Whats Special about Fans - Essay Example

Study of Fans Q. What's special about Fans and what does the study of fans tell us about the changing media audience Ans. Fans are in general considered to be the booster for any sporting action, institution, personality, musical group, opera, political parties, product marketing, an activity, film popularity, literature etc. As the media becomes too intrusive in almost all walks of life, many such instances have come to light where the 'Fan community' has gone out of the way to go for the desired product or service. When Apple launched its iPhone in June 2007, fans of the Apple products formed long queues outside the stores1, so that they are counted as the first one's having the innovative gadget. This translated into sales of 500,000 to 1 million units in just two days of its launch. Similar fan frenzy was visible when the latest book of Harry Potter series, 'The Tales of Beedle the Bard' was launched in the first week of December 2008. What is quite amazing is, this fan frenzy is not limited to just one country or one region, but it crosses all boundaries from Europe to Asia. Angela Cerda, a resident of Temecula, Southwest California, was in seventh grade when she first started reading Harry Potter books and she still continues to enjoy reading this series while in third year of college. Cerda says2, "I read the first four books in the series in four nights, then I had to wait three years for the fifth one to come out, It's so strange to think that now I'm waiting for the last one." Similar loyalty or love is expressed by the fans of television serials, when they make sure that in order to watch their favourite television serial, they get their meetings postponed. Football is the game played by a large number of nations around the world. But the situation becomes quite different during the European cup and sometimes during the world cups etc. The intense rivalry leaves the fans to fight it out amongst themselves. Similarly, though cricket is played by a few nations around the world, yet the intense competition has developed a large number of fans, who often make it a point that they travel with their favourite team, wherever the team goes for their matches. This includes visits within the country or abroad. Often, team managements too encourages such fans and try to sponsor their visits abroad. The commitment of fans to their favourite personalities or products is indeed commendable and provides encouragement. But, it is equally true that such tactics are being used by marketing gurus to reach out to the maximum number of people around the world. Today we are living in a world of globalisation and liberalisation, which is marked by competition in almost all sectors. Therefore, in order to reach out to the maximum number of people or audience, the marketing department tries to explore all possible means to spread the word about the product. This includes highlighting special features of the product, comparisons with the existing reputed brands, and the devotion shown by the die-hard fans. If we take a look at the world around us, we can easily figure out the distinctive emphasis on advertising techniques in reaching out to the customer. The marketing communication department is often entrusted with the task of coming out with the strategies which helps the customer in relating to the famous celebrities. While on the one hand the competition helps the consumer in getting worth of the spending, and consumer has a range of alternatives to chose from, companies too have come out with innovative ideas to reach out to the consumer with their products and brands. Marketing people try to come out with strategies which instil a brand with personality traits resulting in anthropomorphizing, personification and creation of user imagery (Aaker, 1997). Human beings tend to identify themselves with such traits which give them a distinct identity called fans. The fan community shares a set of common interests and hobbies. While identifying the community as fandom, Fiske (1992) stated that, "fans are active producers and consumers of 'popular cultural capital' - produced by a shadow economy - that mimics the formal production of cultural value'. Blythe (2000) also divides the basic taxonomy of promotional tools into four-way division, namely advertising, public relations, sales promotion and personal selling. Though there's no clear dividing line, yet these steps are resorted to in order to create more demand for the product or service. According to the Maslow's hierarchy of needs, the product will be in demand if a need is felt by the consumer. It was argued that the driving force for human actions is the urge for satisfaction of one or the other need. Fans too are a distinct subculture of the society with needs like having a distinct identity. The Five dimensions of fan subculture can be expressed in the form of (Jenkins, 1992); A characteristic mode of reception Encouraging viewer activism. Functioning as an interpretive community. Characteristic traditions of cultural production. Forming an alternative social community The fan community indeed not only helps in encouraging the viewership of films or sales of the product, but it also helps in interpreting the features of the products etc. for a general consumer. The media, while highlighting the extraordinary efforts being done by the fan community, also explains the innovative features being included, features most liked by the fans, qualities which make the product different from the one's existing in the market etc. Such fan following also helps the company or the organisation to improve upon the product or service in such a manner that the value propositions are in line with the one's being in demand and it is able to reach out to maximum number of consumers. Explaining these characteristics of fan community, Fiske (1992) stated, "Fandom is a peculiar mix of cultural determinations. On the one hand it is an intensification of popular culture which is formed outside and often against official culture, on the other hand it expropriates and reworks certain values and characteristics of that official culture to which it is opposed". But the fan community has indeed created a niche for itself in the society. There are a number of internet groups, blogspots and clubs formed by fans of different products, TV serials, reality shows etc. This has resulted in the fan community becoming a social and cultural group having a distinct identity in itself. This results in two fold effects. On the one hand this helps in popularising the product or service on offer, thus resulting in direct profits to the producer or manufacturer. On the other hand the fan community starts long sessions of conversation etc. describing and appreciating the features of the product. In fact if a layman visits such blogs, he or she gets astounded by the wealth of information being shared by the fan community. In case of films, books, reality shows etc. the fan community often ends up identifying themselves with some character or eulogising the feats of some character/s. Jenkins (1992) cites a quote stating; "What are the requirements for transforming a book or a movie into a cult object The work must be loved, obviously, but that is not enough. It must provide a completely furnished world so that its fans can quote characters and episodes as if they were aspects of the fan's private sectarian world I think that in order to transform a work into a cult object one must be able to break, dislocate, unhinge it so that one can remember only parts of it, irrespective of their original relationship with the whole". Well, this might sound little uncharitable to all those fans, yet the statement reflects some degree of truth. Otherwise how can we explain the fact that companies even relish the media attention, when they are being criticised for indulgence in some negative aspects of business. This is amply clear when we take a look at the controversy created by Burger King. The company is running its Whopper Virgin ad campaign comparing its product with Big Mac3. The modus operandi includes inviting participants from rural areas of countries like Romania, Thailand, Greenland etc. and who have never eaten a burger. These participants are then asked to compare the Whopper with a Big Mac. There's lot of criticism in the media about the way Burger King is trying to portray the hunger and poverty in these areas. But the company officials appear unfazed by all the criticism and instead the company's sales figures have shown an upward turn ever since the controversy erupted. It's a classic case of bad press resulting in good gains. In fact good numbers of BKs fans are also double active in denouncing people who've raked up this controversy. The activism of fans at this hour in supporting the company has resulted in better bargains for the company and they are indeed relishing it. Practical utility of Fandom is quite apparent from this example. But, the moot question is why a set of people often go beyond a certain excepted limit of behavioural expression while expressing their loyalty and affection towards a particular brand or personality. Some say this could be a romance with the brand, love for the product, or just an infatuation. But there are others who find it an expression of weird mentality or some psychological disorder. While terming such fans as fanatics, it is stated that such fans often happen to be comic fans, who just love the undue attention from people and media, which in turn converts them into psychotic fans. While describing the stereotypes of Trekkies, it was mentioned that fans happen to be brainless consumers who will go for anything related to the programme in order to express their loyalty and love for the programme. These fans are stated to devote their valuable time towards worthless knowledge while placing value on trivial things for entertainment. Such fans often become misfit for the surroundings and the society they live in, as they start living in the world of fantasy and as time passes they find it extremely difficult to come out of it, resulting is psychic disorders. Jenkins (1992) too, at times appears quite harsh on the typical behaviour resorted to by the fan community, but at the same time he has acknowledged that while writing the book, he got tremendous support and inputs from a number of fans, groups of fans from all over the world. Jenkins received personal letters, photocopies of previous communications, copies of publications, artworks etc. while displaying how helpful the sense of community feeling is. In fact the how deep the levels of attachment can get while fans are busy with their favourite game/s or activities is explained by an interesting experiment conducted by Hillman (Putnam, 1999). In the experiment 50 volunteers were recruited and classified according to their levels of interest in Florida Gator football. The groups were divided in three categories e.g. low interest group, medium interest group or high interest group. Then a series of images were shown to these people. All this while their heart beats and brain activities were being recorded using scientific instruments. The series of images being shown to these people included; images of violence, neutral objects like chairs and tables, scenes of Florida football games and love making scenes of some couples. It was found during the experiment that all three groups of volunteers displayed similar reactions except when the football scenes were displayed. Even at those times, the reaction varied from very near the top of the two scales devised by Hillman. One ranging from very unpleasant to pleasant and the other from calm to excited. To figure out the concentration levels of the volunteers in their respective activities Hillman also used a sudden sharp noise termed as 'startle probe'. It was found that while they were watching the lovemaking scenes, the high level fans were able to her the 'startle probe' noise quite distinctively. But these very fans while watching football game of their favourite team, they failed to notice the startle probe noise. This led to the explanation that the hardcore fans were so much engrossed with the game that they could not spare much of their brain resources for other activities. This goes on to prove that the levels of devotion the fan community reserves for their favourite activity is quite and it might actually result in their skipping some other activities, which could otherwise be important for their routines or life. The fans therefore end up making a world of their own, aptly termed as fandom, which appears not only quite different from the routine activities of general masses, but at times gives a look of being at odds with the established norms of life. John Fiske (1992) also points towards this phenomenon, when he states that, "Fandom, is a peculiar mix of cultural determinations. On the one hand it is an intensification of popular culture which is formed outside and often against official culture, on the other hand it expropriates and reworks certain values and characteristics of that official culture to which it is opposed". Fiske also pointed out that there are three basic themes in fandom namely; Discrimination and Distinction: It implies that the fan community is quite possessive about their beloved item, activity or personality and this often results in acts of discrimination when someone tries to critically compare their favourite ones with someone else. The fandom also believes in making distinctions, with such an angle that advantage accrues to the person or product they wish to go for. Productivity and Distinction: Three forms of productivity are defined at the interface of cultural of commodity and popular culture viz. semiotic productivity, enunciative productivity and textual productivity. Fiske (1992) defined semiotic productivity as "Making meanings of social identity and social experience from the semiotic resources of the cultural commodity". Enunciative productivity implies the verbal or non-verbal expression of their thoughts by the fan community and forming a distinct fan identity. Now a days the blogging facilities available on the net present an exceptional mode of textual productivity to the fans all over the world. Novels, artwork, e-zines and chat-rooms are the other modes of expressing the textual productivity. This way the fandom tries to make room for their favourite icons and thus begins an effort to create a distinct identity. Capital and Accumulation: Capital of a different kind is accumulated by the fan community. While trying to establish a different world of them, the fandom also tries to develop a different identity and culture for itself. At times the value propositions and cultural ethos happen to be at variance with the official machinery, but the fandom world appears least bothered by such variations. In fact they try to strengthen this variation to the extent that it helps then in establishing a distinct identity. These studies are actually tacit admission of increasing influence of the fandom world in our life and an effect on the established cultural value propositions. It is worth mentioning here that the fan world is also getting wholesome support and encouragement from the companies and manufacturers whose products are at the receiving end of the fans appreciation. For example, many reputed companies now a days provide enough blogging space and discussion forums on their website. The stated objective is of course to get some feedback from the user community, but it also helps in creation of dedicated fans. Dell, the renowned name in computer and IT accessories, for example has a dedicated portion on its website4 for the 'Dell community', which if frequented by the existing as well as prospective customers of the company's products. This segment not only helps in interaction amongst the Dell users, but it has been found that this segment also results in providing practical solutions to a number of problems being experienced by the Dell customers. The loyal and long time customers of Dell narrate their own experiences while providing solutions to the queries of newer customers and those having difficulties in setting things in order. Though providing such facilities on the net requires some initial investments, yet the overall benefits keep accruing to the company for a long time. And if the company is able to manage it well, then the advantages add up to manifold. But history is replete with incidents when the overzealous acts of faith demonstrated by the fans have resulted in hardship for the concerned organisations. The intense rivalry on football fields amongst different clubs have many a times resulted in fisticuffs, verbal duals and loss of property, stoppage of matches, injuries to many people and even fatal accidents on the sidelines. Reason - fans often find it difficult to gulp down the defeat of their favourite team. It is said that games must be played with a sporting spirit, but today the stake have become so high in almost all the games that it becomes very difficult for any team to accept defeat so easily. A win can ensure windfall of opportunities like product endorsements, modelling assignments, and of course a fat amount in the form of winner's prize money. That explains why the players display so much aggression on the field. But, what do the fans get May be a sense of achievement, mental satisfaction and a lot to write blogs about their efforts in cheering for their teams! Now a days, of course the visual media has made big impact on such matches and such unruly behaviour. Now the television signals keep replaying those footages, which appear most unfriendly to the game. The reason advanced by the television channels is they want to take truth to the people. What they don't say is, 'they want to show the unruly faces resorting to acts of violence on the television screens, so that they could encourage a couple of more people to drop in next time and resort to such unruly acts again so that their footage too makes good news copy'. The news channels intend to show an account or footage which results in gaining their viewership. The fan community in turn takes it as an acceptable behaviour and keep repeating it whenever they find the opportunity, despite stern warnings from the law keeping agencies. The increasing emphasis on 'effective marketing campaigns for countering the competitors' can be termed as the most influential reason giving rise to the development of the fandom cult. Now a days, the marketing campaigns are seen as a way of investing in consumer loyalty and other intangible benefits. Stakeholders in the company like the shareholders, the financers too never appear to be accusing the management of 'over-spending' on such high budget marketing communication and advertising campaigns. In fact, company executives are supposed to cut other costs (like production, labour, etc.) so that the company can invest even more in marketing and advertising. The irony is, in the modern management principles advertising is being viewed as an investment, while costs like labour are being viewed as pure costs. References: 1. Aaker, Jennifer (1997). Dimensions of Brand Personality. Journal iif Marketing Research, Vol. XXXIV (August 1997). 2. Blythe, J. (2000), Marketing Communications. Pearson Education, Edinburgh, Financial Times/Prentice-Hall. 3. Dell (2008). Dell Community Home. Available online at http://en.community.dell.com/ (Dec 21, 2008) 4. Fiske, John (1992). 'The Cultural Economy of Fandom by John Fiske', in The Adoring Audience: Fan Culture and Popular Media, ed. Lisa A. Lewis, 37-42 (New York: Routledge, 1992) 5. Jenkins, Dr. Henry (1992). Textual Poachers: Television Fans & Participatory Culture. Routledge. 6. ICMR (2007). Launching iPhone: Apple's Entry into the Mobile Phone Market. Available online at http://www.icmrindia.org/casestudies/catalogue/Marketing/Launching%20iPhone.htm (Dec 17, 2008) 7. Putnam, Douglas T. (1999). Controversies of the Sports World. Greenwood Publishing Group. 8. Sack, Nicole (2007). Potterheads get their fix. Available online at http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/07/21/news/californian/23_14_457_20_07.txt (Dec 17, 2008) 9. The Telegraph (2008). Burger King under fire for Whopper Virgins taste test challenge. Available online at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/3546969/Burger-King-under-fire-for-Whopper-Virgins-taste-test-challenge.html (Dec 21, 2008) Read More