Harley Davidson exit – Signals an end to Community Building in India?

I think I got you there – especially if you are a brand strategist. The answer is an overwhelming NO. India does respond to Community Building. But if you’re thinking that building a Harley Davidson type of community can be a replication of a global format, tweaked to the Indian market – the answer again is a massive NO. Indians don’t respond to such communities in large numbers.

Let’s look at the communities that have succeeded in the Indian market to understand this better.

As I sit here, clanking away on my keyboard, I can’t think of anyone except @DipendarGoyal's Zomato India and Dr. Niranjan Hiranandani 's Hiranandani who have built communities in India successfully. But first, why should brands look at building communities around their services?

Here’s some quick #communitybuidling facts:

·??????? As per a report by HBR, communities tend to resolve many common place issues even before they escalate to the brand. The lack of this opportunity precipitated a decline in customer satisfaction scores from 4.3 (out of 5) to 3.8 as per their experiment.

·??????? For about every 200 customers, only 1 tends to connect with customer support in case of a robust brand community

·??????? In the case of the Harley Davidson community, HBR discovered that the community deflected approximately 1,42,000 calls, saving the company approximately $7,25,000 per year.

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If these facts feel irrelevant in the face of Harley Davidson leaving India, Let’s turn homeward: @Zomatocommunity. As per an article on Linkedin, “User-Generated Content: Leveraging the power of user-generated content, Zomato created a vibrant community-driven platform where users could share their dining experiences through reviews, ratings, and captivating photos. This not only enriched the platform but also fostered unparalleled user engagement and trust.”

But Zomato didn’t limit itself there. It also went ahead and focused actively on engagement. “Zomato actively engaged with its community through a plethora of events, meetups, and collaborative initiatives. By fostering a sense of belonging and ownership among users, Zomato cultivated a legion of brand advocates and ambassadors.”

A quick look at the Zomato Stats talks of the success of its community:

• Target customer base:?18-35 years
• Number of Zomato monthly active users in 2023:?80 million monthly active users as of March 2023.??
• Number of countries Zomato is present in:?24 countries
• Number of cities is Zomato present in:?3200+ cities
• Zomato’s market share in the food serving business:?55%
• Total number of visits to the Zomato:?90 Billion
• Percentage contribution of referrals to the site traffic:?1.39%
• The per cent of direct traffic to the analysed website on desktop:?43.34%
• Percentage contribution of social media to the site traffic:?0.80%
• Percentage contribution of display ads to the site traffic:?0.47%
• Zomato’s organic searches:?53.63%
• The monthly transacting customer base grew in 2022:?by 116%?

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Or for that matter, the Hiranandani Community. While the Hiranandani brand provided for homes, it is really the community that has helped the brand generate an unparallel followership where today, the brand leads the way as far as driving premium homes is considered. This was done on the back of the following thoughtful planning:

·??????? Balanced Land to man ratio

·??????? Multiple societies in close proximity

·??????? The Hiranandani flag ship Powai event annually

·??????? A thoughtful choice of retail real estate

Hiranandani is really one of the brand communities that have a close proximity to the product itself and the narrative revolves around the product. This gives people the “social status” that they desire and the feeling of “having arrived”. In fact, as many consumers say – if you stay at a Hiranandani, then you are probably staying at a posh locality.

Quick facts about the Hiranandani Community:

·??????? 1,64,253 facebook followers

·??????? 4,430 subscribers

·??????? 13,900 insta followers

·??????? Annual Hiranandani Brand Asset: Their annual event

I’d love to hear from you about more brands that have successfully built brands!

#buildingcommunities #brandcommunities #businesstrategy #MondayMoaning #Quickbrandfixes

Sources of data:

The Real Value of Your Brand Community

(43) Zomato's Recipe for Success: Mastering Food-Tech Marketing | LinkedIn

Zomato Statistics: Usage, Revenue, & Key Facts [2024 ]

Hiranandani Communities | Pioneer of Integrated Township