Importance of a Brand Community

June 30, 2009 • 11:41 am • POSTED BY tmuldoon

Fresh off of my most recent semester at Temple and my course in Consumer and Buyer Behavior, I have gained some insight into both the purpose and the importance of Brand communities in today’s world.  As we all know, it is vital to stress the connection between a specific brand, individual identities as well as the overall culture of a community to fully gain the trust and loyalty of today’s often transitory consumer.  Popular brand communities are found in cars (Jeep, Saab, and VW), computers, and even movies (The Godfather, Star Wars, and X-Files).  At times, participants in these brand communities not only forge a connection with a specific brand, but also strong relationships with each other.  This sense of community promotes both the continued success of the brand and also provides the consumer with a sense of belonging, fulfilling an all important human need.

During my studies, we briefly discussed the Apple Newton Brand Community. In a nutshell, the Newton was introduced by Apple in 1993 as the first PDA but never really reached a critical mass. It met strong competition from Microsoft’s Palm Pilot in 1998 and was subsequently cut by Apple. However, the product and the strong brand community that had formed around it did not die.  Researchers Albert Muniz and Hope Schau studied the online brand forum where Newton users share stories, aid fellow users and attempt to recruit new Newton users.  They found that this brand community in particular was defined by powerful and transformative experiences members had with their product that created an almost cult-like following of the Newton device. Through their research, Muniz and Schau discovered some major themes in the narratives, two of which include:

Tales of Persecution: Members of the Newton Brand Community often feel persecuted for their affiliation with the product.  They compare their community to that of a marginalized religion where they are being stigmatized because they use the Newton.  Members stick to the mantra: The Newton product did not fail, Apple failed to market it correctly and the mainstream consumer failed to “get it.”

Tales of Resurrection: Here the overarching theme is that the Newton will one day return.  Users call for the community to create a new product on its own or they go into lengthy predictions of a reintroduction to Apple (iPhone?). An optimistic tone is seen in this theme as members of the community feel they deserve the “return of their creator.” (Wink, Wink Steve Jobs!)

If you were to ask me, I would say that most of this is a little far-fetched.  Tales of Persecution and of Resurrection seem to be a little over the top when referring to an outdated piece of technology. Nonetheless, the strength of the Apple Newton brand community can not be overlooked. The special thing about this community that sets it apart from others of its kind is that the Newton Community is entirely self-sustained. The community narratives play a significant role in acts of consumption allowing users to understand, structure and share their experiences’ with the device.  The stories reinforce the bond between community members and the parent company, even though they are no longer directly affiliated with Apple.  This strong bond will keep the customers going back to Apple time and time again, thus the importance of strong branding!

Here is the full report from Muniz and Schau if you would like to read more…