Dismantling Marketing’s Fourth Wall
November 6th, 2007
As Spike mentioned yesterday, a team from Brains on Fire had the privilege of spending the weekend with 51 very active Fiskateers who were asked to gather in San Antonio for fellowship, education, and fun. What started as an efficient way to train crafters who could train others in their home areas on how to demonstrate Fiskars products, turned into something far more meaningful. I think I speak for all of us and the “Nifty Fifty” when I say that, because of the creativity & passion of this group, the connections and enthusiasm that grew this weekend exceeded our wildest expectations.
While I didn’t have too many moments to sit back and reflect (the Fiskateers showed up early each day for 7:30am breakfast and cropped until midnight!), it did occur to me that this type of brand ambassador movement breaks the fourth wall of marketing. “Marketing” is no longer a product formulated by a client/agency team and then tossed over the transom to consumers – separated by the walls of time & media channels. In this case, marketer, company, and customer are conversing fluently. One of the most remarkable comments from a participant was how great it is that Fiskars wants to listen to actual customers instead of making decisions based on trend reports (which, like media, add another wall between company and customer). This enforces what we see in the rants and compliments of citizen marketers - customers are hungry for companies to listen to them.
Breaking this fourth wall is both scary & exciting because we are making the rules as we go along. For example: do I put my Fiskateer number on my nametag or put Brains on Fire? (I erred on the side of over-disclosure and put both.) Do I wear a bright orange cowboy hat like the Nifty Fifty or stand back and take photos of the people wearing them? As a community manager and Fiskars evangelist in my off-time, I am as much as part of this program as I am trying to shape and support it. On the final day, there were folks wanting to get their photos taken with the BoF team which blew me away and emphasized just how different this is. When was the last time a consumer requested to get a picture taken with the ad team for their favorite brand? It will never happen because the two groups, by the very separating nature of media, can never know each other. The great news is that based on their survey comments and blog posts so far, the Fiskateers thoroughly understand our role in the community and are as happy to know us as we are to be touched by all of them.
The fourth wall is yesterday’s news. Bring on the company-involved brand communities!
(photo courtesy of Erin Yamabe, Fiskateer #307)
Other posts by Virginia.
suzanne says:
These passionate crafting enthusiasts are the best marketers our company could ever ask for. They are sincere, friendly, loyal engaged advocates. What more does a company need? I will share one comment from a Fiskateer that really touched me… “I left the round-up a more confident person and I am so ready
November 6th, 2007 at 12:42 pmto start spreading the love….
I am part of a movement that will rock the industry, the paper
crafters, the message boards and everyone who is involved. I am so proud to
call myself a Fiskateer, so honored to be a part of Fiskars, so determined
to make sure that I do right by Fiskars. I left there with a feeling of
ownership, it’s my Fiskars.”
Now that’s a passionate marketer!
stephenie says:
When I became one of the four lead Fiskateers, I met you guys. You were my first contact and you became our go-to gang. You become part of our team. We talk to you, hang out with you, and share with you. You aren’t a “marketing” team (your an identity company…, but I digress…) - you are our team. You are our friends and part of our Fiskateer family. We talk about you on the blog like one of our own - because you are. There are no walls in this arrangement and that rocks! We all work together… Fiskateers, Fiskars, and BOF. After the Nifty Fifty event, there are 50 more friends that love you guys because you take the time to talk to us, know us, and become friends with us. You are not the people behind the scenes. You are as invested in us as we are in Fiskars and in this whole crazy new world.
November 7th, 2007 at 8:34 amThank you for being unafraid to tear down the walls and break new ground… you are all passionate about what you do, just like we are and we truly appreciate that.