Tribal marketing
Overturn a paradigm
In 1995, Microsoft launched Internet Explorer, a program allowing people to take advantage of internet connectivity services. Owners of Windows 95, an operating system dedicated to PCs, could thus connect to the network from the comfort of their personal computers.
Almost thirty years later, our reality has been undergoing radical transformations that result from the start of an incessant process of digital evolution. Virtual learning, nearly total digitization of knowledge; information always available, day and night; superfast daily life, techno-mediated, liquid relationships, based on the ambiguity of roles, are just some aspects that denote the ITSO generation (Inability To Switch Off).
Postmodern tribe
The post-modern man appears increasingly isolated and insecure; is looking for social re-aggregation and the re-establishment of archaic and community social ties, based on free emotional and passionate, rather than rational, choices.
Tribal marketing addresses these needs in two complementary ways that represent tribal loyalty, i.e. creating:
a concrete bond between two or more individuals, united by the affinity of interests
an intangible bond that allows everyone to feel part of a community, no matter if linked to an object or a place, to access an exclusive community-driven microcosm
Finally, the company can offer its customers these emotions and social ties, exactly what individuals are looking for today when making their consumption choices.
Thanks to tribal marketing, the community will consider a product not only a good but also a means to create and strengthen tribal commitment. Each tribe encloses its rituals that renew and vivify the faith in common values, and each ritual uses well distinctive mediums (such as clothes, objects, or even just symbols), making fertile ground for marketing operations.
Every potential interaction on the web as the constant evolution of social networks, communities, fan pages, and forums represents a unique opportunity for the tribe to express their vibes. To interact with their consumers, very often, we see companies forging their community from scratch: this is usually referred to as "brand community". The reverse phenomenon has also happened: a company is pushed to join the fan tribe to listen to people's needs. In both cases, these attempts to craft tribal fidelity aim to develop a plural and strong affiliation between members and consumers. Therefore, the crucial task of the company in terms of marketing is conveyed to targets through these digital places, seeking the most suitable way to communicate with people.
Identifying the best ways to shape customers' experiences, along with their emotions, is the fuel of tribal and experiential marketing.
Usually, digital tribes are born and raised spontaneously or are built and induced by companies around a preexistent product/service.
NFT projects, on the contrary, are able to forge a tribe as a preliminary step of the product/service(s) design and delivery. A tribe/community can be thus assembled before or, at least hand in hand, with the development of the brand.
This process consists of:
transforming suggestions and ideas into concrete plans (strategic management);
involving the external environment in the project (communication);
transferring financial resources due to the increasing commitment and achievements.
Through the NFTs it is, therefore, possible to develop, at the same time:
a method:
- create social relationships as an opportunity to request support;
- involve people within the organization;
- adapt the organization to the point of view of the external environment and its needs), and
a technique (analyzing the external environment with a marketing approach, identifying potential supporters; promoting and disseminating a request for funding; effectively managing the necessary human, technical and economic resources; maintaining a positive relationship with supporters, communicating with them).
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