Brands Can’t Buy Community. So How Do They Build One?
Courtesy of Seen Library.
Brands Can’t Buy Community. So How Do They Build One?
With Charlotte Manning, Eliska Muchova, Ira Tassouli and Jordan Santos
By HURS Team
The word community is as strange to me as the word empowerment. They’re every brand and publication’s favorite buzzword, but we would never use either IRL. While both are extremely important, they are concepts that remain on the pages of strategies and briefs with only few brands and publications able to apply them authentically.
And what is a brand community anyway? Brands and publications have exchanged the word customer or reader with community — but the two couldn’t be more different. Consumers consume – it's a passive role that remains transactional – while communities are built through a two-way interaction. They are built on three key pillars: a mutual goal, belief or interest, a sense of belonging and the ability to connect with each other (either digitally or IRL). More and more consumers are actively looking for new ways to more deeply associate themselves with the brands they love, and connect on a deeper level. A Harvard Business Review study found that consumers who are fully connected to a brand are worth 52% more to a business compared to someone who isn’t. But how can brands build these tribes around their businesses in a way that brings value to today’s shopper beyond products?
Social media has created a direct line of communication between consumers and brands. And for some, brands have become the filters through which they like to see the world.. Consumers want to know where Jacquemus goes when he’s in Marseille and where The Row team would go for dinner in Paris. But while the gap between brands and consumers isn’t as large as it used to be, few have been able to develop relationships with their consumers. And even fewer have created ways for fellow brand fans to connect with each other. Most have continued to use social platforms as traditional marketing tools, using it to promote their latest products or campaigns over showcasing their complete universe or seeing it as an opportunity to have direct access to their consumer’s thoughts, ideas and feedback. How can you build an authentic relationship when there’s no way to communicate your thoughts and interests?
CHARLOTTE MANNING
Charlotte Manning is a woman of many narratives. Born in Sweden, raised in Minneapolis, and now residing in Stockholm, she’s used to – and a fan of – continually stepping out of her comfort zone, trying new experiences and building a diverse and nurturing network of great friends, chosen family and inspiring creatives wherever she goes. Through her career in Stockholm she started working in fashion PR and influencer marketing, and eventually found herself as the Global Community Manager of a tech start up that focused on helping women in Europe build a strong value-driven professional community, digitally and IRL. Charlotte is currently a founding staff member at Soho House Stockholm, working full time as the Member Events Manager. Side hustles include her poetry collective, creative writing, public speaking and modeling.
ELISKA MUCHOVA
Eliska Muchova is the PR and Communications Manager at Tekla, a home-textile brand based in Copenhagen, Denmark. Originally from the Czech Republic and currently residing in Copenhagen, Muchova has been working within communications, content and PR for brands on the intersection of fashion, lifestyle and interior design.
IRA TASSOULI
Ira Tassouli is the Head of Community at A.P.C. where she leads on creating engaging digital and physical experiences that capture new target audiences and engage with the brand's existing community. With interdisciplinary degrees bridging business with creative industries, and previous roles as the Social and Community Lead at GANNI and at CARCEL, her expertise focuses on building brand, marketing, and community strategies that allow brands to establish themselves as influential and culturally relevant entities while telling compelling stories.
JORDAN SANTOS
Jordan Santos is a Filipino-American creative based in Los Angeles. She is the founder and curator of Seen Library, a community for book lovers and readers that hosts book exchanges, book drives and pop ups, and the co-editor of How To Be A Woman On The Internet, a newsletter covering modern internet culture. Jordan has worked in social media management and strategy for the past 10 years consulting for various brands including Rose Inc., MERIT, and Emi Jay.
We wanted to know more about how brands can build authentic communities and asked four women at the forefront of the industry for their take.