Abstract
We recently witnessed the rapid emergence of two research streams which came to the forefront as major themes of debates amongst scholars in marketing: CCT (Consumer Culture Theory) and SDL (Service Dominant Logic). Interestingly, these streams are - especially CCT - proposed as brands by their promoters. Thirty years ago, the IMP group did not use the same branding approach at its beginning. In this paper, we develop a comparative history of the three research streams (CCT, SDL and IMP) and we apply the same branding framework to what happened. An attempt to explain for a rise in branding is suggested based on the changing context of research activities over the last 30 years. The consequence of this analysis is a reassessment of IMP strategy and governance.