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Brand Communities (Online)

Online Brand Communities are a group of individuals gathering on a web platform and interacting with one another based on a common attraction for a brand or a brand good. Web 2.0, which consists of many social media networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, has opened the world of business and marketing to utilize these online tools to build and promote consumer-brand relationships through online brand communities. In these communities marketers can engage with users to continue to construct the brand image by utilizing the each others voluntary input. This input can be seen as membership interaction, participation, and recommendation.

‘Brand communities’ is the hybrid name to tout consumer products offered as cultural resources.

History

Online Brand Communities are a type of user-generated content mostly due to its relation to the discourse of community. Social networking's development has had an impact on how businesses can "harness" online communities to help them grow and perform better as a company. Research has been done on how it is possible to effectively use online communities to businesses. This research included "market insight and marketing, digital media experts and advertising and market research agencies.

Building and Developing an Online Brand Community

Online brand communities are important to the development of businesses because they help bridge the organisation’s relationship with people. Participation is key to the building and maintaining the community. Research suggest that companies should engage in conversations online with members on topics because they will be rewarded with more, better decisions, that are made faster. Participation of the community members is important so companies must ensure members feel rewarded and thereby achieving a thriving community.

"Participation is the oxygen of the community."

Marketers need to be aware that consumers can associate their effort to build and manage online brand communities as a move for profit exploitation. This can make consumers less likely to "engage in community behaviors in marketer created online brand communities." A possible approach to avoid this is for marketers to develop a platform where an online brand community can encourage consumers to "voluntarily share and exchange their ideas" instead of rather than forcing the corporation’s own ideas.

Community Overview

Online Brand Communities seems to thrive due to the site make-up the brands provide:

• a forum for exchange of common interests,
• a sense of place with codes of behavior,
• the development of congenial and stimulating dialogues leading to relationships based on trust,
• and encouragement for active participation by more than an exclusive few.

Influence

The influence on the brand by the community is important to the brand. Some studies have shown how when consumers browse the consumer-created online brand community they are more trusting than browsing marketer-created online brand community. By having an online brand communities, companies have the ability of free advertising through online visibility, such as the Facebook "like". Users in brand communities have the ability to criticize the product on a public platform which could result in brand detractors or bad publicity.

Example

Below is an example of an online brand community in which consumers, users, and/or members engage with a common products to create/produce content for the brand.

MyStarbucksIdea.com

Created in 2013, www.mystarbucksidea.com is a website produced by the coffee franchise Starbucks to engage its consumers in commenting, reviewing, and submitting ideas for better products.

The website allows for a user to sign in, design their profile and engage with other members of the community to improve and better the brand of Starbucks they all share in common. The website opens with the words: "Vote. Share. Discuss. See. Share your ideas, tell us what you think of toher people's ideas and join the discussion."

The bar on the left of the page is categorized in types of ideas users are able to contribute: Product Ideas, Experience Ideas, Involvement Ideas. There is also a Leaderboard where one can "Check out the top ten point scorers for last month."

This online community has led to over "277 implemented innovations" and "more than 150,000 ideas from customers and members", part of which are free Wi-Fi at Starbucks and skinny drinks.

Controversy/Criticism

Anti-Brand Communities

While many consumers may join brand communities to show their interest in the brand, there are opposing groups who disagree with these large corporations. There have been backlash on the brand communities. This backlash is called Anti-Brand Communities and the reason for them forming is to "provide a social community comprised of members with common moral obligations." Online environments are not limited only to the formation of communities who enjoy these brands, but also for communities who are anti-brands. In these groups they usually discuss frustrations with the brands as a worker or consumer and mostly focus on consuming less.

"Anti-brand communities provide a supportive, family-like environment where voluntary simplicity is encouraged."

Literature

Candice R. Hollenbeck and George M. Zinkhan (2006) "Consumer Activism on the Internet: the Role of Anti-Brand Communities"

Casalóa,L. V.; Flaviána, C.; Guinalíua, M. (2008) Promoting Consumer's Participation in Virtual Brand Communities: A New Paradigm in Branding Strategy

Cova, B.; White, T. (2010) Counter-brand and alter-brand communities: the impact of Web 2.0 on tribal marketing approaches

Doohwang Lee; Hyuk Soo Kim; and Jung Kyu Kim. (2011) "The Impact of Online Brand Community Type on Consumer's Community Engagement Behaviors"

McWilliam, G. (2000) "Building Stronger Brands through Online Communities"

J. van Dijck (2009), Users like you? Theorizing agency in user-generated content

References

[[Category: online community]]