Brand Communities and How Goop Gets People Talking

Creating a sense of community around your brand can be one of the most powerful marketing techniques in the world - but it's not something that can be forced.

The rewards of brand communities seem obvious - the benefits of having an army of engaged followers talking about your brand and helping spread the word clearly speak for themselves. But the question is - how do you get to that point, and what creates a brand community?

Communities don't just spring fully formed from the ether. Indeed, if you want your brand to have its own community of loyal and dedicated fans, you're going to need to put some work in.

Brand Community

What is the goal of building a community around your brand? Contrary to what you might expect, it's not to create a slavering horde of fanboys/girls who will aggressively shill for your company in the comment sections of any social media post which even vaguely criticizes it (think Apple vs Android fans, Xbox vs PlayStation fans), etc. While this sort of thing can be entertaining to watch, it is not what we mean when we talk about creating a community for your brand.

We are looking to create something more positive here - conversation, reduced support costs, and a boost to customer success. The most successful brand communities are ones which support fellow customers by answering questions, guiding purchase decisions, and recommending products. They take pressure off the brand's resources by essentially outsourcing a portion of its customer support department to the community.

"The majority of brand communities today are hosted on an online platform where members ask questions and share advice with one another," reports Harvard Business Review. "For example, in Sephora's community, customers can help each other find the best beauty products for them. In Atlassian's community, developers can ask questions, get help to setup, and use Atlassian's products. And the Apple brand community lets you ask questions and get help to fix Apple products."

However, in order to get to this stage, you first have to get people talking about your brand. This is probably the hardest part of the process - and there are basically two options. You can be controversial - which is an incredibly hard thing to get right, as a step too far in the wrong direction can drive people away. Alternatively, you can offer something nobody else is doing and attract people through uniqueness (and being founded by a major Hollywood celebrity doesn't hurt either).

Which brings us to Goop.

Goop

Founded by Oscar winning actor Gwyneth Paltrow, Goop has had no shortage of controversy in its relatively short life. Marketed as a new-age health and wellness brand, primarily for women, Goop has seen remarkable success, largely due to the way it builds a solid community around itself.

Goop makes a point of releasing certain off-the-wall products which are designed to create buzz and conversation around the brand - such as the "This Smells Like My Vagina Candle". Such products get discussed everywhere on social media which then bring people to the website out of curiosity. Once there, they are exposed to the products Goop actually wants to sell them - and the message of wellness and community is hammered home.

In addition, Goop has created a specific reputation for itself by using its products to encourage discussion around female sexuality and sexual health.

"For a lot of people, a vibrator is still considered a pretty racy thing," said Founder and CEO, Gwyneth Paltrow. "That has obviously changed a lot over the past decade. But still, people are triggered by sexual content or triggered by their own sexuality. Women are not taught a certain vernacular and how to express what we want. We're not good at being vulnerable about our own sexuality."

The controversy and incredulousness which revolves around Goop from without helps to create a sense of brand loyalty and belonging from within. Goop then fosters this feeling by providing an actual community where its customers can gather, talk about their health, sexuality, recommend products, and all the other good stuff we discussed above.

This has led to Goop being described as "the internet's kooky rich aunt" - and, let's be honest, who doesn't aspire to be kooky and rich?

Final Thoughts

Fostering a community around your brand should be a priority. Get people talking and create buzz around your products and you will save money and boost profits as a result. Goop's methods obviously won't suit everyone, but there's no denying its results.

You can hear Goop's Director of Ecommerce and Search, Courtney Messerli speak at eTail Palm Springs 2022, taking place February 28 to March 02 in Palm Springs, CA.

Download the agenda today for more information and insights.