Brand Communities Report - Extract

8/6/2019 Brand Communities Report - Extract

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SPECIAL REPORTS

BRAND COMMU NITIES2010


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01 /INTRO

02 /laNdscape

03 /ecOlOGY

04 /RewaRd

05 /lIfe cYcle

06 /case sTudIes

07 /

RIse

08 /INTl

09 /Real TIme

10 /ReachING OuT

11 /ecONOmY

12 /GamING

br n o niti / / .2

13 /dOs & dONTs

14 /NeXT sTeps

15 /RefeReNces

chapTeRs

16 /cRedITs

01 / g 03 - 04INTROducTION /

02 / g 05 - 09The laNdscape / seTTING The sceNe /

03 / g 10 - 13The ecOlOGY / sTRucTuRes aNd TYpes /

04 / g 14 - 18whaTs IN IT fOR me? /

05 / g 19 - 21lIfe cYcle / shORT aNd lONG TeRmcOmmuNITIes /

06 / g 22 - 37case sTudIes /

07 / g 38 - 40eXpeRT OpINION / The RIse Of cOmmuNITY /by Jo J /

08 / g 41 - 43BuIldING INTeRNaTIONalBRaNd cOmmuNITIes /by N t n m don , w ar so i /

09 / g 44 - 46The Real TIme effecT /

10 / g 47 - 51ReachING OuT /

11 / g 52 - 56The ecONOmY Of cOmmuNITIes /

12 / g 57 - 60mulTIplaYeR cOmpaTIBle /

cOmmuNITIes aNd GamING /Q&a it Gr Boy , Xbox

13 / g 61 - 64dOs aNd dONTs /

14 / g 65 - 67NeXT sTeps / fIve ThINGs YOu shOuldBe ThINkING aBOuT NOw /

15 / g 69 - 71RefeReNces /

16 / g 72cRedITs /

BRaNd cOmmuNITIesINdeX /


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02 /laNdscape

03 /ecOlOGY

04 /RewaRd

05 /lIfe cYcle

06 /case sTudIes

07 /

RIse

08 /INTl

09 /Real TIme

10 /ReachING OuT

11 /ecONOmY

12 /GamING

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13 /dOs & dONTs

14 /NeXT sTeps

15 /RefeReNces

chapTeRs

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01 / g 03 - 04INTROducTION /

01 /INTRO

br n o niti / intro tion /

Brands are a network of the unacquainted, claims Grant McCracken,MIT anthropologist and author of the book Chie Cultural O fcer . Oneof the great changes wrought on marketing by digital technology

is the ability to create connections not just between brand andconsumer, but between the consumers themselves: McCrackensfriends who havent met each other yet, huddled under a friendlybranded umbrella. Both online and off, on social networks andelsewhere, marketers all over the world are attempting to engagewith existing communities, or encourage the development of newones.

The concept o community in branding is not a new one. Much oHarley-Davidson and Apple s success can be attributed to the enthu-siasm o their respective communities, and members willingness torecruit newbies to urther swell the ranks. However, the internet now

a ords us the opportunity to pledge allegiance to the brands we love,and bitch about the brands we hate, in equal measure. This vocali-sation makes it easier or any brand to locate, identi y and bring thelovers together. People cluster around the most unlikely o products.Handwashes. Yeast spreads. Face creams. Hannah Montana. Much othis enthusiasm is organic, as consumers use the simple inter aces osocial networks like Facebook to create pages to promote their ownpassions. Famously, Coca-Cola worked with the creators o a popular

an page on Facebook to trans orm it into an o cial destination.

The undisputed reigning champion o online community, Facebooksepic expansion has seen several brand- riendly changes to the network

in recent months, not least the addition o a Like button which canbe applied through the web or users to indicate their tastes and pas-sions. Levis was one o the rst brands to embrace this innovation,adding the button to their ecommerce page so that customers can likevarious items o clothing. The companys most recent announcementpertained to the development o a location-based service with gamingelements to rival plat orms like Foursquare , in which users check-in to various locations using their mobile phones. McDonalds is a

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02 /laNdscape

03 /ecOlOGY

04 /RewaRd

05 /lIfe cYcle

06 /case sTudIes

07 /

RIse

08 /INTl

09 /Real TIme

10 /ReachING OuT

11 /ecONOmY

12 /GamING

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13 /dOs & dONTs

14 /NeXT sTeps

15 /RefeReNces

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01 /INTRO

br n o niti / intro tion /

ounding advertiser partner, promoting burgers ando ers whenever somebody checks in rom the goldenarches. In February 2010, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the service had passed the 400muser mark, supporting Nielsen s 2009 nding thatsocial networking had surpassed even email in popu-larity (67% o web users spend regular time on SNS

and only 65% on email).With those kinds o numbers, it is unsurprising that

many brands have chosen to concentrate the major-ity o their community e orts on Facebook Lurpak butters recent series o coordinated cook-o s, orexample, helping to rein orce the brands commitmentto getting Britain cooking again (because triumphnever came out o a microwave). However, joining a

an page is a one-click process the lowest possi-ble barrier to entry. Being a an o something, andbeing active in your enthusiasm or it both online

and elsewhere are two di erent matters. As somebrand managers struggle to calculate the worth oa Facebook an, others have ocused on more nichenetworks with smaller member numbers on the basisthat a ew avid ans are a more lucrative prospect thanan indi erent horde.

Clothing brand American Apparel has maintainedits status as the go-to or hipsters everywhere bytargeting ashion, design and music communities.Recently, the brand partnered with invitation-only

ashion community Lookbook to produce a piece o

in-store promotion, a book containing 132 picturessubmitted by the Lookbook community o themselveswearing at least one item rom the American Apparelcollection. A representative o the brand said o theexercise, What we liked about it is that its 77 peo-ple who each have their own sense o style showinghow they like to wear American Apparel. Our photog-raphers and designers see the garments in one way

and sometimes the customers and ans see it a totallydi erent wayThats a big reason why were givingit away at the stores and we hope people take it andget inspired or interested in pieces they wouldnt haveconsidered be ore. By partnering with Lookbook,American Apparel were gi ted with a resh take ontheir own brand.

Up at the high stakes table are the brands eschew-ing pre-existing social networks and striking out ontheir own, launching independent communities out-side o the social networking behemoths in order toentice loyalists to connect with themselves and eachother. BMW in China have an active community gath-ered or brand and product in ormation on their own

orums, and brands rom Doritos Argentina to Pepsi in the US have created their own digital hubs throughwhich to attract a crowd to a variety o causes.

So an active, healthy presence on a variety osocial networks, or your very own specialised hub?Organised o fine activity, or a global network o ansbrought together through the power o a Like but-ton? The path to community engagement is strewnwith tough decisions, and as many epic ailures asthere are success stories. However, it is a marketerwith a heart o stone that could resist the delicioushubbub created by a thousand passionate brandadvocates all talking at once. Through innovativecourting and care ul cultivation, the community looksset to become the cornerstone o any modern brand.

a ri n a r / loo boo /


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01 /INTRO

03 /ecOlOGY

04 /RewaRd

05 /lIfe cYcle

06 /case sTudIes

07 /

RIse

08 /INTl

09 /Real TIme

10 /ReachING OuT

11 /ecONOmY

12 /GamING

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13 /dOs & dONTs

14 /NeXT sTeps

15 /RefeReNces

chapTeRs

16 /cRedITs

02 /laNdscape

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WHAT IS A BRAND COMMUNITY? /

The classic defnition o brand communities emanates rom two marketingpro essors. Albert Muniz Jr, now assistant pro essor o Marketing at

DePaul University in Chicago, and Thomas OGuinn, currently pro essoro marketing at Wisconsin School o Business, described them inthe Journal of Consumer Research in 2001 as a specialized, non-geographically bound community, based on a structured set o socialrelations among admirers o a brand.

For Contagious , there are essentially our key criteria that defne brandcommunities as separate rom other social media activity:

1 / Members o brand communities unite around a brand or product.They dont just talk about the product and its uses (as is clearly thecase with Harley-Davidson); o ten the ocus is tangential but related toproduct position. A good example is American Expresss Open Forum, a

community or business owners designed to provide advice and supportto help them grow their companies.

2 / Such venues can be brand-owned or initiated or an-owned/initiated.Ford in the US owns just hal the Facebook nameplate pages or itsbrands. Brand participation is not a given in an-owned spaces but somelevel o support such as news provision, prizes or access to events isincreasingly common.

3 / Community members dont have to come to the community; it cancome to them. Standard social network plat orms disperse content andcommentary to ans and their riends, without them ever revisiting the

brand page. This model may be more e ective or low interest brands oror products where being a brand an is used as a social label, as in thecase o Cokes Facebook page.

4 / Community members should be able to reach out to each otherand not just communicate up to the brand although the latter is morecommon on Facebook and similar social network sites. Asian brandcommunities are particularly good at providing a range o tools including

orums, picture sharing and IM or users to connect with each other. c o a -

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01 /INTRO

02 /laNdscape

03 /ecOlOGY

04 /RewaRd

05 /lIfe cYcle

06 /case sTudIes

07 /

RIse

08 /INTl

09 /Real TIme

10 /ReachING OuT

11 /ecONOmY

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13 /dOs & dONTs

14 /NeXT sTeps

15 /RefeReNces

chapTeRs

16 /cRedITs

12 /GamING

br n o niti / g ing /

Graeme Boyd is consultant community manager or Xbox EMEA,in charge o managing the Xbox Community Network as well asXboxs other social media plat orms across Europe. Contagiousspoke to him about how these communities beneft Xbox and thecompanys plans or the uture.

Contagious / Xbox has been running relationship programmeswith independent communities or over fve years. How di erentare these communities rom Xboxs owned communities in termso the way members react and respond to brand initiatives?

GB / The Xbox Community Network (XCN) was ounded just be orewe launched the Xbox 360 and grew out o a desire or us to get closer

to our key evangelists in the online space. They are our biggest ansand ercest critics. We knew they were out there talking about ourbrand and products, and we understood the growing power o thecommunity infuencer - a regular person who probably has a day job orgoes to school or university, and is there ore doing it or the love ratherthan remuneration. We also knew our PR teams werent picking themup at the time. So striking up a relationship with these infuencers wasthe per ect way to generate even more grassroots buzz by giving themopportunities and in ormation they could use.

Our community agency Digital Outlook started by scouring the webor a hand ul o the most infuential European blogs and ansites, and

their rst outing was a trip to London to get a sneak peek at the newconsole. Since then weve grown the XCN to just under 100 membersand reach over two million gamers in 16 European countries. We dropthem games and hardware to review, get them exclusives and invitethem to events. Its not about bribery or telling people what to think its about giving them stu they wouldnt normally get so they can o ervalue to their audiences.

12 / g 57 - 60mulTIplaYeR cOmpaTIBle /cOmmuNITIes aNd GamING /Q&a it Gr Boy , Xbox


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01 /INTRO

02 /laNdscape

03 /ecOlOGY

04 /RewaRd

05 /lIfe cYcle

06 /case sTudIes

07 /

RIse

08 /INTl

09 /Real TIme

10 /ReachING OuT

11 /ecONOmY

12 /GamING

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13 /dOs & dONTs

14 /NeXT sTeps

15 /RefeReNces

chapTeRs

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br n o niti / r it /

cRedITs /

Produced by Contagious Communications

Editorial Director

Paul Kemp-RobertsonSeries EditorGeorgia Malden

Written byAlastair Ray

Edited byGeorgia Malden

Additional research byLucy Aitken, Greg Copeland, Katrina Dodd,Jess Greenwood, Emily Hare, Stacey Jacobs,

Alex Jenkins, Robin Leeburn, Nick Parish,Will Sansom

ContributorsGraeme Boyd, Xbox EMEA /www.xboxemea.comValrie Itey, Mobile MendIt Worldwide /www.m-menditww.comJoseph Ja e, Powered / www.powered.comNathan McDonald, We Are Social /http://wearesocial.net

Illustrations byAm I Collective / www.amicollective.comJess3 / http://jess3.comMatt KempKuanth / www.kuanth.comLes Jean Clode / www.pocko.comLouLou & Tummie / www.loulouandtummie.com

Cover image

Matt KempDesignFLOK Berlin / www.fokline.com

ProductionSmita Mistry, Ellie Kilburn

Contagious Communications45 Fouberts PlaceLondon, W1F 7QHT: +44 (0) 20 7575 1995www.contagiousmagazine.com

Contagious Communications is an intelligenceservice ocusing on uture- acing marketingideas and emerging technologies across adiverse range o media channels and productcategories. It is a limited company registered inEngland, registered number 6183878.

No parts o this publication may be reproduced, copiedor transmitted in any orm or by any means stored in anyin ormation storage or retrieval system without the pub-lishers written permission. Where source material hasbeen reproduced the copyright remains the property o thecopyright owner and material may not be reproduced in any

orm whatsoever without the owners prior consent.

Published May 2010

CONTAGIOUS SPECIALREPORTS /

This report is part o a series o Special Reportsproduced by Contagious.

The series also includes reports on Mobile Apps,Branded Entertainment, Goodvertising andBranded Utility.

For more in ormation,call +44 (0) 20 7575 1886/1882or vist www.contagiousmagazine/shop

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Brand Communities Report - Extract