The Science and Business of Fandom
Covering the basic social science around fandom to help people build and respond to fandoms in an authentic and sensitive manner. Fandom can be a beautiful thing, so let us understand it and understand how good businesses are helping not hindering fandom.
Fans are Market Disrupters
Key Terms for Disruption
Fan v. Loyal Costumer - fans consume and communicate about a product far more than the classic definition of the “loyal customer.”
Proliferation - due to the internet and changing social trends, fans are connecting and growing in new ways such that they are disrupting the market place.
Expanders - as more and more marketing is coming from social media or earned marketing, fans are central to the success of most modern businesses marketing plans. As some say, "Today, fans are your media."
Fan v. Loyal Costumer - fans consume and communicate about a product far more than the classic definition of the “loyal customer.”
Proliferation - due to the internet and changing social trends, fans are connecting and growing in new ways such that they are disrupting the market place.
Expanders - as more and more marketing is coming from social media or earned marketing, fans are central to the success of most modern businesses marketing plans. As some say, "Today, fans are your media."
Defining Fandom
Key Terms for Fandom
Entire Person - fandom is the entire person being met. It is not just a person's entertainment, it's their humanity, it's their connection, it's their creativity, it's their community. If you look at any macro theories about human needs from the outdated Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to Self Determination Theory and the ever expanding theories building from it, you will see how fandom satisfies so much of what humans most desire.
Connection - seeing yourself in the characters and stories of the content.
Community - being a part of a group of individuals, getting your social needs met.
Creativity - creating and playing with ideas from building cosplay to just arguing about what the sequel for a movie should contain. These are but a few the acts of creation and play.
Entire Person - fandom is the entire person being met. It is not just a person's entertainment, it's their humanity, it's their connection, it's their creativity, it's their community. If you look at any macro theories about human needs from the outdated Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to Self Determination Theory and the ever expanding theories building from it, you will see how fandom satisfies so much of what humans most desire.
Connection - seeing yourself in the characters and stories of the content.
Community - being a part of a group of individuals, getting your social needs met.
Creativity - creating and playing with ideas from building cosplay to just arguing about what the sequel for a movie should contain. These are but a few the acts of creation and play.
Devotional Marketing
Key Terms for Devotional Marketing
Devotional Marketing - content experiences that allow fans to live in and intensify their fandom. It is the fandom version of experiential marketing.
Promotional Marketing - focused more on awareness and making product look cool.
Undirected Experience - space in the devotional marketing experience for fans to explore and discover. Examples include undirected displays, finding easter eggs, narrative displays, and just looking around.
Directed Experiences - space in the devotional marketing experience for specific direct experience such as curated photo opportunities, video game booths, card game booths, or guided group activity.
Separating the Sale - the idea that the sale of the content should not interfere with the experiential parts of the space, so make sure that the shop and those selling are not infringing on the discovery or directed experiences.
Celebration - the idea is to celebrate the content, so this is taking advantage of the fact people are already very familiar with the content. The fans here don’t need to told that the content is awesome, they just want clever and fun ways to engage and celebrate the content they already love.
Devotional Marketing - content experiences that allow fans to live in and intensify their fandom. It is the fandom version of experiential marketing.
Promotional Marketing - focused more on awareness and making product look cool.
Undirected Experience - space in the devotional marketing experience for fans to explore and discover. Examples include undirected displays, finding easter eggs, narrative displays, and just looking around.
Directed Experiences - space in the devotional marketing experience for specific direct experience such as curated photo opportunities, video game booths, card game booths, or guided group activity.
Separating the Sale - the idea that the sale of the content should not interfere with the experiential parts of the space, so make sure that the shop and those selling are not infringing on the discovery or directed experiences.
Celebration - the idea is to celebrate the content, so this is taking advantage of the fact people are already very familiar with the content. The fans here don’t need to told that the content is awesome, they just want clever and fun ways to engage and celebrate the content they already love.
After Content:
The Case of Community
Key Terms for Community/After Content
What Comes After Content - is the idea that businesses need to think about what comes after they make the content. They need to think about how can they build continual touch points with fans and what additional experiences they can provide. The “Fandom Is Community Creedo” is one piece of the “What Comes After Content” puzzle.
Community - why are thousands and thousands of people at a comic book convention with only a limited number of big name celebrities? The answer: community, they are there to be with each other.
Fandom is Community Creedo - it is an obvious point, but often people think that fandom is due to quality of the content rather than the community that builds up around it.
What Comes After Content - is the idea that businesses need to think about what comes after they make the content. They need to think about how can they build continual touch points with fans and what additional experiences they can provide. The “Fandom Is Community Creedo” is one piece of the “What Comes After Content” puzzle.
Community - why are thousands and thousands of people at a comic book convention with only a limited number of big name celebrities? The answer: community, they are there to be with each other.
Fandom is Community Creedo - it is an obvious point, but often people think that fandom is due to quality of the content rather than the community that builds up around it.
The Living Room Floor Story
Key Terms for Living Room Floor Story
Living Room Floor Desire - the idea that people want to keep playing and creating and are looking for socially acceptable ways to do that.
Comic-Con as the Creative Process - so much of Comic-Con is not just shouting “woo” when celebrities come on stage but listening to and participating in conversation about how popular art is made and navigated.
Conversation as Creation - as we age it is less appropriate to play or write fiction for fun (though norms are chaining a bit), so much of the creative outlet people have is simply through conversation and sometimes argument. For instance fans discuss what a sequel to a movie should be--that in many ways is similar to playing with toys on living room floor and creating your own version of stories.
Living Room Floor Desire - the idea that people want to keep playing and creating and are looking for socially acceptable ways to do that.
Comic-Con as the Creative Process - so much of Comic-Con is not just shouting “woo” when celebrities come on stage but listening to and participating in conversation about how popular art is made and navigated.
Conversation as Creation - as we age it is less appropriate to play or write fiction for fun (though norms are chaining a bit), so much of the creative outlet people have is simply through conversation and sometimes argument. For instance fans discuss what a sequel to a movie should be--that in many ways is similar to playing with toys on living room floor and creating your own version of stories.