The Many Voices of a Tribe

[We Are The World 25 For Haiti - Official Video, 8:32]

When the artists got together to record this video to support Haiti, they had one common vision and mission grounded in the values that underpin humanity. Because of that commonality, they became a tribe. The common charter allowed each individual to contribute while retaining a unique voice.

The result is a powerful blend of humanity. The diversity in and of itself a strength of expression, not unlike what organizations that are serious about becoming a connected company would want to achieve. Are loyal customer tribes the result of a company connected on the inside?

The video prompted me to think about why is it then that in many organizations alignment and common purpose mean giving up individual creativity and voice -- becoming in fact bland vs. blended. Would that be the case in an organization like Apple, where all the creativity and voice is poured into the product line and not visible as active employee participation in social media?

In a comment to the case study on Ducati's tribal marketing, Caroline asks: 

Is the iPhone a 'tribe' already, and is it also based on 'personal freedom'? Or does it just have lots of fans? And is there a difference?

Apple products are anything but bland. I don't have visibility into the organization's culture, however I do know that the company inspires a loyal following of brand evangelists. My take is that the iPhone has a broad fan base, and not a tribe. Yet, as I watch the video linked above, I'm reminded that one common vision with many voices / expressions works.

Is a tribe the same as a community? I've seen the terms used interchangeably. A community has been defined as a group of interacting people living in a common location. In human terms, a community has shared resources, needs, risks, preferences, intent, and beliefs that affect the identity of the participants and their degree of cohesiveness.

Which is in turn different from a network -- an interconnected group or system. So it shares connections and may not share intent and all the other things that make community. Think for example about Facebook -- within the social network, there are many communities.

What do you think? Is the iPhone's loyal fan base a tribe?

© 2010 Valeria Maltoni. All rights reserved.

Comments

[Rob Diana]

The iPhone comparison is interesting. It has a significant fan base, but that fan base is not united toward a common goal or even a community.

What would it take for the iPhone fan base to become a tribe? Would local user groups make it a tribe? What about communications from Apple themselves? Does a tribe need to be organized into some type of organization?

Given that I have not read the Godin book and I am not fluent in the general concept, I am hoping that you can write more about it.

[Ujwal Arkalgud]

I haven't read tribes by Godin, but I can say that in the case of Apple, they did manage to lay a very solid foundation early on with their followers. Apple made the effort early on to understand the culture of their consumers. The "Rip Mix Burn" campaign was the perfect example of a company making an emotional connection with its core consumers by telling them ..."we understand who you are, and so we made a product for you, to further empower you".

Little did late adopters know that as a kid roaming the streets with my white earphones, I felt like I was part of a revolution! The company doesn't go to that extreme anymore, but they've managed to retain their core group of followers.

Red Bull is another great example in this context and so is the old Palm. Unfortunately not a lot of organizations are paying that much attention to culture anymore. Yet, everyone is out to make that emotional connection.

This is a great post Valeria and it really made me think. I just finished reading the clue train manifesto and I really related to this post :) CHeers!

Just my #.02

[Simon Mainwaring]

Valeria,

Thanks so much for the brain food. It's a tough one but I don't think iPhone users are a tribe. The tool itself is not what unites people, but rather the issues and values they care about. Obviously that is seen through the lens of the iPhone but with so many tools available, these same tribes collect in many different ways.

Thanks for the great post,

Simon

[Valeria Maltoni]

@Rob - very good questions. From my experience, a tribe tends to self organize to a certain degree and sign up into an organized system to communicate, share, stay in contact with each other. If Apple wanted to build a tribe of iPhone users, they might look at segmenting the early adopters like Scoble and Gray and offer them a place to get exclusive information on what's coming and the ability to weigh in some decisions that company makes, for example. Or it could do releases to self-organized groups around uses or kinds of apps. Making it easy for customers to connect with a company and with each other can be the basis for a tribe to form. Seth's books are more about asking good questions than providing definite answers. I'll keep writing about this idea as I'm seeing it emerge stronger in marketing.

@Ujwal - they segmented the customer base "Apple is committed to bringing the best personal computing experience to students, educators, creative professionals and consumers around the world through its innovative hardware, software and Internet offerings." Culture is the trump card. I agree with you that organizations should be paying attention to it. Thank you for sharing the Red Bull example. It'll be interesting to see what happens with Palm.

@Simon - I'm wondering, too if tribes can be situational or context-based. For example, SxSW forms a tribe when people converge in Austin to participate in the event, then disperses when the event is over. iPhone is a tough one as I think tribes by nature tend to be niche and it has expanded beyond a core number of users. In fact, it may be the first Apple product that many who have never been customers, nor will be, own.

[Ujwal Arkalgud]

Valeria, thanks for your response. This post inspired me to write on twitter's ad platform. Just wanted to share that here and get your input on it as well.

Thanks!

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