The Tribal Billboard Exploit

It started with a cartoon mouse on a t-shirt in the late 1950s and became the most profitable exploitation of the status scan and tribal belonging circuit in commercial history.

The musician who figured out that a logo on a shirt said not I attended this concert but I belong to this tribe and I want you to know it. The athletic brand whose swoosh didn't say I bought these shoes but I am the kind of person who performs, competes, wins. The customer who became the billboard. The billboard that became the status symbol. The status symbol that became the product.

Phil Knight didn't sell athletic wear. He sold membership to a tribe worth belonging to. And the customer funded the entire advertising operation.

The question for every business owner is not whether this dynamic exists. It always exists. The question is whether your brand represents a tribe worth belonging to — or just a transaction with a logo on it.