The Community
When you know who your people are and what they want,
it’s easier for the brand to find a place in their story.
No brand is an island. An iconic entity is a network of people—consumers, partners, critics and stalkers—who interact with it, support it and challenge it. The job of a brand is to build a world with a gravitational pull, a force that draws the right energies to its core. It’s essential to define who these people are, and what kind of energy you need to attract them.
Just don’t call them a target. Even if you’re only using words like this internally, your intentions will shine through. Everyone from Gen X on down has a sense for when they’re being money-grabbed, and they will shut down immediately in the face of that kind of onslaught. The best way to think of community is to ask, “Who can we serve? And what stake will they have in our culture?”
“Defining a community has little to do with demographics, and much to do with raw desire.”
Marketing professionals are obsessed with demographics. They try to target “consumers” born between a certain range of years or living within a specific socioeconomic bracket. But defining a community has little to do with demographics, and much to do with raw desire. What do the people you’re trying to serve want? How do they go about seeking it? What are the common themes of their lives, what stories are they living day to day, and how can your brand find a natural place there?
By getting clear on who you’re talking to and what you can offer them, you can begin to create a relationship between your community to your culture. It’s that connection that makes a brand influential enough to survive, thrive and transcend demographics.