The Bee Colony works to blend brand communication with communities of support and engagement, creating social movements that support an organizational purpose, belief or brand platform. Our efforts synthesize aspects of traditional and emerging media to build brands with sustainable social currency. The Bee Colony has spent the last six years studying movements; learning from thought leaders ranging from Joseph Lowery and Jane Fonda to Stanford University’s Institute for Social Innovation.
Let us share some of what we’ve learned with your organization.
Purpose
Clarity of purpose drives a powerful stake in the sand and becomes the catalyst for collective action.
Leadership
“Leadership is being empowered by certain principles and goals, and to inspire others to share those principles and goals and to work with you toward them.” Rev. Joseph E. Lowery, Presidential Medal of Freedom Award Winner.
Strategy
Proven communications strategy and methods have converged with the advent of new media in ways that have shifted social behavior. People want to feel empowered to participate in partnership with the brands and causes they support.
Action
Movement building is about harnessing the passion around a shared purpose. It’s about engagement and action. It’s about using the power of communication to foster sustainable change.
Do I need to Launch a Movement?
If you want to inspire your stakeholders to act in partnership with your brand rather than to simply transact with you, then you are ready to launch a movement.
This decade will become known as the Movement Moment. The voices of individuals have been dramatically empowered by the ubiquity of digital media, mobile devices and the Internet of Things. This shift has converged with traditional branding in a way that has furthered the concept of Movement Marketing. For years, brands have understood the magic that happens when consumers truly relate to the purpose behind a company, a product or a program. But now, Movement Marketing allows these consumers to become a fundamental part of the connective tissue between brands and the audiences they seek to engage.
More Than A #Hashtag
The purpose of most movements is generally to start something or to stop something, often providing participants with some type of halo effect for their participation. Over the past 50 years, social movements have taught us to stop littering and to start recycling; to stop smoking and to start eating local food; and to move from thinking that “greed is good” to a more narrow view of the “top 1%”. In each case, strategic and creative communication worked to mobilize audiences to engage and to propel these social changes.
Message + Media + Individual x Collective = Inspired Action
“Proven communications strategy and methods have converged with the advent of new media in ways that have shifted consumer behavior. People want to participate in partnership with the brands and causes they support.” — Harvard Business Review
Social movements are where the branding magic happens today. Every brand isn’t movement-worthy and a movement isn’t the right approach for every organization. But call us and let us share what we’ve learned. Because for those select few who choose to move as well as to market, the impact is transformational and sustainable.
