Internet dating and social networking Web sites have seen the value of creating community. Joining people with similar interests creates a collective unit that can influence, empower and, ultimately, lead to consumer action. These online destinations provide a place for people to connect with one another, and while the initial intention for a visit may vary, sites flourish and membership rolls grow through the development and support of an active online community.
Internet niches are using this kind of self-generating community to market their sites as must-visit destinations. In itself, this isn't unique; consumer beverage manufacturers, among others, have taken a similar approach to brand development, creating "street teams" to promote viral, word-of-mouth advertising. Done correctly, this offline marketing tactic can have much stronger influence than traditional advertising and tends to create brand fans rather than less-differentiated consumers.
The explosive growth of online social networks such as Friendster, dating communities such as MatchNet, and political action groups such as MoveOn.org are real-world examples of how the creation and development of an online community can promote word-of-mouth branding and offline influence. Consumer brands would be wise to learn from these sites and embrace the philosophy of online community creation.
Branding has traditionally relied on a two-way dialogue with consumers. Conventional online efforts involve customers posting questions to a bulletin board, filling out feedback forms and having access to downloadable media. Unfortunately, this form of dialogue is often empty and rarely adds excitement for consumers or meaningful feedback for companies.
Creating online community within a brand infrastructure fosters a third dialogue, enabling consumers to connect directly with fellow consumers in both live and static communication environments. Whereas brands once felt that directly connecting customers risked unpredictable outcomes and potential brand degradation, new suites of online communication tools have altered the climate. Now, thanks to these tools, a third dialogue among customers can be structured, encouraged and positioned to add substantial value.
When considering an international brand such as Nike and analyzing the opportunity that a prospective online community can yield, it's not difficult to conclude that connecting fans online represents one of the greatest value propositions a major brand could offer its customers.
In a recent interview, Kevin Roberts, worldwide CEO of advertising giant Saatchi & Saatchi, discussed what he calls "LoveMarks" as the genesis of consumer brand. This concept vividly illustrates the idea of consumer fans -- that is, members of an online community (brand, interest or geographically-based) who become advocates of their community's message. For a consumer brand, the creation of fans is both a less expensive proposition for longer-term viral word-of-mouth marketing and a way to provide real value to participating customers.
Imagine a Web site focused around a sports brand, where customers with similar interests could interact directly within the brand environment. Membership in this customer-driven community -- and the brand identity created around it -- could be of greater, longer-lasting brand value to both the consumer and the company than the underlying product itself. Such a community could include introductions to members of similar interests, easily facilitating offline experiences while enabling members to trade advice, experiences, recommendations, etc.
To facilitate the growth of this type of online community, organizations are turning to core tools such as chat, instant messaging and delayed messaging products. But beyond these fundamentals, a new generation of third dialogue tools will provide methods for displaying live presence, broadcasting user interests, and creating membership and identity within brand Web sites. Developing live spaces allows for real-time interaction among members and gives the online community a pulse.
Large brands development their online communities by taking the following steps:
1. Enable all members to create a personal brand identity: Allow users to create their personal brand identity on your site. This may mean something simple such as registering the products they use and their location. Or, it may be as elaborate as allowing them to associate themselves with different brand values or perhaps creating their own blogs on your site.
2. Connect members: Let your members communicate. This may be as basic and structured as online interest and product forums, or it may include live interaction such as chat and instant messaging.
3. Recognize the best members: Creation of an award system or status within online community to entice your members to participate. Publicly reward activity and communication within the community.
4. Reward membership: Giving exclusive information to your online community membership will help create the product buzz that brands typically strive for. Give members sneak peeks of upcoming product or company developments, reward them with exclusive events and give them access to your brand. These rewards will help develop your relationship with your member base and encourage them to spread the good word.
Although large brands have yet to embrace this philosophy throughout their online brand strategy, examples that demonstrate this principle are emerging in highly visible places. Friendster, for instance, recently made a deal with the hit television series "The Apprentice," creating profiles for all members of the show (). This has enabled fans to become associated with their favorite apprentice. While this stops short of NBC supporting a fully interactive brand and community experience for its viewers, it does permit the Apprentice brand to extend community features within Friendster.
Likewise, MySpace has been innovative in its use of streaming music, fostering self-promotion and fan communication for bands like The Donnas. The MySpace Music feature allows fans to link directly to their favorite bands, and enables bands to publish their blog to their fan base within MySpace. In addition, bands can upload and stream their music for MySpace listeners, all free of charge.
Just as branding often defines the identity of a company and provides direct links to its customer base, so the creation of online community around a brand immediately empowers customers to further develop their relationship with that brand.
Leveraging this model of brand identity through a third dialogue engenders company loyalty and enables customers to extend it. If the goal is to create viral advertising and promotion, facilitating community around a company's online destinations can quickly create the type of direct-to-consumer value that advertising dollars simply cannot buy.
Michael Jones is founder and president of Los Angeles-based Userplane, a provider of enterprise social software for online communities.
Jones has emerged as a leader and visionary in the online community of social networking and the software that supports live online audio/video communication, appearing as a featured speaker at several industry conferences and serving on the Board of Directors of IDEA OASIS, a new not-for-profit association for the online dating and social networking industries -- of which he also is a founding member.
As president and co-founder of Userplane, Jones oversees the company's application and business strategy, focusing on the future of live communications through the development of web applications.
Userplane applications are elegant, easy to use, and rapidly deployed web-based applications. Leveraging Macromedia Flash, the Apps are lightweight, cross-platform with no user installation, and customizable for a site's specific needs. The applications are deployed internationally on sites ranging from online communities to intranets. Userplane's client list includes Red Bull, Honda, and 1-800-FLOWERS.COM.
Prior to founding Userplane, Jones was CEO of PBJ Digital, a national web development agency with clients ranging from Disney to Boeing. Among other activities, Jones has been a keynote speaker at the 2003 OFFF conference in Barcelona Spain, a featured presenter at Flash Forward 2003, a presenter at BlogOn 2004 and an advisor to a number of growing web communities.
You can learn more about Userplane at its Web site.
