Consumer Tribes
You don't buy the brand. You buy into the tribe wearing it. The logo is a flag.
Grounded in the research on Consumer tribe (Wikipedia)
Know what a tribe actually is
A consumer tribe is a loose self-selected group bonded by shared passion and a distinctive identity, not by demographics. It cuts across age, income, geography, and class. Sociologist Michel Maffesoli coined 'neo-tribes' (Le Temps des tribus, 1988): post-modern people don't belong to one fixed group, they drift through many temporary tribes glued together by emotion and shared symbols, not duty.
Spot the linking value, not the product
Marketing researcher Bernard Cova's key insight: in tribal consumption the product's worth is its 'linking value' (valeur de lien), not its use value. People don't buy the thing for what it does. They buy it because it connects them to other people who own it. The object is a ticket into the room. The bond between members is the real product.