Editorial
The Gist
- Customer connection. Recognize that AI can't replicate the spontaneous connections and community bonding experienced by car enthusiasts at 7-Eleven.
- Organic growth. Observe and engage with existing customer behaviors, as 7-Eleven did with car enthusiasts, to foster organic marketing and community.
- Social listening. Pay attention to customer interactions on social media to understand their needs and enhance brand engagement effectively.
If there’s one thing we all have heard for the last year, it’s how AI is going to revolutionize the world, change how we think, change what we do and eliminate jobs — and listen, I get it. AI is a (good) thing.
But, AI isn’t everything.
In fact, AI can’t do many things. It can’t be in the moment; it can’t be conscious; it can’t show up to a gas station and post photos of hot rods and European exotic cars that evoke feelings of community among car enthusiasts shared over a raspberry-flavored Slurpee. In other words it can't build customer communities like those built in the real world.
Wait, what? AI? Gas stations? Slurpees? What are we talking about?
If you’re a car enthusiast (like me) — maybe you’ve caught on by now — if not, I’m talking about one of the most innovative and customer focused brands over the last few years: 7-Eleven.
That’s right.
7-Eleven has traditionally been known as a convenience store that offers everything you can imagine — but most folks don’t know what really makes this convenience store special — it's a little thing called a customer community.
Car enthusiasts (which I define myself as) — are people who wake up at 6 a.m. on a Saturday, head outside, grab a bucket and some soap and wash their cars. Their cars are representations of who they are, their personalities — their cars are their muses, their passions, their therapies.
Over the years, car enthusiasts have flocked to 7-Eleven, which on the surface wouldn’t really make sense, but when you dig deeper into customer communities, the reason they park at this green and red fluorescent oasis of Slurpees and snacks becomes clearer.
Customer Communities: Late-Night Drives and Late-Night Vibes
On most occasions, car enthusiasts head out for a cruise very early in the morning, or near the end of the day, and by the time they are done — it’s typically right around dusk or just when the sun is coming up. As their cruise comes to an end, they are left feeling in the moment — the emotion, the passion — and most car enthusiasts want to take some photos to document this feeling. Over time, 7-Eleven has been an oasis for car people to do just that, and often they aren’t the only ones there — many other car enthusiasts have had the same idea.
Being your best self means being in the present moment, it fills their cup and who they are, it provides a sense of community — people need to be understood and seen in their community — that’s where inspiration comes from.
Eventually, many car enthusiasts started to post and tag 7-Eleven on Instagram, TikTok and other popular social media sites with that beautiful, bright 7-Eleven sign in the background of many shots. What’s interesting though is this: 7-Eleven elected to embrace this cult-like following of customer communities and started to repost photos the people uploaded, which spawned a mass following of car people inspiring others to follow suit, tagging their ride against the 7-Eleven sign. (Free promotion anyone?).
7-Eleven didn’t do anything special. The company simply paid attention to what consumer behaviors were occurring at their locations, and leaned in — heavy. 7-Eleven now hosts contests each year where followers can vote on which photos/rides they like best — totally embracing this grassroots approach to marketing and promotion. Oh, and by the way, when these car enthusiasts show up, they typically fill up their tank, head inside and grab a few items.
What’s inspiring here though is that all brands have the ability to build these types of customer communities.
You Can Inspire Organic Customer Growth, Too
Here are three ways to leverage your existing customer base and their behaviors to inspire organic growth.
Related Article: Tips to Build a Highly Engaged User Community
Listen to Your Customers
It is so, so vitally important to be in touch with the various customer channels your brand has, specifically social channels. Customers are almost constantly posting, tagging, talking and interacting on their brands' favorite social channels. More likely than not, your customers have already adopted some sort of brand connecting similar to 7-Eleven.
You must be in touch with these channels so that you can truly hear and see how consumers view your brand (good or bad), so that you can understand who they are at their core and build even more customer communities.
Related Article: Want to Build a Customer Community? Here's How to Get Started
Learn What Inspires Customers
You can’t learn unless you listen first. Once you’ve listened to your customers, you’ll pick up on some things that maybe you had an idea about, or maybe things you had no clue about. What’s important to realize is that when consumers are acting as their authentic selves, they will be giving you information you desire.
I’ve talked a lot about the idea of anthropomorphism, the idea that humans assign nonhuman entities (like a brand) with human-like characteristics. When car enthusiasts go to 7-Eleven, they associate that brand as part of their drive — it sinks into the soul of who they are and becomes part of their ritual. As a brand wanting to build strong customer communities, you can learn so much when you realize this actualization.
Related Article: How Customer Communities Improve Customer Experience
Lean In: Make a Move for Brand Growth
Finally, after you’ve listened and learned what your customers desire, you must lean into this. 7-Eleven could have easily made the decision not to. Sometimes, car enthusiasts bring a bad vibe to places; there’s always some bad apples out there.
But, embracing what customers are looking for, and skating where the proverbial puck is going, usually yields solid results. Leaning in is about changing and pivoting what you thought was true, exploring areas that may seem unorthodox, and truly allowing your brand to grow, evolve and inspire — just in the way your customers desire.
In all seriousness, I’m not trying to bash AI. In fact, I just wrote an article about how AI is going to change ecommerce, for the better. That being said, humans still require real-world, tactile experiences to fill their cup. We need, desire and seek connection and feelings that resonate true to what’s at our core, and 7-Eleven is providing just that in a big way for car enthusiasts.
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For car enthusiasts, it’s all about finding freedom in your passion, in your car, out for a drive, music turned up, windows down, not a care in the world. As Dominic Toretto (played by Vin Diesel) in the "Fast & Furious" film franchise said, “I live my life a quarter mile at a time, nothing else matters. For those 10 seconds or less — I’m free.”
For your brand, you must ask yourself how you can let your customers know their passions and inspirations matter, and that they can live these passions and inspirations through your brand. If you’re successful in this, you’ll win the race to your customers hearts — forever.
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