Community building is crucial to business success. Through her strategy consulting firm Designing Communities, Perng Aw helps businesses grow through a community-first approach. The process, she says, enhances brand visibility as well as customer loyalty and yields insights for innovation.
A degree in economics and fashion marketing enables her to analyse market forces, consumer behaviour, and broader business environments as proficiently as she implements brand identity, storytelling, and engagement strategies.
Designing Communities works with businesses keen on entering or expanding in Asia-Pacific and the UAE, providing end-to-end solutions that manage the entire community-building process.
Aw believes investing in communities is inextricably linked to social impact—though there is a need to broaden its definition. “People often think of social impact in terms of charitable work or environmental sustainability, but there’s more to it,” she says.
“For instance, while tech or creative companies such as software as a service (SaaS) providers might not seem to focus on social good, the communities they build drive meaningful societal change because they help people work smarter, collaborate better, and create innovative products.”
Perng Aw on the wider reach of social impact
Misconceptions about community building include how it can happen quickly, is limited to loyalty programmes or social media engagement, and only applies to big-budget companies. But, Aw emphasises, community building takes time, nurtures a sense of belonging, and benefits all businesses regardless of size. Moreover, the size of the community isn’t significant. “It is the community’s alignment with the brand’s mission that determines its growth,” she opines.
Her passion for building communities led her to volunteer with platforms such as Young Founders School, a non-profit edtech startup that educates adolescents about entrepreneurship, and She Loves Tech, a startup accelerator platform empowering women entrepreneurs.
She is striving to do more. “To contribute to Singapore’s dynamic and thriving startup ecosystem, I support young entrepreneurs, local designers, and women in business.”
