ABSTRACT

This chapter looks at the brand narratives surrounding one of the oldest port wines in Portugal – Kopke – and a more recent brand of port – Vasques de Carvalho – so to understand the relationship between cultural heritage and brand narratives across platforms. Narrative production, transmitted through multiple media platforms, is a practice that has growing relevance to today's brand strategies and consumer perceptions. Narratives combine relevant moments of the past, the present and the future of the brand, the product and the history. The phenomenon of narrative production by cultural intermediaries ties consumers to a moment of sharing individual and collective memories, transforming this complex dialogue into an intangible dimension formed by cultural spaces. Looking across Kopke and Vasques de Carvalho, then, there are indeed common structural elements to the brand narratives of both port wines, even though they are separated by age.