Analyse a Brand Community of Your Choice - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages Brand communities are termed as very complex and its members are often known to relate their personal identity with a brand community. Customer expectations and wants are largely characteristics of these brand communities (Wiegandt, 2009, p.15). The present study would try to analyse the aspect of brand communities and particularly the brand community of Apple. The choice of product assumes significance as it is one of the most renowned brands of the globe and has a high brand image and popularity. Brand Community Brand communities have several characteristic features with the most prominent being the aspect of awareness of a particular type. This includes the aspect of sharing a set of common faith and beliefs among the members of the group within the group i.e., homogenous within the group and heterogeneous outside the group (Ratneshwar & Mick, 2005, p.256).The discussions in brand communities normally involves discussion about the various aspects of only a particular brand. One of the online brand communities of Apple includes only aspects that are related to the brand. This includes advertisements and information about new products and company news. These do not contain any information about any brand other than Apple. The views and comments of the members are also essentially concentrated around the same aspect. This essentially is in tune with the aspect of homogeneity between the group members and heterogeneous with other groups. In this case the identity of the group members is masked by the identity of the brand and aspects relating to the brand assume greater importance (Schau & Muniz, 2002). Parsons & Maclaran (2009), state that one of the essential aspects and characteristic features of brand communities involve the instance of consumption based on collective traits. The example of the Apple brand and community is a very realistic example of this aspect. In the Apple community emphasis is only given on the common interests of the members of the brand which in this case is the love and interest about Apple’s products and services as well as other relevant information that is related to the brand as a whole (Parsons & Maclaran, 2009, p.94). The aspect of ethical marketing is also closely linked with the brand communities. The importance of ethics in marketing activities has been rigorously researched in various academic and professional circles. The main goal of marketing activities is to increase the market share and marketers are known to use various means to do so. The era of competition has also increased the use of unethical aspects. Brand communities are an easy target for marketers considering their affinity towards a brand. However, ethical aspects need to be included so that the loyalty is maintained with the members of the community (Carrigan, Marinova & Szmigin, 2005, p.481-486). Apple’s marketing strategy is largely based on focussing upon the product and innovation associated with the products. The company does not try to go into sentimental issues and largely focuses on the product while promoting it in the market. These aspects go well with the communities of the brand that helps generate advantage for the organization. Brand communities ...Download file to see next pagesRead More