Our take on the World Economic Forum’s take on the “Community Economy”

The World Economic Forum reports that the way we interact online is driving a shift from the creator economy, to the ‘community economy.’ We’re not going to argue with that, but we’d really like to add a few things…

In a recent post 3 ways your business can build a community economy WEF explores how the early promise and decentralised functionality of Web3 is enabling a move from a top-down model where creator, brand, media owner - or Big Tech platform - owns an audience, to a more equitable and democratic user experience. As they go on to say:

“In the emerging community economy, all constituents – people, advertisers, publishers and brands – are on equal footing. Brands and media serve as the impetus or starting point for connection and can play an active role in cultivating the communities that build up around them.”

We know from experience that the community economy is a real opportunity for businesses to evolve how they build relationships and brand, how they grow their audience, develop new products and increase sales. But it’s not just about Web3.

The Direct to Community Economy

In our report The Direct to Community Economy first published in November 2020, the team at VOLUME explored how established media companies, niche publishers, DTC brands and Big Business were exploring and experimenting with content and community. In the community economy business models are built around, for - and with - like-minded people who play an active role in the development of the product, the content, directly informing the strategy of the business. The catalysts for this change include a decline in trust for big media and big tech, Web2 technologies making it easier than ever for people to find their ‘tribe’ - however niche that might be. And, of course, the impact of the pandemic when so much of our lives and our ‘community’ interaction happened on screens.

A Destination for Diverse Engagement

WEF define three ‘pillars that brands need to adhere to in order to build a thriving, healthy community.’ The third of these is to become a ‘destination for diverse engagement.’

“Media and brands need to shift their mindset away from a focus on content or product production…it’s about a bigger picture, involving shared values and interests. It’s about connecting with the community and trusting the brand”

Again, we couldn’t agree more. In our work since 2020 with B2B clients on community development and community based marketing (CBM) projects we’ve found a consistent truth - the most powerful factor and major benefit to community members is often not the connection they build with the brand or the direct communication and influence they gain, but rather the autonomous, peer to peer connections with fellow customers and clients that the brand enables by creating ‘its’ community.

A new blueprint 

WEF concludes:

“The community economy model promises a new chapter in online engagement, built on trust rather than authority. Now is the moment for brands to start mapping out their blueprint for the future.

Well we can help there too. The truth is there is so much hype around ‘community’ right now that we’ve seen lots of brands - and their agencies - doing a “pivot to community” but getting it just a little bit wrong.

For instance investing in big content and creative teams but under-resourcing distribution, audience development and community management in the belief that if you build it they will come.

Or by approaching community development like a theme park, packing in endless distractions, whistles and bells, rather than focusing first on why this needs to exist, the experience we will deliver and what gives us permission to do it.

To avoid this, and based on recent projects, the team at VOLUME has developed our Blueprint Process to build better communities from the ground up, by focusing on the architecture and engineering of the community before taking an experimental and incremental approach to build and management. 

If you want to explore the potential of community, and more importantly find out how to do it, we’d love to help.