In 1967, Roland Barthes declared the death of the author. In 2024, we're witnessing their social demise.
For marketeers, this poses an unprecedented challenge. Traditional IP partnerships relied on a simple equation: beloved property plus positive sentiment equals safe bet. But in an era where Harry Potter tattoo removal rates outstrip gender-affirming surgery regret, it's clear we need a new framework for understanding cultural value.
The Decoupling Dilemma
The fracturing relationship between creator and creation isn't new – Wagner's antisemitism hasn't stopped opera houses from staging the Ring Cycle. What's changed is the velocity and visibility of this separation. Social media has eliminated the comfortable distance between art and artist, forcing fans and brands alike to confront uncomfortable realities in real-time.
This presents a fascinating paradox: some properties become more valuable precisely because communities have wrested them from their creators' grasp. Transformative fandom, as scholar Henry Jenkins notes, doesn't just consume content – it reimagines it. The HP Alliance repurposed Rowling's narratives for progressive activism long before her controversial statements, demonstrating how communities can extract and amplify specific cultural values while rejecting others.
The Value Proposition Paradox
Marketing executives traditionally viewed established IP as a safe harbour in cultural storms. The logic was compelling: decades of popularity surely indicated stability. Yet this approach fundamentally misunderstands how cultural meaning operates in networked societies.
Sarah Banet-Weiser's research on brand cultures reveals how meaning isn't fixed but constantly negotiated between creators, communities, and corporate interests. The "safety" of established IP often masks significant cultural contingency – the potential for rapid shifts in social meaning and value.
Beyond Sentiment: New Metrics for Cultural Assessment
Traditional brand metrics fall short in capturing these dynamics. Simple sentiment analysis can't capture the complexity of how communities relate to cultural properties. Instead, marketeers need to understand:
1. Cultural Velocity: How quickly can associations shift? Properties with active fandoms often have higher velocity, presenting both opportunities and risks.
2. Community Autonomy: To what extent has the property transcended its creator? Strong transformative communities often indicate resilience to creator controversies.
3. Value Alignment Flexibility: Can the property's core themes be authentically reinterpreted for contemporary values?
A New Framework for IP Partnership Assessment
Rather than seeking "safe" properties, marketeers should evaluate potential partnerships through the lens of cultural adaptability:
1. Community Mapping
Identify key community segments
Assess their relationship with both property and creator
Understand existing transformative practices
2. Cultural Contingency Analysis
Map potential controversy vectors
Evaluate community resilience
Assess brand insulation potential
3. Partnership Structure
Build flexibility into agreements
Include community consultation mechanisms
Plan for cultural shift scenarios
The Future of IP Partnerships
The most valuable IP partnerships of the future may not be with "timeless classics" but with properties demonstrating cultural adaptability and community co-ownership. Nancy Baym's work on fan communities suggests that the strongest properties are those where meaning-making is distributed rather than centralised.
For marketeers, this means moving beyond simple association to active participation in cultural dialogue. Success requires understanding that you're not just partnering with a property – you're entering a complex ecosystem of meaning-making.
Practical Implications
Prioritise Properties with Strong Transformative Communities
Active fan creation indicates resilience
Community ownership provides insulation from creator controversies
Build Flexibility into Partnerships
Include provisions for cultural shift response
Plan for community consultation
3. Invest in Cultural Intelligence
Develop capabilities in digital anthropology
Monitor cultural velocity metrics
Conclusion
The social death of the author isn't a crisis – it's an opportunity to reimagine how brands engage with cultural properties. Success in this new landscape requires moving beyond traditional metrics to understand the complex dynamics of contemporary cultural value.
The most successful IP partnerships will be those that recognise a fundamental truth: in an age of social change, cultural value doesn't flow from creator to community, but emerges through complex networks of meaning-making. The question isn't whether to adapt to this reality, but how quickly we can develop the tools and frameworks to navigate it effectively.
