It’s amazing how a shared passion brings even strangers together. That’s what businesses and non-profits can do, too.
By ROY HARRYMAN
Being a native Kansas Citian, it’s been fascinating to observe how Chiefs fandom brings people together.
At Union Station, a stranger saw me taking photos and told me he still remembers the Chiefs in the Super Bowl in 1970, when he was in sixth grade. He watched the AFC Championship, then watched it replayed later that day and cried at 1 a.m. This is truly a “tribe” of people with a shared passion.
It reminds me of marketing author David Meerman Scott’s new book “Fanocracy,” co-written by daughter Reiko Scott. David says, “In a digital world where our lives are increasingly cluttered and superficial, we’re missing something tremendously powerful: genuine human connection. People are going to be most invested in that which creates a sense of intimacy, warmth and shared meaning in a world that would otherwise relegate them to a statistic.”
When your team heads to the Super Bowl, it certainly makes fandom easier! No doubt about that. But the concept should not be lost on small businesses and non-profits. I visited a cooking class at a local store called A Thyme for Everything. I love the store, but I had never been to a class before. It was sold out. Packed. The chef was amazing and people were hungry. As I spoke to customers, I could feel the “fandom” in the room for this small business.
What kind of fans do you have? And how can you harness the energy of your “Fanocracy”?
Here’s my video dedicated to this proposition: Fandom in the Kingdom.
Want to talk about stoking the fires of fandom at your non-profit or small business? Let’s talk.