Fandom: A Comprehensive Business Strategy That Transcends Marketing
The era of fandom has arrived, transcending its association with K-Pop and infiltrating various industries, including corporate branding and the creator economy. This expansion has led to the development of fandom-focused marketing strategies and has drawn attention from companies and creators worldwide. As CMO of bemyfriends, a leading global fandom business, I'd like to explore the significance of fandom in the context of marketing and its impact on businesses.
Having studied and started my career in the United States, I developed a deep love for my home country, Korea, and became determined to help Korean companies expand globally. Throughout my 17-year career in global companies, I've observed the power of relationships in driving brand sustainability. I've also witnessed how technology has fostered stronger connections between fans and stars. Here, I will share my insights on the relationship between fandom and business strategy, drawing on examples from around the world.
▲(Photo source = Samsung Newsroom) Galaxy Unpacked at the Samsung booth, MWC 2019 @ Barcelona, Spain
Link: https://news.samsung.com/global/everything-5g-5-highlights-from-samsung-at-mwc-2019
Wherever people gather, ‘relationships’ are born. Be it the relationships between brands and their fans or the relationships between fans amongst themselves, all these relationships have the potential to determine the sustainability of a brand. As a global brand marketer, I have watched this unfold over the years and realized that the key to fandom is strong relationships. At the same time, I have seen how ever-evolving technology has removed the constraints of space and time, bringing fans and stars closer together and making the relationships between them even stronger. As someone studying fandom at a global fandom business company, I would like to share my experiences regarding the relationships and fandom, as well as the impact of fandom on a global scale.
Everyone is a fan of something
The concept of "fan" has evolved beyond its original negative connotation of fanaticism. In contemporary marketing, the term is used more broadly to encompass anyone who appreciates a brand or person. A brand's ability to create fans and build a fandom is tied to its unique philosophy and the emotional connections it fosters with the public. In this sense, fandom can be viewed as a brand differentiation strategy.
For instance, I am a fan of the eco-friendly brand Swell and its founder, Sarah Kauss, who sought to create fashionable, environmentally-friendly water bottles. As a fan, I became an ambassador for the brand, actively promoting it and sharing its values with others. Fans can be motivated to engage in brand-related activities and make personal sacrifices, such as waiting in long lines for new product releases or attending concerts.
When a brand has a philosophy that brings authenticity to its products and services, and consistently communicates this philosophy, it evokes a certain emotion in the public. By evoking emotion with values that differentiate it from competitors, a brand can create fans and build a fandom. In other words, fandom is something similar to a brand differentiation strategy.
If brands could gather fans?
Being a fan of a brand goes beyond just purchasing its products - it's about finding shared values and beliefs with the company's philosophy and business strategy.
For me, that brand is Swell and its eco-friendly drinking bottles. More specifically, I'm a fan of Sarah Kauss, the CEO of Swell, and her reason for starting the company. She started the business while looking for a fashionable water bottle that was also eco-friendly. The idea of incorporating fashion into an eco-friendly water bottle to make environmental friendliness a part of everyday life resonated with me. I started a campaign in my company to bring my favorite brand to a wider audience and even gave Swell bottles to my coworkers. I did this of my own accord as Swell's brand philosophy and values resonated with me.
▲(Photo credit: Personal) Swell bottle, 2022 @Seoul, South Korea
When you become a fan, you became a brand ambassador that actively engages in brand activities, publicizes the brand, and advocates for the brand. Being a fan of a brand goes beyond liking it to recommending it to others.
Being a fan of a brand can make you do things you wouldn’t do otherwise. For example, it makes you enjoy things like standing in long lines to get or see something. Whenever Apple releases a new product, there are news reports of fans of the brand lining up in front of Apple stores around the world. When I saw people lined up outside a store of a popular streetwear brand waiting for their turn, it reminded me of fans lining up to see a K-Pop star perform. On a recent business trip to Singapore, I went to a MAMAMOO concert and saw fans lined up early in the morning in front of the merchandise outlet. This made me think about their feelings towards MAMAMOO and what it means to them to buy their merchandise. In this way, being a fan of someone or something has a transcendent power that makes you act differently than you would have if that passion didn't exist.
▲(Photo Source: bemyfriends) 2023 MAMAMOO World Tour "MY CON" pop-up store @ Singapore
Lessons from global brands that built fandoms
Fandom: A holistic business strategy, not just marketing
A fandom consists of a brand's most loyal advocates, united by their shared passion for the brand's values and products. Examples of successful fandom-driven brands include the eco-friendly fashion brand Patagonia and the French luxury leather brand RSVP. Both companies have cultivated long-term relationships with their fans by staying true to their brand philosophies and providing exceptional experiences.
Large intellectual property (IP) holders with established fandoms, such as Disneyland and Lego Land, focus on designing immersive experiences that engage fans' senses and emotions, thereby promoting brand loyalty and sustainability.
However, many leading global brands struggle to accurately measure the size and engagement of their fandoms due to the decentralized nature of social media data. The advent of Web3 technology has made it increasingly important for brands to build their own communities and platforms to gather and analyze fan data.
Ownership is crucial for managing a successful fandom business, as it allows brands to build solid relationships with their fans and gain access to valuable data. However, there are challenges associated with implementing new IT solutions, such as steep learning curves and usability issues. To overcome these obstacles, developers are offering expert consulting services to enhance the value of their solutions.
IT solutions are essential for success in global fandom business, and ownership brings pride and control to your business
So, how are some of the world's leading brands successfully engaging in the fandom business?
When I travel abroad and talk to leaders of global brands about fandom, they all say with confidence that their brands have fans. But when we dive deeper and start talking about how they differentiate their fans from the average consumer—not to mention how they engage with them—they realize something.
- It is difficult to accurately grasp the size of their fandom because the brand is on too many channels and lacks access to data.
- They want to meet and build relationships with their super fans but lack the infrastructure to do it.
Ironically, a brand's social media presence can generate a huge number of followers (or subscribers), but still make it difficult to estimate the size of its fandom and organize events for super fans. Brands face the reality that many of their followers on social media are not actually fans, yet they have no choice but to rely on that data. This is the current state of the fandom business for many of the world's top brands—relying on decentralized data from each platform.
With the advent of Web3, it has become more meaningful for brands to build communities to gather fans instead of trying to find them on major social media platforms. Instead of getting lost in all the noise, fans can go directly to the brand's owned channel and gather together while providing content, fan activity information, and data. Brands will be able to enjoy sustainable business growth if communication between the brand and its fans, and between fans themselves, become stronger. In addition, the data they can get from owned platforms is much more meaningful than vanity metrics such as followers and impressions because the data comes from highly engaged fans.
The continuing evolution of IT solutions is helping brands understand their fans because they can bring everything together in one space and provide ownership of the content, data, and fandom. Ownership is critical to running an independent fandom business as it allows you to build a solid business based on fans you know inside out rather than a vague set of followers.
However, IT advancements also have their blind spots. New IT solutions have learning curves that do not make it easy for everyone to use them immediately. To combat this, developers are offering consulting from fandom business experts to increase the usability and value of their solutions.
The global impact of K-Pop and the potential for the fandom business model
Fandom can be a powerful business strategy, as it is centered around understanding human emotions and building strong relationships. The global success of K-Pop demonstrates the potential for Korean-style fandom businesses and IT solutions to set new industry standards.
The fandom business model can be applied to a wide range of industries beyond entertainment. By recognizing that everyone is a fan of something and that fandoms have a unique, enduring appeal, brands can develop distinctive strategies in an increasingly complex global marketplace.
What makes your brand unique? Your global fans are waiting to embrace it.
What makes your brand unique? Your global fans are ready to love it.
▲(Photo credit: Personal) Hanna Park, CMO of bemyfriends
Hanna Park | bemyfriends Chief Marketing Officer (CMO)
As a marketing communications expert with 17 years of experience, Hanna Park has worked with global top-tier tech companies, multinational corporations across various sectors, and IT startups to build a value-driven brand that moves stakeholders' hearts. She shares her insights on brand sustainability and the fandom business from her experience as a global brand marketer.
Since joining bemyfriends in 2021, she is leading the planning, development and execution of the company’s marketing, brand strategy, advertising, digital marketing initiatives, editorial and media relations efforts as bemyfriends grows their product offerings and customer reach. In addition, she is also actively sharing her experience and brand expertise as a Forbes Communication Council Member.
*This article is based on the Korean article '찐팬'을 골라내는 법…팬덤은 마케팅보단 비즈니스 전략이다 [긱스]
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