Create a movement, lead a tribe

Entrepreneur and blogger Seth Godin gave an inspiring TED talk two years ago where he pitched a new marketing idea. He calls the idea “tribes.”

Our culture has always had and shared ideas, but the digital age has changed the way that ideas are shared. Once we thought that buying a TV ad was the best way to market. This “TV” marketing model requires average ideas and hypnosis of the masses. Not ideal.

Thanks to the Internet, the Tribes model allows for silos of interest to bring people together, even if these people are seemingly on the fringe.

Godin argues that Tribes can effectively change the world because they are comprised of passionate people who want to connect. They are not everybody.

Godin uses the example of Al Gore as someone who created a movement with a relatively small amount of passionate fans. You don’t need everyone in your tribe – just the right people. It’s not about the mass, Godin says, it’s about finding the true believers.

He highlights Steve Jobs and Bill Gates as two very different, though effective, tribe leaders. Their different visions have attracted different tribe members.  Godin challenges us too, to find something worth changing and form a tribe. As we lead, here’s what to consider:

• Who are you upsetting? If the answer is nobody, you are doing something wrong.
• Who are you connecting? Do they share a passion? Do they yearn for the same change?
• Who are you leading? Focus your efforts on this specific group. The Beatles didn’t invent teenagers, but they sure knew how to lead them.

Great leaders challenge the status quo, and they build a culture by connecting people and making them feel important. They are also committed to their cause.

What’s your movement? Who’s in your tribe? How are you inviting people to join your tribe?

Fundly’s social fundraising platform fits perfectly with Tribe model of marketing and leadership that Godin is talking about. Our Facebook app allows your tribe members to share their support of your cause with others every time they make a donation.

Check out all that Fundly has to offer, and re-commit to your cause and tribe today!

Social media and the death of gender

I’m a big fan of TED talks. I just watched one on gender and social media given by Johanna Blakley, director of researcher at the Norman Lear Center at USC.

Blakley argues that social media is killing gender as we know it, an argument that she admits sounds crazy.
Historically, media companies have clung to demographic data to make predictions about what people will like. This has created a popular culture based on presumptions about our age, gender, etc.

Over the past seven years, a lot of research has been done on how the advent of social media has affected the world. Though the same demographic groups still exist, Blakley says they have come to mean less. Social media has given people a way to “escape their demographic boxes.” They are connecting based on their interests and are carving out their own identities online.

Though in some ways it’s creepy that media companies have so much access to our personal information, Blakley points out that it has forced them to respect the individual, whose interests and activities say a lot more about them than their demographic data.

Blakley goes on to discuss how women are the ones driving the social media revolution. Research shows that women outnumber men in use of social media technology in all demographic groups.

What’s the impact on our culture? Will women take over global media? Will all TV shows and films be infused with feminism?

Blakley says no, but she thinks that media companies will start hiring more women. She also thinks that women will kill “the chick flick” and other genres that think about gender simply.

It will be exciting to see what these changes look like within our popular culture in the years to come.