Welcome to The Yellow Summarin - collecting the most interesting ideas, topics, and tweets from the past week at the intersection of tech, media, and commerce.
In today's edition (16.10.2021), I cover:
How to navigate today’s world of digital-first communities
Not much else 😳
Read and listen:
How You Say It
We are living in an uncharted cultural territory that has emerged thanks to the collision of tech, media, and commerce. For individual creators and businesses, this presents an abundance of opportunities and new avenues to be explored when it comes to creation, communication, and commercialization. An idea can be expressed in novel ways, a product can be developed with the power of community, new retail experiences can be imagined and deployed across both the real and the virtual worlds.
From early adopters to opportunists
The majority of innovation usually happens in siloed environments - niche communities on niche platforms that inspire grassroots movement, a few brave souls tinkering with the new. In their early stages, these communities are authentic and personal. To outsiders, these may often feel scary, unexplainable, weird, or even stupid.
Once these early communities develop enough traction and grow organically, they start to attract the attention of more people, among who there are often opportunists. They come in with an explorer's mindset, driven by a motivation to learn, connect dots, and sometimes, find a way to extract commercial value out of the community.
To keep growing, a community needs these opportunists. Thanks to them, a small niche idea can evolve into a larger force that captivates the attention of the broader public. It is often through commerce that these ideas gain the momentum necessary to enter the mainstream consciousness. Thanks to creators and businesses (I'll simply call them brands) with a strong commercial interest those ideas become accepted and established by the large majority. Just look at fashion and all the luxury brands entering the Metaverse.
Authenticity
There's one caveat. Once a brand engages with one of these novel ideas it is bound to create tension with the original members of the community who passionately engaged with that idea in the first place. The motivations of both parties are different, after all. One has been there from the beginning, pouring hours of passion into this new thing, while the latter is an entrant who has a commercial motivation first, despite its possible genuine interest.
It's a delicate moment when the brand's approach will be scrutinized. If the original members of the community sniff out even the slightest sign of pretense, masquerading as a genuine call to action, they will call you out on it and often without holding back. To insiders, you will be humiliated and your campaign will not achieve the organic success you've been hoping for. To the casual and outside observer, you may get noticed, but your work will hardly be counted as impactful since it has lacked the much-needed support of the community.
The importance of authentically developing a voice in these new communities cannot be stressed enough. As a brand, you are a participant in a community. There are certain standards and unwritten rules by which you should abide. Veer off course and you may not be spared the ridicule and abuse that comes with being in this world. As a brand, you are always at a disadvantage, because the OG members will question your (most likely commercial) motivation.
The current landscape
Now, it's gaming's and NFTs' time. We have two worlds that currently every major brand and creator wants to or already is entering. Some will fail, some will succeed, some will end up a teachable moment for the whole industry.
For a brand that is looking to enter into the space, it will be hard to establish an authentic persona quickly. This usually takes years and active participation - something that most creators and executives at companies don't have the time or interest to do. Probably the most reliable way to have a chance of success is to partner with some of these OG members, well-respected players in the space who can introduce you to their world. Try to learn from them and let them express their ideas freely through your work or products.
The recent example of Coca-Cola and the gaming campaign they launched is a good example of the highly nuanced world that marketers need to operate in today. Briefing an agency, developing and launching a campaign in one of these worlds, and outsourcing most of the execution doesn't work. The intention and conviction must come from within the brand.
Has Coke’s Real Magic ad ‘set the brand back years with the gaming community?’ (The Drum) Coca-Cola’s epic “One Coke away from each other” ad is receiving plenty of attention, but not in the way the cola giant was likely hoping for. To kick off its global ‘Real Magic’ campaign, Coke made a big bet on luring gamers and Gen Z to the brand. The debut spot features top eSports stars, a partnership with Twitch and a massive prize giveaway. However, the execution of the ad has been the subject of a flurry of negative comments on social media while leaving a number of eSports analysts scratching their heads. At the same time, it appears to have been met with positive reviews from the general population. Read story
How to start now
If you, as the brand, have the right motivation and genuine interest go ahead and register to one of these communities. Listen, learn, observe. Be humble. Be helpful. Take the time for your authentic voice to form. Then and only then, think of ways your brand can add value to the community. Ask the other members to ideate with you. Look at the most discussed problems and see if you can offer a solution.
Creating a fun experience can also be something you do. It's not all about problem-solving and building. Having fun is part of being a great community. You can contribute by creating entertaining experiences that surprise and delight the other members. You have a world of limitless opportunities in front of you.
Tweets
That’s all for this week.
Have a great week(end)!
Marin