Entertainment x Shopping

How to turn live-streaming from an e-commerce tactic into the brand-building strategy

Welcome to the Sociology of Business. If you are not subscribed, join the community by subscribing below and joining the Sociology of Business Discord. You find my book, The Business of Aspiration on Amazon and you can find me on Instagram and Twitter. For those new here, in my last analysis, De-Commercialization, I explored different ways of transforming standardized production of commodities into considered creation of non-tradable objects.

If there ever was a brand that seamlessly and organically mixed entertainment with community with commerce, that would be TELFAR. TELFAR’s website, Instagram account and TELFAR TV deliver a world that, at a first glance, seems to exist purely for its own enjoyment purposes. This is true; it is also true that it exists for enjoyment of the vast TELFAR community, members of which regularly find themselves on the giant screens at the TV studio and on TELFAR’s Instagram feed. The brand fans are at the main source of entertainment and its main audience.

In turn, entertainment is the main source of product communication. TELFAR TV is described as a “black-owned AKA un-owned AKA unknown, 24 hour live-linear public access tellyvision network: submit videos, watch LIVE shows and get exclusive drops from the NYC based non-gendered fashion brand.” Anyone can submit their video. The brand’s products - most notably its vegan Shopping Bags - signal the TELFAR fandom’s identity (imagined and literal, as reflected in the name Corned Beef, released on February 11th).

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