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Building super-fandom isn’t an art, it’s a science with a proven formula that brands can learn and replicate. The most successful fandoms, like Taylor Swift’s Swifties, follow predictable patterns centered around building strong emotional architecture around a shared idea to generate a sense of belonging. Mastering this formula is integral for brands seeking lasting loyalty as it’s the only reliable path to transforming casual consumers into passionate advocates who drive real business impact. The fandom formula Fandoms operate on four fundamental principles: 1. Emotional resonance comes first. Swifties don’t just like Taylor Swift’s music because it sounds good; they see their own stories reflected in her lyrics. Every album becomes a shared emotional journey, not just a collection of songs. Because they see themselves and their values reflected in this artist, they are invested in her success, ensuring each album release goes No. 1 on the charts. 2. Shared rituals and language create insider status. It’s an unspoken code among Marvel fans that you stick around for the post-credit scenes of every single movie. Fandoms develop their own vocabularies, traditions, and ways of belonging that make outsiders want in. 3. A sense of belonging transforms individual consumers into collective identities. There are whole online and in-person communities dedicated to being a member of Beyoncé’s Beyhive. They travel to concerts together, buy music and merchandise together, and every other brand avenue released by Queen Bey. 4. Active participation and co-creation turns audiences into collaborators. Fandoms thrive because fans don’t just consume. They remix, theorize, create fan art, write fanfiction, and build upon the original work, offering another opportunity for direct fan-to-artist connection. The future is fandom-driven brands Most brands approach loyalty like a math problem. Spend $100, get 10 points. Visit five times, get a free coffee. Instead of a transactional approach to building brand loyalty, consider deploying the following: Build emotional anchors in the brand experience: Every brand interaction is an opportunity to create lasting emotional connections beyond the initial point of sale. Red Bull exemplifies this approach by translating the energy and thrill customers experience from their drink into a lifestyle ecosystem. Through immersive experiences like virtual reality alpine climbing and extreme sports activations, Red Bull offers energy and the feeling of limitless possibility for their community of thrill-seekers. Foster community, not an audience: The distinction between audiences and communities determines whether customers become advocates. Audiences consume, but communities create, connect, and discover together. Celebrities have become especially adept at leveraging fandom to create dedicated brand communities. Take Hailey Bieber’s recent success with cult beauty brand Rhode. From exclusive pop-up events and viral TikTok videos, Rhode created virtual and physical spaces where beauty enthusiasts could experiment and bond over their collective obsession. In turn, Rhode built a movement around beauty that turned skincare routines into shared experiences and enough cultural cache to drive a $1 billion valuation in just three years, leading to its acquisition by e.l.f. Beauty. Make fans a part of the experience: Fandoms cultivate active participants and collaborators. Netflix’s upcoming “Netflix Houses” represent this principle at scale, transforming viewers into main characters of their favorite Netflix series. One second theyre a contestant of Squid Game and the next theyre wandering through Stranger Things Hawkins to solve the latest mystery. Netflix repurposed dying mall space to create these immersive experiences, curating a new way for younger generations to experience malls and TV shows. A win for Netflix, the teens, and the malls. The most successful companies of the next decade won’t just have customers, they’ll have believers, which theyll build by making people feel something profound. Behind every transaction is a human being seeking connection, meaning, and belonging. In a world where fandoms power industries, the only thing standing between brands and that devotion is the courage to design experiences that honor this fundamental truth. Andy Zimmerman is CEO of Journey.
Category:
E-Commerce
For the past year, Ive had the opportunity to apply my experience in sector diversified financial services, sustainability, and operational leadership at RE Tech Advisors. I oversee a suite of solutions and services allowing real estate portfolio managers/owners a pathway to integrate and communicate their sustainability efforts. What Ive seen in this sector aligns with many other sectors Ive worked with. ROI is the predominant motivation for actionshort-term ROI via operational cost efficiencies and revenue attraction, and long-term ROI setting up operational resilience in a changing environment. The ROI focus applies to both traditional initiative and sustainability initiative decisions. The line begins to blur when key sustainability initiatives are considered as key operational efforts, the same way as traditional ROI. This is how RE Tech Advisors helps real estate owners find key ROI initiatives with strategic action plans to manage risks and optimize performance. Reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) Whether you are creating an action plan to reduce your GHG footprint to comply with building performance standards policies, or youre developing a proactive decarbonization action plan to reduce a buildings carbon footprint, these can significantly reduce costs: Reduce energy consumption costs: Implementing high efficiency HVAC, better insulation, and smart system integrations such as smart lighting, can reduce energy cost estimates by 30% to 50% in new and existing buildings. Identify operational inefficiencies: Through real-time data analysis and continuous performance monitoring, building managers can adjust or replace systems to improve efficiency based on actual usage energy and water usage patterns. Reduce maintenance costs: Increase energy efficiency and conduct proactive maintenance to realize cost savings through reduced emergency repairs and extending building components lifespans. Avoid noncompliance fines: Fine amounts varies by jurisdiction, but penalties for policy noncompliance can be a significant expense, based on location and building size. Tax incentives and green financing: Decarbonization roadmaps can unlock millions in funding from programs such as NYSERDA and Fannie Mae and Freddie Macs Green Financing program. Physical risk management Physical risk management plans help mitigate potential physical building damage from sporadic weather events such as floods, hurricanes, and tsunamis, plus increasing temperature severity and climate pattern changes. Action plans can include installing flood barriers, storm shutters, upgraded drainage systems, impact-resistant windows, reinforced roofs, and elevated foundations. These investments can lead to short-term cost savings, better resilience, and longer-term ROI. Recognized benefits include: Lower insurance premiums: Most insurance companies now integrate physical climate risk scenarios in stress test modelling to calculate premiums accounting for potential risk of future loss. This increasingly influences insurance premiums. Lower costs from severe weather damage: According to Climate.gov, from 2020-2024, the cost of climate-related damage in the U.S. was $746.7 billion; the annual average exceeded $149 billion. This financial impact is more than double the annual average of $64.8 billion from 1980 to 2024. Build to higher standards: A study by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce showed that for every $1 invested in disaster preparation, communities save $13 in economic costs, damages, and cleanup. One example showed, $83 million of investments in resilience and preparedness for a serious tornado hitting Nashville would save more than 5,300 jobs. The amount of production and income saved would be more than $683 million and $464 million, respectively. An S&P Global Sustainable1 report found that companies could face physical climate costs of up to 28% of the asset value annually without mitigation efforts. Supply chain risk mitigation: Building more resilient supply chain operations and avoiding disruptions from physical building damage and labor interruptions can lead to longer-term ROI. These risks pertain to both U.S. and off-shored supply chain facilities. Transition risk management Climate change and its associated risks continue leading to longer term economic changes. These bring transitionary risks that are important to consider to avoid higher resource and material costs. Through transition risk management, real estate owners can position themselves for: Less exposure to energy supply volatility pricing: Through decreased energy consumption or using alternative sources. Resource scarcity: Can lead to increasing costs and lack of availability of land, water, timber, and steel. Improved capital and lending rates: Rates may consider transition climate risks in risk analysis, or provide green financing with lower rates. Stranded assets: Avoid real estate assets that can be devalued by not appropriately mitigating transition risks. These stranded assets may not be aligned with building energy performance standards such as New Yorks Local Law 97. Noncompliant buildings could see value reductions of 1020% due to penalties and retrofit costs. Furthermore, a First Street study suggests that a $1.4 trillion devaluation will occur across real estate assets over 30 years if they fail to meet decarbonization pathways. Communication is key In creating strategies for cost efficiencies and resilience, the owners ultimate desire is to create a portfolio of attractive assets that are optimal operationally to gain short-term and long-term ROI. It is vitally important to communicate how the company is pursuing these cost saving and resilience initiatives to appropriate stakeholders including investors, banks, employees, operators/tenants, and communities, to help each stakeholder understand the assets value. Key ways to drive this communication include: Green building certifications: These include LEED, BREEAM, and IREM certifications, which provide stakeholders with independent validation of key energy and carbon management initiatives. Investor reporting frameworks: GRESB and UNPRI provide investors a detailed look at initiatives being pursued, along with gaps, allowing them to benchmark and compare them to peers. Corporate social responsibility reports: These tell stakeholders, such as employees and tenants, about the sustainabilityefforts being addressed, offering better transparency. Last thoughts Many are pursing the ultimate goal of creating an environment that allows us and future generations to prosper and thrive. Looking at initiatives under the return on investment lens offers a sustainable pathway to meet people where theyre at, speak a language they can connect to, and invite them to join the journey leading to a more sustainable economy and world. I look forward to continuing the discourse on how sustainability initiatives can best help drive for cost efficiencies and resilience so that these initiatives move from being an overlay to being deeply integrated into operational excellence. Shila Wattamwar is founder of Radiant Global Advisory, and VP of RE Tech Advisors.
Category:
E-Commerce
Can you imagine your life without Google? Google Search, Google Chrome, Google Maps, Google Wallet, Google Drive, the Google Pixel phoneyou could probably live your entire digital life within the Google ecosystem. Many, including the Justice Department, say thats a problem. The department recently won antitrust cases against Googles search engine and ad placement businesses. This may all feel abstract and perhaps invisible to most consumers. Google, Microsoft, Applethey constitute the digital water were all swimming in, and their monopoly raises prices, stifles innovation, and shapes our lives often to our detriment. The landmark antitrust case against Google marks a big victory against this status quo. Heres why its so important. Monopolies create higher advertising costs Imagine promoting your business in a small town. You might buy an ad in the newspaper, put up a billboard, and run a spot on the local radio. Because these outlets are independent, you have lower prices and more advertising options. Now, imagine that the newspaper, billboard, and radio station are all owned by the same company. That shifts the dynamic: Because there is no competition for your ad dollars, prices are higher. Thats essentially what the Google Ad business achieved, especially considering how critical digital advertising has become to businesses. People arent watching commercials anymore. Theyre browsing the web during a commercial break. Googles monopoly on digital ads allows it to raise prices, making it harder for smaller businesses to compete and thrive. Googles monopoly created a less user-friendly internet Historically, about 90% of search traffic comes from Google, giving it a lot of power. For instance, Google uses an algorithm that examines web pages to score how relevant it is for search phrases, like pizza shop Minneapolis or leaking fridge how to fix. Because Google search is so dominant, people and companies who build and run websites do so with Googles algorithm in mind. That means the user experience takes a back seat to Googles preferences. If youve been to any recipe website lately, you know what Im talking about. In a recent episode of the podcast Stay Tuned with Preet Bharara, former FTC chair Lina Khan noted that a monopoly is when a company can offer worse products and/or raise costs without suffering any substantial consequences in the market. You can understand this in some ways as a firm becoming too big to care, Khan said. Many say the internet has become increasingly awful to use. The first page of search results are often dreck, in my opinion, written for Googles robots, not for humans. Its getting harder to find the information youre looking for, so a lot of people append their searches with tags for Reddit and YouTube, e.g. Hiking itinerary New Zealand Reddit or best salmon dip recipe YouTube, to cut through the SEO slop. Googles search monopoly could be a chokepoint for information Because of its dominance, Google can evolve in the direction of its own interests, rather than the interests of the user individually or collectively. Its not wild to imagine that Google can throttle searches for sensitive topics. During COVID, a 2020 Senate Commerce Committee hearing called Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and then-Twitters then-CEO Jack Dorsey to question them about censoring conservative voices. Back in 2017, the World Socialist Web Site alleged that Google restricted access to 13 progressive and anti-war websites. For users, the question is not whether Googles algorithmic policies line up with your political views but whether Google can put its thumb on the scale regarding your access to information, based on whats advantageous for Google . It definitely can, and it definitely has. Monopolies stifle innovation Google can throw its weight around to thwart competition. In 2023, internet users noticed that YouTube (which Google owns) ran five seconds slower on the Mozilla Firefox browser than on Google Chrome. Ostensibly, Google tuned YouTube to purposely run slower on a competitors browser to encourage users to switch to Chrome. Google, like many large companies, tends to acquire burgeoning competition rather than innovate in-house. Google has acquired hundreds of companies, from data analytics firms to rival search engines, from virtual reality developers to mapping products. When a company can buy out all the competition, consumers lose out on new ideas and better products, because the company has no incentive to pursue them. The ruling The ruling found that Googles default status with makers of smartphones, tablets, and laptops locked out rivals like Bing and DuckDuckGo, and that the integration of Googles adtech tools created a feedback loop that entrenched its monopoly. Googles ad business is facing its own antitrust lawsuit and may be broken up. The Department of Justice argues that Googles dominance in search (and its vast collection of user data) positions Google to achieve a similar feedback loop in AI-powered search and assistantswhich could create a new monopoly. The DOJ has proposed forcing Google to sell Chrome and license some of its core search technologies to competitors, as well as ending default search agreements and allowing more visibility into how search results are ranked. The DOJ proposed Google give advance notice of AI-related acquisitions. Both sides have given their closing arguments and now await the judges ruling, which is expected by August. This case is a blow against Big Tech in general, which has monopolized almost the entire digital world. I can only hope the FTCs antitrust case against Meta plays out in a similar fashion, and facilitates a return to a freer, more innovative digital world. Lindsey Witmer Collins is CEO of WLCM App Studio and Scribbly Books
Category:
E-Commerce
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