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Online Branded Communities
The current globalized environment that has no limits, especially when it comes to technologies and the Internet, forces brands to be innovative in reaching their audience, interacting and promoting a specific product or service. While the majority of companies engage with their customers via social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and Instagram, some brands prefer to take an alternative route and create a branded community, where people will be able to interact with each other based on their love for a brand. Branded communities, unlike regular social media, can take many forms and can influence how customers interact within these communities. Furthermore, some social media are unreliable in the way they function or change the layout; such changes often leave users unsatisfied (Lithium 2).
Owned online communities matter because a brand can take full control and push its agenda to customers. For this reason, Sony Playstation decided to create its community (Playstation Community) that offered gamers a platform, on which they can connect and interact. One of the most interesting ideas is letting users create zones based on their interests in games or the support they need in resolving game-related questions (Hong par. 9). Sony invested in creating a community to get feedback from customers, providing instant support, and encouraging gamers to interact with each other.
Playstation Community is connected with the brand’s channels on social media such as Twitter and Youtube, so there is a possibility to engage with the content created both by users and the brand. Most notably, user-created content is one of the key components of the community, especially with the new features introduced into the PS4 console, which allows customers to record and upload clips directly from video games.
Allowing customers to share their gaming experiences with others is beneficial for the company is expanding the community as well as strengthening the base of loyal clients. Therefore, the main advantage of Playstation Community is “virtually unlimited capability and scale in user-generated content” (Hong par. 6), which is very entertaining to gamers, valuable, and effective for promoting purchases. Sharing experiences about different games offered on PlayStation has also been made possible with the help of a Playstation Forum, composed of various threads on different topics.
For example, there is a FIFA 17 thread, where users rate players, get information about game pre-orders, share their points, and discuss other topics related to the game. By creating separate themes for users to discuss, the company managed to develop small communities within a large community that shares different interests in their preferences in gaming.
With the advantages of the Playstation branded community come some minor faults that can be improved in the future. For example, despite offering gamers a unique way to communicate and share experiences, Playstation Community cannot boast about its large user base, although there are millions of people playing the console. The number of responses in forum threads is quite low, so there is a massive challenge for the company to attract more users and engage them in the conversation. This can be done by offering customers special offer codes that will give discounts for registering in Playstation Community.
Apart from engaging brand enthusiasts into Playstation Community, it may also be a good idea to pay more attention no ‘non-committals’ and ‘prospects’ who can then move up the ladder to become brand admirers and brand enthusiasts (Kalman 2). For now, Playstation Community is a place for brand enthusiasts who care about every detail of the gaming experience and are excited to share their opinions with others.
There are, of course, some brand admirers that want to become more engaged in the community or may have some questions they need to ask the support team. However, non-committals and prospects are potential customer segments that should be investigated by Sony marketers to move them from “the periphery to the center” of the brand community (Kalman 2). It is worth mentioning that prospects are potential customers that are considering choosing a specific brand; therefore, the company should first make sure that they choose the Playstation brand over others and then start engaging with the branded community.
On the other hand, the management can take great advantage of brand enthusiasts, who are willing to refer other customers to the brand. “Refer a friend” bonuses may be beneficial for both the brand and loyal customers, since engaging more people to the community will expand the user base, increase revenue, and give loyal users a platform for interaction. Lastly, the branded community should be under the control of the brand itself because offering too much control to users may result in a ‘rebellion’ or damage to the company’s image.
Overview of Project Assignment
Developing a new service, product, or an application for Playstation is not an easy task. However, since this project is targeted at underlining the importance of branded communities, a new service will also be associated with them. Because engaging more customers in Playstation Community is the key task, it is proposed for the management to develop a service that will reward brand enthusiasts for referring more clients to forums with threads on different topics. On the other hand, it is important to have full control over the service to preserve the community and make sure that the company operates within the framework of its core values and principles.
Bonuses and reward points will enable all customers to refer more friends to the Playstation Community regularly since getting a good deal on expensive games is something that any gamer would like to do. It is the job of a brand community manager to assign bonuses to activities performed within the community. For example, referring a friend to a community will give a user -$5 when purchasing a new game with a promotional code while constantly referring friends and making sure that they register and start engaging in discussions or contacting the support may give the customer some permanent advantages in gaming purchases.
Rewarding clients with bonuses will require some changes in the community promotion tactics and an effort to put more focus on advertising Playstation Community on social media to make sure that all marketing efforts align with one clear strategy.
“Refer a friend” bonus is a widely used practice employed by many companies for broadening the spectrum of customers and creating a loyal community, which is interested in interaction and mutual support. For example, “refer a friend” is used in the Warcraft games; it allows the players’ friends and families to experience the Starter Edition of the game free of charge. Therefore, such a practice is not only beneficial for loyal users who get points and bonuses they can spend on their gaming purchases but also for new customers that can play a new game for free.
One of the most important points to mention is that the referral program should be developed with easy-to-understand terms and conditions as well as the option to redeem acquired points quickly. Even though the brand community manager should make sure that terms are protecting the company’s interests, putting many restrictions on customers will only place them at risk of leaving the community.
Lastly, it is important to mention the types of bonuses Playstation Community users may receive. Although there is a variety of rewards available, the most effective ones are referral bonuses, referral discounts, and ‘refer one-get one’. A referral bonus allows Playstation Community users to get a cash bonus for referring a friend while a discount gives a set percentage off from the next game purchase. The ‘refer one-get one’ method is especially beneficial in cases when a customer is planning to make a new purchase.
By referring a friend to the community or to buying a game, a brand enthusiast may be eligible for getting a game for free. Thus, the company may use its loyal customers as an advantage when it comes to the promotion of a branded community. With establishing trusting relationships with clients and offering them bonuses for inviting others, Playstation Community will become a massive platform for gamers to interact, share experiences, upload games, discuss related topics, and give direct feedback to the support team.
Works Cited
Hong, Pat. 10 Exceptional Examples of Brand Communities. 2015. Web.
Kalman, David. Brand Communities, Marketing, and Media. 2009. Web.
Lithium. Online Community: The Heart of Social Strategy. 2012. Web.
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