Communities aren’t ephemeral
May 20th, 2008 by misterarthurWe’re all for marketers building legitimate communities for people interested in their products and services. After all, if people are passionate about what you make or do, why not make it easy for them to express & share their passion? But you have to be in it for the long haul - you can’t build a community as a marketing ploy. Think about it. You’re counting on human beings to make your community a thriving environment. Without their participation, your “community” is just a bunch of pixels on a server.
Need proof? Look at what just happened to Disney. The Wall Street Journal reports today that Disney wants to shut down its virtual Magic Kingdom. Passionate fans of Disney and the online virtual Kingdom are enraged. As the article states:
This has unleashed a loud outcry from VMK patrons, and some of them are throwing themselves in front of Disney’s virtual wrecking ball. One slick Web site created to help save VMK has gathered nearly 20,000 signatures on its online petition, while blogs maintained by the Disney faithful continue to decry the company’s move.
Angering your most passionate fans doesn’t seem to be a particularly effective means of building a brand, does it? And the reaction of visitors to the virtual Kingdom is yet another sign of failure to understand the web and how people use it. Building and growing a community is not like ‘this year’s advertising campaign’ idea. That community, if designed and built properly (as Disney’s appears to have been) can become a permanent and important part of people’s lives, just as Facebook is a critical means of socializing with friends.
It’s tough enough to build something your fans like, use, and want. Why on earth would you take it away from them?
H/T Buzzmachine.
May 21st, 2008 at 9:00 am
So true! You can easily think of corporate sponsored sites that don’t last or grow, despite strong consumer interest. The grassroots sites supported by the community members tend to have that longevity. Case in point—look at all those Harry Potter fan sites. Maybe Disney, and others like them, need to bring their community members into the loop?