The promise of social media is that people with a common interest can easily congregate and communicate. As more and more organizations look to social media as a tool for building brand engagement, the question is raised:
Can just any brand energize an active online community?
Sure, there are plenty of success stories among the obvious consumer brands. For example:
- Nike (running)
- Harley-Davidson
- Whole Foods
- PBS
- NASCAR
These are brands in popular categories — cars, food, entertainment — categories people are passionate about. And passion is a requirement of community. Social media are simply new channels for fans to gather and idolize their favorite wine, book, destination, or sports team.
Non-profit organizations are figuring this out. They have existing offline communities of volunteers, donors, and advocates who are already engaged in the cause. Providing an online forum is an obvious step. Here are a few examples:
- Susan G.Komen for the Cure
- The Nature Conservancy
- Goodwill of Greater Washington
- Habitat for Humanity
- ASCPA
Can any brand build online community? Can a mundane consumer product, e.g. soap, build community?
What about the industries we love to hate? The airlines, the banks, the insurance companies? Check out these approaches:
Can B2B companies use social media to inspire brand loyalty? See these examples:
Brands, by definition, inspire loyalty based on intangible distinctiveness. (See 9 Criteria for Brand Essence.) Where there is loyalty, there is community. Some brands succeed at expanding their existing offline communities via social media. Others grow their followers entirely online.
Either way, the common denominator is shared passion for the brand.
Great post Kirk! Love your categorization of different brands and how their products impact their social media potential! It is definitely easier for Harley to gain social media traction than a low-involvement low-loyalty consumer product.
It’s a question I imagine all marketing consultants are being asked increasingly. “Can social media work for me?” It all seems so obvious for the consumer megabrands. I was curious to see how “commodity” brands and B2B brands are tackling it. Probably too early to tell, but some interesting approaches. Thanks for the comment and the RT, Brian.