Are brands actually the output of a dialectical process between the consumer and companies?

Developments in communication technologies are challenging classic marketing and communication paradigms, leading to the view that brands are no longer built top-down by marketing managers, but developed in collaboration with consumers. The importance of consumers in the process of brand value creation is largely accepted by practitioners, but to date little attempt has been made to confirm whether those responsible for brand building are truly open to a brand co-creation process. Recent research conducted by Lahoz (2017) revealed that brand managers and company CEOs are reluctant to lose control over their brands and, although they acknowledge the (new) active role of the (new) empowered consumer, they do not see consumers as co-responsible for defining their brands but as participators in peripheral areas of brand building.