One of the best parts of having a podcast is being able to explore interesting ideas with interesting people. It was my pleasure to be a guest on the Nicstalgia podcast with host Nicole Tremaglio and something Nicole mentioned in that conversation about the difference between building community versus building audience sparked me into needing to learn more.
Nicole is a branding consultant, pop culture expert writer, and self-described millennial sporty spice and quickly gets to the heart of it in this episode: Community exists when there is a peer to peer connection, when your fans and followers begin to talk to each other. Visually, that's when your audience expands from vertical (top down - you putting out information/product) to horizontal.
Music has always been a source of connection for me and Nicole breaks down how BTS has created a global, impactful community - the BTS ARMY - and how that relates, by extension, to building any brand and why building community should be part of your business plan.
In addition to hosting the Nicstalgia podcast, which unlocks core memories from the 90s and 2000s while examining the past through a contemporary lens, Nicole writes the Nicstalgia newsletter, which serves as a valuable cultural commentary source that fosters belonging and advances conversations around individual and collective identity, cyclical trends, consumer behavior, and popular culture. Connect with Nicole on social @nicoletremaglio.