Straight from the Brand Ambassador’s mouth.
August 17th, 2006
Caution: Light horn-tooting ahead.
You know the Brand Ambassador program we created and are managing for Fiskars? At the danger of talking about it too much, I have to share the latest post by Fiskateer #3:
I believe that this will be an amazing success. That the Fiskateers will bring the world of crafting together to interact, question, praise, discuss, involve, and change the world of crafting, and possibly some of the world at large, all in one program. We hope to host charity crops, raise money for worthy causes, involve you in your life and in your community in a tangible way, as well as help you to be the crafters you want to be. We hope to give you support, praise, and a place to call home in the crafting community. I feel so blessed to be a part of a program like this as we are just getting started. I think that we are on the verge of something great here and I truly believe we are going to make a difference. So, here is where I become a dork. Not just a geek, or nerd, but true hard-core dork… and I am very aware of it! I did it to prove my point of being in this for the long haul and dedicated to this program. If it makes me the dorkiest of dorks, I don’t care…
This is from a crafter in her own words. Not coached by Fiskars. Or Brains on Fire. And it is what can happen when you empower the people that can make or break your company. These crafters have ownership in something bigger than themselves. And there are not many things more powerful than ownership.
Once again, I am blown away.
Other posts by Spike.
Woolard says:
Very cool. And this is from a dude who had no idea what the heck a Fiskar was. I also appreciate BOF’s openness in regard to its relationship to this project. Extra props to the vanity plate - love it.
August 17th, 2006 at 4:39 pmSpike says:
Thanks for the kind words, Andy.
August 18th, 2006 at 5:27 amMack Collier says:
I think what makes this story so great is that this is an example of what marketing truly can be. I’ve never subscribed to the ‘marketing is a necessary evil’ or ‘marketing is a way to seperate people from their wallets’ mentalities. I believe it is ultimately a tool to help companies more effectively serve their customers. I think the future of marketing rests in finding ways to embrace, empower, and join these communities of customers.
I know you aren’t comfortable calling the Fiskateers movement ‘marketing’, but I think it is, and I think it’s quite possibly marketing in its finest form.
August 21st, 2006 at 8:15 amJake says:
Wow, very nice approach. As someone who has developed Ambassador programs (LEGO Ambassadors, for instance), I understand the difficulty that those programs hold. You guys have nailed this from where I’m sitting.
I’m curious, do you have examples of other Ambassadors programs? Which are your favs?
August 22nd, 2006 at 4:13 amAnn Handley says:
What I think is especially interesting is that Fiskars is not your typically or obviously “cool” product being marketed to an inherently wired audience…yet it’s been able to leverage the web 2.0 (or whatever you want to call them) tools to make their movement *very* cool indeed. Nice stuff!
August 22nd, 2006 at 12:05 pm