Figma accidentally created a new product — here's how they did it
📰 NoGood News | Vol. 71
Hi NoGoodies,
Before we jump into another round of the NoGood News, here's a quick TL;DR of what's below:
Figma accidentally entered the presentation software space
Consumer attention comes with intense competition
We all hate ads that feel like ads — so why not create ads that feel like content?
Here’s how Joe and the Juice is creating ads for Gen Z consumers
Figma accidentally entered the presentation software space
Here’s how Figma Slides demonstrates product-led growth
Figma realized that users created 3.5 million slide files in the past 12 months.
However, there was no built-in feature to assist users in creating these slides.
So, they created the Figma slides feature to give their users exactly what they’ve been wanting.
The best part?
It’s created in response to user behavior in the product.
This is an excellent demonstration of product-led growth that more brands should be doing.
Figma is acknowledging that they see and hear their user community by giving their customers what they want (instead of useless features they didn't ask for).
What do you think of Figma’s new presentation feature?
Consumer attention comes with intense competition
Here’s the secret to building an engaged brand community
A brand community is where the people who love, support, and buy from your brand can gather to interact with you.
Your community is built around shared interests, and that interest is not always about your brand only.
That’s where culture-driven content comes in. But you need a mascot first. This person will lead your content and become the face of your brand.
Your mascot, your community personified, someone who understands the interests, pain points, and communication styles of those whom you are trying to connect with.
Once you have your creators, you can start building your community.
3 steps to create an engaged brand community:
1. Identify Community Persona: Identify the largest circle of people who would be interested in your brand but may not know you yet— then find out their interests by looking internally and externally.
2. Establish Brand Positioning: When your ideal audience scrolls, make sure they can recognize your content even if your handle isn’t attached to it—tone, style, and even the creator should be uniquely your brand. It should be very clear what type of content is on brand and what is not.
3. Create Content Buckets: These are the categories of content that you will share with your audience that you have created based on your community persona and your brand positioning and values. Here are a few of our content buckets at NoGood— Growth Marketing, Brand Analyses, NoGood Culture, and AI and Tech.
A strong brand community is a testament to its commitment to fostering genuine connections and cultivating long-term relationships with its audience.
Head to our blog to learn more about how to build an engaged brand community with culture-driven content.
We all hate ads that feel like ads — why not create ads that feel like content? Here’s how Joe and the Juice is creating ads people actually like
Joe and the Juice has become widely known on social for their playful voice and humorous POV.
They’ve found success on TikTok through their ability to connect with their audience through relatable everyday experiences.
And they’ve done just that with their new ad campaign.
They understand that no one hates ads more than Gen Z. So they had to get innovative to create ads that stop the scroll and actually engage their target audience— ie., an ad that doesn’t feel like an ad.
By using clever captions like ‘new smoothies just dropped’, they humorously comment on shared experiences amongst consumers.
Do you like Joe and the Juice’s new smoothie drop announcement?
🎙️Q&A with an expert
A bi-weekly interview series with the best in the game
Q: What does it take to create an authentic brand community?
A: Creating an authentic brand community is all about knowing your core audience, listening to them, and actively participating in cultural conversations with a clear point of view. Gen Z consumers want to shop at and interact with brands that reflect their own values and beliefs, meaning brands should be able to take a stance on topics that their audience cares about. Brands need to do more than just speak to their consumers — they should be fostering two-way conversations based on topics that are relevant, timely and purpose-driven.
Q: Where do you think the future of brand communities is headed?
A: I think we're going to start seeing more and more brands involving their internal teams and employees as part of their brand community. Consumers love seeing a face behind the name, and pulling back the curtain to show the actual people working on a product or brand can often make it feel more authentic. Brands like Notion, Set Active and Beis are good early examples of this in practice. In a good way it also puts pressure on companies to foster an internal culture that actually matches the brand image that they put up — which is something that Gen Z consumers in particular tend to pay attention to when it comes to choosing which brands they buy from.
✍️ We wish we wrote this
A curated list of the past 2 weeks’ must-read articles:
Why Gen Z’s most trusted news outlet is the comment section
Branded water has become a part of a luxury lifestyle - here’s how
Move over meta — Spotify is the new social app for Gen Z
👀 Keeping up on the socials
Because we know you like to stay in the know:
Charlie XCX is taking user-generated content to the next level with her Brat campaign
Glossier’s intentional rebrand from Millenial Pink to Gen Z Retro — which is better?
How Loewe’s tomato bag helped them stand out amidst luxury brands fighting for consumer’s attention
🚀 Ready to meet your NoGood partner?
Tell us where you are and where you want to be — and we’ll help get you there.