TribalWorks

A few people have asked what it means to have a Tribal Strategy.  In my opinion, a Tribal Strategy is a decision to align various aspects of your brand/organization around tribes.  This includes aspects such as HR, planning, R&D, etc.

On the other hand, many organizations incorporate bits and pieces of a Tribal Strategy, i.e. Tribal Elements.  They may have an on-line community, participate in event marketing or advertise through social media.

I will try to bring some examples of both to this blog.

A recent article posted on CRM News, highlights the importance for non-profits to not only adopt old CRM techniques, but also to embrace new media such as peer-to-peer and social networking tools.  A shift, Sarah Hoddinott - the article’s author, dubbed Fundraising 2.0. 

Although I agree with her premise, I do think it is important that non-profits take one step back and understand how everything fits together across different fundraising activities and media.  More importantly, the entire organization  needs to be able to perform at a high level given the changes in the marketplace for donor dollars.  This means, functions such as planning & budgeting, IT and HR need to be strategically aligned.

One of Accelteon’s goals is to help non-profit organizations, especially those that rely heavily on donors to succeed using our Tribal Approach.  We look forward to bringing you more insights on this topic.

Have a good weekend!

According to Accelteon’s Gravity Index, the 2008 CFL season as of Week 7 is the most exciting over the past 4 seasons. One of the biggest factors is Hamilton’s performance; although they have only won two games, they are more competitive than last year.  Click Here for the results.

 This is certainly good news for CFL’s management, since they are dedicated to keeping and improving the quality of the on-field product.  This will also go a long way in strengthening the resolve of tribal CFL fans who feel threatened by the potential entry of the Bills (discussed here).

Today, the Buffalo Bills will be playing the first of a series of eight games over the next five years at the Rogers Centre in Toronto.

Although there have been several articles written both in the Canadian and the Western New York press about the potential permanent move of the Buffalo Bills to Toronto, I am more interested in reading what fans have to say about it.

Here are some more colourful examples from the Globe & Mail’s Comments section in response to an article on the Bills preparing for tonight’s game.

CFL Fans

XX from Oakville, Canada writes: Who cares!!
Ticats vs. Bombers….huge game tonight for both teams! Should be a beauty.

Oskee Wee Wee!!!!

XX from Canada writes: Who cares it’s the No Fun League.

Picking Winnipeg (slightly) over Ti-cats tonight.
But then who knows with Freight Train Lumsden running wild.
Lots of Buffalo Burgers from Pete’s Mountain Meats on the BBQ.
Lots of beer on ice and I stole the zapper from my confused sweetie.
Hiding her TV outside in the tent and all hooked up outdoors already.
Now lets ‘Get It On’

NFL Fan

XX from Canada writes: If you don’t care about the NFL, its very simple, even CFL fans will understand, don’t read and comment on this story!

No one is forcing you to read this or go to the game so beat it and find your own story. That is if anyone bothers writing about the CFL.

This is a perfect example of how the ‘Us vs. Them’ mentality exists in many consumer tribes (look at how Apple brings this concept in their messaging). This certainly won’t be the last post about this subject.

One area of Tribal Strategy which requires more serious planning is how you handle members that belong to both tribes? How do you leverage the ‘Us vs. Them’ dynamic without going too far?

I was interested to hear that part of Electronic Arts’ strategy to boost sales for its upcoming game, Spore, is to license rights to a TV show and movie.

According to a recent article, Will Wright, Creator of Spore said the following:

“With Spore, we’re looking way outside the game space, such as TV, movies, etc. We’re basically planting the seeds to spread Spore out to a much wider group of people than would ever play a computer game,” Wright told Reuters in an interview in Singapore during his Asian tour leading up to the game’s launch.

It certainly would not be the first time that boundaries between TV, electronic gaming and movies have been blurred. What I find most interesting is that their objective is to acquire new (non-game playing) consumers into the Spore fan base. Instead, I would imagine that any TV show or movie would keep the existing community more engaged. Either way, if done properly and if the community is large enough, this could definitely be a profitable move.

It would be interesting to observe how this will play out and if it indeed increases the size of the fan base.

A few readers of our last newsletter on Tribal Marketing asked how we positioned the various brands in Figure 1. 

Using our process and based on our individual view points, we placed the above brands in their appropriate location. 

A similar process with a different group of people would probably yield different results.  For example, although most people’s interactions with Canada Post are purely utilitarian, there are a few who would have an emotional connection or even self-identify themselves with the brand.  I do not mean people who work for the company, but rather avid stamp collectors who would like to interact with Canada Post and each other regarding their product of interest.