CREATING FANS

Guess what: sports teams and rock bands have not cornered the market on fandom. Nike, Porsche, and Coca-Cola are just a few of the bigger brands that have made fans out of their consumers. Your company, no matter how large or small it may be, or whether it sells business-to-consumer or business-to-business, must put a strategy into place to transform your customers into fans. The passion that comes from a new fan is powerful and always leads to significant revenue growth.

Be forewarned, though: if you’re going to create new fans, you have to accept the increased responsibility that comes with them, because your brand becomes personal to a fan and you will be held to a higher standard. Look at the backlash that Coke experienced when it introduced New Coke to its consumers. Coke was not true to its brand or to the relationship it had built with its fans. This disenchantment eroded the relationship, and therefore the business, significantly. It took Coca-Cola a while to rebuild those relationships and recover lost revenues. There are probably still some former Coke consumers that never returned because of this breach of trust.