… if you do get it, it’s hilarious, isn’t it?
Building a brand – building a tribe or a community – is easy. And it’s hard.
“We buy what we buy because our choices remind us – and tell the world around us – who we are.” – Roy H. Williams
Make your members feel special. Remind them they’re different. Make them feel part of an inside joke.
Allow them to give knowing glances to each other. Allow them to LIKE the fact that other people don’t get it.
“It’s a Jeep thing. You wouldn’t understand.”
“Can you put peanut butter in that?”
Or a t-shirt at my favorite blog featuring clowns piling out of the TARDIS.
Want to apply this?
First, a number: $74,000,000 (USD)
That’s Harley Davidson’s merchandise sales for fourth quarter 2012. Harley Davidson sold 74 million dollars worth of t-shirts and skull caps and chaps and shot glasses and stuff in three months.
Why? Because of what the brand stands for – even to dentists in do-rags.
It’s not just a bike … but what that bike represents: freedom and non-conformity.
Want to start building a brand that strong?
All you have to do is mirror the deeply-held values you already have. Decide what you believe. Decide what you stand for. Decide what you stand against.
Remember, as Carl Rogers reminded us, that what you are is good enough, and that you should be it openly.
Make bold choices about your brand, and you’ll attract your tribe.
(Wait, Tim? What’s that t-shirt with the clowns all about??)
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