Community means Kinship, unity, identity, cooperation, cooperative spirit, convergance
Ubuntu means "together"
Ubuntu and community lie at the very core of Southern Africa’s heartbeat; it’s a fibre that runs through generations, history, families, geographical areas, societies, organisations, events, tragedies, victories, landmarks, milestones and the political arena. Community is well-understood, well-formed and well-executed in Southern Africa, despite this, many retailers/products have elected to focus on “their brand” in the singular context, highlighting brand values/qualities/intrinsics and creating a personal identity for the brand.
Within the southern African context, community has to a large degree been overlooked as a brand definition in favour of stand-alone brands appealing to individual needs and wants and not aligning with the ubuntu principle. The power of “We/Us” and the collective strength of “together” has been traded for personal gain associated with brands, “Me/I/Mine” dominates the marketing arena as brands look to personalise service and experience to specifically targeted psychographic groups with little or no cognisance of community and togetherness.
United we stand, divided we fall – although understood by all has very seldomly, if at all, made an appearance on the brand landscape.
