How do contemporary promotional cultures build a relationship with consumers through brands and to what extent are consumers active in this relationship? Illustrate your answer with examples. This article provides a framework for the relationship between brands and consumers; It will attempt to discover what this relationship looks like from an annalist perspective, as well as addressing brand management this will be applied in relation to suitable examples such as the American clothing brand Abricombie & Fitch (A&F) . Additionally, it will analyze the concept of “active consumers”, while attempting to understand to what extent consumers are active in this relationship. “Brands are product names to which meaning is attached through naming, packaging, advertising and marketing. » (Marita Sturken, 2004) Branding has its origins at the end of the 19th century, companies had understood the advantage of associating and marketing their product with “meanings that distinguished the qualities of a company and its products other similar products. Although "the origins of branding in the rise of the consumer society can show us how products were transformed into brands, the extent of branding culture and the complexity of consumers' relationships with brands today have radically changed since that time” (Sturken. M). Relationships between consumers and brands have been studied extensively in the past by various researchers, many of whom suggest that this relationship is an equal and mutual one, suggesting that the consumer gains significant input in order to create a lasting relationship. Giep Franzen describes the relationship between the customer and the brand as being a mutual relationship [...] including interaction...... middle of paper ......(Google eBook) [Accessed March 21, 2014]YouTube . 2014. BBC Three - The Secrets of Superbrands (Fashion). [online] Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fd7lfcnlb9c [Accessed March 21, 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].