Belonging to the Brand

Why Community Is the Last Great Marketing Strategy

By: Mark Schaefer

Narrated by: Mark Schaefer

Bestselling author and futurist Mark Schaefer explains why community is a vastly overlooked marketing opportunity for most organizations. He explains how three major trends are colliding in a way that makes brand communities the future of marketing strategy.

Highlights include:

• How community relates to the emotional connections developed via social media and content
• Why demographic, technological, and societal trends favor a new community strategy
• A new view of the ROI of community
• How a community strategy upends traditional marketing management
• The psychological connection between communities and brands
• Why NFTs and the metaverse change the game for community strategy
• Powerful brand benefits overlooked by most community strategies today

Through extensive research, diverse case studies, and expert interviews, Schaefer provides an inspiring, compelling and actionable blueprint for the modern brand community.

©2023 Mark Schaefer (P)2023 Mark Schaefer

Another powerful book

Mark is one of my favorite authors. He has written many books that can transfer a business AND a person. This is another of his books that I will read again and again. -izzy House

Stop marketing and start being a community!

This book is super validating for the moment of marketing that needs to shift out of soulless ploys of the past to actually meaningful connections with each other for the future. It starts with any organization, big or small, to make the commitment to people instead of profit. From there, profit will follow. And maybe profits of the future will be redefined into community happiness and connection. Ready to shift to a community mindset? Read/Listen to this book.

Great Book Mark. Thanks for writing it.

I've known or, and been familiar with Mark for a while. We've been connected via a few social media platforms. We know some of the same people. We've never been particularly close. But we've never been particularly distant. I choose to think we've always respected each other's work.
Reading, or rather listening to, this book, makes me realize we are closer in spirit than I thought.
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I started writing a long review. I was covering how our experiences were similar. I stopped writing somewhere around page 3. I decided it would make a better post, video, or some other type of content.

Instead, I'll just tell you that there is solid chance that everything you'll read or hear in this book, you already know. You may not be practicing it. But you know, in a deep way, what he's teaching you.
That isn't to devalue it. It's actually just the opposite.
You should read or buy this book BECAUSE you already know it.
What the book will do, much like Mark's experiences did for him, is confirm it.
I hope you get the same confidence out of it that I did.
And I hope you act on it.
I know I will.

Thanks for writing it Mark. I'm glad I listened to it. I would rebuy it again.
I listened to it at the perfect time. If you're listening real close, you can hear me yelling at the top of my lungs..
I KNEW IT! :-)

Most important marketing book you’ll ever read

Community has hit a tipping point in the business world and it’s clear that it’s not just for tech and influencers, but until now, there hasn’t been a book that shows you the road map of how to profit from community building.

That’s why you need to read this book ASAP

A purposeful, forward-thinking approach to marketing

Mark Schaeffer continues to challenge the status quo of marketing and pushes marketers to think like humans and address the human need for belonging. Mark tells personal stories and examples to explain the power of creating a brand that creates a sense of belonging.

I use Mark’s’ book, Marketing Rebellion for textbook in my marketing course at Indiana University. “Belonging to the Brand” provides deeper lessons on psychology and social behavior in our society to help us engage with the consumer in a meaningful way. When consumers belong to the brand they stick with the brand and they become the brand advocates.

Mark pushes us to be better marketers and do work that we can be proud of by connecting consumers to brands with a purpose.

Just getting started, and this line is a GEM

I'm a fan of Mark Schaefer's so I am eager to read any of his books. I appreciate that Mark reads his books himself because he has a thoughtful and rhythmic delivery which is both engaging, and gives me time to digest his points as I hear them. Just getting into this one and had to share an amazing line: "It appears that many of our online friendships are little more than empty social calories." Mark is building the case for belonging via community.

The future of marketing isn’t disgusting

At first, the idea of Community as Marketing’s last great strategy seemed disgusting to me. Marketing shows up in every nook and cranny of life and now Mark is telling me that Community is next.

Please note I’m not saying I was disgusted with Mark, the man, but the idea that Marketing was going to overtake something (the last remaining thing) that is sacred: Community.

Yet Mark does what he does best by connecting dots that are clear and obvious yet no one else has connected them yet.

By Chapter 2, I was convinced that Community as Marketing’s last great strategy is NOT, in fact, disgusting, it is actually needed and loaded with upside that could benefit humanity as we know it.

The book uses a mix of big and small case studies to make each of Mark’s points, and I appreciate that the most because it’s one thing to postulate and idea and another to say “like this…”

This book stirred me to examine my own longing for community and immediately see where I have it and where I lack it.

I was most pleasantly surprised that all of my biggest niche interests have communities that I am part of! It is a good feeling to be deep into a book like this and realize I’m part of the very thing being proposed.

The big idea, however, is one that everyone whose career touches Marketing must engage with because we all know the current model isn’t what customers want. We cling to the old model while waiting for a new model to emerge and I believe Mark has identified it.

Most practical marketing book for our time

If you are looking for a practical marketing book that covers the real world of marketing in a community driven world this is it.

The most important book to read for any aspiring founder today.

If you are an aspiring founder focused on building a brand this is the most timely and important book to read.

Fantastic insights with undeniable reasons to focus on building a community.

Loved everything about it. Deeply resonating with great breakdowns to help you do the community approach the right way.

One of the most impactful books I’ve read this year. Feel so much better off after reading it. Can’t miss book! -Ali

A Must Read for Modern Marketers

Mark has done it again! His refreshing take on modern marketing and the need to move beyond outdated ad tactics is exactly what I needed to inspire new growth in my small business. I enjoyed every minute of this book and have already recommended to my friends and marketing colleagues.