Brands want to be more than your friend. They want community.

This is the new backdrop for brand strategy. Radical individualism is out, social connection is in. Brand focus is not on the end customer, but on the communities they belong to. Just as personas made individual consumers visible, the new brand methodology makes visible consumer communities and their co-dependencies and influences. New focus of eng

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As high quality content and effective brand strategy move down the long tail, “community” has become an important concept for every post-Web 2.0 player. Crypto token holders, influencer fanbases, DTC brand customers, creator audiences, and new social networks are all often referred to as communities, and each has a stake in developing community for... See more

People are looking for more meaningful narratives and communities than brands can offer, and companies want to supply this “meaning demand”—but are structurally disincentivized to do so.

Here are some questions to add more nuance and rigor around the potential for GTC in your company:

• Who is in our community and why are they here? Who is not in the community?


• What value will we create for the community, whether or not they are paying customers?


• What value will the members provide each other?


• How will we listen, talk to, and be direc

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