When Fandoms Are a Fan-tasy

Fandoms used to be subcultures. They used to be niche. They were, by their very definition, on the edge of culture. Think: medieval cosplayers or Doctor Who fan boys and girls creating their own zines. Suddenly, we’re all dressing up as Barbie and Ken - virtually or IRL - and cringe is the new cool. What happened?

Social media made everything available to everyone, all the time. Anything slightly popular went mainstream very quickly. And, perhaps most importantly, it became easier to be a ‘fan’ without actually making the usual time commitment. For example, one ephemeral Insta story or a TikTok about how you really want Taylor Swift or Coldplay tickets doesn’t make you a super fan. It’s often just FOMO.

This is important because, to quote Matt Klein, “as entertainment becomes more participatory… fandoms become a north star for strategy.” Every brand wants a cult of passionate fans, thinking this is the secret sauce for success. In many cases, they would be better off nudging lapsed or infrequent buyers to engage slightly more often by creating a lot of ideas that zoom in on deep human truths and then scaling what resonates.

However, tapping into fandoms is a great idea if those fans already exist, which normally happens somewhat organically when the brand is - at least initially - far superior to competitors (see: Apple and Harley Davidson) or entirely different (see: IKEA and Dollar Shave Club).

And, of course, fans can be effective advocates for the product or service. However, it’s incredibly difficult, expensive and by no means guaranteed, to try and magic this up from thin air.