Ask any Dyson owner. Or any Birkenstock owner. Or those that go religiously to North Street Store for a freshly baked cinnamon scroll and a coffee on the weekend. Sometimes, the product, service, or experience you buy is about more than the brand. It’s a reflection of your identity. It’s about the tribe you belong to.
One of the best examples of this is very close to my heart.
I had the good fortune of growing up near Fremantle and spent an enormous amount of time on the iconic South Terrace cappuccino strip during my childhood in the late 80s and 90s. I am, through and through, a Freo person — even though I don’t live there anymore.
While the bougie types further north have more recently discovered the many brilliant gems Freo and the surrounding areas have to offer, for decades, it was us and them — those who got it and those who didn’t.
Yes, Fremantle is a city but it’s also a brand.
Many of today’s most successful brands use this strategy to considerable effect — critical in 2023 as the tactics of old no longer cut through.
Perhaps the most famous example is Apple, a brand whose customers line up for days to get their hands on the newest iPhone at a price point far higher than their competitors. Yet, their customers would never dream of making a choice.
Richard Branson’s Virgin Group was also one of the original ‘tribes’ — disruptive, exciting and a Robin Hood anti-hero of sorts in the industries Virgin had so much success.
So, what’s the difference between building a brand and a tribe?
Harking back to ancient times, tribes are anchored in intense loyalty and a common goal. They’re also divisive — the “us vs. them” mentality is so effective in rousing the emotional and mental connection that, in turn, inspires us to forgo other logical factors like price or availability.
Tribes are also about inclusivity. Once you’re in, you’re in. Post-pandemic, brands that don’t make us feel something — connected, purpose-driven and transparent — will quickly lose relevance to those that do.
This divisive, us against the rest approach is very familiar here in WA.
Arguably, one of the most influential proponents of this comes from the political arena, spearheaded by Mark McGowan and continued by his successor, Roger Cook.
In Cook’s first keynote as Premier at the Leadership Matters event last month, the “West v East” narrative, so familiar to us now, featured so strongly that it has formed the basis of his WA embassy in Canberra plan. This is patently about tribe building, building engagement and loyalty by anchoring in more deeply to our emotions and rallying against a cause.
Whether or not voters buy into this remains to be seen but Cook’s decision to employ this tactic is no coincidence.
This same philosophy applies to the hordes of local businesses building a more diversified offering with their branded merchandise.
This trend shows no sign of slowing down any time soon.
Think of your favourite brewery down south or that restaurant you’ve been dying to try — likely because you’ve seen their merch on social media.
We’ve also seen a shift from social media’s mega and macro influencers towards “everyday brand champions” of user-generated content. That is, your average person sharing their purchasing decisions on social media simply because they want to.
What’s driving all of this is that as consumers, we want to connect more to the brands we engage with, whether those brands be products, politicians, restaurants or the suburbs we choose or aspire to live in. We want to see and feel the beating heart of a brand rather than just being “sold to”.
And more than that, we want to feel we are part of the brand — part of a movement, part of a tribe.
This doesn’t happen without a clear vision, purpose, or identifiable brand story.
Gone are the days when a company’s leaders’ personal brand or values didn’t matter. Millennials and their younger Gen Z counterparts — poised to be the largest consumer group in the world by 2026 — are driving higher standards and expectations of every brand they deal with.
And in our post-pandemic world, a sense of belonging is more important than ever.
For more from Lanna Hill, visit leveragemedia.com.au.