BRANDS: HOW TO LEAD YOUR TRIBES – Organisations learn how to shape, guide and influence their brand tribes!

In the 21st Century every company is a brand. Every brand has a tribe that follows it. The question is whether your brand tribe is with you or against you?

London, United Kingdom 17^th November, 2009:

New Brand Tribalism (NBT) has launched.  In early November over 100 guests, from major companies ranging from household names like Disney and Nokia, to premiership football clubs, and solicitors arrived at London's Floridita to hear about an organisational and management model designed to help leaders create the ideal conditions for building unified brand tribes, both inside and outside the organisation.

This new little entity that is NBT Ltdmay not have the swagger and sway of market leaders like global consulting groups McKinsey or Gallup. But you can't fault the company for trying to make a difference or for a lack of ambition.  NBT Ltd launched their NBT Model – what they claim to be the first 21st century based business management model which helps organisations build stronger brand tribes inside and outside their organisation by design.

The concept of consumers as brand tribes is not entirely new, academics across the world have been commenting on the development of post-modern consumer tribes for at least 5 years. More recently bloggers like Seth Godin have urged marketers to view their legions of customers as Tribes. The ‘New” Brand Tribalism proposition is all about a new unifying theory of brand which directly connects the role of the organisation in co-managing and co-creating the brand ownership in an equal partnership between customer and employee.

One early advocate is Jon Weedon from global gaming brand Betfair who summed up by saying:

“New Brand Tribalism has really struck a chord with me. It doesn’t matter whether you’re trying to sell a product or engage an internal audience; the forces at work are the same. It’s all about creating authentic and sustainable relationships based on shared values. People go the extra mile, volunteer discretionary effort, become loyal brand advocates, or repeat customers because of how they feel about a company or product. I think NBT marks a paradigm shift in thinking around employee engagement and the role of the internal communicator and I’m really excited about the potential offered by operating at a very emotional level to create real bottom-line value in the workplace”. 

The event held at Floridita, London saw the newly established firm unveil its member community of academics, brand practitioners and consultants and issue a call for participants in its pioneering academic research into 21^st Century Belief Structures.

Co-founder of NBT Ltd, Tim Bleszynski informed the gathering of the importance and value of further research: “It has always been the case that the glue holding together a Tribe is its Belief Structure – but what holds together the Belief Structures of the Brand Tribes of the 21^st Century is not well understood. Those brands and organisations that can truly appreciate the fabric of their internal and external brand tribes’ Belief Structure will be the winners in the 21^st Century”.

The packed day was filled with interesting case studies from Tim Pointer, HR Director at Diesel; Lynne Arrowsmith, Head of Internal Comms, Brand, Culture at Orange and Sue Yell, HR Director at Iceland. Founders Bleszynski and David Scott – introduced guests to the model and thinking which also included interesting stories and snippets of the already existing information about the topic from pioneers like academic Avi Shankar. The futurist Rohit Talwar spoke about why it’s becoming increasingly important by explaining the future context. Guests also heard endorsements for the emerging model from Tanya Channing HR Director at Burger King and Professor Jonathan Schroeder-Exeter Business School.

Bleszynski told the audience

“The world is struggling to find its "new normal," and no one knows quite what it will all look like. We want to put a stake in the ground about our vision, of what the business models of the 21 century could and should be about, and we want people to engage with and join the community.  By sharing this knowledge we’ll be able to help challenge some of the 20^th century management paradigms"

A central focus is to create a popular, widespread movement.  Join the emerging tribe at www.newbrandtribalism.com

For more information contact:  Ebenezer Banful. Email [email protected]  Tel 0207 803 0905.

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