9 Types of Brand Community
Andrew Lockhart at Thinking Interactive posted an excellent article on the 9 the nine types of brand communities expanding on Sean Moffit’s article at Buzz Canuck. Examining this model is definitely relevant for Cameesa and other community based sites.
The above diagram outlines the level of commitment and involvement a community offers and its effects on brand impact.
A quick overview of the categories is as follows:
Commitment
1. Open – Communities that don’t require registration and allow anonymous participation. An example would be an anonymous posting on a blog.
2. Registration – Most common, sign up to participate.
3. Purchase – Community based around the purchase of a product. The membership can also be the product. Example, pay a fee to join an exclusive community.
4. Outside Selection – Members are selected by existing community members or an organizer as registration is not open to everyone.
Involvement/Interaction
1. Spectators – Members who join a community to gain the benefits and contribute or participate very little.
2. Critics – Members that participate with comments, tagging, rating, reviewing, voting, etc.
3. Creators – Tend to be the most active members on community sites in terms of content contribution.
How the model applies to Cameesa.
I know the model as presented by Andrew and Sean is not rigid with fixed boundaries and is assumed that there is overlap and variety between communities. However, Cameesa’s model of Creating, Supporting and Buying is a tightly knit eco-system that needs high levels of participation from all its members and promotes high levels of interaction between all of them.
Broken down as follows:
Artists “the Creators”- upload their artwork to be printed on t-shirts (High degree of involvement).
Supporter’s “The Critics”- seek out designs that inspire them and fund it’s printing (Also, a high degree of involvement). The word “critic” is not as appropriate for the Cameesa community as supporters will most likely support artwork they enjoy, actively moving towards the products they’d like to see succeed.
Buyer’s “The Spectators” – Seek out shirts they are crazy about and purchase them.
A community member can fill all of the roles as they are not exclusive. In terms of commitment, creating and supporting require registration while purchasing does not. On the whole each pillar is important in the Cameesa community in order to produce quality tees the design savvy will enjoy. Artists and supporters will collect the proceeds to sustain their activity on the site while providing an excellent breeding ground for high quality designs. All will have a significant impact on the Cameesa brand.
