How do contemporary promotional cultures build a relationship with consumers through brands and how active are consumers in this relationship? Illustrate your answer with examples. This document provides a framework for the relationship that forms between brands and consumers; We will attempt to find out what this relationship looks like from an annalistic point of view, we will also touch on brand management, this will be applied in relation to appropriate examples such as the US clothing brand Abricombie & Fitch (A&F). Furthermore, the concept of "active consumer" will be analyzed, trying to understand how active consumers are in this relationship. “Brands are product names that are given meaning through naming, packaging, advertising and marketing.” (Marita Sturken), 2004) Branding originated in the late 19th century, companies had realized the benefit of associating and marketing their product with “meanings that distinguished the qualities of a company and its products from other similar products” . Although “the origins of branding in the rise of consumer society can show us how products were transformed into brands, the scope of brand culture and the complexity of consumers' relationships with brands today have changed dramatically since then” (Sturken. M). The relationship between consumers and brands has been studied extensively in the past by several researchers, many of whom suggest that this relationship is one of equal and mutual input, suggesting that the consumer acquires ample input to create a lasting relationship. Giep Franzen describes the relationship between the customer and the brand as a reciprocal relationship [..] that includes an interaction...... middle of paper ......(Google eBook) [accessed March 21, 2014 ]YouTube. 2014. BBC Three - Secrets of superbrands (fashion). [online] Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fd7lfcnlb9c [Accessed: 21 March 2014].Google Books. 2012. Tony Hines, Margaret Bruce Fashion Marketing: Contemporary Issues. [online] Available at: http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=uYlYhLQC9goC&pg=PR2&dq=tony+hines+and+margaret+bruce+fashion+marketing&hl=en&sa=X&ei=cOMxU9OdOOGm0QWUpICoCA&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAA# v= onepage&q=tony%20hines%20and%20margaret%20bruce%20fashion%20marketing&f=false [Accessed March 21, 2014].Google Books. 2014. Brand Culture. [online] Available at: http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=3r5_AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA111&dq=Consumers+becoming+active+in+a+brand&hl=en&sa=X&ei=hlkyU9udEe-M0wX3zYGwCg&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAA# v= onepage&q=Consumers%20becoming%20active%20in%20a%20brand&f=false [Accessed: March 21 2014].