Tribal quest for authenticity

This post has moved!
Please visit http://tribaling.com/consumption-is-existential-consumption-is-complicated-it-is-existential-people-do-not-only-consume-to-live-but-to-exis/

 

Consumption is existential

Consumption is complicated. It is existential. People do not only consume to live, but to exist. They consume the meanings and images of brands, rather than the objects themselves. Most of the time the functionality of an object is taken for granted. The meanings and images that people consume are used to produce a wide range of identities which can link them to others. That is why people value brands for their linking ability.

Authenticity is very important to people, but perhaps not in the way we might expect. Most of the time it is not about the material, or uniqueness of an object. After all people purchase degraded copies all the time. What is more important is the authenticity of social links. Consumption is about being linked to a certain group of people, that a person wants to identify with. 'Being real' with a group, is more important than the 'real deal' of an object.

 

Consumption is chaotic

Consumption is complicated. It is like a dance of polarities. At one time people tag along for the ride, and in the next they go renegade. For a while they play out their scripted parts on a commercial stage. They are aware that they are being manipulated, decide to what extent they want to be, and in the end they manipulate too. Consumption is played out within the confines of a stage which no one truly controls!

For example companies exercise very little control over how their brands spread and accumulate new meaning. Brands circulate like stories, in a wide range of contexts, and gain new meaning in each re-telling. When people start blending a brand into their life, they add their own dreams, goals, ideals, and meanings. By adding a little piece of themselves to a brand, people de-commercialize it and add authenticity.

 

Consumption is social

Consumption is complicated. It is social. People do not consume to exist on their own, but to belong. In the wake of individualism people are re-digging their roots and building community through tribes.

Tribes are not driven by rational ideas, or commercial interests, but strong passions and emotions. People are rarely passionate about being monetized, and the inertia within a tribe is not monetary capital, but tribal capital. They do things to build identity, 'be in the know', or more trivially 'be in'.

Tribes thrive along the outskirts of mainstream culture, producing their own cultural material, rituals, identities and meanings. They also partake in a dance of polarities, as they both resist and play with the market. They are artists, entrepreneurs, hijackers and plunderers – all at the same time. They pride themselves in their diverseness, but can also enjoy the attention they get from mass market and media. This exchange provides a fragrance of legitimacy and confirmation.

Tribes offer a powerful retreat to a primitive past, where humans banded in small groups, with tight bonds, and shared peace with one another, nature and their true selves. An ideal vision of the past when  people were free to express themselves unburdened by various constraints. A tribe is, for it's members, a vehicle for authentic identities, community, and expression.

 

Concluding thoughts

Tribes do not want to be approached by the protocols of mass communication. Their very existence is based on being a special group on the fringe of mainstream society. They can be uneasy of commercial involvement, because they are driven by other interests. At the same time they may enjoy the legitimacy and confirmation that a commercial actor can bring.

A company can never be as authentic as a tribe, but a company can signal openness. This calls for co-operation, and support rather than exploitation. Companies should keep in mind that if a tribe can help communicate their message, it will always be more authentic. Empowering tribal leaders in this endeavor can be a powerful strategy. To be successful companies need to understand how tribes work, and what they value. This implies myths, rituals, traditions, roles, codes, and ideals. In a time when people are becoming increasingly weary of classic advertising, and on the hunt for authenticity, tribes can be a company's best friend.

---

References
Cova, Kozinets, Shankar (2007), Consumer Tribes, Elsevier
Carú, Cova (2007). Consuming Experience, Routledge

 

 

 

 

Why your company should care about tribes, and tips on getting started

This post has moved!
Please visit http://tribaling.com/why-tribes-matter-our-society-and-culture-has-changed-big-time-people-have-rebelled-against-collective-ideals-as-gi/

 

 

 

 

 

Why tribes matter

Our society and culture has changed – big time. People have rebelled against collective ideals, as given by institutions, and cultural authorities. They have become more individualistic, zealously pursuing freedom in all aspects of life. They now enjoy the possibility of many choices with minimal constraints. Companies have long catered to these needs by offering products which help people to become freer, such as the possibility to shop online from the comfort of one's own home.

On one hand we see social erosion and extreme individualism. On the other people are embarking on a reverse movement to re-compose their social universe. They are digging new roots through tribes, which share a common passion, such as Italian cooking, snowboarding, World of Warcraft, or U2.

Tribes have become the major component in the construction of identity, as they are more important than jobs, social class, age and sex. What this means is that a 24 year old Swede, that loves skiing can have more in common, and feel a greater connection, with his tribal friends in Seattle and Auckland, than his similarly aged neighbors and colleagues.

As tribes are redefining who people are, they should also do the same for companies and organizations. After all tribes are changing the way people value and consume brands. Through the lens of individualism it makes sense that brands are valued for their ability to make people freer. However through the lens of tribes we understand that brands are valued for their linking ability. (See movie about re-defining of the company.)

How companies can go tribal

Many companies and marketers are not built for tribal society. Their visions, goals and methods stem from a time that pre-dates tribes. They are lopsidedly clinging to theory that leans heavily on psychology, which has very little to say about social groups. Other examples are the lack of qualitative research, and a strategy built around segmentation.

Here is a list that can inspire your company to to start adopting a tribal strategy:

1.Research. How can we learn about tribes, what they are, and how they function? You should consider qualitative methods, and expertise in sociology, anthropology and ethnography.

2.Defining your business. Why does your company exist? How are you helping your customers connect?

3.Defining your brand. What is the linking value of your brand? How can it be used as a cultural resource to construct meaning and identity?

4.Defining your audience. (note: target group may convey the wrong idea, as we do not only want to target, but engage in dialogue/participation.) Which tribes do you want to support? Do you want to support the creation of new tribes?

5.Defining your message. What do you have to say, and how do you want to say it – to the various roles of a tribe, including it's supporters?

6.Media. Consider the pros and cons of purchased and earned media. How are you going to reach your tribes (traditional segmentation may not help or be ineffective)?

7.Defining your actions. How will you listen, learn and engage with tribes?

Good luck with your tribaling!

Brands are raw materials

This post has moved!
Please visit http://tribaling.com/brands-are-raw-materials/

 

 

 

 

 

The prelude
I believe it's fair to say that companies and marketers are more interested in the way their brands are impacting consumers, than the other way around. This is not surprising in any way, considering that this has been the dominating focal point for brand literature. The question is, to what extant do consumers impact a brand, if at all? Why should companies care?

Battle for the mind
In traditional marketing the company designs a brand identity, much akin to a personality, which is transmitted to consumers. This often involves advertising, but also stresses the point of consistency in all aspects. A successful result of this endeavor is a brand image in the mind of consumers, which closely mirrors the personality of the brand. In this school of thought consumers are passive drones, which can be programmed through a battle for the mind.

Consuming brands
Consumer culture theory raises the question: Is it really that simple? Consumers appear to be more active, resistant and participatory in their consumption. They are not driven by rational decisions, but by deeper meaning. They no longer consume to live, but to exist. This shifts the aim of consumption from basic needs to identity. Consumption becomes an existential quest, leading to the production of meaning, and ultimately identity. On the small scale a purchase may be considered a minor step, but the grander picture may be a crossing, upon a path, upon a journey, finally leading to the construction of a pyramid!

Where work earlier played a major role in the shaping of identity, consumption has taken the lead. Consumers now flock to the market to shop identities. This allows them to reinforce or develop them, as well as assume temporary identities which can be cast aside. Temporary identities offer consumers a possibility to explore new meanings in their lives.

Consumption of brands is a dance of polarities. At one time the customers play along, and the next they move in opposite directions. Consumers and their relationship to companies are unstable to say the least. They are equally participatory, and rebellious.

Brands are raw materials
Consumption is never simple, as it involves more than merely purchasing. Consumers do not accept prepackaged brand images, as designed by the company. They grapple with them, alter them, add to them, and finally blend them into their lives. They cannot consume a brand, without becoming the brand and the brand becoming them. Brands are raw materials which consumers use to construct their identities. These raw materials are being mixed up with dreams, stories, history, values, meaning, and ideals. In this aspect consumers are producers, as the meaning of a brand is continuously being authored in multiple social contexts.

Conclusion
Companies that pride themselves in the management of their brand have to take on a broader perspective of the consumer. By studying how consumers are using their brands as cultural resources to construct identities, they can learn how to better support them. The larger role a brand plays in the construction of identity, the more valuable it becomes.

 

---

References
Cova, Kozinets, Shankar (2007), Consumer Tribes, Elsevier
Carú, Cova (2007). Consuming Experience, Routledge