The world’s strongest brands no longer just sell products. They create belonging. They turn customers into participants and experiences into shared identity. For Chris Laws, community is not a marketing trend but one of the most valuable forms of brand equity.
Community gives a brand depth and humanity. It extends beyond communication into culture, where people find shared purpose through the things they do together. The brands that recognise and nurture this are building something far more enduring than awareness.
From Audience to Belonging
Traditional marketing treats customers as an audience to speak to. Modern brands create communities to belong to.
Chris Laws helps organisations move from communication to connection. The goal is not simply to reach people but to involve them. A great brand community does not form through repetition but through shared participation in a common idea.
Across Australia, the rise of running clubs shows how culture now moves at ground level. Fitness, friendship and lifestyle have merged into one of the country’s most dynamic forms of community. From Rec Gen’s Sydney Run Club to local pub-led running crews, brands are tapping into this movement as a way to create genuine connection. It is about belonging first, branding second.
These communities thrive because they are built around experience, not transaction. The t-shirt or membership becomes a symbol of participation rather than purchase.
Shared Purpose Creates Shared Identity
Every community needs a belief at its centre. Without it, activity becomes noise.
Chris Laws believes purpose is what turns a group of people into a culture. It guides tone, behaviour and expression. When purpose aligns with action, a brand community becomes self-sustaining.
Look at Grenadier, the 4WD brand that has built its global identity through exploration and adventure. Its owner events are not just product demonstrations; they are shared expeditions that celebrate curiosity and resilience. Owners become advocates not because of marketing, but because they are living the brand’s ethos.
Closer to home, brands like R.M. Williams and Unyoked have tapped into similar ideas of exploration and reconnection with nature. Each creates a sense of shared identity rooted in values rather than commerce.
Designing Platforms for Participation
Communities need a stage. This can be a digital platform, a real-world event or an experience that brings people together. The key is to design for contribution, not control.
Chris Laws helps brands build frameworks that allow people to engage and express themselves. A brand community grows when the brand listens, participates and celebrates its members’ contributions.
Morning coffee raves like Feel Good Dusk and Morning People demonstrate how powerful this sense of participation can be. These early-morning dance and coffee events mix wellness, joy and connection in a way that traditional marketing cannot replicate. Brands in fitness, fashion and hospitality are now exploring how to authentically align with this movement by sponsoring experiences that celebrate optimism and togetherness.
When designed well, these activations turn customers into co-creators of meaning.
Offline Still Matters
In an era of digital connection, physical experiences remain the most powerful community builders. Real-world events and gatherings create tangible memories that deepen loyalty.
From Rec Gen’s community runs to Grenadier’s global expeditions, physical experiences transform shared interests into shared stories. Hospitality venues like The Dolphin Hotel in Sydney or The Espy in Melbourne have also reimagined their spaces as cultural hubs, hosting talks, live music and art to create belonging around their brand.
Chris Laws believes every touchpoint, from product to place, can reinforce a sense of community when it is designed with intent.
Measuring the Value of Belonging
The strength of a community is measured not in followers but in commitment. True community lowers churn, increases advocacy and makes brands more resilient in volatile markets.
Engagement metrics matter, but the deeper measure is emotional connection – whether people would miss the brand if it disappeared. Brands that successfully build this kind of belonging find that their customers become their marketing.
Chris Laws helps organisations create community strategies that build both brand value and cultural relevance, ensuring every action contributes to long-term advocacy.
From Customers to Champions
Building a community is not a campaign. It is a philosophy. It requires authenticity, generosity and the confidence to let people make it their own.
Chris Laws believes the brands that invest in belonging will always outperform those that chase visibility. Communities turn customers into champions and stories into movements.
When people choose to run, explore or celebrate together under your name, you are no longer just a brand. You are part of culture itself.