In a Brandweek conversation with ADWEEK editor in chief Ryan Joe, Chen explored ways for brands to show up in culture authentically.
For Chen, sometimes less is more: Rather than comment on everything, brands should identify their core values and build conversations around those tenets.
“The product is the customer,” he said. “And not only is the product the individual customer, the product is the community of customers that they’ve been able to stoke through individual nodes and networks that then take off themselves.”
Brands should identify these niche communities that, with the investment of attention and time, can “evangelize” on their behalf. As monoculture has splintered along with the fragmented media landscape, culture is now comprised of hundreds if not thousands of niches Chen calls “polyculture.”
But it’s a fine line between authenticity and parachuting into a niche community only to announce a new product release, he said. Too many brands choose the latter route and consider the community as “inventory.”
“You have to give before you receive,” Chen said.
He outlined four pillars of what superfans crave: access to the brand, exclusive content, status designation, and experiences money cannot buy. And once a brand has identified its target niche, it must go one step further and understand adjacent niches.
He gave an example: If someone is eager to purchase the new Zelda video game on Nintendo Switch, it’s likely they may also be interested in “Dunesday” and comic books.
With the rise of niches, Chen said that brands need to look beyond global influencers like MrBeast to microinfluencers with expertise in a specific area.
