For those who remember Johnny Carson’s Carnack The Magnificent routine…
Belonging to the Brand was the answer.
And the question is – what is a great new marketing book about a community?
In 2014 I invited Mark Schaefer to speak at one of the first Wine Marketing Exchange Events my team and I created for Nomacorc, a wine closure company.
Mark is the author of ten marketing books, including his latest, Belonging to the Brand – Why Community is the Last Great Marketing Strategy. He writes a popular blog, is a terrific teacher, mentor, consultant, podcast host, and speaker, and has built an event called The Uprising.
Mark is one busy guy.
Most of all, Mark is a kind, caring, and curious human being. His work is anchored on being more human. He writes from the heart and shares wisdom from his life experiences.
And I’m honored to have him as a friend.
Déjà vu To You Too
As I read Mark’s latest book, I found something ironic because what Mark was describing throughout the book was precisely what my team and I set out to achieve more than a decade ago. That’s where I first met Mark when I invited him to speak at one of our first Wine Marketing Exchange events near Napa.
In 2014, Mark spoke about the future of digital business and storytelling.
At that time, Nomacorc, now called Vinventions, sold synthetic wine closures –corks. Ours had unique properties because they were like air filters that allowed a winemaker to control the flow of air to help the wine develop properly.
The company had many relationships with quality departments and technical teams at wineries, but we had few connections with wine marketing pros. And since our corks weren’t from tree bark, we had an uphill fight to communicate the features and benefits of our products.
In 2013, I thought there wasn’t a community and series of events focused on wine marketing professionals. No one, at that time, was serving them and focused on their interests. The marketing team and I felt we could create a community centered on belonging. We hypothesized it would help build our brand by creating a community with others interested in wine marketing.
Not to spoil the ending, but the strategy worked.
I remember pitching the idea to the CEO, my boss, Lars. I told him I wanted to build a community and develop relationships with people who influence decision-making on the types of closures they have on their wines. But I want to do it without any commercial engagement or transactional activities. It was purely community building that I believed would help our business grow over time.
Fortunately, Lars was an exceptional marketer and business leader with a remarkable career at P&G, Pergo, and elsewhere so he immediately got the idea. With his green light, we moved into action.
Building A Wine Marketing Community
Our idea was to build a wine marketing community through in-person events created to share ideas, build relationships, and not be commercial. There would also be a digital component too that we thought we might create through a Facebook group. We wanted to get to know wine marketing professionals and have them get to meet us. We called the community The Exchange.
We started by bringing together a group of wine marketing professionals who could help guide us on a steering committee—people like Paul Mabray. Paul is the digital wizard of wine.
This small group of thoughtful wine marketing leaders helped us envision and build a community. They guided us about what to do (and not do) to attract quintessential marketing people from the industry.
The community suggested the guests, speakers, and authors. They brought to our team topics they’d like to discuss and who would bring valuable insights, including retailers, distributors, and other influencers. The media was never allowed so that discussions could be open and transparent.
Typically, 75 people attend our event for a day of engaging discussion. After each event, we had a wine tasting followed by dinner for those who could stick around. Almost everyone stayed for the entire day and evening.
The event was so successful for Nomacorc that we took it to France, Italy, Spain, and Germany. As far as I know, The Exchange continues to this day.
We brought to these in-person events people like wine expert and digital master Gary Vaynerchuk, CMOs, and senior leaders from non-wine companies like StubHub, IDEO, Method, Whole Foods, Walmart, and Pepsi – to name a few.
Speakers inside and outside the wine marketing world shared insights and inspiration to help us collectively think about wine, marketing, and what’s coming next.
Mark was one of the first authors at our event whose earlier book Return On Influence was a great topic of interest to our audience of brand managers, directors, VPs, and CMOs from the great U.S. wine companies. We gave everyone a signed copy of his book.
We built a community.
And, to this day, even though I left Nomacorc in 2015, I am still connected to many wine marketing professionals who helped make this community flourish. It was an honor to be part of this project. And Mark helped to shape my thinking as the event evolved.
Creating this event with the Nomacorc marketing team is one of my proudest accomplishments as a marketing professional.
Belonging to the Brand
Mark’s book is another triumph in explaining how marketing keeps changing. He illustrates the power of building connections and relationships with in-person and digital campfires with plenty of practical examples.
I wish Mark’s new book had been around in 2013 because so many practical lessons could have helped us understand what we were getting into with our counterintuitive conference.
I strongly recommend you pick up a copy of Mark’s latest work for marketers who want to know how they can build belonging into their efforts.
He covers topics such as:
- Ten overlooked marketing advantages of brand community
- How personal community benefits like status and self-esteem transfer to brand loyalty.
- Where future societies will be discovered on Web3 and the Metaverse
- How to measure the marketing value of communities
- Insights on why brands need to move beyond social media and content marketing.
My Takeaways
I see five benefits that a brand should consider in building community.
- Increased customer loyalty: Building a community around a brand can create a sense of belonging and loyalty among customers, leading to repeat business and positive word-of-mouth marketing.
- Improved customer engagement: Communities provide a platform for customers to interact with the brand and with each other, which can increase engagement and provide valuable feedback.
- Enhanced brand awareness: Communities can help to spread the word about a brand and increase visibility, leading to greater brand awareness and potentially attracting new customers.
- Increased customer retention: Communities can help to retain customers by providing them with a sense of belonging and a connection to the brand.
- Cost-effective marketing: Building a community can be a cost-effective way to market a brand, as customers can become brand advocates and help to spread the word about the brand to their networks.
I’d urge you to order Mark’s book here. And you can connect with all things Mark here.
Here is a video from our event I found of Mark before the event started.
Cheers to Mark and another vital contribution to the marketing community.
You can set up a time to chat with me about your marketing challenges using my calendar. Email me jeffslater@themarketingsage.com Call me. 919 720 0995. The conversation is free, and we can explore if working together makes sense. Watch a short video about working with me.
