Beyond the Shop Floor: Where Brand Communities Now Live and Grow

While studying for my Consumer Insights exam for Postgraduate Diploma in Marketing and Management, I found myself questioning a core marketing principle: that brand communities aren’t geographically bound. We carried out research on an online community, based on netnography principles outlined by Kozinets. 

"Netnography is particularly useful for studying online communities because it allows researchers to observe naturalistic behavior without disrupting the social environment." - Robert Kozinets, Netnography: Doing Ethnographic Research Online

During the course, we analysed Ooni Pizza Ovens. For them, it made absolute sense to refer to the community as non-geographically bound, because it wasn't, and it was driven entirely by social interactions between brand admirers. However, that definition may not hold true for franchise brands, where consumers interact with the brand at a local level, both in-store and on local digital pages. This raised an important question: can the social media presence of individual franchise locations be considered microbrand communities?

This article will dive into the brand community principles, research findings, and the case for why local social media pages are the most overlooked brand-building asset.

Community and Communication

As part of my Marketing and Management Postgraduate course, I participated in a netnography project, a form of qualitative research that studies online brand communities and consumer behaviours. The principles of netnographic research are outlined by Kozinets.

The process involves analysing consumer interactions with the brand in online groups such as Reddit groups, Facebook groups, Instagram hashtags, comments and TikTok. What I found really interesting is the level of insights these communities provide to brands, and how powerful these insights are in diving innovation, and observing consumer trends too. What struck me most was this: customers don't just follow brands for promotions. They seek connection, responsiveness, and authenticity. They want to feel seen and heard, and they want to know there's a real person on the other side of the screen. 

"Businesses are no longer the sole creators of a brand; it is co-created by consumers through shared experiences and defined by the results of online searches and conversations." - Brian Solis, Salesforce Global Innovation 

In today’s digital attention economy, consumers have a lot more power to curate their feeds and control who they interact with online. Yet, many franchise brands are not treating their local digital channels as the consumer insights goldmine that it is. 

Netnography Research that inspired me!

During the project, we analysed Ooni Pizza Oven's online brand community and researched their Facebook group specifically. Throughout our research, several elements of a brand community clearly stood out: 

• Rituals - Ooni Night (every Friday night, they bake a pizza), community peers then share their snaps of the pizzas and tables ready for celebration
• Shared Language, specific to the community terms
• Social Interactions/Peer Support - Community members sharing recipes, asking for advice and supporting each other on the journey. 

What struck me most about Ooni’s Facebook group is that, while it’s moderated by brand representatives, there’s very little promotional content. Instead, it thrives on shared passion, rituals, and social connection—making it a textbook example of an online brand community that transcends geography.

But these kinds of communities aren’t limited to product fan groups. They’re happening every day in more familiar and overlooked spaces—like the local Facebook or Instagram page of your neighbourhood convenience store or franchise location.

These local pages might be quieter than global fan groups, but they often hold the same signs of community: repeat interactions, familiar names in the comments, staff engaging with customers, and genuine local advocacy. The difference? These communities are grounded not just in brand identity—but in place, relationships, and real-world connection.

Can a Local Social Media Page Be a Micro Brand Community for a Franchise Brand?

It may be absurd to compare the shared rides of Harley-Davidson with birthday shout-outs on the social media page of a local convenience store. But is it?

Muniz & O’Guinn (Journal of Consumer Research, 2001) define a brand community as:

“A brand community is defined as a specialised, non-geographically bound community, based on a structured set of social relationships among admirers of the brand.”

These communities are often characterised by brand-related rituals, a shared sense of identity, a responsibility to support newcomers, and even their own symbolic language.

Take Harley-Davidson riders, for instance—they speak of a ‘brotherhood,’ a deep sense of belonging that transcends the product itself. Or consider the Labubu collectables community, where fans participate in shared rituals like unboxing videos, trades, and coded emojis that only insiders understand. Over time, participants gain recognition, and a distinct culture emerges.

Now consider local social media pages. On the surface, a birthday post or a regular commenter asking about stock might seem trivial—but through the lens of brand community theory, these are the early signals of something deeper. Recurring interactions, in-jokes, familiar faces, and supportive exchanges all point to the same underlying dynamics.

What if we’ve been underestimating these local pages? They may not feel like brand communities in the traditional sense—but they share the same DNA. Perhaps it’s time we stop overlooking these micro-brand communities quietly thriving in plain sight.

Global to National to Local + Physical to Digital

Multi-location and franchise brands often focus on national strategy and global brand-building efforts. It’s not that they forget about local, but local channels are frequently overlooked or underutilised.

Managing a multi-location presence when a brand has 100s or more physical locations is a real and ongoing challenge. I’m not referring to a centralised strategy where every store posts the same branded content. I’m talking about something far more powerful: the opportunity to turn each local social media page, whether it’s Facebook or Instagram, into a microbrand community.

“Unlike traditional social media marketing… micro‑communities prioritise connection, exclusivity, and authentic conversations.” Scott Jones, CEO - 123 Internet

This requires more than access to content and temples. It demands a shift in mindset: from compliance to empowerment, from broadcasting to conversation, from brand policing to brand partnering.

Reframing Local Pages as Brand Community Building Assets

If there’s one shift I hope this article encourages, it’s this: stop treating local social media pages as liabilities or content distribution tools. Start seeing them for what they are: community-building assets. 

Franchise and multi-location brands already have a powerful advantage: local presence. But few are activating it meaningfully in the digital space. The micro-brand community exists, the repeat commenters, the familiar names, the posts that spark real conversation, but without support, structure, or attention, these signals are often lost. This isn’t just about marketing. It’s about recognising that your brand lives where your customer interacts, and increasingly, that interaction happens on a phone screen, often tied to their nearest store.

The brands that win the future won’t be the ones with the loudest global message. They’ll be the ones who listen locally, empower their teams on the ground, and build trust one microbrand community at a time.

Discover how SocioConnect help your local marketing reach new heights and create bustling online commeunities. Book in a call if you'd like more information.

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