社区品牌的塑造者：加入他们

今天读到同事转发来的一篇关于社区的文章，觉得不错。翻译了一下，分享给大家。语文水平有所退化，翻译得拗口的地方，大家见谅了。

社区品牌的塑造者：加入他们

在过去的半年里我到过30个左右的国家举办我的“品牌感觉”研讨会。由此我得到很好的机会来观察一个从新西兰到荷兰，到挪威，每个国家，都存在的特殊现象：一条黄色的刻有“坚强生活”的塑料腕带。兰
斯·阿姆斯特朗基金的慈善腕带正在被全世界所接受。这一现象来源于个人热情，表达了一个共同的愿景，并得到了社区的广泛支持。

社区将是明天的塑造品牌战略中重要的一环。社区和消费者将会扮演塑造品牌的角色。今天我们已经可以看到消费者塑造品牌的实例。十年前默默无闻的品牌获得巨大成功的原因在于“品牌塑造”的用户社区
。如果没有社区的帮助，谷歌(Google)公司会在哪里？电子港湾(eBay)如果没有不断增长的社区用户的追随，也不会存在。即使是网络零售商亚马逊公司(Amazon)也在逐步将社区的感觉整合到日常业务运作中。

社区和支持它的精神是你无法买到或生产出来的基本因素。即使作为商业交易的一个副产品，当你尝试加入或建立一个社区的时候，为其本身和你的品牌创造共同的利益，你还是无法控制它。古语云：条条大路通罗马。通往品牌成功的罗马的大路是由“品牌塑造”社区铺就的。

任何未来的品牌都必须在某个社区，它的灵魂所在的周围创造它自己。我们从那些在有限的时间和可怜的预算条件下，通过社区树立起来的品牌身上能学到什么呢？

相信用户
许多20世纪的品牌对此概念都挣扎不已。谁会将自己的业务建立在没有合同，没有财务联系，没有任何其他保障的信任上呢？电子港湾会。它的两亿用户似乎颇能接受互相信任的理念，从他们从来没有去过
地方的陌生人手中买东西，并且在拿到东西之前先付钱。

聆听用户
1997年，曾经有过邀请消费者在品牌自己的网站上发表关于品牌的任何评论的概念。这是一种极端的对自由言论的邀请，但因为面临被邀请者可能的法律行动和老派品牌对听到消费者声音的恐惧它很快消失了。

这种概念现在回来了。社区及其成员有他们自己的能量。这种能量被部分转化为对交流的不可抑止的渴求。人们希望大声说出想法并被听到。网志就是分享和被聆听需求的一种表现。

这种哲学体现在也许是世界上最成功的减肥网络：体重监测者(Weight Watcher)。人们希望和有类似思维的人分享他们的想法，所以“品牌塑造”的社区出现了。我们也许满腹怀疑地读过亚马逊上面的书评，但是我们还是读它们，并常常被它们影响。在社区中分享观点赋予网络零售商相对于传统书店的巨大优势。电子港湾的成功也得益于同样的思想－用户使用一个评价系统来分享他们的印象。

配合用户
发展品牌和社区及在社区内的关系就是如何使他们相配合。产品和成长中的社区越相配合，社区的忠诚度的价值就越高。过去，我们对此讲的是“针对”概念。今天我们理解这个词内含的错误。“针对”是单方面的行为。它否定了反馈。成功的交流包含了对信息发出方和接受方互惠的投入。

失去了分享，聆听，和相应的配合，电子港湾，亚马逊，体重监测者，或其他任何以社区为基础的品牌都将为生存而挣扎。考虑一下你的品牌对下面的问题的答案是否均为“是”：你的品牌是否，或者能否以
信任为基础？你的用户是否可以和你以及其他所有你的用户分享他们的想法？你的用户是否能很容易的找到和你的品牌的配合，并且使你的品牌配合他们的需求？

老式学院派的品牌会在这时候退出。但是现代品牌仍然是有选择的，请抓住机会。谁知道几年后，你的社区机会是否会被其他相信用户、聆听用户和配合用户的其他品牌所占据。

像我父亲常说的那样，如果你不能打败他们，加入他们。你的品牌是否准备好加入未来顾客的社区了？更为重要的是，不这样做行嘛？

原文：

Community Brand-Builders: Join 'Em
› › ›    Brand Marketing

BY Martin Lindstrom | July 26, 2005

I've traveled across some 30 countries over the past half year to conduct my BRAND sense symposia. With it, I've had a good chance to observe the reach of one particular phenomenon, shared by every country, from New Zealand to the Netherlands to Norway: a yellow plastic wristband engraved with the message "LIVESTRONG." The Lance
Armstrong Foundation charity wristband has been embraced by the world. It's a
phenomenon born of a personal passion, expressing a universal vision, and supported by communities.

One essential ingredient in tomorrow's brand-building strategies will be the community. The role of the community, of consumers, will be to build brands. We can see the power of consumer brand-building in action already. Brands we barely knew a decade ago thrive because of brand-building user communities. Where would Google be without a community to work with? eBay wouldn't exist were it not for a growing community of adherents. Even online retailer Amazon.com seems to be gradually integrating a sense of community into its operations.

A community and its supportive energy are an essential ingredient you can't buy or manufacture. Even when you manage to tap into it or grow a community that, as a byproduct of commercial transaction, builds mutual benefits for itself and your brand, you can't control it. As the old saying goes, "All roads lead to Rome." The brand-success roads to Rome are paved with community brand-building.

Any future brand will have to create itself around a community, its very soul. What have we learned so far from brands that have, often with little time and tiny budgets, built their reputations through community brand building?

Trust 'Em

Many 20th century brands struggle with this concept. Who would build a business on trust, with no contracts, no financial ties, nothing -- just trust? eBay did. And its 200 million users seem to buy into the idea of trusting each other by sending money before receiving the goods they're buying from people they don't know from countries they've most likely never visited.

Hear 'Em

In 1997, there was a concept that invited consumers to post comments about any brand on the brand's own Web site. It was a radical invitation to free speech, but it saw a rapid demise in the face of attendant legal implications and the old-fashioned brands' fear of hearing their customers' voices.

The concept is back. Communities and their members have their own energies. These energies are in part directed into the irrepressible urge to communicate. People want to voice ideas and be heard. Blogging is an expression of a need to share and be heard.

That philosophy underlies what's possibly the most successful weight-loss network in the world: Weight Watchers. People want to share their thoughts with like-minded people, so a brand-building community emerges. We might peruse reader reviews on Amazon with skepticism, but we read them and are sometimes influenced by them. Sharing ideas among that community gives the online retailer a major advantage over traditional bookstores. EBay enjoys success thanks to the same idea -- consumers using a rating system to share their impressions.

Match 'Em

Developing a relationship with and within a community is all about making the right match. The better the match between product and emerging community, the better the value of the community's growing loyalty. In the old days, we'd have mentioned "targeting" in this context. Now we understand the error inherent in this very term. Targeting is a one-way exercise. It negates response. Successful communication involves mutually beneficial engagement by the sender and the receiver of information.

Without sharing, listening, and compatible matching, eBay, Amazon, Weight Watchers, and any other community-based brand would struggle to survive. Consider whether your brand ticks yes to each of these questions: Is your brand based, or could it be based, on trust? Can your users share what's on their minds, not only with you but with all your customers? How easy is it for your users to not only find a match with your brand but also make your brand match their needs?

Old-school brands will opt out at this point. But modern brands still have choices. Seize that choice now. Who knows? In a few years, your community options may be taken up by other brands who nurtured their communities by trusting 'em, hearing 'em, and matching 'em.

As my dad always used to say, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Is your brand ready to join the community of your future customers? More important, can it afford not to?

Comments

[alan]

Thanks for reading my email ;-)