In this two-sided book, Rich Luker takes the reader on an insightful journey of reconnecting to what he calls, Simple Community. The Building Simple Community portion of this book will be the focus of this month’s review.  The Living Simple Community review can be found in the October Ambassador Update.

Luker describes Simple Community as “PEOPLE taking TIME to gather together in a PLACE suited to enjoying each other.  They bring the RESOURCES needed to have fun. The best times give rise to STORIES that they tell again and again. When they are really lucky, something happens that creates a TRADITION, which begs to be repeated.  These are the six ingredients of Simple Community.”

Chapter 1: Good Reasons to Read Building Simple Community

Just being around people doesn’t always mean we are spending time with them.  Actively engaging in Simple Community simply starts with individuals who do small things that bring people together.  Luker asserts a major player in building Simple Community is organizations and businesses that have a vested interest in the places they operate and serve.  Luker argues most American companies would invest more in what he calls “grassroots marketing” if they understand the true potential impact their resources will have on their capacity to reach hundreds of people.  It is the responsibility of the following three groups to collaborate together to accomplish building Simple Community:

Individuals who enjoy bringing families, friends and neighbors together;
Marketing professionals who want to invest in grassroots activities; and
People who manage places where people naturally gather (i.e. parks, schools, and churches).

Chapter 2: Simple Community

Luker feels that changes over the past two decades on how we work has and continues to have consequences on the number of opportunities we have to spend time with people. The movement from agricultural, to manufacturing, and then to service economies are largely to blame. Currently, 70 percent of everything America produces is from the service economy sector.  Unlike the production of products in agricultural and manufacturing economies, service work is largely information driven and not tangible.  Personal computing has lead to people working individually and remotely. This is what has prompted the need for building Simple Community.   Luker goes on to give the reader two main goals for this book:
Bring together the three groups responsible for building Simple Community; and
Encourage companies to invest 10 percent of the $300 billion spent on marketing per year in supporting community initiatives.

Chapter 3: A New Way of Thinking

American advertising and marketing industries are in need of a paradigm shift. The assumption of the old marketing and advertising paradigm is people have informational needs beyond their reach.  With advances seen in technology, this is no longer true.  Luker states the marketing and advertising industries need to adopt a new paradigm with the following core elements.
Think of individuals as PEOPLE not consumers
We get enough info and messages, what we need more of is STORIES
Stories need to be THEIR stories, not stories written by a brand

PEOPLE, not consumers: The current paradigm does not appreciate we are losing something more important to us than something we can purchase. The ability to consolidate services has made it possible and profitable for one company to own hundreds of the same store; this is how service economy destroyed Simple Community. Luger asserts the old hardware store on corner was not just a place to buy things but was an extension of our family, friends and community.  Americans now rarely purchase necessities from their neighbors.  More and more, people desire connections to their activities and not just be treated as a consumer of the service.  Purchases should be more community-centered.

STORIES, not messages: Advertising is a powerful tool and must be done in moderation and modest redirection.  The needs of Americans have changed and marketing approaches and investment needs to change as well.  Technology has enabled the explosion of information from all angles. Much of this information is unwanted messages.  With 100 million websites and search engines like Google, there is no shortage of brands and access to them.

Building Simple Community is an action plan to refocus a small portion of ad dollars on the natural fit between brands and the enjoyable things people do. Luker states, “This is a good investment approach for two reasons: When people are looking for a product the brand that provided them with an enjoyable experience will more likely be chosen, and the experience provides an added value to people’s lives.”

We have plenty of access to messages and information we need.  People must have meaningful experiences that lead to stories.  These stories bring life to a brand. When stories are told Simple Community exists.

Their stories, not yours

Whether ads are funny or touching, the brand being adverstised is rarely remembered. One reason an impression can be so fleeting is the sheer amount of information we consume.  Additionally, scripted stories rarely fit reality.  Because we do not personally experience them, they aren’t internalized.  

Stories that come from authentic community live on people’s memories.  Marketing and advertising firms must provide memorable experiences and naturally include their product or service in manner that is valued and part of stories people tell. Luker argues that spending over $300 billion in just information dissemination it is a waste of valuable resources that could be used to build Simple Community.  The information passed along must identify with a customer’s personal story.

Chapter 4: How Ads Became Unwanted Alarms

Luker begins this chapter by discussing how companies need to change how they think before they will be willing to invest significantly in how their brands can enhance life. More than 100 years ago in advertising’s infancy, society had a clear need for it.  Resources were scarce and advertising created an awareness of products and brands, promoted their benefits, and connected people to buying opportunities.  

Somewhere along the way, advertising messages became an alarm for consumers.  Alarms are typically intended to accomplish three things:
Get you to stop thinking about what you are thinking about;
Think about the alarm; and
As a result of alarm, do something.

Luker argues, “Best and earliest alarms were designed to save lives. With $300 billion in messages added to constant alarms of cell phones, emails, instant messages – many unwanted- all of us have developed sophisticated alarm avoidance systems.” Our alarm defenses block everything, even those designed to save lives. When it comes time to create a marketing campaign or fundraiser we assume that everyone else is going to stop what they are doing and pay attention. That just simply is no longer the case.

Alarms from the mass media era

Further compounding the issue of alarms as an advertising tool is the notion that they were designed for the days of mass communication when messages were sent without the ability to provide feedback. The media were assumed to have unstoppable power, much of it vested in the three broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC). Americans could neither alter nor respond to the communication they received.

The internet and social networking killed the passive mass media audience.  Luker feels new communication tools like Facebook, text messaging, and Twitter should only be used when people cannot get together face to face.  It is people engaging and their lives are the social network.  

Chapter 5: The Three Intersections of Sales and Marketing

Marketers and advertisers spend too much time evaluating the benefits and characteristics of their products and services.  What they really need to do is pay attention to the lives of people they encounter using their products and services.  Luker states, “Thinking about how a product impacts lives in the midst of everything else taking place is at the heart of the new paradigm – thinking how your brand fits into the stories of people and their lives.”  He then identifies three steps for moving towards a people-first approach to marketing.

Three intersections: Lives of people and services/products bought intersect on three different occasions; information, buying, and consumption.  Traditional marketing focuses only on information and buying.  Marketing and advertising companies must make a shift towards the inclusion of consumption as this is the only intersection people control.  It is the one time the person – not the brand- chooses the context.

People, their time, and what they do: There are several parts of life, such as working, sleeping, school, and chores people have to accomplish to support life.  Whatever we do when we are not supporting life is truly living.  This is where marketing/advertising should focus its attention, on the source of our greatest joys.

The eight contexts (buckets) of free time: 1. Time with family and friends; 2. Outdoor activity; 3. Personal time; 4. Productive leisure; 5. Participation in exercise or sports activities; 6. Sports fan activities; 7. Watching TV other  than sports; and 8. Out-on-the-town.  Using these eight buckets the dominant contexts of people who use product or service are identified.  “Once you are armed with an understanding of peoples’ time use and context, you can turn your attention to the experiences that will ignite stories for your brand,” suggests Luker.

Chapter 6: From Messages to Experiences

It is wise for a company to invest in an activity that takes place several times per week or even daily.  This coupled with an activity that creates a personal story that will be told again and again will have pretty good returns to the investor.  Luker feels experiential marketing is necessary to accomplish this.  

There needs to be a shift in brand focus from loyalty to commitment.  Loyalty is specific to the moment but has the likelihood of changing.  Committed customers do not change because they identify personally with the experience they had with a product.  Furthermore, messages rarely cause commitment; life experiences do.  Delivering those experiences and the stories they create is the purpose of experiential marketing and essential to the development of simple community.

Chapter 7: Remarkable Experiences

A remarkable experience can lead to consumer commitment.  Luker begins this chapter stating characteristics remarkable experiences have in common: They change the person’s life; They are never forgotten; They produce stories that the person enjoys telling and repeats; and They have an emotional connection.  It is essential for a brand and Simple Community to be built on remarkable experiences.   There are four steps to build commitment through experiential marketing within the Simple Community context.
Think of people that most likely want or need your product.  Determine which of eight categories of free time activity those people enjoy the most.
Identify how your brand meets a need or fulfills a desire within that category, which would make Simple Community easier, more accessible and rewarding.
Identify places where you can introduce your brand in a Simple Community experience that meets your identified brand’s goal.
Provide both the opportunity to be in that place and your brand as part of the solution.

It is okay to be intentional with creating remarkable experiences. Start by thinking of the real needs and desires that have to be fulfilled for people to get more out of their free time and match them with what the brand delivers. Luger states, “You don’t shape people’s free time or communities with stories.  Rather, you can get a great sense of how your building community is going by listening for stories. If there are none, something is missing.” Stories will show what is valued and what you should invest more resources in.

Chapter 8: The Importance of “Places” for Simple Community

At the heart of good experiences are the places where they occur. The vast majority of meeting places are being used for something other than Simple Community activities.  There are literally millions of buildings, millions of indoor square feet and millions of acres of land that could be utilized for simple community building but aren’t.  Most of these spaces are owned by the public. Some examples of natural places for building Simple Community are parks, schools, and houses of worship.  

The people who manage these places by default have the responsibility of facilitating the involvement of community in these spaces and acting as a neighborhood gatherer.  In the role of neighborhood gatherer, this is how Simple Community experiences are accomplished.  

Acknowledge Your Neighbors: Put out the welcome mat and let them know you want to do more to connect with them.
Offer Alternatives: make sure your neighbors see the diversity of options they have to engage in activities at your place.
Change Your Signs: signs tend to be for those already familiar with the place.  Make sure signs are designed for purpose of welcoming and assisting people with finding their way around.

It takes very little effort to engage the community more.  New programs are not needed but you must change your message so that it is more beneficial to all your neighbors.  Furthermore, it is up to your neighbors to listen to the change in message and engage one another in Simple Community building at the accessible places.

Chapter 9: How Places Are Preparing for Support
Because of their size, major organizations have the ability to dramatically improve opportunities for Simple Community.  Organizations can serve as a clearinghouse of great ideas that can work at any of their affliated locations/places and can identify specific activities that could be supported by corporations and foundations.  Luker goes on to describe the National High School Federation’s  (NFHS) “Facilitating Community” strategy that engages high schools from across the county in building Simple Community.  NFHS and its members do not build community directly.  Their role is to reinvigorate and promote community by making known all the wonderful opportunities to be involved with local high schools.

Chapter 10: Scalable Grassroots

Because organizations like the NFHS have engaged strategies to become more involved in their communities, there is now documented ways to achieve real grassroots and marketing programs that benefit communities as a whole. “I wrote building simple community to provide guidelines that would enable Americans who enjoy bringing families, friends and neighbors together; to work with marketing professionals who invest in grassroots marketing, and leaders who manage places where people naturally gather,” suggests Luker.  At the foundation of scalable grassroots is making each program special and specific to the community where it is taking place.  Luker suggests this is the essence of how building real simple community occurs.  

While there is no secret sauce to creating scalable grassroots, there is an increasing foundation to build upon.  The most immediate and promising component of building simple community is sharing ideas that already have worked.

Chapter 11: A Call to Action

Luker identifies five ways brands benefit by investing in simple community.
Bring Brand-Relevant Resources to Communities: Think about how your brand fits with the principle of Simple Community and invest in the experiences that will lead to stories.  These stories will demonstrate an appreciation for the investment you made to make the experience possible.
Bring Value to Experiential Marketing: Move the measure of successful Experiential Marketing to one that creates stories.
Bring Scale to Grassroots: We need to create a method companies can take advantage of that brings passionate people together with the places and organizations designed for gathering so companies will see value investing in simple community.
Turn Down the Alarms of Advertising: Engage in intentional experimental marketing (IRE) that offer a new way to meaningfully interact with people that will thank and welcome you instead of setting off your alarm defenses.
Act on the New Marketing Paradigm

There are great opportunities for those who start by looking at needs and wants from the person using a good or service’s point of view.  By thinking about the nature of simple gathering and asking how your product or service enhances that, you acquire their view and can see where you really fit.  Additionally, thoughtful investment in community building will be followed by stories.  While it is important to help foster the creation of a story, it essential to the success of a brand the story be re-told again and again.  

Luker feels we miss and long for simplicity in life and stories shared between individuals about how a brand has made it possible for them to hang out with friends are the messages of the future.  The challenge is getting brands and the companies that manage them to invest in new marketing strategies that build Simple Community.

Final Thoughts
The more the concepts of building Simple Community are used, the sooner significant investment in communities will be achieved. The blue print for this is found in the hearts of those who crave a stronger community, and in the passion of leaders and marketers who recognize that America is at a time of unique need, when investing in building simple community makes sense.