Open Collaboration as Marketing Transformation Strategy in Online Markets: The Case of the Fashion Sector

Abstract

An increasing number of companies engage with global markets due to technological advances, digitalisation and the homogenisation of consumers’ tastes. Taking into account the consumers’ opinion becomes more important in the current global output. On the other hand, the use of social media promotes the interaction between companies and users, and they are considered to be key elements in generating socialisation and, in addition, they contribute to generating images, communicating and improving participation. This interaction represents the moment in which value is generated in the commercial offer. In this context, the co-creation as marketing strategy is considered a very useful tool to approach the consumers and, thus, facilitate the global result, becoming social media as an important resource for management. The aim of this paper is to show the relevance of the global marketing strategy in fashion and accessories’ retail sector, as well as to study the role that companies grant to co-creation such as strategy which allows approaching consumer in those international markets. For this purpose, we will focus on Spanish firms in the fashion and accessories industry. In sum, this qualitative study, analysed using Atlas.ti® software, leads to a new paradigm which represents the transition of a brand model based on proposing solutions, proposals, and collective responses, to a business model that increasingly develops proposals, solutions and individual responses.