The importance of brand communities and participatory culture

 One of my last posts looked at anti-branding and the communities that form on the Internet because of them.  This got me thinking about the community aspect of regular brands, and how this could be used to push the reach of a brand further.  Many brands produce products that could sell as is, but are further heightened to a kind of cult fashion or communal status.  This is based on an identity that the collective consumers take on and can see in each other.  I don't know exactly how this will fit in with my own work in a practical sense but for research, finding why brands have such followings as they do is valuable.

"Brand community" is the term social scientists use to describe like-minded consumers who identify with a particular brand and share significant traits.."(Kalman, 2009)  The community aspect of a brand is very often the key to it's popularity and ongoing business success.

Often a brand's heritage is key to maintaining and driving a community.  Doc Martens, for example, is a brand which centres around it's footwear line, whose inherent punk roots very often speak for the interests of the person wearing them.  The shoes were known as utility wear favoured by postmen and policemen, until Pete Townsend of The Who began to wear them in 1966 and they became associated with the music scene.  In the 1980s the brand became associated with racial violence when they became popular with skinheads who made up a chunk of their market.  The 1990s saw this shift to the grunge subculture, with Kurt Cobain becoming an accidental poster boy when his body was identified by a crime scene investigator by the name he wrote on the soles of his Doc Marten shoes.

So as we can tell, fashion is a key area in which brand communities form, as the recognition is instant based on what a person is wearing.  Brand communities very often form around brands that tie in with a particular sport.  Notable examples which have come up in books I have read recently are Burton, for snowboarding, Maui and Sons, for surfing, and Harley Davidson, for motorbiking.    All have a fan base who can identify each others' interests from what they are wearing or riding.  Boarders who wear Burton will gauge that their fellow brand-mates have the same tastes in quality gear that they do, and identify on some level the same values that Burton hold about the snowboard lifestyle.  To quote Kalman (2009) "..the Harley-Davidson brand stands for freedom, individuality, and rebelliousness.  So it's no surprise that these qualities are reflected in the typical leather-jacketed Harley-Davidson motorcycle rider."  On Maui and Sons' instagram account, phrases such as "part of the family" are thrown around, and the admin staff of the account reply directly to enquiries made by it's followers.  The identity that ties in with the surfing culture is clear, and as a result the brand is integrated with the surfing community particularly in North America.  As Kalman writes, '…consumers in an identifiable brand community represent a cohesive group that reflect's the brand's values."

Fig Maui and Sons Screenshot from my computer

The Maui and sons Instagram account shows posts from surfers.  The vibe of the imagery is telling in the brand's laid-back attitude and love of the sea, which also goes for those who wear it. 






An extension of this "embodiment" attitude is also referenced by Kalman (2009) who writes "What the research does not reveal so well is the degree to which consumers may aspire to (or adopt) a brand's ideals even if they don't embody them initially…a button-down businessman may live vicariously through the Harley-Davidson brand.  This is important to note because current and prospective brand community members embrace the brand identity in graduations from the noncommittal to the true brand enthusiast." 

                           

The above campaign by Esprit was featured in the Graphic Agitation book I wrote about last week. The series of advertisements shows different women who can all identify as being an "Esprit girl" - a down-to earth woman with ethical values who wants to drive social change in the world.  The photos are not pretentious, the typeface is not refined; Esprit was at this time a brand rooted in every day wear rather than high fashion.  This made me consider another snippet from Kalman (2009): "Brand communities have proven to be a powerful force. which leaves brand marketers with an imperative to cultivate relationships with members and to channel the consumers' passions in directions that are helpful to the brand."  By choosing messages that inspire optimism for society, Esprit marked itself as more than a clothing brand - it was a brand with a conscience.

 Today, the company's approach still centres around their model of having "faces" of the brand, perhaps in a way that looks more high-fashion and glamourous but still considers women of all ages who have forged their own path.  The women all work creative jobs but have enough range in background and character to inspire and identify with many different kinds of women.   Esprit invite their customers/fans to write "Thank you" stories to important people in their lives, thus contributing to the brand's presence and campaigns.  Maui and Sons did a similar stint in 2013, inviting their customers and fans to re-design the iconic Maui and Sons Cookie with rewards such as cash prizes, an interview with the art director and of course their work being displayed on the post-submission gallery.  This is just one example of many who have used customer engagement to great effect.  "To unlock the full potential of brand communities, marketers much consider ways to add value to the consumer experience, earning the consumer's attention outside the context of the purchase or use of the brand." (Kalman, 2009)

Fig. 6 - Screen shot from Esprit website - call to say "Thank you"

Fig. 7  - Screen shot from Esprit website - the brand's "Muses"

Many brands are picking up on this fan input system as a way of extending their reach and the community of the brand.  "As visible consumers of a brand, brand community members can become its best promoters: Brand community members propel the brand message (and their enthusiasm for it) into the market and also act as the conduit for feedback from the market….brand communities can become the source of valuable customer research." (Kalman, 2009) The women shown above were all chosen because they bought Esprit and had already associated with the brand community.

In a report from MIT press, Jenkins, Clinton et al (2009) define participatory culture as "a culture with relatively low barriers to artistic expression and civic engagement, strong support for creating and sharing creations, and some type of informal mentorship whereby experienced participants pass along knowledge to novices.  In participatory culture, members also believe their contributions matter and feel some degree of social connection with one another (at the least, members care about others' opinions of what they have created)."  A prime example of this is the system at Adobe, where there is a high online community of tutorials, forums and a gallery of work, all of which is open to anyone with an Adobe account.  "Adobe knows that engaged customers are a company's best assets.  You can't compete successfully in the marketplace only by creating a better product or holding down costs.  Quality products and competitive pricing are required just to stay in business, but customer engagement provides a long term competitive advantage.  Without engagement, you can't expect to build a successful company or organisation." (Wolfe, 2012).  An Adobe customer expects high quality customer service and receives so, through Adobe itself and other members of the community who help to make it grow.  

Another recent example of a participatory culture in a brand is that of Lidl, who invited their customers to curate their current campaign through Facebook post in, tweeting and instagramming their meals made from Lidl's produce.  A German supermarket chain is an unlikely place to see any sort of brand community but the campaign, a clever wordplay of #LidlSurprises, has proved a success.  Through using social media and putting their customers in the role of the advertising designer, Lidl have found a new avenue to show off that they do in fact produce quality food - something of a surprise to many, who assumed that Lidl prices were low to match the quality.  It links in nicely with this quote taken from Confronting The Challenges of Participatory Culture: "Participatory culture is emerging as the culture absorbs and responds to the exploration of new media technologies that make it possible for average consumers to archive, annotate, appropriate and recirculate media in powerful new ways." (Jenkins, Clinton et al, 2009)  Following on from this, the examples set by Lidl, Adobe and others say to their brand communities that anyone can contribute.  Jenkins, Clinton et al (2009) write: "Not every member must contribute, but all must believe they are free to contribute and that what they contribute will be appropriately valued." 

I could go on with many more examples of brand communities, but I hope I have examined enough to be able to take away some key things about what makes and sustains a brand community.  I'm not aiming to create a brand community or culture myself, but the knowledge of what attracts people to identify with a brand could help inform what kind of brand content would be successful in persuasion.  

References

Jenkins, Clinton et al, 2009. Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education in the 21st Century.  Cambrige: MIT Press.

Kalman, David M. 2009.  Brand Communities, Marketing and Media [online publication]
http://www.terrella.com/bcmarketingwp2.pdf

Larsen, K and Zubernis, L, 2012. Fan Culture Theory/Practise [Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars]

Wolfe, Rob, 2012.  B2B Marketing. 5 Tales of Customer Engagement: Brands Connecting With Buyers. [online article] Available at: http://www.b2bmarketing.net/blog/posts/2012/04/13/5-tales-customer-engagement-brands-connecting-buyers

[Accessed 10 November]

Images

Fig.1 Maui and Sons Homepage [online website] Available at: mauiandsons.com

[Accessed 10 November]

Fig. 2 Maui and Sons Instagram Account.  It's almost the weekend! #mauiandsons #weekend #beach
[online image] Available at:  http://instagram.com/p/uRXKJeDQbm/?modal=true

Fig.1 Maui and Sons Homepage [online website] Available at: mauiandsons.com

[Accessed 10 November]

Fig. 3. Maui and Sons Instagram Account.  Blue boy! Favourite chew toy! #since1980 #frisbee

Fig. 4. Unknown, c1992.  Ecollection by Esprit.  Advertising print.

Fig. 5. Unknown, c1992.  Ecollection by Esprit.  Advertising print.

Fig. 6 Screen shot from Esprit website, 2014.  [online website] Available at:

http://www.esprit.com/stories?lang=en&wt_mc=dd-stories.gb.comefrom.esprit.co.uk

Fig. 7. Screen shot from Esprit website, 2014.  [online website] Available at:

http://www.esprit.com/stories?lang=en&wt_mc=dd-stories.gb.comefrom.esprit.co.uk