Just because someone knows about or has purchased from a brand does not ensure that they are part of an engaged brand community. 

A brand community is not similar to brand awareness. Instead, it is a place where people who have an emotional connection with the brand can connect with each other and with the brand. “Every brand indulges in marketing. Most brands advertise but only iconic brands create communities and tribes and are privileged to build a culture,” states Shubhranshu Singh, Global Head-Brand & Marketing, Royal Enfield. 

Speaking at the BW Top 50 Marketers 2021, Singh elaborates that brands which thrive via community, tend to give their customers the means to express themselves and experience community belongingness.  

“The brand’s stake on a community has to be a strategic point of view. It has to be central to the idea of creating value which garners competitive advantage for the brands. Brands only create propositions whereas positioning is always done in the minds of the consumers. The last thing a brand should do is to dictate to its customers,” he adds. 

Singh says that brands with a purpose are on their way to becoming evolved and iconic. “This purpose needs to become action and the action requires consistency. Collaboration is paramount and customers are the most important ingredient in forming a community,” he comments. 

He sums up his observations by sharing how brand tribalism acts as a very powerful and fundamental phenomenon in social organizations, stating, “Tribalism is about belongingness, identity and culture all rolled into one. Tribal brands outlast any number of technological and market disruptions and are able to emerge as winners.”