The Seven Deadly Sins

 
Tim Tyler
1st March 2009

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  [caption id="attachment_566" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="West Australian Harley Owners Group"]West Australian Harley Owners Group[/caption] I have just finished reading a great article by Fournier and Lee - the first of these authors was 'Vice President, Enthusiast Services' at Harley Davidson. Her advocates routinely tattoo the brand on their bodies! The article; 'The Seven Deadly Sins of Brand Community "Management"' is recommended reading. Her messages are worth summarising for all of us in the business of trying to reap the benefits of a successful brand community. "Community members buy more, develop deeper brand affiliations and advocate more strongly on behalf of the company and the brand...They influence each others' opinions and behaviours, and the meanings co-created by community participants offer brands an authenticity that is rare in today's cynical consumer marketplace...Strong brand communities reduce marketing costs by shifting the burden to grassroots word-of-mouth activities..." The 7 Deadly Sins are mistakenly believed myths

  1. Brand community is a marketing strategy It is in fact a business strategy that must be supported by the whole business model.
  2. Brand communities exist to serve the brand  They must exist to serve the people that comprise them. The communities are a means to an end only. 
  3. Build the brand, and the community will follow Actually, if you build the community the brand will follow
  4. Brand communities should be love fests for faithful brand advocates Communities are inherently political - this must be confronted honestly and head-on. 
  5. Focus on opinion leaders to build strong community Strong communities take care of all of their members. Duncan Watts has convinced us that it is not only the 'influentials' who start a community advocating.
  6. Online social networks are the best way to build community Social networks are one community tool, but a tool is not the strategy. 
  7. Successful brand communities are tightly managed and controlled Control is illusory, open up and let go.

Fournier also identifies types of  communities for a useful taxonomy to balance Forresters'; Listening, Embracing, Engaging, Talking, Supporting and Managing classification of online communities. These remind me that not everything is in the ether, many 'brand' communities only or primarily exist in the face to face world.

  • Communities of interest - e.g. Australian Direct Marketing Association
  • Communities of Place - e.g. Friends of Northbridge
  • Communities of Practice - e.g. Catholic Church
  • Communities of Circumstance - e.g. Survivors of Cancer support groups
  • Fan Communities - e.g. Trekkies
  • Virtual Network Communities - e.g. Facebook'
  • Cults - e.g. Collingwood supporters (just kidding)

Interesting and useful stuff as we work to build engagement with communities for our clients. I wonder how the operation of the community must differ across these types to be successful? I can feel some research coming on... any thoughts? Cheers

Comments
(5)

Comments

Hikmet N (not verified)
2009-05-03 01:42
Susan Fournier and Lara Lee

Susan Fournier and Lara Lee state in the article "Getting Brand Communities Right" that a brand community exists to serve its members rather than the business. They also emphasize that brand communities are not used as marketing strategies and they should be framed as corporate strategies.

If so, can we summarize it like ; brand communities are used as corporate strategies and they need to serve their members. We should differentiate the terms clearly.

Can we say that, the companies decide their corporate strategies and brand communities are built, later the company use the data in the community to determine their marketing strategies ?

I want to see the connection..

timwtyler (not verified)
2009-05-07 00:54
Hi Hikmet N, We must not

Hi Hikmet N,

We must not confuse the tools with strategy. For example, if the corporation decides to actively engage the voice of the customer in all the company does, that is the strategy. One of the ways to do that is through an online brand community, but there are others. But whatever tool you use, the community you build will only have a long, healthy life if they serve the members. Why else would they come back?

So, as you say, the strategy is determined, the community is built and (in line with the strategy) the corporation takes the advice of its community members.

Marketing strategies in this environment are a case of 'Why guess when you can know? Ask the community'

Build it and th... (not verified)
2009-06-10 00:03
[...] it and they will come?

[...] it and they will come? Not likely! One of the Seven Deadly Sins or myths about getting brand communities right is “Build the brand, and the community will [...]

Walter Adamson (not verified)
2009-07-07 01:10
Fournier's insights are

Fournier's insights are invaluable and thanks for the summary and also the reference to Duncan Watts which is new to me

I was pondering this comment "Social networks are one community tool, but a tool is not the strategy". We're strong on the intent here - that the tool is not the strategy. But with regard to social networks being "one" tool what are the other key tools which are as effective as social media? I couldn't think of any??

Walter Adamson @g2m

timwtyler (not verified)
2009-07-07 08:25
Hi Walter, The distinction I

Hi Walter,

The distinction I was trying to make is between online and offline tools - I agree social networks in the generic sense are one of the few media gaining in effectiveness as traditional mass media decreases in effectiveness. For example, we have had some success with a call centre invoking contagion in social circles, and the Word of Mouth Company (from Byron Bay) uses a variant of the Tupperware party, face to face.

I keep on reminding myself that the grand daddy of social media; Proctor and Gamble with their Tremor and Talking Point communities starts most discussions of their online efforts with the sobering statement that over 80% of WOM i.e. social network message propagation occurs mouth to mouth, not mouse to mouse. The net is easier but not the only way to use what we know about social network contagion in marketing.

Cheers,
Tim

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