Harsh truth: everything you know about community is outdated.

Let’s get to the heart of a word marketers love to throw around, but rarely define.

This week, join us LIVE from the stage of the Brand Advocacy Summit: London — kicking off a four-part mini series from the day with a heavy hitter.

Verity sits down with Lucy Murray (Brand Director @ Free Soul), Emily Mitchell (Marketing Director @ Tropic Skincare), and Paul Hickey (Group Director @ SAMY Alliance), to unpack what brand love actually looks like in 2025.

Together, they cover:

• The 3 Truths Behind Community: From off-the-grid connections to consumer-run spaces, find out what today’s best brands know.

• Real Talk on Events, Activations & Intimacy: Smaller, meaningful events trump 400-person spectacles. You know this, so hear the real best practice for acting on it. When the time comes, scale doesn’t have to mean soulless, either.

• What Listening Actually Looks Like: Learn how Tropic’s 20k-strong ambassador base & Free Soul’s biggest Advocates guide product and marketing decisions – no red tape needed.

• Why Emotional Connection Still Wins: From Free Soul’s community-built retreats to grassroots wellness events (touching grass, wholly included), discover what keeps customers coming back.

• Social Listening with a Human Lens: Hear how SAMY Alliance challenges traditional sentiment tracking with one goal; to get under the skin of what audiences really think.

This one is for any brand that wants to build community beyond a hashtag & follow back.

No fluff. No filter. Just what works.

This episode is in partnership with SAMY Alliance; a global network of creative and data-driven marketing agencies helping brands grow through cutting-edge insights, human connection, and digital innovation.

You can learn more about these good folk here: https://samy.com/en/

Chapters

00:00 – What Is Community in 2025, Really?

03:48 – Free Soul’s Ground-Up Community Strategy

06:01 – When Wellness Events Build Real Belonging

08:56 – How Tropic Skincare Co-Creates With Its Ambassadors

10:27 – Listening Without Red Tape (And Acting On It)

12:15 – Why Social Listening Needs a Human Lens

14:01 – Tropic’s Infinite Purpose (And How It Drives Loyalty)

16:04 – Building Emotional Connection at Scale

18:35 – The Tangible Impact of Products Like Free Soul’s

21:33 – Personalisation & Segmentation That Actually Resonates

22:50 – Accountability: The Ultimate Signal of Community

24:27 – When Customers Speak To Each Other

27:00 – Copied Community Strategy? Blinkers On.

28:55 – Authentic Customer Stories: The Real Advocacy Engine

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Connect with Lucy, Emily & Paul:

On Lucy’s LinkedIn

On Emily’s LinkedIn

On Paul’s LinkedIn