Michelle Digulla was a featured speaker at the recent Marketing Evolution Summit. Here, she revisits one of the key themes of the day: the power of community.
It was a great honour to share the stage with some of this country’s leading marketers at the Marketing Evolution Summit last month. Much of our session – as well as much of the day – was spent talking about the power of connection.
How can brands forge a deeper connection with consumers? How can we turn shoppers into passionate brand advocates? And how can we inspire passion among our brand fans?
There’s a good reason this is such a popular topic among modern marketers. At Metroland, we are particularly interested in the importance of connection, both between brands and customers, and within our communities. In fact, being connected to your community is critical to personal health and well-being. Both physical and mental health are strongly correlated to community; indeed, a lack of relationships creates as much health risk as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.
And yet, over the last 25 years, family dinners are down by one third, incidences of having friends over to the house is down by 45 percent and participation in clubs and civic organizations has been cut by more than half. In fact, a recent study in the UK found that 70% of people don’t know their neighbours’ names – and I suspect this number wouldn’t be much different in Canada.
We are a species that craves connection, and yet we’re living in an increasingly disconnected society.
This is precisely what makes local media so powerful.
In fact, at a time when many critics are speculating about the death of print, readership of hyperlocal community media is stronger than ever. Nearly 75% of Ontarians have read at least one of the last four issues of their Metroland Media community newspaper. The typical issue is read twice, and kept in the house for an average of almost 4 days – and not just by older consumers. Just under nine in ten (87%) younger adults surveyed between the ages of 18‐35 are reading their community newspaper as much or more often this year than last year.
Local matters. And this represents a powerful opportunity for brand marketers. Three quarters of Ontarians read their community newspaper to feel more connected to their community. I challenge you to ask yourself how your brand can play the same role. How could you help to build or support a sense of community for consumers who are so clearly seeking it out? How could community media play a role in telling your brand story?
Hear more from Michelle about the Power of Community at the Canadian Marketing Association’s upcoming event, Unleashing the Power of Community. Learn more and register for this free event: https://www.the-cma.org/education-events/roundtable/power_of_community
