Your Brand, Your People

As perhaps the best known philosophical riddle, if you say, “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it,” most people will complete the question by saying, “does it make a sound?" Similarly, if you work at defining your brand without considering the people for whom you’re relevant, do you really have a brand? Put another way, it’s questionable if a brand exists without a brand community.

According to Wikipedia, a brand community can be defined as “a specialized, non-geographically bound community, based on a structured set of social relations among admirers of a brand." Of course, being a brand admirer means having a strong emotional connection to the brand – whether a product, like an iPod, or a person, like Oprah. While it may seem this kind of loyalty comes from run-away sales or superstardom, the fact is, many individuals do develop leading brands and build strong loyalty among the people for whom they deliver value.

This relationship is captured by Seth Godin, in his book, Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us. He notes that leadership springs from the context of connection around ideas and values that inspires followers and feeds their need "to be part of a tribe, to contribute to (and take from) a group of like-minded people.” He goes further to argue that everyone has the capacity to lead since there are people “waiting for you to connect them to one another and lead them where they want to go.” Among the elements that ultimately bring a tribe together are common values, standards, problems, and aspirations.

In a workshop I recently attended, Pam Slim, author of Escape From Cubicle Nation: From Corporate Prisoner to Thriving Entrepreneur, made the point that to be successful in business, it’s critical to identify “your people.” In her experience, ongoing marketing success is driven by finding all the places “your peeps hang out,” and joining them there. Connecting with your peeps in ways that convey your leadership and value to them is the basis for a strong brand community and long-term success.

So, who are your people and what are you doing to connect with them?

Cross-posted at The Personal Branding Blog

Comments

[Kristen Jacoway]

So true, Walter--this is a wonderful post and really speaks to the heart of personal branding!

[Walter Akana]

Thanks, Kristen! I really appreciate your comment! Actually, so many of the people who don’t “get” personal branding overlook the brand community component. What Pam says about success as an entrepreneur is true of everyone who wants to stand out! It’s people driven!

[Valerie Sokolosky]

Walter,
This is so right on and a great reminder for all of us to continually rethink our brand community's impact on our lives. We are only as successful as our connections help us to be.
Valerie Sokolosky

[Walter Akana]

Hi Valerie!

Thanks for your comment.

Taking time to consider the way we interact with our brand community is essential for success across all areas of our lives. While most people don’t ordinarily think about this, success is often built not by random associations, but by the ability to appeal to people who share several commonalities.

We can’t be all things to all people, but we can focus on clear ways we make a difference for the people we attract. It’s powerful!

Best,
Walter