Before, there were brands,media and customers.
Now, there is a new player in the mix that has radically altered the effectiveness of traditional marketing and its ability to tell monolithic narratives – Fans.
What has changed isn’t the emergence of some media format that facilitates social interaction but how people interact with media itself.
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1. mobileYouth® - youth marketing and mobile culture
analysis of the latest research, insights and trends by Graham D Brown
http://www.mobileyouth.org
The 90-10 Rule: Focus on the 10% that influences the
90%
THE AGE OF THE FAN
Before, there were brands,media and customers.
Now, there is a new player in the mix that has radically altered the effectiveness of
traditional marketing and its ability to tell monolithic narratives - Fans.
What has changed isn’t the emergence of some media format that facilitates
social interaction but how people interact with media itself.
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2. mobileYouth® - youth marketing and mobile culture
analysis of the latest research, insights and trends by Graham D Brown
http://www.mobileyouth.org
More From Graham Brown's Series on How to Sell Technology
The 90-10 Rule: Focus on the 10% that influences the 90%
The Paradox of Quality: Why Better Technology Fails
Change Your Metaphors: How great leaders sell technology
These 2 Social Experiments Show How Stories Sell Technology
Why you need to become a Farmer not a Hunter to sell technology
WHAT IS A FAN?
Finding and working with your fans is key to success in selling technology today
(Photo credit: Phil Gradwell)
Fans are the 10% that influences the 90%.
Fans aren’t 2 or 3 times more influential than your average customer, fans are up
to 100x more influential
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3. mobileYouth® - youth marketing and mobile culture
analysis of the latest research, insights and trends by Graham D Brown
http://www.mobileyouth.org
Fans are key advocates of your brand and its products. It’s Fans that customers
listen to when making informed product choices.
It’s Fans that encourage them to switch mobile phones. It’s Fans that give them
reasons to leave a service.
It’s Fans that educate them about new products. mobileYouth research found
Fans weren’t simply 2 or 3 times more influential than the average customer but
up to 100 times more.
FROM CUSTOMERS TO FANS: BREAKDOWN OF THE MARKET
Size Who are they? Role
Fans 10% of the market Employees, co-
workers, vocal
customers who "get
it" and love the
product
Key influencers,
advocates and
educators. Focus
on breaking down
the walls to help
Fans tell their story
and broadcast to
the customer base.
Commit all your
energy to the Fans
and leverage their
lines of influence to
shape the market.
Observers 20% Silent Fans who are
to be convinced that
going public with
their affections or
ideas is a good idea
The bridge between
Fans and the mass
market. 2nd wave
of adopters
Skeptics 50% The silent majority
who are easily
swayed one way or
the other
Skeptics only come
on board when the
Social Proof from
Fans and
Observers is strong
enough to de-risk
any change in
behavior.
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4. mobileYouth® - youth marketing and mobile culture
analysis of the latest research, insights and trends by Graham D Brown
http://www.mobileyouth.org
Critics 20% The vocal
opposition. The
"Yes, buts". The
naysayers
Critics will continue
to fiercely oppose
any change,
product or
technology simply
because their
position of
opposition gives
them significance.
Do not waste
energy to convert
the Critic. Focus
energies on those
that matter and use
the mass market to
silence the critic.
NOT ALL CUSTOMERS ARE THE SAME
18% of youth who bought a handset said they were influenced by celebrity
endorsements compared to 65% who said they were influenced by friends.
Customers turn to specific peers who wield a significant amount of influence within
their networks.
These super-influencers are everyday people as opposed to celebrities and they
are significantly more influential in shaping brand choice than average customers.
Fans create the Social Proof that sells technology.
* Super Influencers communicate with 2X as many people on a daily basis as the
regular consumer.
* Super Influencers talk about brands 2.5X more on a weekly basis than regular
consumers.
* Over a period of 1 year Super Influencers generate 88% of the brand’s positive
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5. mobileYouth® - youth marketing and mobile culture
analysis of the latest research, insights and trends by Graham D Brown
http://www.mobileyouth.org
recommendations.
THE OLD MARKETING MODEL AND FANS
When advertising agencies try to take brand stories onto Facebook they still
persist in telling the brand story albeit with a social twist. What they fail to realize
is that it’s not who’s telling your story but whose story you’re telling that counts.
Fans are the new advertising industry.
Fans follow people and products not brands.
The question we should be asking is not “how do we engage the fans?” but “how
do we break down the walls that prevent fans from engaging us?”
Start by embracing the unofficial. Break down the walls to allow Fans to have their
own voice.
When it comes to selling technology, we need to put Fans in the driving seat
because it is these users that make or break the adoption of brands and apps.
LOUDSPEAKER VS TELEPHONE MODEL OF SELLING
TECHNOLOGY
Loudspeaker Telephone
Narrative Tell the official brand story Fans tell their own
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6. mobileYouth® - youth marketing and mobile culture
analysis of the latest research, insights and trends by Graham D Brown
http://www.mobileyouth.org
unofficial stories
Model Centralized. Top-down.
Monolithic
De-centralized. Bottom-up.
Pluralistic
Distribution Broadcast: one-to-one or
one-to-many
Peer-to-peer: many-to-
many
How it works Tell 'em you're cool, Tell
'em in a BIG way, keep
telling 'em
Give the Fans the tools to
help tell their story
Economics Based on shortage of shelf
space and an abundance
of attention
Based on shortage of
attention and an
abundance of shelf space
Tactics Paid media: "Have a
conversation with
customers", campaigns,
PR, celebrity
endorsement, The Big
Idea
Earned media: Help
customers have a
conversation with each
other, grass roots
movements
Metrics Top of mind, recall, market
share, awareness, brand
equity
Recommendation, Net
Promoter Score, Earned
Media Indexes
THE 90-10 RULE
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7. mobileYouth® - youth marketing and mobile culture
analysis of the latest research, insights and trends by Graham D Brown
http://www.mobileyouth.org
Social Circles of Influence (Photo credit: aafromaa)
That's the 90-10 rule.
Leverage the 10% to influence the 90%.
The 90% aren't listening anyway.
Focus on nurturing your relationship with these key influencers.
Nurture relationships with Fans but don't try to force a brand conversation on
them.
Nobody, not even Fans, want a conversation with your brand. Fans want you to
amplify their own stories.
If you don’t know who your Fans are, you have only customers.
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