Brody Bond

“6 Ways to Build a Brand Like a Community” | Wordswell Communiqué

Posted on 01. Jun, 2009 by brody in blog, brand development, communique, ideas, must read, thought provoking

Do you read The Art of Non-Conformity Blog by Chris Guillebeau? It’s great. More importantly, he’s great.

Chris wrote a post today called “What Makes a Community?” and it echoed thoughts of my own. Recommended reading.

One thing I took away from his article is that the necessary conditions for building community are also true for building brands. As you are building your brand, Chris’s ideas about community might serve as inspiration. They did for me. Here’s the summary recap of Chris’s thoughts (my comments in italics):

A community needs a leader. That’s you, business owner, CEO, pastor, president. There is no brand if you don’t act. Need help aligning your vision and your action?

A community needs friends AND enemies. There is no inclusion without exclusion. You want fans (short for “fanatics”), not a lot of people who just think you’re ok. Do your ads annoy people? Good. They’re listening. If you are afraid of having enemies, you can’t have a brand. Do you think Starbucks is Starbucks because everyone likes them? No. Their brand has attracted friends of Starbucks – and enemies.

A strong community needs long-term commitment. That’s why you build a brand – to get commitment. It starts with your commitment to your audience and that commitment never stops. You must earn their commitment to you along the way. As you keep delivering on the promise that is your brand, as you keep adding value to the lives of your audience, you will have your own community – that you lead – that has long-term commitment.

A community needs its own language. YES YES YES! This point cannot be understated. My best friends and I communicate in a way that no one else understands. The world’s people-groups are organized by language. Certainly, you need to be clear about who you are and what you do in this world. BUT, if you develop a language that you use with your clients exclusively, and they use with you exclusively, you have built a community. The person that orders an iced-quad-venti-whole-milk-caramel-macchiato isn’t crazy. They’ve experienced love, commitment, and a language from a brand – and they are making that brand very rich in the meantime.

A community needs to actively (and carefully) solicit other members. Don’t grow too fast. Not everyone is a good client. Your brand’s integrity is worth more than your bottom line this year.

A community built on hope is stronger than one built on fear. Sales and discounts don’t build brands. Do you want people to BUY FROM YOU RIGHT NOW!!! or know that you’ll be there tomorrow and the day after that, ready to take care of them when they need what you have to offer? Your brand is strong when people think of you when they have a need that you fulfill.

Maybe it’s not that “the principles of building community are the same principles of building a brand.”

Maybe it is that brand-building and community-building are the same thing.

What do you think?

Tags: brand, brand building, brand development, community, fear, hope, language, leadership, Starbucks