There’s much to learn from the small-town Chai shops. These are not just about serving a good cup of tea, but very often a place to unwind, catch up with friends, and strangers who could potentially become friends. It’s where there are discussions around politics to fueling local gossip. And the Chai shop owner plays the role of sometimes conversation starter and sometimes facilitator. But what is fascinating is this little community that is formed. Sale of tea is ensured. What is lasting though is not only the taste of a good cuppa, but the fellowship.
Too often today young startups for lack of direction chase transactions. Sales are important, yes. However, that’s like putting the cart before the horse. You need to ensure sustained sales. And that is through creating a strong relationship with consumers and creating a community.
Brands that have done it pretty successfully are the Amazons of the world. The big ecom players have constantly looked at consumer insights and built a community around convenience, information, support, etc.
A mall brand like Phoenix MarketCity has created a huge community with their entertainment activities. People follow them to know how they’re going to be engaged by this brand. Footfalls and sales automatically follow.
Hard Rock, Blue Frog, and a lot of newer Café brands, have community managers in their payroll with a brief to only create opportunities to engage with prospective customers through events, knowledge gaining interactions, etc. They naturally have innumerable brand ambassadors.
Kyoorius Paper, created a phenomenal community of designers and design enthusiasts with their property Design Yatra. This is an annual event that is now well over 10 years old, that curates interesting design speakers. These designers are not just restricted to graphic but include engineering, brand, story telling, recycling, etc. So they now have a massive bunch of people who associate the Kyoorius brand with edgy design, and by natural progression associate Kyoorius Paper as edgy, creative and a must-use.
So even if you think someone may not be interested in buying your product or service right away, if you believe that they are like to be your customer in the future, figure out how you are going to engage them in something relevant to them and slowly include them in your community.
Some ways to go about it:
- Find a connect between your product and what the brand stands for
- Create a property that goes beyond your product (like Kyoorius Design Yatra)
- Size doesn’t matter, similar thinking matters. It could be a neighbourbood community, or international. But ensure you stand for something that resonates in the minds of your prospective target audience.
- Trigger and facilitate discussion. Learn from the Chai shop owner. Through conversations, give reasons to keep being a part of, and growing this community.