Don’t just build bonfires; take part in them!
August 25, 2009
Been thinking more about bonfires, which many people agree is a great analogy for the types of social marketing activity that many of us are trying to encourage.
John has a great slide-set on his blog that is very useful for explaining this concept in very simple and visual terms. Most handy!
But there is still one thing amiss with the deck and from much of the overall discussion: The implication is that Brands have to *build* the bonfires.
This is understandable, as we are used to building stuff in marketing (ie advertising, microsites). But the fact is that many people already have bonfires, and they usually want to build their own bonfires; you know, with their friends and that. They probably don’t want to come to your Corporate Bonfire. Anyone notice what happened with Bud.tv?!
So, to continue the analogy, how can we help people with what they want to do at a bonfire?
1. Provide some stuff: some blankets to keep people warm, some snacks and drinks, maybe even provide some entertainment (a guitar?)
2. Go along to the bonfire and actually have a conversation or two (remember to be a good listener!)
3. Most importantly, of course, you could do something *genuinely useful* like put some extra wood on the bonfire to keep the damn thing going!
People don’t want to go to hundreds of different bonfires. So, before you go building anything new, find out if there is anything going on already, and think about how you can usefully participate.
