Anatomy of hype: How brands can connect with fandoms
Fandom is changing. It’s moving away from the fringes of mainstream culture and into the spotlight. According to recent findings on fan culture from Amazon Ads, 70% of people say their fandom and fan community are part of their everyday life. The findings come from “Anatomy of Hype” (AoH) research from Amazon Ads and Twitch. The study involved expert interviews, fan focus groups, and a quantitative survey of 12,000 respondents from 12 countries including Australia. One of the key trends the research identified is the rise of the Fluid Fan.
With a desire to authentically express themselves, these fans are not going all-in on one thing but claiming multiple fan identities across their range of interests and passions – with today’s fans now following on average 7.6 distinct fandoms.
Brands have long been a part of fan culture by building positive fan experiences and creating strong brand affinity in the process. According to the research, fans do want brands to participate. Over half of fans (55%) say they are more likely to consider a brand that sponsors content related to their fandom. However, in a time when fandom is changing, the rules of engagement are also evolving. The law of involvement is now authenticity.
Of survey respondents, 63% welcome brands to get involved with their fandom, as long as their efforts are authentic. Importantly, 54% say they can tell when brand’s involvement in their fandom is authentic, suggesting that inauthentic engagement can backfire. This is why brands need to act strategically and intelligently, such as understanding a fandom before they engage, to earn the acceptance and respect of their fandom.
Why Brands Should Embrace Fandom
With so many fandoms and fans engaging with them (many in multiple fandoms), fandoms represent an untapped opportunity for brands to find fans of their own. Plus, small fandoms of passionate fans can quickly grow to become mainstream culture in a short amount of time. Being there from the beginning means brands can speak with authenticity to a potentially large audience.
Further, fandoms can last a lifetime. According to AoH research the average self-identified sci-fi and fantasy fans have been engaging with their fandoms for over 11 years. The average music fan has been engaging for nearly 17 years. The extended duration of fandom generates countless opportunities for brands to be present in and contribute to committed lifelong passions.
Fandom presents brands with countless opportunities for engagement and the building of lifelong fans. Focusing on fandom can be an effective way to reach your audience where they spend most of their time and energy.
How Brands Can Connect With Fans
Step 1: Engage Casually
Fan engagement is about reaching and cultivating relationships with a very dedicated audience. Before reaching out to any fandom, brands must think strategically about which communities they want to engage with. A fandom based on interests, such as music or intellectual property, or geography, such as a sports team.
Once a brand has selected the fandom it wants to participate in, it should carefully research the community to better understand it. Participate is the crucial word here. A brand that’s truly/successfully involved in a fandom is contributing to the discussion/conversation. It’s not simply just putting your logo on the side of a field. It’s using dynamic messaging during an important match, or releasing products tied to an upcoming tour or episode. Every fandom has its own rules, languages and culture.
Brands need to spend time understanding how fans meet, how they communicate and what topics they’re talking about, so they can find ways to naturally engage. From the AoH research, 62% of fans say that any brand can get involved with fandoms as long as they try to understand the fandoms.
Brands should also choose the channels where their fans are. As brands dive deeper into fan passion, understanding the varying channels fans use for different purposes is critical. Be it live-streaming video, short-form video, audio, social media or discussion forums.
Twitch is an example of a service where fans come together to build community and engage in unique ways. Whether you’re into gaming, cooking, music or comedy, you can find it happening live on Twitch. Since it’s happening in real time, viewers and streamers can interact in the moment and create shared entertainment together. This has given rise to unique ways of communicating and we see Twitch communities build their own languages of belonging, with emotes, custom greetings, and community celebrations. Brands who want to tap into Twitch’s engaged audience need to learn about the community and so that they can participate as fellow fans who add value to the communities they support.
Twitch can provide a rewarding opportunity for brands to win over fans. Examples include supporting early access releases, featuring on info panel banners, or providing branded products for streamers to use. Over half of fans (55%) say they are more likely to consider a brand that sponsors content related to their fandom.
To get started, brands can participate in fandoms without a lot of heavy lifting, for example, engaging fans via likes and shares on social media. This stage is good for faster testing and learning to identify effective channels and engagement tactics for exchanges with fans.
Stage 2: Engage Actively.
When a brand has done the foundational work to understand a fandom, and experimented with entry-level engagement, it can level up to active fan engagement. Active fan engagement increases the exposure and touch points brands have with fans. Examples include sponsoring events, organising meetups, offering exclusive opportunities to fan communities, and helping fans meet their favourite icons.
As a result of this increased exposure, it will be important for brands to make sure they have a strong understanding of fandom (and credibility among fans). This includes understanding fan motivation.
Different fans have different reasons for engaging with fandoms beyond just entertainment. According to the AoH research, the top three reasons consumers engage with fandoms are escapism, relaxation and nostalgia (78%), enjoyment (72%), and empowerment, building confidence and finding inspiration (46%). These motivations play out differently between fandoms. Fans of sci-fi, fantasy, and video games tend to view their fandoms through the lenses of escape and reconnecting with their childhoods, while sports fans value bonding with family and friends.
Understanding the unique nature of fandom and why fans are there in the first place enables brands to create more relevant and compelling fan experiences. As does understanding which channels will best get messages across to fandoms. Twitch viewers are not just willing to watch ads to support their favourite streamers, they’re also ready to embrace the brands behind them. This makes using Amazon Ads on Twitch a useful way to speak to fans.
Brands can capture fandoms’ attention with Twitch’s high-impact display units and ads that weave directly into live broadcasts. Working with Amazon Ads and Twitch’s Brand Partnership Studio, advertisers can utilise this rich livestream environment – plus the expert guidance and bespoke integrations to help level up the viewer experience.
For film and TV fans, streaming platforms are a natural way to reach them. With ads coming to Prime Video in Australia from July 2024 Amazon Ads can help brands reach an engaged entertainment audience, fans of films, franchises and series at scale while they are watching across desktop, mobile, and connected TV environments.
Stage 3: Engage Creatively.
Once a brand has a grasp of a fandom’s culture, motivations and the channels fans use to access their community, as well as results and learnings from engagement during Stages 1 and 2, it can begin to craft more creative and engaging experiences for fans.
Creating new authentic experiences for fandoms means brands can make deeper contributions to these communities. This includes producing original content, initiating brand collaborations, making fan merchandise, and empowering fans to create their own content.
By contributing new ideas and experiences to a fan culture, a brand can forge a deeper relationship with a devoted audience, and ultimately build customer trust and loyalty. As the AoH research found nearly two-thirds of surveyed fans (62%) feel positively toward brands that have been involved with their fandoms for extended periods of time.
Making Fans Of Fandoms
Fandoms are an existing, organic community of individuals that brands can engage to become an integral part of the passion and enthusiasm fans feel. By engaging with humility and authenticity, and by doing the work to learn about what makes a fandom tick, brands can cultivate their own, long-lasting communities of passionate fans.
Learn more about the evolution of fans and fandom in the Anatomy of Hype report.
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