The word “tribe” is from the lexicon of the “new marketing” world. “Brand” is is a word used by both “old” and new marketing people–but with different meanings. In the “old” marketing world, “brand” is a name that has become fixed in the public mind as a result of lots of money thrown at incessant advertising campaigns until it is a household word. Not that easy to do today since people are more suspicious of ad campaigns. In the world of new marketing, brand denotes some kind of real value that happens to be attached to some name. The “real value” is what’s important. Not the name. I prefer the word “leader” to “brand.”
A “tribe” is any group of people who share some value and cluster around that value when when someone (a brand) offers it. Brands and tribes go together. And they are really just words. Any pairing of groups of people with someone or enterprise that shares and mentors that “real value” can become such a pairing. Tribes look for leaders and if someone steps up, that someone represents the brand (becomes the leader). Here’s some examples.
artist and fans (or audience)
pastor and congregation
writer and readers
songwriter and artists
choir director and choir
promoter and ticket buyers
radio promoters and stations
salespeople and customers (or accounts)
tweeter and followers
etc.
The great thing about “new marketing” theory is that the principles apply to any of these kinds of pairings of leader and followers, and, how there must be a “continuous conversation” where the leaders must listen and pay attention to that “shared value” of the followers. The “old” marketing is built mostly around businesses with customers and how to get those customers to do what the business wants. Leaders (businesses) who attempt to use new marketing methods to control their followers in that old marketing style will discover themselves out of business. No followers. This is probably why many “big business” firms try out new marketing but just can’t make it work — they just can’t get away from their old habitual mindset that wants to control the buyer. How many times have you seen a business start a new advertising campaign that says “We’ve listened and heard you and now we are offering ____________” (something else they want to sell that you really don’t want).
Tribes can be potential, a group of people who share a value but have no leader, or actual if one appears. People in a church who like to sing may want to start a choir but they don’t become one until there is a choir director. The leader must provide that “real value” or the thing falls apart. As in what happens when the choir director wants to choose material that the choir doesn’t like. A leader with a vision may hunt for and find a tribe by experimenting. A choir director may move from church-to-church until he/she finds a choir that values the director choosing all the material.
Most artists still think and speak old marketing. They want to “grow their ministry” by leading their fans without listening to them. And they expect “the industry” (record labels, agents, advertisers, etc.) to help them do just that. Even if they use new marketing “tools” like Facebook or Twitter, they’re mis-using them to try guide fans rather than listen to them. They believe that their CD and it’s airplay and distribution is what their fans want or should want most. When actually what the fans really want is more of that “value”, the inspirational conversation with the artists, of which the music is just a sample, a calling card.
Most of the bigger businesses in our industry are doing the same. Trying to get their consumer constituencies to buy want they want to sell them.
Not that there’s any bad intent here. It’s just that few can get their mind away from what has always worked–even though it’s obviously not still working.
Something has changed in the culture of how all tribes (followers) work. This is why the new marketing theories with its “tribes” and “brands” has shown up. The old way just doesn’t work anymore. For some reason, people now do not just follow what leaders say they should. They group together around sharing something they really value and look for a leader who will listen and provide “products” that have the shared value embedded in them.
And they just won’t “waste” their time, energy, or inclination on who or whatever does not provide that.
