In part one of this series, I looked at three different ways of understanding community: neighbourhood, interest based, and personal communities. Personal communities are most useful for understanding communities because they centre on the person – they are our individual networks of people with whom we regularly communicate. In part two, I looked at brand communities, and what brand’s should look to get out of them.

In part three, I focus on common things people want to get out of communities, and further opportunities for brand owners.

There are four aspects I am going to look at: membership, impact, fulfilment of needs and goals, and shared emotional connections. Emphasis upon each of these change according to the focus of each community, as do experiences of them.

Membership

Membership is a feeling of belonging we get from being a member of a community. Membership also has boundaries, which means there are people who belong and people who do not. For some communities, this exclusivity is very important, such as some based around music, fashion and sport; brand communities, and neighbourhood communities. Correspondingly, many communities use tools to retain exclusivity such as around language, music and dress.

Membership often means security: emotional or physical. We receive emotional security from close friends, family and self-help groups, and people often derive physical security from being gang members or gated communities.

The process of becoming a member of a community can be formalised (such as becoming a member of a professional or religious organisation), or unspoken. In both cases, new and existing members will be expected to practice particular behaviours, and in turn can expect the same from others.

Opportunities

• Some brands have been very successful at instilling themselves in the process of becoming and being a member, and providing ‘signs’ of membership. Brand examples are Nike and Burberry, in which owning such branded products can be a sign of membership of a particular youth culture.
• Other communities in which expectations exist about behaviour include the workplace, neighbourhoods, mums, and interest based groups. In such instances, opportunities for brands centre upon being resources for being able to best practice the focus of those communities.

Impact

We like to feel we make a difference, from which we derive personal fulfilment. We also like others to have positive impacts upon us, which in some ways improve our lives. Thus, people are more attracted to communities in which they feel that will be impactful and be positively impacted upon.

Impact is closely related to the ‘capital’ of the community i.e. the knowledge and resources available to it because of the attributes of its members. This is the focus of a future post, but suffice to say here, the greater the positive impact of a member, the greater they will be valued within that community.

Opportunities

Opportunities centre upon providing members with the resources to be able to positively impact other members. In so doing, brands are able to enhance the capital of existing and new members and therefore the capital of those brands themselves. (To be enlarged upon in a future post.)

Fulfilment of goals and needs

This is the feeling that goals and needs will be met by the resources received through membership of the group.

Some communities centre upon an explicit need such as around getting a job, advice on parenting, or moving house. Or, it may be an explicit goal such as a hobby, for example sailing, cooking, photography, watch collecting or playing squash.

In other communities, the goals or needs of members are multiple. This is often the case for neighbours, co-workers and religious groups. Even communities with explicit goals or needs have members who have a variety of other needs and goals. In such cases, the value of being a member is often informed by how much members of those communities can organise themselves to meet the goals and needs of each other. A strong community is able to fit people together so that people meet others’ needs while they also meet their own.

Brand owners must understand the needs and goals of different people, which they often seek to meet through communities. These include: security, adventure, freedom, information and knowledge, power, breaking new ground, acceptance, and expression.

Opportunities

Similar to 'impact', opportunities for brands centre upon how much they can provide solutions to communities, or facilitate members in the meeting of each other’s needs and goals. For example, how can brands facilitate or provide:

• Communities that seek competition and adventure, for example rock climbing, travel, changing jobs, or finding a partner?
• Information exchange, such as professional networks or conferences, common interests, or people facing similar life problems, gaps or events?
• Communities focused around security type interests, such as jobs, health, neighbours, families, and financial investments?
• Practices and feelings of acceptance among community members, such as by way of gifting, communication, love, bondedness, and building self-esteem?
• Expression, such as around the arts, coaching, customisation and personalisation?

Shared emotional connection

This is about the development of closeness people of a community feel toward each other:

• The more people interact, the more likely they are to feel close to each other.
• The more positive a shared experience and the relationships are between members, the greater the bond between them.
• The more important a shared event is to those involved, the greater the community bond.
• The greater the investment, physical or emotional, the greater the closeness, connection and value attributed to the community.

Opportunities

• These tend to centre around how brands can facilitate shared emotional connection. Most often, this will be around content that people can share that will have value to members. For geographically distant members, the effect of using ‘content to communicate’ can bring members closer together.
• Other opportunities are around providing shared experiences that are valuable to members and which will, in turn, bring them closer together. Birthdays, days out, or other special festivals or celebrations are examples.

In Part Four, I look at different types of communities, and different types of community membership.

Steve is Head of Thought Leadership at Starcom MediaVest Group, London