Companies Should Emulate Rock Stars and Turn Customers into Fans ~ B W C J AOMOLE

Friday, 7 July 2017

Companies Should Emulate Rock Stars and Turn Customers into Fans

By BWC J A OMOLE July 07, 2017 No comments:

You can see fans of Abercrombie and Fitch evangelizing by wearing clothing with the company logo. Instead of paying people to advertise, Abercrombie, like other companies such as Nike, have their fans doing the advertising for them. The key is to build passion for the brand. “Companies have to take concepts like passion and ask what they mean in a business setting,” Blackwell insists. “Everybody understands feeling passion for a favorite band. But how do you develop passion for a product?”

In order for companies to develop passion for their brands, they have to use some very business-like strategies, such as using Customer Relationship Management software that helps tracks customer’s needs. Successful brands are committed to serving customers, finding ways to meet their customers’ needs and building a lasting relationship.

The goal for both bands and brands is to develop a strong emotional connection with their fans. It may seem strange, but customers can build emotional attachments to the most unlikely of products -- such as cheese. “Velveeta is a brand of cheese that has very loyal fans," says Blackwell. "It doesn’t appeal to everybody, but those who like it buy it over and over again.”

Velveeta is similar to a rock star who may be looked down upon by some observers but who has a very dedicated and loyal fan base -- Neil Diamond. “Neil Diamond is the Velveeta cheese of the world of rock and roll,” Blackwell says. “Like Velveeta, he has capitalized on his place in American culture, reaping the financial rewards of doing something well and sticking with it.”

Building an emotional connection between a company and its customers begins at the top. Chief executive officers who spend all their time in the office won’t be very effective. Instead, Blackwell says they need to spend time with their fans -- something that Sam Walton, the founder of Wal-Mart did to perfection.

In the book, Blackwell compares the success of Walton to that of the rock band Kiss. Both used simple, effective strategies to relate to their middle-America fans. Walton, like Kiss, spent time getting to know fans and was dedicated to serving them.

"When you understand your fans like Kiss and Walton did, you know what appeals to them and you concentrate your efforts on those fans," Blackwell says. “Not everyone is a fan of any particular band, and that’s OK. And not everyone is going to be a fan of Wal-Mart. That’s market segmentation and knowing who your core fans are. You have to make sure you target your efforts to the right people.”

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