The theme of the new year seems to be pointing sharply towards communities. 8 of the 10 things that will change our future as pointed out by the Sydney Morning Herald this week had a social element to it. And now Church of the Customer has defined 4 types of communities based on size and devotion.
As groups grow, devotion wanes and brands get diluted. If you are an established brand how do you continue to grow in size while maintaining high devotion? If you are an upstart brand how do you retain devotion while growing in size? For me the answer lies in creating cults within networks and cliques within nations.
Cliques to nations are natural subset of the same group. Both are communities of people that know each other and dress like each other. Cliques have a way of giving esoteric meaning to big brands in their local communities and those attributes then find there way into mass culture see New Era.
In the case of cliques to nations big brands stay fresh because people attribute new meaning to the brands and they share that common interest.
On the other hand cults to networks start new movements. New brands and ideas are formed, honed and put into practice here. If it works it will be shared along the network usually led by a charismatic visionary, see Bathing Ape.
In either case brands need to think like start-ups, mean something to a few and gain the attention of all. Cliques and Cults will do the rest for your brand.
