Brand Community: To Build On Or To Become A Member Of One?

Advertising professionals promise brands to build online communities for them to market and sell to. I fail to understand why most of the times these brands fail to get to know or get involved in the already existing communities relevant for them.

Maybe it is an ego problem. Maybe by building their own playground they believe they can invite only the people they like, the people who do not badmouth the brand. This hypothesis could not be more fake in the interconnected online world we live in. Moreover, by focusing their entire energy on their own community they run the risk of ignoring already existing communities and micro-communities that could help them not only push the brand and the product, but even improve on them and discover opportunities to grow.

Also, already existing communities are more powerful than whatever a brand usually builds or manages. They are built upon common values and interests and have countless of community managers who act out of passion and a genuine need to be helpful for those around them. In my opinion ignoring these people and their needs is a lost opportunity for brands to show they are a true social brand.

To build a brand community or to become a member one? that is the question we as social media marketers should ask to help brands better understand why brand communities are not the only playground they should be playing on.