Crowd culture is authentic content created by everyday people rather than brands.
According to Douglas Holt in a 2016 Harvard Business Review Article, crowd culture is authentic content created by everyday people rather than brands.
Social media networks offer a wide variety of content created by people like you and me. The chart below, taken by statista.com website, shows the number of social media users expressed in millions by platform.
Big Companies invest billions in reaching people and creating brand awareness, some with considerable success, some with little success. The difference is the approach they use to get to their audiences is what Douglas Holt called “Cultural Branding.”
Cultural Branding takes advantage of trending ideologies or ways people think. For example, Climate Change. Mass media channels and governments have been promoting the importance of saving our planet, recycling, saving water, energy, etc. By taking advantage of this cultural movement or trend, some supermarkets have promoted reusable bags to carry groceries, including the European supermarket chain “ALDI.” Although this supermarket doesn’t offer plastic bags or paper bags for customers, you either have to bring your bags, or they sell reusable bags. The intention is not only to “save the planet” but save in cost and translate these savings to the customer by offering groceries at a reduced price.
By the ecologist organization greenpeace.com, ALDI ranked number 2 in their efforts to reduce plastic consumption, and Publix a Florida-based company, ranked 15.
Neither of these chains talks much about the importance of saving the planet or reducing its footprint. Still, ALDI is positioned as a low-cost supermarket, and they are committed to zero emissions by 2030. On the other hand, Publix also promotes that Green isn’t just our color. It’s our commitment.
Use social media to reach interest groups.
I checked ALDI’s USA YouTube Channel and Publix YouTube Channel by the keyword phrases: Zero Carbon or Environmental. However, I only found one video from the Publix YouTube channel and none from ALDI’s Channel. By the word sustainability, I could see four videos from ALDI and more than ten from Publix.
So they are doing something to reach people interested in environmental causes. Still, I think they can get more people and brand awareness if they push more through social media by creating interest groups, channels, or “hashtags” to promote even more.
But as Douglas Holt mentioned in his article, “leading with ideology in the mass market can be a double-edged sword.” The supermarkets I mentioned above or any other type of business has to be committed to the cause they are promoting and don’t use double standards.
On ALDI’s website, they say they are committed to zero carbon emission by 2030; imagine is they start pushing groups and social media campaigns defending their environmental responsibility, but they start to promote the sale of their plastic bags in their supermarket or Publix keep saying they area commit to sustainability, but they keep using plastic bags to the consumers with any restrictions, which they do. At least ALDI doesn’t give it for free, but Publix gives free plastic bags to everybody.
Social media platforms have created a tangible way to get to your target audience fast than ever. Still, you need to understand and take advantage of targeting those groups and sub-groups of people or crowds of people united by specific causes, interests, or ideologies through the different social media networks.
