How Not to Build a Community: part II: Listen to John Nash
”If everyone competes for the blond, we block each other and no one gets her. So then we all go for her friends. But they give us the cold shoulder, because no one likes to be second choice. Again, no winner. But what if none of us go for the blond. We don’t get in each other’s way, we don’t insult the other girls. That’s the only way we win. That’s the only way we all get [a girl.]”
(from A Beautiful Mind: The Shooting Script, Akiva Goldsman, 2002)
Let me bet that in this above photo, almost everyone first checked out the blonde. It's hard not to. Besides being strategically center and in a very cleavage-baring dress, blondes tend to be more 'eye-catching' - the bright hair-colour draws our eyes effectively. I, myself, realized this phenomenon when I tried another hair color. Used to being blonde and noticeable, going brunette was quite frustrating.
John Nash's quote from A Beautiful Mind is relevant here in the context of community marketing because the way that many want to build out their community is akin to the same zero-sum game that John and his friends were about to play.
Everybody goes for the blonde (which is right at this moment the MySpace generation) when they are looking to develop a community. This community member is most noticeable and has the air of being the most available because of that fact. The "blonde" represents a prize: the best possibility, the easiest 'target', the most desireable outcome.
But everybody goes for the blonde. While you are noticing her, every other marketer is noticing her as well. They all come with their offers, begging for her attention, but:
- She only has so much attention to go around (you'll have to get through the noise)
- She is spoiled by the amount of attention she is getting and will play hard to get and demand more (you'll have to spend alot more)
- You will upset her friends, who will not only block you from the blonde, but will paint you early on as a jerk (you'll alienate others)
- Only one person gets the 'final prize' - the rest of you will lose (it is a zero-sum game, remember) (after all of that, you may lose everything)
The blonde represents the mainstream - the idea of the 'big community' that everybody wants - while the brunettes represent the niche markets - the under-served, underrepresented sectors that may not be as 'big' but have needs, too.
Almost every client and company I've ever worked with has ached to reach the "blonde", but I continue to advise them to pay attention to the brunette (and redhead and all the other variations of hair colour). The long tail is chunky and has more possibilities than anyone can imagine.
The thing is, the brunette is gorgeous and interesting, but she just wasn't as noticeable. She's also not used to the attention, so is much more approachable. It's up to you to look past the "blonde" and pay attention to the ignored, underrepresented and under-served.
You'll have a better chance of 'getting the girl'. ;)
9 Comments:
I'm surpreised more people aren't going after the Black/Latino audience online. That's a niche that's unexplored.
But sometimes the unloved brunette is the really big community.
Everyone seems to be chasing the same current social networking user community and forgetting the hundreds of millions who don't use these services and never will unless they are given a compelling reason which addresses their needs and lives.
And don't get me started on the thousands of sites who think the world consists of 50 US states.
I like the point you are making. Not so keen on the objectifying women example though - we see more than enough of this dribble as it is. Maybe a stud surrounded by scrawny emo guys for future illustrations?
I like the point you are making. Not so keen on the objectifying women example though - we see more than enough of this dribble as it is. Maybe a stud surrounded by scrawny emo guys for future illustrations?
@anonymous
Yeah...I thought about that...but the thing is that women aren't nearly as shallow (or at least in my experience) about the men they pick. It's very rarely about the blonde and since I'm using John Nash's equilibrium theory, it made more sense to illustrate with women.
And, no, I don't like the objectification of women at all. But if you think about it in this context, the women in question have the ultimate 'choice' and the implied male pursuer is at their mercy.
;)
As analogies go, this has to be the most obscure I have seen yet!
A good point well made though!
It is quite interesting to see where many analogies come from and just how relevant they are to many marketing theories.
Watching my 2 1/2 year old son make decisions on what toy he is going to play with, where he is going to play with it and which child he goes to play with at playgroup are also transferable to markets/communities.
Animal programmes are equally great sources of (community) marketing inspiration. Apes are as base a level of community as you can get, and without the verbal skills of humans, it is fascinating to see the hierarchy in action as well as they react to other animals, toys or humans.
We are but a few thousand years away from apes. As clever as we are, there are inescapable comparisons to be drawn from watching those that are either innocent or different.
Maybe all our reactions are the same, we just won't admit it.
Maybe we need to drill down to our most base human community/relationship levels to find out just what we need to do to market our products successfully.
I'm off to watch the discovery Channel now - see ya!
simply perfect. well said and thought out. what types of ways are most affective in going after the burnettes and non-blondies?
Hi, I was quite surprised to stumble on my pic within your blog. Your choice of pic is excellent and your analysis is quite interesting.
However, I should point out that only Gigi (in middle) is a model. The other 2 girls are friends of the guy we were shooting this poker promo for. Neither Gigi or I had expected we'd be shooting non-models so they came as a bit of a surprise.
To turn your analyis around, what would happen if I were to put a plain-jane blonde in the middle and surround her by two gorgeous brunette models on a brilliant white background? Would your suppositions still stand? ;-)
http://Lightscapes.org
I love the analogy. I've been thinking about this idea a lot as I've been building a site for a group of brunettes that I love, entrepreneurs.
I'd love any feedback on how I could improve the site I've been working on to connect entrepreneurs.
http://preview.buildv1.com/
Thanks!
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home