Do Brands Really Know Their Community?
The Brand Universes that can ongoingly expand vertically by identifying, understanding, and engaging customer segments as they emerge will come out as true innovators.
This article, which in the full version of this research report appears under the chapter title ‘Part 2: The Brand Community Constellation’, is part 7/12 of The Next Big Bang: The Brand Universe Solution to Growth, the inaugural research thesis by edition+partners, distributed here on SOTA. In the ever-evolving landscape of brand development, the concept of a Brand Universe emerges as both a tangible entity and a strategic methodology, offering a dynamic approach to brand survival and growth.
TL;DR
Consumers no longer seek merely the aesthetics of a brand; instead, they demand synchronised cultural relevance and meaning that connect seamlessly with their entire life-system.
Thriving Brand Universes depend on continuous contributions from diverse customer segments, emphasising the importance of community engagement over predefined brand strategies.
Successful brands embrace a dynamic, interconnected web of niches, avoiding a singular focus and fostering a symbiotic relationship with their communities, in contrast to traditional top-down communication.
Modern loyalty programs within Brand Universes move beyond traditional hierarchies, focusing on customer knowledge, participation, and advocacy, fostering a trust-based relationship across varied customer segments.
If a Brand Universe’s width is exemplified by its horizontal extension into novel territories and industries, its depth is shaped by the dynamic customer cohorts who exist in the brand’s orbit. Their profound influence impacts both fellow community members and, by extension, the brands themselves. This escalating significance underscores the imperative for brands to adeptly rethink how they identify and engage with these influential customer segments.
Take Adidas for example who in 2012 pulled out all stops by supplying over 3,000 athletes from all over the world with branded kits and equipment for the London Summer Olympics. Five years prior it had won a cut throat battle to become the title sponsor of the event by signing a deal worth an estimated $150 million, outbidding all its competitors. It spent an additional $3 million on advertising cover wraps of local magazines and embarked on a long journey with fashion designer Stella McCartney who designed hundreds of uniforms for Great Britain’s national team, all aimed at speaking to various existing and newly targeted customer groups.
Its approach, however, didn’t pay off. Nike, which as a result of Adidas’ strict sponsorship terms was prohibited to showcase ‘London 2012’ in any of its commercials or hire professional athletes for its brand campaign endorsements, instead opted for ordinary people reflecting its diverse customer groups from all over the world in its viral online commercials. As a result, Nike dominated its German competitor beating it across all social media growth and online mentions metrics. Nike’s tactic to be inspirational instead of aspirational was relatable.
It’s the same early adoption to community marketing which turned UK sportswear brand Gymshark into one of the fastest growing brands in the world since its launch the following year. The company’s ability to move at the speed of culture, paired with their direct-to-consumer selling strategy, and its democratic approach to messaging to various customer groups has resulted in the business today being valued just shy of £1.5 billion.
On its fast-growing social media channels star athletes are swapped for amateur gym goers with its TikTok now boasting more followers than Nike, Adidas or Under Armour. Outside of its owned channels, its various customer segments carry the brand’s message forward and speak to individual niches. Across dozens of private and public social community groups, the most loyal gym goers exchange training tips, trade products, compliment each other’s fitness progress, and arrange in person meet ups.
On Instagram, Gymshark is tagged 120 times an hour by those of all walks of life, putting the total at over 10 million tags to date. In its flagship London store, there are dedicated “sweat” workout classes, community running clubs, and a sandwich and juice shop catering to groups ranging from loyal fans to first time customers.
“We didn’t create the Gymshark community; these like-minded fitness fanatics already existed, and we stood up and said ‘we represent you’ and we’ve kept them at the heart of the brand ever since. When the subculture adopts you, that’s when you can lean into this thing Linkedin now calls ‘community marketing.’ I think consumers can sniff out inauthentic ‘community’ efforts from companies too; to be credible, you really need to build it from the ground up. The game has changed so much and it continues to do so, so as and when cultures shift, you have to shift with it. Move at the speed of culture.” says Noel Mack, Chief Brand Officer at Gymshark.
“For instance, you could come to one of our pop-ups alone, and in the line, you’ll make friends. I’ve seen this happen hundreds if not thousands of times, and before you know it, you’re part of the Facebook community swapping tips about nutrition and workouts, or even becoming a pacer at one of our run clubs,” Mack adds. “Because with our community, people pitch in. Gymshark has less input than you’d think, we just host these spaces in our universe and eventually it becomes something of a self-fulfilling prophecy. We bring the people together, and the Gymshark logo becomes like a badge of honour for the tribe you belong to.”
As illustrated by Gymshark, a Brand Universe doesn’t merely send nor does it dominate its brand perception. The makeup, cultural authenticity, and commercial development of this Universe hinge upon immediate and ongoing contributions from diverse customer segments. In this context, the opinions, advocacy, feelings of belonging, and purchasing behaviour progressively outweigh any predefined brand strategy, underscoring the evolving landscape where credible community engagement is instrumental to the prosperity of a brand.
In practice, the core success factors observed in the most thriving Brand Universes revolve around a few key elements within their community pillar. While vastly different in maturity, brand aesthetics, and engagement strategies, exemplary brands like On Running, Moncler, and Palace are united by their ability to astutely identify, and subsequently cater to, emerging customer segments as they arise. How do they do it?