Autopoiesis in Disneyland: reassuring consumers via autopoietic brand management.

Keane, John F., Taylor, W. Andrew, Trueman, Myfanwy and Wright, Gillian H. (1999) Autopoiesis in Disneyland: reassuring consumers via autopoietic brand management. International journal of advertising, 18 (4). pp. 519-536. ISSN 0265-0487

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Abstract

This paper introduces a new concept of brand management: autopoietic brand management. Autopoiesis is a biological definition of life that stresses the radical autonomy of living systems. Organisational science has developed the concept, emphasising the capacity of autopoietic organisations to adapt spontaneously to external pressures. These facts support the following arguments. First, that the Disney brand is managed as an autopoietic system. The brand has its own operating code, self-defined boundaries, self-replicating ability and pace of operation. This conveys a sense of reassurance to Disney's customers. Further arguments about the brand's role in corporate socialisation and adaptation are developed. These claims focus on the brand's ability to represent the corporation's activity to itself via the self-referencing features of autopoiesis.