Virtual Cultures: Can Brands Benefit?

Today I developed a philosophy; Facebook is my friend. While that may not be as deep as you anticipated, let me tell you that Facebook provides my with an exuberant amount of opportunities that run as deep as the proverbial rabbit hole. It not only lets me be myself, but also adds to who I am in real life and often reveals parts of my identity I did not know were there.

What got me thinking about this was Axel Bruns’ (2008) statement that, “A potential benefit arising out of Virtual Cultures is the emergence of new forms of personal and physical identity”. While this comment was made in reference to people like me online, I began to wonder if it could to some degree also refer to much more, including brands on the internet. In assessing whether this may be so, I find it pertinent to ask the question: Can brands be active in a virtual culture which generates a new form of individual and physical identity, elevating them to a level above brands only present in the natural world?

So, can a brand be active in a virtual culture? Of course. Firstly, the most outstanding example of a brand being active in a virtual culture is in online brand communities. A normal brand community is a community formed on the basis of attachment to a product or brand. Online, these often develop out of a marketer's use of transmedia planning, when trying to create hype about a brand or product (Oke, 2006). It is the process of constructing a ‘Collective Intelligence’ (Jenkins, 2006) usually over a viral marketing campaign that is described by Jason Oke of major advertising agency Leo Burnett to be like, “I've seen the advertising, you've been to an event, she's tried the product, he's had a good experience, and we all compare notes” (Oke, 2006). With the infusion of the internet into daily life, it has never been simpler for people to relate experiences and compare notes with anyone anywhere in the world.

What is so important about these virtual networks, however, is their ability to allow brands to transcend mere communities and create a more meaningful resonance with the consumer. It is this group collective which is fostering brand loyalty into a new era, but also creating apparent brand obsession. This obsession has had such an effect, that Kevin Roberts, Worldwide CEO of distinguished advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi, has produced an online portal for his idea of 'lovemarks', brands that inspire loyalty beyond reason. On this website, active and new members of brand communities can do everything from discuss brands they love to nominating brands they believe deserve to be a ‘lovemark’. It is this idea that when online, brand communities allow the brand to become so much more that it may take on a new existence. An if not different, enhanced identity in the Virtual Culture which passes through to the natural world.

But it is not only through sought interaction with brand communities that brands exist in a Virtual Culture. User generated content is a phenomenon gaining increasing acknowledgment and academic study. There are websites and networks such as YouTube or Zooppa, dedicated to users generating their own content. What is significant to note here is how user generated content is being used by companies to create advertising for their products or brands. Take the Sony example, where the person who created their ad was in fact Tyson Ibele, a 19 year old from Minneapolis. This Participatory Culture places brands on an interaction level closer to consumers than those in the natural world. In turn a new form of brand identity is formed.

Whether these notions of online brand communities and user generated content are elevating brands to a level above others in the natural world may be assessed simply. Online, there is more opportunity for consumers to interact and develop personal brand meaning which gives these brands a new identity in the natural world. When a brand is present in a Virtual Culture, the parent company may tap into the numerous consequent benefits, but do they have control over them? Another question for another time (but for now I recommend you look at Melindamarie’s post on ‘Advertising and Produsage’).

Until then,
a*ms

Reference List (including links)

Bruns, A. (2008). KCB201 Online Communities: Week 6 Podcast. Retrieved April 17, 2008, from http://blackboard.qut.edu.au/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab =courses&url=/bin/common/course.pl?course_id=_29175_1

Yakob, F. (2006). Transmedia Planning. Retrieved April 17, 2008, from http://farisyakob.typepad.com/blog/2006/10/transmedia_plan.html

Oke, J. (2006). Transmedia planning & brand communities. Retrieved April 17, 2008, from http://lbtoronto.typepad.com/lbto/- 2006/10/transmedia_plan.html

Jenkins, H. (2006). Convergence culture: When new and old media collide. New York: New York University.

Wilson, R. (2005). The Six Simple Principles of Viral Marketing. Retrieved April 17, 2008, from http://www.wilsonweb.com/wmt5/viral-principles.htm

Saatchi & Saatchi. (2008). Lovemarks.com. Retrieved May 17, 2008, from
http://www.lovemarks.com/

Youtube.com. (2008). Retrieved May 17, 2008, from http://www.youtube.com/

Zooppa.com. (2008). Retrieved May 17, 2008, from http://www.zooppa.com/

Bosman, J. (2006). User-generated content starts to take hold in advertising. Retrieved May 17, 2008, from http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/05/11/business/ads.php