TribalWorks

I found this online.  It is a pretty cool video.  Enjoy!

Often we hear people talk about Tribes without fully understanding what they are and how they work.  The most common misconception is that tribes are just segments.  However, the key differentiation between a segment and a tribe is that in a tribe, the relationship between the members is very important.  Whereas a segment (no matter how narrowly defined) does not require members of the group to connect or communicate.

When you think tribally, you have to shift your paradigm.  Start thinking about how your product or service can best support the tribe instead of focusing on how to target a certain segment or demographic.  A Tribal Strategy should be more than a novel communication plan.  Here is an example of an article by Avi Dan in AdAge that illustrates the point.

As markets become more tribal, they must recalibrate from broadcasting to narrowcasting and reach targets more efficiently and more effectively through tools such as behavioral targeting and addressable TV. They must also adopt a more granular view of customers by making analytics the cornerstone of any marketing effort. Most marketers are still committed to traditional communication vehicles, primarily TV. But the lesson from the rapid rise of social networking is that people prefer to have a conversation and dialogue within their networks, not an interruptive, one-way communication through TV commercials. Marketers must learn to adapt if they want their communication to maintain its effectiveness with a suddenly harder to please consumer.

In the following sentence, he talks about targeting certain demographics rather than supporting tribes.

Most marketers focus on Gen X and Gen Y, with a combined buying power of $1 trillion, but ignore African-Americans, with buying power in excess of $1.5 trillion, and baby boomers, with $2.1 trillion. Hispanic buying power is growing at three times the national average and will reach $1 trillion in 2011; Asian-Americans spend three times as much as Gen Yers; and gay Americans clock in at $800 billion. Ignoring these segments will put undue pressure on your profitability in an environment resistant to price increases.

It has been quite interesting to see the rise of Tribes and Tribal Marketing in the lexicon of marketers over the last 8-9 months.  When we started this blog back in August 2008,  we were amongst only a few people actively talking about it.  Nowadays, Tribal Marketing is becoming a part of the active conversation for many.

Here are the Google Trends results for the search term “tribal marketing” [Click for larger image].

As marketers continue to search for innovative ways to reach their consumers, I predict that more and more people will be looking to Tribal Marketing as a part of the solution.

 Adding more to the MyKmart/MySears story, here are some more details and insight as to why they did it.

Insisting it has no plans to face off with Facebook or take the place of MySpace, retailer Sears has quietly launched its own social networking hub.

The chain has registered more than 200,000 registered users to MySears, a social networking site it rolled out in late March. This week Sears launched MyKmart, a similar site for its sister chain.

Rob Harles, vp-community for Sears, said the chain’s goal is to glean new insights from customers and give the brand more of a human face. “Ultimately we’re going to try to use this to first and foremost learn about our customers and secondly use those lessons and use that to integrate that into the shopping experience,” Harles said, adding that the company has already used some insights to restock items and address some customer service issues.

First of all, it doesn’t matter if you have 200,000 registered users if only 10% interact and are active.

Now that I better understand the goals and objectives (insights from customers, human face of the brand) of Sears/Kmart, I have to question two things:

1. Will this exercise allow them to gain any REAL insights?  The people interacting on these sites (assuming most of them are not employees) will not necessarily be a fair representation of Sears’ and Kmart’s consumer group.
2. Kmart and Sears are among, in my opinion, the least welcoming store formats around - if they really want to “…give the brand a more human face…”, how about focusing on customer service and interaction at the store level?

John Bernoff Forrester Research reiterates what I said in my earlier post.

Josh Bernoff, svp-idea development at Forrester Research, said that he thought Sears will have a tough time with the project. “It’s pretty hard to start a community in the context of a retail site unless your customers have a lot in common,” he said. “If you look at Sears, a Craftsman tool community would probably work out better than a Sears community. Do we really want to get together and talk about vacuums?”

I just found out that Kmart and Sears in the US has launched an online social media platform known as MyKmart and MySears respectively.

The premise of these sites is to build a community where prospective buyers can share reviews of various products before they buy.  However, the sites go further as you can build your profile, announce your interests, and yes, even add friends.  In other words, it is Facebook light for these retailers.

Here are some questions to think about:

• Why would people want to join in the first place?
• Even if people visit to look at reviews - why would people want to interact after they made a purchase?
• Why would I interact and add ‘friends’ on this platform?
• What passion are they addressing?

General retailers are hard pressed to leverage tribes since they are trying to be everything to everyone.  A better approach for Kmart and Sears would have been to build communities around various departments, i.e. home improvement, recreation, etc.  Even then, why build your platform when you can leverage others?

I opined earlier that the anti-tribe will support a second NHL team in the Toronto area.

Here is a brief recap:

So why then do I think a 2nd NHL team would be successful? 

Because, almost an entire generation of Leaf fans in Toronto have been patiently waiting to win another Stanley Cup without much success.  Life long Leaf fans are starting to feel that the organization they are loyal to is not doing enough to earn their loyalty and are not serious about contending.  The feeling of animosity towards the organization they once loved may grow stronger if the Leafs once again fail to make the playoffs or worse, finish last in their conference. 

This could be a ripe environment for a prospective new owner to move in to the Toronto market and help nucleate the anti-Toronto Maple Leafs tribe.  Make no mistake, this anti-tribe is hungry for something different.  Thus, the model of expensive tickets and low performance that we are seeing now will not be tolerated.

Looks like more than a few people agree that another team should be able to move to Southern Ontario based on this poll.

In a multi-part blog, we’re going to discuss the WWE. Arguably the most controversial form of sport, professional wrestling has spawned tribes and anti-tribes.  While some follow it devotedly for the entertainment it provides, others shun it for being fake and leading to violence amongst children.

I admire the steps taken by the WWE to involve their fans in more and more ways. The WWE Universe now has forums, blogs and other features available with frequent updates provided by the wrestlers themselves. By opening up a channel of communication between the fans and the wrestlers, the WWE is enabling fans to connect with the people they want to hear from.

Understanding their fans has really helped the WWE provide a product that appeals to the masses. In fact, with young viewers making up a growing portion of their audience, WWE has recently obtained a PG-13 rating.

I think that’s a risky move since the new approach may turn away the more mature viewers who have been following the WWE since they were young. However, this may help those same viewers get their kids watching too. Given that the WWE already dominates T.V. ratings every week, it should be interesting to see whether this move helps them cement their position or if they’ll suffer.

Recently, the WWE has taken a stab at channeling the efforts of the tribes that support them. Fans have always shaped the direction of the product offered weekly to millions of households and now the WWE is taking steps to service its expansive fan base through the WWE Universe.

• WWE offers a variety of mobile services for people wanting to get the most up-to-date news delivered to their cell phones
• The website itself allows fans to vote on their favourite designs for future WWE merchandise
• The icing on the cake for most fans is the interactive Pay-Per-View where fans get the opportunity to vote on the type of matches and even the participants of the match

With the WWE using multiple channels to connect with their fans, I truly believe their focus is on adapting the WWE to their fans.