If a brand wants to build social communities, capital and influence, it must become the chief celebrant of its community, not its celebrity. This simple shift in approach unlocks enormous transformative potential for brands.
Interpretation
Brands should focus on engaging with their communities rather than promoting themselves as celebrities.
This quote emphasizes that for brands to effectively build strong social connections, they must prioritize being a part of their community and celebrating it, rather than positioning themselves as the centers of attention. By embracing this community-centric approach, brands can unlock greater potential for growth and influence, transforming how they relate to their audience and fostering deeper connections. It advocates for a shift from a self-serving to a service-oriented mindset in branding.
In practice
In a presentation on modern marketing strategies, you could say this quote to emphasize community engagement.
If a brand genuinely wants to make a social contribution, it should start with who they are, not what they do. For only when a brand has defined itself and its core values can it identify causes or social responsibility initiatives that are in alignment with its authentic brand story.
Today's consumers are eager to become loyal fans of companies that respect purposeful capitalism. They are not opposed to companies making a profit; indeed, they may even be investors in these companies - but at the core, they want more empathic, enlightened corporations that seek a balance between profit and purpose.
Transforming a brand into a socially responsible leader doesn't happen overnight by simply writing new marketing and advertising strategies. It takes effort to identify a vision that your customers will find credible and aligned with their values.
If a company is second rate, the logo will eventually be perceived as second rate. It is foolhardy to believe that a logo will do its job immediately, before an audience has been properly conditioned.
If your stories are all about your products and services, that's not storytelling. It's a brochure. Give yourself permission to make the story bigger.
If you have more money than brains, you should focus on outbound marketing, If you have more brains than money, you should focus on inbound marketing.
Facts are irrelevant. What matters is what the consumer believes.
A great ad campaign will make a bad product fail faster. It will get more people to know it's bad.
Virality is not an accident. It is engineered. And that's why growth hackers beat traditional marketers.
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