Wildfang is for the rascals of the world, offering menswear to women — answering the prayers of tomboys everywhere — and liberating ladies to just be themselves. More than a brand, Wildfang is a movement and culture based on self-expression and not apologizing for who you are. With support from celebrities such as Ellen Page, Janelle Monae, Kate Mara and Evan Rachel Wood, Wildfang has become a wild success (pun intended) from its humble beginnings in Portland, OR by two friends, Emma McIlroy and Julia Parsley.
Today, CEO of Wildfang and overall bad-a$$, Emma McIlroy, is joining us to share her honest and helpful insight into community, and why it matters more than (and how it affects) commerce. And if that wasn’t enough, be sure to read more and scroll to the bottom of the post to find details on how to enter to win a $100 gift card to spend at Wildfang! –Sabrina
Before I begin, it’s important to note one caveat — perhaps even a confession: I am a brand marketer. That’s all I know how to do. I started a company not for the paycheck, but because I wanted to create a movement.
Additionally, our discussion isn’t really about picking sides, but rather about understanding the relationship between commerce and community. Community can fuel commerce to create something meaningful and long lasting.
What exactly is community? A community is a group of humans who share common attributes and ultimately feel bonded, like they belong to something or somewhere. In belonging to it, they also feel ownership of it. Commerce, on the other hand, is the activity of buying and selling, a set of transactions, an exchange of goods and money on a large scale. One is relationship-based, the other is transactional.
For me, there are four reasons why community trumps commerce when building a new brand:
Reason #1: If you are going to be successful, you must make a meaningful difference in the consumer’s life. Full stop. The end. When you focus on commerce, you are focused on the numbers – on closing the deal – and a lot less interested in the human behind those numbers. Why are they making those choices? What drives them? What else do they need? Ultimately you have a business because of your consumer, and everything you do needs to start and end with them – them as people, not as numbers. Brands like Uber and AirBnB shook up the travel industry, Spotify and Pandora created aftershocks in the music industry – all because they understood their consumers’ needs and motivations and answered them. The answer happened to be a fresh and disruptive business model, but that would never have been possible if they hadn’t been laser-focused on enhancing a consumer’s life and solving their problems.
Reason #2: The appealing thing about community is that it puts a value on the relationships you hold with a consumer, but also the ones they hold with each other — unlike commerce, which essentially focuses on the purchase alone. Focusing on the transaction is, of course, important for your bottom line and profitability, but it ignores the value of your wider fan base. Not all your fans can buy your brand – but perhaps they can help build it. Do they share it on social media and build awareness? Do they make your brand more aspirational for others? The world of retail is a fickle one. Without fully appreciating your community to its fullest extent, you may be in for a bumpy ride. Start-ups like Dolls Kill and Ipsy have embraced social media and influencer marketing since day one, leaving them with thriving fan bases and impressive revenues.
Reason #3: I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the world doesn’t need another retailer. Consumers don’t need somewhere else to buy things. This isn’t 1995. Every possible marketplace is already crowded and the consumer has multiple options to buy everything their heart desires. Therefore start-ups need to stand out in other ways, beyond simply their existence. They need to create trust, emotional connection, loyalty – similar to the kind you have with your family or local neighbors. Additionally those things are not based on price or number of SKUs, they are based on intangible, they are an art form, not a science. That makes it very hard to copy a great community, which is a phenomenal advantage for a young business to tout: we can’t be copied. There will be many airlines but there’s only one Virgin America. There are many options for running shoes but there’s only one Nike. We know there are hundreds of smartphones, but we all want an iPhone.
Reason #4: When you build a community it can function without you. That’s because they are connected to one another and they believe in something beyond just a commercial transaction with you. That may sound terrifying to all the control freaks (read “CEOs”) in the room, but it’s something to be embraced. If a group of people are motivated by your mission and feel like they belong and are valued beyond their purchase, then they can build your brand for you. They can guide you and show you opportunities that you didn’t realize existed. Ultimately, with your community’s help, you can create a momentum you didn’t realize was possible. From No Fear in the 90s, to SnapChat in 2014, a great community can grow far beyond anything you could ever have achieved on your own.
In the business of modern online retail, commerce must be fueled by community in order to create a business model that is differentiated, difficult to copy and built to last. Otherwise you’re just another guy selling shoes. Speaking of which, let me leave you with some words that I have written on the wall by my desk: “Build something that matters,” Blake Mycoskie, Founder of TOMS.
Some tips for creating a community:
- Start with a mission that matters to your consumer – solve a problem and be driven by their needs. What you’re doing must matter to give. They have to give a sh*t.
- Ensure your values and voice are clearly defined. At Wildfang we had a brand plan long before we had a business plan. Remember it’s as important to define what you are NOT, as what you are.
- Listen to your fans and empower them. At some point you realize that, yes, you have tight brand values and a clear DNA, but they own this thing as much as you do. Start listening and give them the power to own it and shape it with you.
- Live and breathe your community’s culture. Be steeped in it. It’s the only way to be authentic and credible.
- Have relentless belief. There will be plenty of criticism along the way when you aren’t motivated by commerce alone. As my friend and mentor Mark Simo, Founder of No Fear, recently said to me: “Creating a brand is like creating a religion. It’s faith in the unseen, the intangible. And you better be ready to preach it nonstop.”
Wildfang loves its community so much that they’re giving away $100 to spend at Wildfang! To enter, comment on this blog post with your answer to the following: Who inspires your tomboy style and why?
via Design*Sponge http://ift.tt/1fxwNZf From Sabrina Smelko
No comments:
Post a Comment