MAY 14, 2008

A Company That Listens? Look To Threadless

If you have 4 minutes and 29 seconds to spare, I strongly suggest you spend it watching this video, posted last week on one of my favorite blogs, HorsePigCow.

In case you need a little more convincing, this quote from Threadless Founder/CEO Jake Nickell explains why learning more about this unique, Chicago-based company is worth your time:

I think in order to love a company, which is kind of like a weird thing, the first thing is you have to be able to trust the company. And I think since we keep our business so transparent – everybody knows exactly what we do and what our intentions are… if our intentions aren’t true to what we’re saying then our community is no longer interested and they can destroy us.

If Threadless isn’t the perfect example of shared ownership of a brand, I don’t know what is. It’s a fascinating case study because the company believes in complete transparency and community participation — and actually puts the concepts into practice. The result is customers who feel personally invested in the company’s success and have a deep sense of brand loyalty. In fact, Threadless is so centered on community that its customers actually define who it is:

…when you get to know the members of the community, you just learn so much more about your own business that you wouldn’t even think of without talking to them.  

Watch the video… Threadless is a rare breed.