces
of storytelling where power is ingrained in the social network flowing towards the active
storytellers. DMOs are therefore given a new understanding of the essence of social media,
which can enable them to modify their strategies. Third, a conceptual framework was
proposed drawing on four sociological technologies of power: storytelling, mobilities,
performances and performativities, jointly illustrating the politics and social processes within
social media. The framework can be termed an ‘identifying’ conceptualisation (MacInnis,
2011), as it provides a new approach to interpreting online social networks and social media
branding, and it proposes a theory on how DMOs can adapt their branding practices to this
new social environment. The framework offers a theoretical basis to conduct future empirical
research into how individuals’ identities and social interactions play a key role in the co-
created brand. Fourth, the introduction of technologies of power in social media, where
politics and social mechanisms decide the success of stories, provides DMOs with a novel
perspective on why some stories are energised and spread through social networks while
others fail to gain traction. Fifth, the conceptual framework offers a basis for innovative social
media practices, as it presents a way for DMOs to navigate within socialities and utilise the
instruments they have at their disposal to energise and mobilise stories and thus promote
their agenda. Finally, based on the framework, five distinct practical recommendations for
branding practices in social media were presented.
This paper is conceptually weighted, presenting only a brief empirical case study to
substantiate its conceptual framework. The present work therefore sets a basis for future
dedicated empirical work. It has several limitations that also provide directions for future
research. First, as most commercial sectors are becoming more reliant on social media for
branding and marketing, future research should investigate the application of the conceptual
framework in the context of other sectors to examine the potential differences due to
particular business environments. Second, this paper does not consider other variables such
as the changing algorithms of social media platforms. For instance, algorithms at Facebook
have changed over the last few years, privileging paid reach while disadvantaging earned
reach. Further research should explore the continued potential of applying the technologies
of power to activate earned reach in the context of these changing algorithms. Third, this
paper only focuses on ‘normal users’, and does not consider other storytelling agents within

25
social media such as industry stakeholders, professional bloggers or media organisations.
These storytelling agents would generally be more powerful than ‘normal users’ due to their
number of followers, their access to paid media and their ample resources in terms of seeding
content and maintaining dialogue. Their activities could affect perceptions of the veracity of
some narratives and therefore the effectiveness of aspects of the recommendations.
However, the primary rationale behind the conceptual framework and its technologies of
power is to generate appealing stories and organic reach in collaboration with ‘normal users’,
and thus utilise a largely untapped potential in social media branding. Future research could
incorporate these other agents into the conceptual framework to explore the opportunities
they bring with regard to utilising the technologies of power.
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