Thread by @zoescaman

When it comes to the concept of 'community', most brands and marketers see it purely as building a following who they can then broadcast out to on a regular basis, without having to shell out more and more ad-cash to reach them.

But they're missing an important point...

True communities are not passive recipients of communications, they are peer-to-peer, participative players, with whom you can create insanely valuable feedback loops, which help to drive the brand and business forwards.

They are GENERATIVE.

An incredible example of this is Spotify's 'Rockstars' program, a close-knit community of 50 of their most avid fans who not only love the product but who are helping to drive it in new and exciting directions.

community.spotify.com/t5/Rock-Stars/…

Spotify recognised their passion and reframed it as potential - to unlock new ideas, to shine a light on blindspots, to identify new needs and functionality.

And so they built a special program just for them to do exactly that.

The 'Rockstars' get access to Spotify around the clock, they share their thoughts & feedback, they meet with devs, they test new app features, they have exclusive merch and once a year, the 10 most active head to Stockholm to meet one another and get the red carpet experience.

This is not one-to-many 'community' marketing (not really a thing).

This is not crowdsourcing.

This is not a gimmick.

This is, arguably, a business critical endeavour that every brand should be investing in.

Whether it be 50 or 500 or 5,000, fan feedback loops matter. A lot.

For more on this, listen to this great deep dive chat from @wilsonspeaks as she dives into the Spotify/Rockstars program with Allison Leahy, Head of Social Care & Community at Spotify and Oscar Osornio, a member of the Rock Stars program.

And her key takeaways from the chat can be found here:

digitalcampfires.co/recaps/how-spo…