#love seeing international swifties win
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ahh i hope everyone who is going to a show this week has so much fun!!!
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All her fans won't vote for whoever she tells them to. If that were true, M Blackburn wouldn't be a sitting senator in Tennessee.
The problem is that before anyone should be telling people to vote for a third-party socialist, people who want socialism need to spend time building up a viable third party that makes regular people, not just extremists, want to vote for them. Without taking that crucial step, all you're doing is cannibalizing the Democratic Party--which ensures that extremist Republicans win elections. Some Dems are great. Some are not-so-great. There's not a one of them that's not infinitely better than a fascist Republican.
Moving toward socialism is a lovely ideal, but you need a real plan to create an infrastructure to achieve it without curb stomping all the people Republicans love to blame for society's problems. We are facing people who quite literally want to send women, POC, LGBTQIA, the educational system, public libraries, and everything else back into the 1800s so that white, straight, and preferably evangelical men can reign ascendant. Taylor doing what you're suggesting would be the opposite of responsible. That's just the hard reality of where we are as a country and society.
You don't have to agree with me, but hopefully you can see that there are calculations that Taylor may be making to be responsible, even if it's not the way you would approach it.
You can't switch between national and local elections and think you've done a critical thought on my argument tbh.
1. I was clearly talking about the entire nation for presidential elections, because it is much easier to move the voting needle blue when you talk to the ENTIRE fanbase than a very specific subsection of swifties who have to reside in TN for at least a year before they can vote in local elections. It's not the same situation at all LMFAO.
2. "Extremists" this tells me all I need to know about your political leanings if you think socialism attracts extremists.
3. Taylor has a moral obligation to help as many people as she can, and that doesn't happen by supporting establishment democrats sorry. If she wanted to, she could have an intern write up a "why you should be a socialist" tweet thread to support her position as well.
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Taylor Swift Turns on a Facsimile Machine for the Ingenious Recreations of ‘Fearless (Taylor’s Version)’: Album Review
Swift recreates her entire 2008 album literally down to the last note, then gives herself room for stylistic latitude on six never-before-recorded "vault" tracks.
By Chris Willman
Swift recreates her entire 2008 album literally down to the last note, then gives herself room for stylistic latitude on six never-before-recorded "vault" tracks.
There is no “best actress” award at the Grammys, perhaps for obvious reasons, but maybe there should be this coming year. And the Grammy would go to… Taylor Swift, for so persuasively playing her 18-year-old self in “Fearless (Taylor’s Version),” her beyond-meticulous recreation of the 2008 recording that did win her her first album of the year trophy back in the day. It’s impossible to overstate just how thoroughly the new version is intended as an exact replica of the old — all the way down to her startling ability to recapture an untrained teen singing voice she’s long matured and moved on from. It’s a stunt, to be sure, but a stunt for the ages — mastering the guile it takes to go back to sounding this guileless.
There are two different, very solid reasons to pick up or stream “Taylor’s Version,” regardless of whether you share her ire for the Big Machine label, whose loose ways with her nine-figure catalog precipitated this, the first in a six-album series of remakes where she’ll be turning on the facsimile machine. One is to marvel at her gift for self-mimicry on the album’s original tracks, where she sounds as possessed by her younger self as Regan ever was by Pazuzu. The other reason is, of course, to check out the six “vault” numbers that Swift wrote during that time frame but has never released before in any form, which dispenses with stylistic fealty to the late 2000s and frames her “Fearless”-era discards in production and arrangements closer to “Folklore.” Those half-dozen (kind of) new tracks really do sound like modern Taylor Swift covering her old stuff.
But those original lucky 13? It’s the same damn record… which is kind of hilarious and marvelous and the kind of meta-ness that will inspire a thousand more think-pieces than it already has, along with possibly efforts at forensic analysis to figure out how she did it.
It would not be surprising if, as we speak, Big Machine was putting a combined team of scientists and lawyers on the case of the new album’s waveform readouts, to make sure it’s not just the original album, remixed. Honestly, it’s that close. The timings of the songs are all within a few seconds of the original tracks, if not coming in at exactly the same length. The duplication effort doesn’t allow any detours. If “Forever and Always” had a cold open then, it’s going to have a cold open now. If the 2008 “That’s the Way I Love You” had slamming rock guitars with an almost subliminal banjo being plucked beneath the racket, so will the 2021 “That’s the Way I Loved You.” A drum roll to end the old “Change”? A drum roll to end its body-snatcher doppelganger. And if she chuckled before the final chorus of “Hey Stephen” 13 years ago, so will that moment be cause for a delighted giggle now.
Of course, much analysis will be put into whether the new laugh is a more knowing-sounding laugh. And that will be part of the fun for a certain segment of audiophile Swifties who will go looking for the slightest change as evidence of something meaningful. When “Love Story (Taylor’s Version)” first came out weeks back to preview the album, there were reviews written that swore she’d subtly changed up her phrasing to put a contemporary spin on the song. And maybe they were right, but, having done a fair amount of A/B testing of the two versions of the album, I found myself feeling like I do when vinyl buffs insist there are significant sonic differences between the first stamper version of an LP and one that was pressed a year later. If you can spot those very, very, very modest tweaks, go for it.
But my suspicion is that if Swift has decided to turn a phrase a little differently here or there on this album, or done anything too differently aside from brighten the sound, she’s doing it more as an Easter egg, for the people who are on that kind of hunt, than anything really designed as reinterpretation. Because the last thing Swift wants most of her fans doing is A/B-ing the two versions, the way I did. The whole point is to have folks retire the OG “Fearless” from their Spotify playlists, right? The Swift faithful were already threatening to rain down damnation on anyone caught sneaking an audio peek at the old version after midnight. What she intended was to come up with a rendering so faithful that you would never have a need to spin the vintage album again. In that, she has succeeded beyond what could have been imagined even in the dreams of the few self-forgers who’ve tried this before, like a Jeff Lynne.
Is there any reason to find value in the new versions if you couldn’t care less about the issues of masters and contracts and respect in business deals that made all this strangely possible? Yes, with the first one being that the new album just sounds like a terrific remastering of the old — the same notes, and you’d swear the same performances, but sounding brighter and punchier just on a surface level. But on a more philosophical one, it’s not just a case of Swift playing with her back catalog like Andy Warhol played with his soup can. It’s really a triumph of self-knowledge and self-awareness, in the way that Swift is so hyper-conscious of the ways she’s matured that she has the ability to un-mature before our very ears. With her vocals, it’s virtuosic, in a way, how she’s made herself return to her unvirtuosic upstart self.
On Swift’s earliest albums and in those seminal live shows — at the time when she was famously being told she “can’t sing,” to quote a song from the follow-up album — there was a slight shrillness around the edges of her voice that, if you lacked faith, you might’ve imaged would be there forever. It wasn’t. That was partly youth, and partly just the sheer earnestness with which she wanted to convey the honesty of the songs. She’s advanced so much since then — into one of pop’s most gifted modern singers, really — that the woman of “Folklore” and “Evermore” seems like a completely different human being than the one who made the self-titled debut and “Fearless,” never mind just a woman versus girl. It wouldn’t have seemed possible that she could go back to her old way of singing at the accomplished age of 31, but she found and recreated that nervous, sincere, pleading voice of yesteryear. And maybe it was just a technical feat, of temporarily unlearning what she’s learned since then, but you can sense that maybe she had to go there internally, too, to the place where she was counseling other girls to guard their sexual virtue in “Fifteen,” or wondering whether to believe the fairy tale of “Love Story” or the wakeup call of “White Horse,” or proving with “Forever & Always” that writing a song telling off Joe Jonas for his 27-second breakup call was better than revenge.
If at first you’re not inclined to notice that Swift has re-adopted a completely different singing voice for the “Fearless” remakes, the realization may kick in when those “vault” tracks start appearing in the later stretch of this hour-and-50-minute album. The writing on the six songs that have been pulled up from the 2008 cutting room floor seems primitive, even a little bit by the standards of the “Fearless” album; there are great lines and couplets throughout the rescued tracks, but you can see why she left them as works-in-progress. But she doesn’t use her youthful voice on these resurrections, nor does she employ the actual style of “Fearless” very strictly. Of course, she feels more freedom on these, because there are no predecessors in the Big Machine catalog she’s asking you to leave behind. Her current collaborators of choice, Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner, divided the co-producing work on these fresher songs, as they did for the two all-new albums she released in the last year. (The “Fearless” recreations are co-produced by Swift with Christopher Rowe, someone who worked on remixes for Swift back in that era.) They co-produce the vault songs in a style that sounds somewhere between “Fearless” and Folklore”… a more spectral brand of country-pop, with flutes and synths and ringing 12-string guitars and a modicum of drum programming replacing some (but not all) of the acoustic stringed instruments you’d expect to be carried over from “Fearless” proper.
Of the previously unheard tracks, Swift was right — she’s always been her own best self-editor — in putting out “You All Over Me” first, in advance of the album. With its imagery of half-muddy stones being upturned on the road, this song has advanced lyrical conceits more of a piece with the level of writing she’s doing now than some of the slightly less precocious songs that follow. Still, there’s something to be said for the sheer zippiness with which Swift conveys teen heartbreak in “Mr. Perfectly Fine,” which has a lyric that shows Swift had long since absorbed the lessons Nashville had to offer about how to come up with a high-concept song — the concept, in this case, being just to stick the word “mister” in front of a lot of phrases relating to her shallow ex, as if they were honorary titles to be conferred for being a shit, while she employs the “miss” for herself more sparingly.
Some of the remaining outtake songs go back more toward the sedate side of “Fearless”-style material; she didn’t leave any real bangers in the can. “We Were Happy,” the first of two successive tracks to bring in Keith Urban (but only for backgrounds on this one), employs fake strings and real cello as Swift waxes nostalgic for a time when “you threw your arms around my neck, back when I deserved it.” It’s funny, in a good way, to hear Swift at 31 recreating a song she wrote at 17 or 18 that pined for long-past better times. The next song, “That’s When,” brings Urban in for a proper duet where he gets a whole second verse and featured status on half a chorus, and it’s lovely to hear them together. But, as a make-up song, it doesn’t feel as real or lived-in as the more personal things she was writing at the time — and the fact that its chords are pretty close to a slightly more balladic version of the superior “You Belong With Me” was probably a pretty good reason for dropping it at the time.
the 18-year-old Taylor Swift is a great place to visit, but “Folklore” and “Evermore” are the place you’ll want to return to and live, unless you have an especially strong sentimental attachment to “Fearless”… which, sure, half of young America does. It’s not irreconcilable to say that the two albums she issued in the last year represent a daring pinnacle of her career, but that “Fearless” deserved to win album of the year in 2008. Has there been a greater pop single in the 20th century than “You Belong With Me”? Probably not. Did the album also have lesser moments you probably haven’t thought about in a while, like the just-okay “Breathe”? Yes. (I looked up to see whether Swift had ever played that little remarked upon number in concert, and according to setlists.fm, she did, exactly once… in 2018. Because she’s Taylor Swift, and of course she did.) It’s not certain that her duet with Colbie Caillat really needed to be resurrected, except it’s fun, because hey, she even roped former duet partners back into her time warp. But there are so many number that have stood the test of time, like “The Way I Love You,” an early song that really got at the complicated feelings about passion and fidelity that she would come to explore more as she grew into her 20s… and just kind of a headbanger, too, on an album that does love its fiddles and mandolins.
It doesn’t take much to wonder why Swift put up “Fearless” first in this six-album exercise; it’s one of her two biggest albums, along with “1989,” and it’s 13 years old, which does mean something superstitious in the Taylor-verse. In a way, it’ll be more interesting to see what happens when she gets to more complicated productions, like “1989” or “Reputation.” But maybe “Fearless” did present the opportunity for the grandest experiment out of the gate: to recreate something that pure and heartfelt, with all the meticulousness a studio master like Swift can put to that process now, without having it seem like she’s faking sincerity. Let the think-pieces proceed — because this is about six hundred different shades of meta. But, all craftiness and calculation aside, there’s a sweetness to the regression that’s not inconsequential. It harks back to a time when she only wondered if she could be fearless, before she learned it the harder way for sure. What they say about actors “disappearing into the role”? That really applies to Taylor Swift, playing herself.
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Headcannons for Irondad and Spiderson(Post HOCO- Pre Infinity War)
After peter rejecting his avengers offer, tony didn't know how to reach out him. But he wanted to mentor the kid a little more closely (this was not because he wanted to spend more time with his son).
Cue a TOTALLY random Tuesday evening (not for tony he sat up planning this stuff out for the past 2 weeks) Happy calls Peter informing him that he coming to pick peter up. peter's like "what? why? something wrong? ". Happy's like "Boss wants to see ya again so quit asking questions and come down kid!"
They ride to the compound. The whole time Peter is screaming internally and thinking of all the things he did wrong the past week. "does he know i left detention 5 min early????" "or maybe its the suit again he probably wants it back???" "Did he see me jumping of the tallest building in Queens for fun ,BECAUSE NED CONVICED HIM TO DO SO !
They finally arrive at the compound. if Peter wasn't panicking in the car, he is definitely NOW
So when Mr stark approaches him, he was preparing for the worst. But it turns out Mr stark asked him if he would be interested in an ACTUAL STARK INTERNSHIP !! Like what!!! And he said yes. Course he would say yes. It was the opportunity of a lifetime also internships look good on college applications! So bonus points for him.
It's on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. Bonus, Sundays are Spiderman training days with the one and only WAR MACHINE AND THE VISION! since when did he get so lucky! And no parker luck doesn't count
On the other side tony is thrilled that the kid agreed to the internship. He couldn't wait to tell pepper
The moment peter walks In the lab on his first day and they start working together on upgrading his suit, then after a couple of weeks of that, slowly moving on to other stark industries projects . Tony soon learned that him and Peter work together flawlessly. They made a good team. He also shows off peter to every stark employee that approaches them while their taking break from the lab. In a subtle way of course.
DUM-E took a liking for the kid and basically follows peter around the lab with a fire extinguisher.
Peter became instant friends with vision. Even though they only met during training on Sundays. But even vision soon started visiting the lab to spend a more time with Peter. Tony was TOTALLY FINE WITH SHARING HIS PROTÉGÉ/ SON FIGURE with other people. He was just a little jealous though. But more than that peter and vision reminded tony of how he was like with Jarvis. God he missed Jarvis (person and AI)
Slowly the lab days turned to movie nights with snacks and everyone had gotten used to seeing peter in the compound.
Occasionally dinners with may, where she tells all his childhood stories
May and pepper became good friends. A powerful duo.
FAMILY game nights happened every Thursday (Peter always wins, no one knows how but he does) which sometimes turn into Karaoke sessions.
Peter knows how to play the guitar, drums, piano and ukulele ( Tony knew he was in band but what he did not know is that the kid had a great voice). Pepper wants him to play DAYLIGHT by TAYLOR SWIFT for their wedding.
Speaking of Taylor swift. peter is a huge Swiftie. His favourite album is 1989. But reputation and lover come a close second. Tony is gonna buy concert tickets for his birthday
Tony loves the little but sweet family they created.
#iron dad#tony stark#peter parker#pepper potts#james rhodes#happy hogan#vision#spider son#may parker#post homecoming#pre infinty war#ANTI ST*RKER#taylor swift#pepperony
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There are certain times that i just stop moving, watching, listening...etc and think how i am lucky to know her and being swiftie. Because it feels fucking awesome. I feel like a proud mom when i see her winning that awards and hold them and shaking while saying "thank you for the fans" and this isnt just that. The way she speaks for herself for her country for others for women rights for lgbtq rights... i cant even count them. Thats a big deal how can a person be that powerful and influential. I am trying to have a full of knowledge of interviews..etc you have. I mean you have international pop star you have fans around the world. English is not our main language but with you we really learning english. We write lots of messages letters captions in twitter ,tumblr ,instagram and everywhere. This is most funniest part of being fan.😂 there are too much to talk about to but for now i just want to say that i love you and so proud of you. I am flattered that you are one of the biggest pop star. 💙 @taylorswift @taylornation
-Serkan to Taylor-
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seeing taylor live for the first time after 9 years of being her fan - amazon prime day concert.
Well, as some of you may know, I’m from Brazil. I never got the chance to see Taylor before because she only came here once to promote Red, and it was a very, very private concert, so i couldn’t get in. Either way, the fact that I’ve never seen her before changed on July, 10th.
I planned my whole family vacation to NYC based on Taylor’s concert on Prime Day. So I basically got into a 10 hour flight having no idea if I would even get close to her, but I trying doesn’t hurt anyone; and I still was on vacay, and in NYC (which is my favorite city on the world), so it’s not like I would be 100% sad if I didn’t get the chance to see her, even tho I planned the trip thinking about it.
Anyways, after trying really hard to win tickets via emails, contests and stuff, I didn’t get any. I was very hopeless at getting into the show but I thought that at least I should go and be outside Manhattan Center and try to see her somehow (?) which now I understand it was like, impossible, since she didn’t enter the venue by the front door (ofc) and the other possible way was nearly impossible to get close to her.
So I got at Manhattan Center at 9 a.m and stood there till some Swifties came around - thank you for that -. I met some AMAZING people there and they were very compassionate of what I was trying to do, so much that a boy (named Harry, you are angel btw) found me tickets. (THANK YOU TO THE GIRL AKA HARRY’S FRIEND WHO GOT ME THEM ILY SO MUCH.) I arrived at the venue by 9 am and didn’t get tickets till 5 pm and I was so hopeless that I just couldn’t believe I really was going to SEE TAYLOR SWIFT FOR THE FIRST TIME AFTER 9 YEARS and I was the first one in line so FRONT ROW!!!
It meant so much to me. I left São Paulo incredibly sad and having the worst time struggling with depression and s**cidal thoughts. I literally went to NYC thinking that all I wanted to do was to see my favorite city one last time and only hope to God that I could see Taylor once before I did something to myself. And I ended up getting so much strength; seeing her made me believe I can push myself harder. I don’t want to leave this world by choice without seeing her again. It’s honestly a heavy talk here, but it’s true. Seeing her gave me hope, gave me motivation to keep fighting.
I will always be thankful for such a huge opportunity. As a international fan, I always thought I would never get the chance to see Taylor, unless I actually got into a flight and just see what happens. And this happened. It changed everything to me - and I promise you, it’s one of the best feelings ever; listening to her sing the songs you love the most. Seeing her in front of you...she looks like a doll. I couldn’t and still can’t believe it was real. Touching her hand made me cry so hard.
Don’t ever lose hope. 10 hour long flight, no tickets till almost the show started, absolutely no hope. I never thought this would happen to me and it literally changed EVERYTHING in my life from now on.
@taylorswift I love you. I honestly love you so much, from the bottom of my heart. You give me hope. You give me everything I need to keep going. I’ll always be thankful for you.
@taylorswift @taylornation
#gaby speaks#taylurking#taylor swift#oh well i cried writing this#tswiftedits#hi taylor#hitaylor#hi-taylor
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HELLO MY LOVES💘
I’m asking for you all to PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE send me love & light as well as good luck thoughts💖
My local radio station is having a competition to go to the City Of Lover concert in Paris and I’d love to win this opportunity as in international Swiftie that has very few chances to see @taylorswift LIVE❤️
P.S It’s Lover week!!!!😍❤️💖💘💕
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Opinion: Respect the Fangirl
The internet was buckwild last week as Halloween, the beginnings of Mercury Retrograde and the fall officially hit. Between My Chemical Romance coming back, more impeachment inquiries and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announcing Twitter would no longer be promoting political ads, there were plenty of trending topics to be paying attention to.
However, one trending topic stood out amongst the rest. At roughly 3 AM PST, international Kpop boy band Monsta X’s Wohno announced an extremely shocking and swift departure. The details of the departure are due to a series of alleged scandals that you can find research into outside of this article.
For us, it’s what happened after that counts. Monsta X’s fanbase, dubbed “Monbebe” -- a combination of Monsta X’s name and “baby”-- immediately sprung into action. Trending topics were made, a petition for his return came, other large Kpop fandoms like BTS’ Army, iKON’s iKonics, NCT’s NCTzens, Got7’s Aghases, Exo’s EXO-L, BlackPink’s Blink, Twice’s Once and many more banded together to support not just Wohno but their fellow Kpop fans who felt the lose reminiscent of that fateful day in March 2015 when Zayn Malik announced his untimely departure from One Direction.
Within 15 hours, the petition had almost 300k signatures, Monobes had two different hashtags trend worldwide with over 1 million tweets each, and, as this is being written, it looks as though they have no signs of stopping. At time of publication, Monbebes have effectively run through a new hashtag every twelve hours to remain on the Top Trending Worldwide Count, and they continued to protest in South Korea outside Starship Entertainment, with some international fans flying in to join their Korean sisters.
Over the years, fandoms online have become increasingly engaged within their communities. They have become politically and socially engaged, they have grown to understand and ask for accountability from their “problematic faves” and have begun to have the fledgling conversations of nuance for what is a “cancellable” offense and what or whom can be redeemed. There’s a movement amongst fandoms on the internet, and it aligns with a lot of the movements we are seeing of the youth in 2019. “We’re here, we know what we want, and we’re not going anywhere.”
To break down the phenom that can create such dedication and a riot online, we need to go back to the pre-internet music industry days. To days of John Lennon and Paul McCartney and the days the Beatles first touched down on U.S. soil. While we often herald The Beatles as the greatest group of all time -- rightfully so -- the context of who put them there is glossed over in conversations of their technical contributions to music.
In every Beatles documentary you watch, there’s always a slew of camera clips of them running from young female fans, of fans jumping on their getaway cars, crowding the airports, passing out just looking at them. The fans’ arms are full of albums, they’re crying over how much the music means to them, and they’re forming friendships, relationships and bonds over music that set the tone for the first intense wave of fandom success. And while the Beatles’ male fanbase wasn’t lacking, it’s not hard to see who put them on the charts, and who kept them coming back.
Young women’s influence on music has often been thrown aside as a “fangirl mentality.” Where women like music for two reasons: the first being they have more interest in the members than they do the music, and the second being that the music can’t be that good if it’s only young women listening to it. As we strive to break fangirl stereotypes, we see the efforts of these fandoms that have created some of the biggest artists in the world ignored.
Most obvious in this ignorance was a recent Pitchfork article accrediting Kanye West with the success of musicians going viral on Twitter. This claim ignored the early days of Bieber fans -- you know, before Justin tried to start his own social app (RIP Shots) --, Swifties -- who largely began their crusade online after the infamous incident--, Directioners -- arguably the first fanbase to truly use Twitter to its fullest extent--, and more. The cultural and social significance of the fangirl doesn’t even have proper documentation. There is so little academic study into the passion of young women and how they form the grassroots of and self-market artists, who go on to have the kind of cultural impact to swing elections. It’s disappointing.
Even more recently, The Hollywood Reporter released an interview with Kpop mold-breaking sensation BTS that was nothing short of disappointing for long-term fans and a band who sold out the Rose Bowl twice in minutes. The lack of awareness from one of the biggest entertainment editorial structures in the U.S. speaks volumes about just how irrelevant cis-white-male-centric-run publications claim young women to be. When the writer Seth Ambrovitch was critiqued by both fans and journalists alike for his poor misuse of precious time with some of the most sought after musicians in the world, he claimed he was doing them a favor, that 99.99% of the population didn’t know who BTS is yet, and that he was bringing BTS to the attention of the general public. Nevermind the sold-out U.S. stadium tour - One Direction, Beyonce nor Taylor Swift sold out the Rose Bowl - or the fact that since BTS’ breakout moment and their hard work to help credit the validity of the Kpop industry in the west has allowed multiple other bands like Monsta X, NCT 127, Super M and more receive well-deserved credibility here. Seth just didn’t seem to care. Because 99.99% of his immediate population didn’t know BTS, he didn’t bother to do his research and realize that young women -- fangirls -- around the world have risen BTS to an international household name, one that you would have to live under a very specific bubble to ignore.
So what makes a fangirl? The definition is broad, but it’s mostly applied to young people -- mostly young women/nonbinary individuals who are incredibly passionate about musicians they listen to. It’s a term that’s been weaponized, attempted to be recaptured, and forced on a lot of people who make that delicate transition from female fan to female music industry professional.
In 2015, Zayn Malik left One Direction, and the internet had a field day. Directioners were one of the first massive young female fanbases to overtake Twitter, constantly winning 1D fan-voted awards, pushing every single thing the band did, and creating fan accounts that accumulated mass amounts of followers in short amounts of time. And yet, on the day Zayn Malik left, and Directioners were grieving on a platform they largely helped grow, they were mocked, meme’d and, again, not taken seriously. But it was hard on these young women. They invested, they voted, they fought for the legitimacy of One Direction. They bought tickets to tour dates all over the world, they cried to their music, had their first kisses, first drinks, graduations, first loves, friendships, break-ups and lives soundtracked by five boys from the U.K.
The internet allowed them to connect across the world with people they would have never otherwise known. It created a safe-haven online for people to discuss the real problems teen girls face, open their eyes to the issues of other young women around the world, and it took a lot of them to different countries they would have never seen. When 1D, the Jonas Brothers, Bieber and many other male-centric fandoms were suffering from a unique drought, the Beyhive, Swifties, Selenators and Arianators were there to offer community. Where you were a fangirl once, even with a broken heart, you could find love again.
Two years before 1D broke up across the world, Kpop band BTS debuted under the small company Big Hit Entertainment. As is standard with Kpop bands, they were promoted around Korea, did various variety shows, performances, etc. But BTS also did something different: they began to utilize western social media more interactively with their base. With the decline of One Direction and no main boy band in sight, there was a missing stage from the U.S. Market, and it didn’t take long before BTS was rightfully filling that role. With their first world tour taking place in 2015, the hype quickly began to build with their social media presence and fan interaction.
Rightfully dubbed ARMY, BTS’ fanbase weaponized the internet in a Swiftie/Beyhive-like takeover, and before you knew it, not a single tweet could be found without a Kpop fancam under it. BTS grew exponentially and routinely received millions of likes on single posts on Twitter, making them one of the most interacted with Twitter accounts on the platform.
Fast-forward to 2019, where Harry Styles is accrediting his success largely to his female fanbase, BTS sold out two nights at the Rose Bowl in minutes, Taylor Swift is being honored as Artist of the Decade at the AMA’s and Selena Gomez took two days to garner enough streams to debut on the Billboard Charts. It’s evident and clear that as long as social media is a prevalent part of music, the fangirls yield power. As they learn these lessons about nuance, start banding together more often as fanbases, and demanding accountability, there’s truly no telling what young women are capable of in this industry.
At time of press, Harry Styles announced his new album Fine Line will be released on December 13th, and the internet and young women he’s so long accredited with being the key to his success responded in kind. Four of the top worldwide trends are currently about Harry Styles, Monsta X and BTS, with multiple tweets crossing fandoms, once again reminding us of the significant power that stan twitter and its fangirls have.
As far as we go, we’re investing in them in the long-haul. We’re watching them teach themselves how to video edit, use photoshop, optimize analytics, control trends, outsmart algorithms and even create movements within themselves. We’re hoping to help all those brilliant young women who have found a home in a smooth melody and an intense emotional connection to find career paths in the things that make them passionate and happy.
And while we are on the side of the Monbebe’s, and we hope Wohno returns to Monsta X happy and healthy, we are proud of these young fans for standing up for what they believe is right, supporting one another, having honest conversations about accountability, but mostly inspiring change. We’re hoping to see more fanbases coming together as human rights violations take a world stage in the upcoming 2020 U.S. elections. We’re hoping to see the power these young women hold continue to transfer into the parts of their lives that have been fighting for equality and justice.
All in all, it’s time we #RespectTheFangirl, and we’d love to hear your favorite fangirl stories.
- article by Shelby Chargin
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I don’t get why all swifties can’t get the same opportunities to win things, etc. People in the US have had so many chances and opportunities. Being in Canada, we still get more chances to see Taylor than some in other countries, but I’d still like to see things like Taylor swift tix or the UPS contest be international. Just putting it out there. We all love and support Taylor just as much as anyone in the US. I completely understand this isn’t a direct result of @taylorswift personally. @taylornation
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S H I F T
Is this evolutionary for me?
It’s a question I have recently realised I have been asking myself for a long time. Where will this next shift take me? How am I meant to trust that I am making the right decision? Does it feel right? Do you trust that feeling in the pit of your stomach? If the answer is yes, just leap darling.
The past two years have been an absolute whirlwind. As a result this may be a long one, (it’s really just for me to get it all out). Let’s begin with a little background. December 2015, I was 20, and it was the first time I had felt an internal pull or what I now recognise as a direct message from my soul. Oh, and It wasn’t just a small message. I was screaming internally. I wasn’t happy, in fact I was miserable, my anxiety was winning and I was stuck in a repetitive pattern of self doubt and self hate. Growth wasn’t even an option, something had to change.
I now know that the universe was well aware of how i was feeling, I was asking for a sign, for change. Then one of my biggest dreams came true. Triggering a shift in me that I wouldn’t come to fully recognise until almost two years later. What I did see was a level of happiness and freedom that I hadn’t encountered before, and once I had tasted it, I knew that’s the feeling I needed to live in everyday. So, subconsciously, I set out to create it.
I found the courage to end my, (toxic) five year high school relationship and within a few months, I had landed a new job. In a new city, whilst still completing my degree, with a brand new relationship. I was very suddenly watching the town I grew up in disappear in the rear view window of my also newly purchased car. To say I was leaping was an understatement, it scared the life out of me.
My new job, I thought it was my dream job. Which, looking back now, for that period in my life, it was. I stepped into a BIG company, that I knew would set me up for success in my career. Being the stubborn person I am, I couldn’t wait until I had a degree, I had to work straight away. Boy, I was thrown into the deep end. This little creative Libra was suddenly running marketing campaigns with targets that had a few too many zeros on the end. I discovered what it was like to drink three coffee’s a day, with minimal to no food, (because you don’t have time to eat). I became a yes woman, and as a result ended up doing two roles instead of one, (go figure!..). I had to drop out of multiple uni subjects (hello extra debt), and i was gaining weight quickly due to stress. Everyone close to me didn’t quite get it, and it’s impossible to explain. The pace, expectations and level that you have to operate in, is not sustainable. I slowly began to watch people I had grown to love at work move on to other opportunities. Something in me knew that it wasn’t really making sense, BUT I had to make the most of my opportunity and get as much experience as I could. I had made the big move, I couldn’t just quit. I constantly told myself that this crazy culture was benefiting me somehow...
LESSON ONE
The right people will come into your life exactly when you need them to, trust the universe.
Just over a year in, I was still working two roles, our team was dwindling and I was in the midst of deciding if I should stick it out to two years, or quit right then and there. I was fighting to be paid fairly and i was wearing thin. When hired a new team member. Things didn’t stop, if anything they got more intense and more stressful, but I had a partner in crime. A #WORKWIFE and she taught me so much about trusting yourself, your gut and your intuition. To stand your ground, and to stick up for yourself. She’s a no bull shit kind of girl that’s not afraid to speak her mind, and little did she know, it was all this Libra needed. (Not to mention she is also a Swiftie and we struggle to find an interest we don’t have in common). Honestly, I would not have gotten through that second year without her by my side.
LESSON TWO
It’s okay to step away, to find yourself.
You will be happy to know that I am writing this from my house surrounded by boxes, yep I’m moving back home. I have a new shift, a new role and it couldn’t feel more right. When I first moved I was running away from a toxic relationship which haunted every place i visited. I knew i needed to re-group, focus on me, build a life for me, so that I could come back stronger than before. It’s okay to say no, for you. It’s okay to decline an invitation, for you. It’s okay to disappear for a while, for you.
LESSON THREE
Never give your entire self over to a business/brand that isn’t yours
As said by the incredible Alison Rice, no matter how beautiful, how much love or how much respect you have for a brand/business. You cannot in any circumstance give your entire self to them. What would happen if you placed your wellbeing at the same level as your career? Balance is key.
LESSON FOUR
#BIGREPUTATION
I was always the lovely, ever smiling, bubbly, humble, yes woman. Darling, some people are just not.good.people. They will manipulate, they will use and they will take advantage of you, over and over again. It’s hard to recognise these kinds of people at first, (It’s okay, I didn't). They hide behind a facade of compliments and lies that they use to build you up and trust them. They will act like they know everything about you and how you operate, and they aren’t scared to tell you this until you believe that they know you better than you know yourself. They will act as a guardian, a mother bird, who will always protect you. They won't. They spend their days playing their little game, perched upon their tilted stage. They will burn you at any chance they have, if it will benefit them. Do not trust these people.
But guess what? It’s okay to underline their name, you don’t have to play their game. Because you are smarter than they are. They can’t handle honesty, it’s a foreign concept to them. So darling, go around them. Strike them from behind, when they are least expecting it. You’re a snake darling, you only strike when you (or people you care about) get stepped on. It’s terrifying, but you will have the last say.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m still that girl. Im still the romantic, humble and positive human that I was. I’ve just added back in my layer of self respect, self worth and trust in myself.
LESSON FIVE
Don’t regret it, every event is a lesson if you will let it be.
I have learnt so much about myself over the past two years. I trust myself and my intuition more than ever. My anxiety does not rule me or my decisions anymore. I’ve embarked upon the journey towards sitting in my true self and I can’t wait to see where this next shift takes me.
Love, Memo
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How to Connect With Dedicated Superfans With Limited Edition Patches
Downtown San Diego. More than 130,000 people convened in one area over a weekend. Shields, light sabers, elf ears, capes and masks.
No, it’s not Halloween — it’s the San Diego Comic Convention (SDCC), better known as Comic-Con.
For the uninitiated, Comic-Con is the premier event of its kind, a meeting place for superfans and geeks, many of whom come in costume, to bask in their love for comic books, TV shows and movies.
Since 1970, this annual convention has brought together hundreds of thousands of lovers of popular arts. If this kind of fandom, and how powerful it can be, is foreign to you, this piece is for you.
In this article, we examine the roots and power of fandom, and how producing limited-release clothing patches can be a great way to create collectibles and expand the reach of your brand.
Fandom is Family
So, what exactly is “fandom?”
Meredith Morrison at The Odyssey Online calls it “a subculture that celebrates a mutual bond formed between people over a book series, TV show, movie, band, or other form of pop culture.” Often, large fandoms self-identify by creating a group name: the “Potterheads” for fans of the Harry Potter series, “Trekkies” for fans of Star Trek and “Swifties” for fans of musician Taylor Swift.
Beyond popular culture and popular art, the term “fandom” can also be applied to sports fandoms. Think of the die-hard fans of the Lakers or the Patriots. They display most of the same qualities and behaviors as fans of popular culture:
An unwavering love for the source material (their team)
Following every instalment of the series (games, instead of tv episodes)
An emotional attachment to what happens within the fandom community
Essentially, fandom is a community of people with shared interests, bound by a love for something that is seemingly inexplicable to others.
The Power of Fandom
The ubiquity of the internet has added to the rise of fandom, making it easier for people around the world to connect with others who share the same love for a band, TV show, book series or sports team as they do. Social media such as Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr have become gathering grounds for fans to have discussions and stay updated on their favorite fandoms.
Cultural anthropologist Susan Kresnicka sees fandom as something that meets our human needs. “It helps us meet core human needs surrounding self-care, social connection, and identity,” she writes
Fandom has also infiltrated our economy.
According to Nerdist, a digital media company dedicated to all things fandom, Comic-Con attendance has grown by leaps and bounds since its inception in 1970. Comic-Con 2013 saw over 130,000 attendees, compared to approximately 30,000 in 1993 and 70,000 in 2003. This rise in attendance has correspondingly had a positive effect on the San Diego economy.
Today, Comic-Con has an estimated economic impact of $180 million on the city of San Diego and boasts commercialized booths selling all sorts of merchandise and collectibles for fans. Its popularity has led to the creation of other similar events in America and around the world.
The last 10 years have also seen the growing success of licensed merchandising companies such as Funko, Hasbro and Monogram International. Fans have the buying power and burning desire to collect merchandise related to their favorite movie franchise, book or TV show — and these companies know how to tap into that power.
For instance, while The Forces Awakens made more than $517 million worldwide during its opening weekend, the real money was in merchandise sales. According to Natalie Robehmed at Forbes, predicted Star Wars merch sales were $3 billion for just the film’s release year.
Kresnicka has an explanation for how powerful fans can be: “When we define ourselves as fans, we do more — we watch more, share more, buy more, evangelize more, participate more, help more.”
Even so, Brian Mariotti, CEO of Funko, thinks that the power of fandom is not fully understood or tapped into. “People understand being a sports fan and buying jerseys or coffee mugs of their favorite team,” he says. “This is no different. Instead these are fans of a video game or TV show. This is their passion.”
And passion leads to big bucks. In 2016, Funko earned $425 million in revenue.
Collecting Collectibles
The question to ask, then, is: What makes something a collectible?
The term “collectible” is often used in conjunction with antiques. Pamela Wiggins at The Spruce defines a collectible as “an item that someone takes the time to collect,” which means that the item could be something of high value or “simple things that may hold only nominal value to the person who gathered them into a collection.”
In the context of fandom, the same definition applies. Fandom collectibles can take many forms: posters, T-shirts, figurines, keychains, comic books, pins, bags, patches, and the list goes on.
For fans, collecting merchandise can be a pricey endeavor. According to the Back to the Movies blog, Star Wars fans spend an average of £800 ($1,040) on movie merchandise. As fandom grows, so does the demand for merchandise.
Limited-Release Patches As Collectibles
The economics of fandom collectibles are the same as other products: Create something that people want, and they will pay for it. Release limited quantities of the item, and chances are the demand for it will outstrip the supply.
As a clothing brand, how can you find your way into the fandom market? Tapping into fans’ passions and designing limited edition patches can be a fantastic way to celebrate fandom and bring in a whole new customer base to your brand.
Clothing patches date back to the 1800s, when they were used to patch up clothes. Then, during the American Civil War, patches were used to identify soldiers by rank. Over time, they have became part of fashion; a quick walk through an H&M or Forever 21 will show you racks of clothes with decorative patches on them.
In fact, Highsnobiety reports that patches have become a hot fashion trend, with high-end designers such as Gucci and Ovadia & Sons using them in their collections. Highsnobiety attributes the current “it” status of patches to “the ability to play off current cultural themes … [and] tapping into that popularity and adding a clever twist.”
Patches can be woven, embroidered or made of other materials such as leather or suede. Regardless of what they are made of, they add personality and individuality to one’s style. It is thus a perfect item for fans to display their love for their favorite characters, shows or books.
The wonderful thing is that patches are relatively inexpensive for brands to produce, and also for consumers to purchase. Patches can be added to different items ranging from bags to T-shirts to jackets to caps. It’s possible to add a patch to any item of clothing, and this widens your potential customer base.
Creating Clothing Patches That Appeal To Fans
With so much fan merchandise available on the market, how can you stand out with fandom-based patches?
Find the Right Fandom
The key is choosing a fandom that resonates with your brand and customers. Think about your core audience: who they are, what they like, what fandoms they could be interested in. The connection between your brand and the fandom you choose to celebrate can make or break the success of your clothing patches.
For instance, a brand that has a strong, independent woman as its buyer persona would benefit from connecting with the Wonder Woman fandom due to the convergence in values. This would resonate with your existing target audience, and also attract Wonder Woman fans who were not initially aware of your brand.
Andrew Nodell notes how brands, both mass market and high-end, are producing clothing items inspired by Wonder Woman. As consultant Kim Vernon tells Nodell, “People buying Wonder Woman merchandise are buying into the ideology of the strength of women.”
Keep Up With Trends
Tapping into the fandom market requires you to have your hand on the pulse of what’s currently resonating with fans. This means doing research into which characters are fan favorites, which movie moments got the most Twitter discussion, or what new releases fans are most looking forward to. If you’re able to tap into what’s hot with fans, and then create limited-release patches that match their interests, you’ve got a winning product.
Jeremy Goldman points to clothing brands like Welovefine, TeeFury and Her Universe as companies to look to when it comes to creating clothing that fans want to buy. Built by fans for fans, these companies use “obscure fan references and occasional crossing-over of multiple fandoms” to appeal to fans.
Go For Evergreen Fandoms
Pop culture comes in waves, but there are fandoms that are more evergreen in nature. Years after the last book in the series was released, the Harry Potter fandom is still going strong. Star Wars fans have only multiplied since A New Hope was released in 1977. The Marvel and DC fandoms have seen exponential growth since they introduced movies and a shared cinematic universe for fans to delve into.
Such fandoms that have developed a solid fanbase are excellent choices for brands to align themselves with. The strength of their fanbases mean that demand will always be there. Once a fan, always a fan.
One company that has done extremely well by appealing to fans is Black Milk Clothing, based in Australia. Samuel Hun credits their strategy of producing apparel based on popular movies, comics and TV shows as a key factor of their success. Whether it’s Star Wars-inspired swimwear or Marvel Comics leggings, Black Milk has successfully (and stylishly!) combined fandom and fashion. Their limited edition collections tend to sell out very quickly, showing that the demand for such products are high.
Nostalgia Sells
Nostalgia is another strong selling point. Popular bands, movies and TV series from years past evoke warm memories of good times and create a strong emotional pull. As Lauren Friedman puts it, “Aligning marketing strategies with emotion has already proven to be successful, but tapping into fond memories can be an invaluable tactic, especially for engaging millennials.”
Combining fandom and nostalgia can be a winning combination. Simply look at the rebooting of old cartoons or movie franchises such as the Power Rangers movie or the new Ghostbusters to see how Hollywood is leveraging on nostalgia to bring in dollars. When creating fandom-based patches, this could be a good approach to follow.
What it boils down to is congruence between your brand, the fandom you choose to celebrate, and your target audience. If all are in alignment, developing limited-release clothing patches could be a successful new venture for your company. You could even end up creating a new fandom for your patches!
Images by: tunechick83, 3dman_eu, tunechick83, NeuPaddy
The post How to Connect With Dedicated Superfans With Limited Edition Patches appeared first on CBF Labels Inc.
From the Blogger http://nasapblow.blogspot.com/2017/08/how-to-connect-with-dedicated-superfans.html
via Living Fashion
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How to Connect With Dedicated Superfans With Limited Edition Patches
Downtown San Diego. More than 130,000 people convened in one area over a weekend. Shields, light sabers, elf ears, capes and masks.
No, it’s not Halloween — it’s the San Diego Comic Convention (SDCC), better known as Comic-Con.
For the uninitiated, Comic-Con is the premier event of its kind, a meeting place for superfans and geeks, many of whom come in costume, to bask in their love for comic books, TV shows and movies.
Since 1970, this annual convention has brought together hundreds of thousands of lovers of popular arts. If this kind of fandom, and how powerful it can be, is foreign to you, this piece is for you.
In this article, we examine the roots and power of fandom, and how producing limited-release clothing patches can be a great way to create collectibles and expand the reach of your brand.
Fandom is Family
So, what exactly is “fandom?”
Meredith Morrison at The Odyssey Online calls it “a subculture that celebrates a mutual bond formed between people over a book series, TV show, movie, band, or other form of pop culture.” Often, large fandoms self-identify by creating a group name: the “Potterheads” for fans of the Harry Potter series, “Trekkies” for fans of Star Trek and “Swifties” for fans of musician Taylor Swift.
Beyond popular culture and popular art, the term “fandom” can also be applied to sports fandoms. Think of the die-hard fans of the Lakers or the Patriots. They display most of the same qualities and behaviors as fans of popular culture:
An unwavering love for the source material (their team)
Following every instalment of the series (games, instead of tv episodes)
An emotional attachment to what happens within the fandom community
Essentially, fandom is a community of people with shared interests, bound by a love for something that is seemingly inexplicable to others.
The Power of Fandom
The ubiquity of the internet has added to the rise of fandom, making it easier for people around the world to connect with others who share the same love for a band, TV show, book series or sports team as they do. Social media such as Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr have become gathering grounds for fans to have discussions and stay updated on their favorite fandoms.
Cultural anthropologist Susan Kresnicka sees fandom as something that meets our human needs. “It helps us meet core human needs surrounding self-care, social connection, and identity,” she writes
Fandom has also infiltrated our economy.
According to Nerdist, a digital media company dedicated to all things fandom, Comic-Con attendance has grown by leaps and bounds since its inception in 1970. Comic-Con 2013 saw over 130,000 attendees, compared to approximately 30,000 in 1993 and 70,000 in 2003. This rise in attendance has correspondingly had a positive effect on the San Diego economy.
Today, Comic-Con has an estimated economic impact of $180 million on the city of San Diego and boasts commercialized booths selling all sorts of merchandise and collectibles for fans. Its popularity has led to the creation of other similar events in America and around the world.
The last 10 years have also seen the growing success of licensed merchandising companies such as Funko, Hasbro and Monogram International. Fans have the buying power and burning desire to collect merchandise related to their favorite movie franchise, book or TV show — and these companies know how to tap into that power.
For instance, while The Forces Awakens made more than $517 million worldwide during its opening weekend, the real money was in merchandise sales. According to Natalie Robehmed at Forbes, predicted Star Wars merch sales were $3 billion for just the film’s release year.
Kresnicka has an explanation for how powerful fans can be: “When we define ourselves as fans, we do more — we watch more, share more, buy more, evangelize more, participate more, help more.”
Even so, Brian Mariotti, CEO of Funko, thinks that the power of fandom is not fully understood or tapped into. “People understand being a sports fan and buying jerseys or coffee mugs of their favorite team,” he says. “This is no different. Instead these are fans of a video game or TV show. This is their passion.”
And passion leads to big bucks. In 2016, Funko earned $425 million in revenue.
Collecting Collectibles
The question to ask, then, is: What makes something a collectible?
The term “collectible” is often used in conjunction with antiques. Pamela Wiggins at The Spruce defines a collectible as “an item that someone takes the time to collect,” which means that the item could be something of high value or “simple things that may hold only nominal value to the person who gathered them into a collection.”
In the context of fandom, the same definition applies. Fandom collectibles can take many forms: posters, T-shirts, figurines, keychains, comic books, pins, bags, patches, and the list goes on.
For fans, collecting merchandise can be a pricey endeavor. According to the Back to the Movies blog, Star Wars fans spend an average of £800 ($1,040) on movie merchandise. As fandom grows, so does the demand for merchandise.
Limited-Release Patches As Collectibles
The economics of fandom collectibles are the same as other products: Create something that people want, and they will pay for it. Release limited quantities of the item, and chances are the demand for it will outstrip the supply.
As a clothing brand, how can you find your way into the fandom market? Tapping into fans’ passions and designing limited edition patches can be a fantastic way to celebrate fandom and bring in a whole new customer base to your brand.
Clothing patches date back to the 1800s, when they were used to patch up clothes. Then, during the American Civil War, patches were used to identify soldiers by rank. Over time, they have became part of fashion; a quick walk through an H&M or Forever 21 will show you racks of clothes with decorative patches on them.
In fact, Highsnobiety reports that patches have become a hot fashion trend, with high-end designers such as Gucci and Ovadia & Sons using them in their collections. Highsnobiety attributes the current “it” status of patches to “the ability to play off current cultural themes … [and] tapping into that popularity and adding a clever twist.”
Patches can be woven, embroidered or made of other materials such as leather or suede. Regardless of what they are made of, they add personality and individuality to one’s style. It is thus a perfect item for fans to display their love for their favorite characters, shows or books.
The wonderful thing is that patches are relatively inexpensive for brands to produce, and also for consumers to purchase. Patches can be added to different items ranging from bags to T-shirts to jackets to caps. It’s possible to add a patch to any item of clothing, and this widens your potential customer base.
Creating Clothing Patches That Appeal To Fans
With so much fan merchandise available on the market, how can you stand out with fandom-based patches?
Find the Right Fandom
The key is choosing a fandom that resonates with your brand and customers. Think about your core audience: who they are, what they like, what fandoms they could be interested in. The connection between your brand and the fandom you choose to celebrate can make or break the success of your clothing patches.
For instance, a brand that has a strong, independent woman as its buyer persona would benefit from connecting with the Wonder Woman fandom due to the convergence in values. This would resonate with your existing target audience, and also attract Wonder Woman fans who were not initially aware of your brand.
Andrew Nodell notes how brands, both mass market and high-end, are producing clothing items inspired by Wonder Woman. As consultant Kim Vernon tells Nodell, “People buying Wonder Woman merchandise are buying into the ideology of the strength of women.”
Keep Up With Trends
Tapping into the fandom market requires you to have your hand on the pulse of what’s currently resonating with fans. This means doing research into which characters are fan favorites, which movie moments got the most Twitter discussion, or what new releases fans are most looking forward to. If you’re able to tap into what’s hot with fans, and then create limited-release patches that match their interests, you’ve got a winning product.
Jeremy Goldman points to clothing brands like Welovefine, TeeFury and Her Universe as companies to look to when it comes to creating clothing that fans want to buy. Built by fans for fans, these companies use “obscure fan references and occasional crossing-over of multiple fandoms” to appeal to fans.
Go For Evergreen Fandoms
Pop culture comes in waves, but there are fandoms that are more evergreen in nature. Years after the last book in the series was released, the Harry Potter fandom is still going strong. Star Wars fans have only multiplied since A New Hope was released in 1977. The Marvel and DC fandoms have seen exponential growth since they introduced movies and a shared cinematic universe for fans to delve into.
Such fandoms that have developed a solid fanbase are excellent choices for brands to align themselves with. The strength of their fanbases mean that demand will always be there. Once a fan, always a fan.
One company that has done extremely well by appealing to fans is Black Milk Clothing, based in Australia. Samuel Hun credits their strategy of producing apparel based on popular movies, comics and TV shows as a key factor of their success. Whether it’s Star Wars-inspired swimwear or Marvel Comics leggings, Black Milk has successfully (and stylishly!) combined fandom and fashion. Their limited edition collections tend to sell out very quickly, showing that the demand for such products are high.
Nostalgia Sells
Nostalgia is another strong selling point. Popular bands, movies and TV series from years past evoke warm memories of good times and create a strong emotional pull. As Lauren Friedman puts it, “Aligning marketing strategies with emotion has already proven to be successful, but tapping into fond memories can be an invaluable tactic, especially for engaging millennials.”
Combining fandom and nostalgia can be a winning combination. Simply look at the rebooting of old cartoons or movie franchises such as the Power Rangers movie or the new Ghostbusters to see how Hollywood is leveraging on nostalgia to bring in dollars. When creating fandom-based patches, this could be a good approach to follow.
What it boils down to is congruence between your brand, the fandom you choose to celebrate, and your target audience. If all are in alignment, developing limited-release clothing patches could be a successful new venture for your company. You could even end up creating a new fandom for your patches!
Images by: tunechick83, 3dman_eu, tunechick83, NeuPaddy
The post How to Connect With Dedicated Superfans With Limited Edition Patches appeared first on CBF Labels Inc.
from John Harison's wayhttps://geometricallyspocking.tumblr.com/post/164482959485
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Text
How to Connect With Dedicated Superfans With Limited Edition Patches
Downtown San Diego. More than 130,000 people convened in one area over a weekend. Shields, light sabers, elf ears, capes and masks.
No, it’s not Halloween — it’s the San Diego Comic Convention (SDCC), better known as Comic-Con.
For the uninitiated, Comic-Con is the premier event of its kind, a meeting place for superfans and geeks, many of whom come in costume, to bask in their love for comic books, TV shows and movies.
Since 1970, this annual convention has brought together hundreds of thousands of lovers of popular arts. If this kind of fandom, and how powerful it can be, is foreign to you, this piece is for you.
In this article, we examine the roots and power of fandom, and how producing limited-release clothing patches can be a great way to create collectibles and expand the reach of your brand.
Fandom is Family
So, what exactly is “fandom?”
Meredith Morrison at The Odyssey Online calls it “a subculture that celebrates a mutual bond formed between people over a book series, TV show, movie, band, or other form of pop culture.” Often, large fandoms self-identify by creating a group name: the “Potterheads” for fans of the Harry Potter series, “Trekkies” for fans of Star Trek and “Swifties” for fans of musician Taylor Swift.
Beyond popular culture and popular art, the term “fandom” can also be applied to sports fandoms. Think of the die-hard fans of the Lakers or the Patriots. They display most of the same qualities and behaviors as fans of popular culture:
An unwavering love for the source material (their team)
Following every instalment of the series (games, instead of tv episodes)
An emotional attachment to what happens within the fandom community
Essentially, fandom is a community of people with shared interests, bound by a love for something that is seemingly inexplicable to others.
The Power of Fandom
The ubiquity of the internet has added to the rise of fandom, making it easier for people around the world to connect with others who share the same love for a band, TV show, book series or sports team as they do. Social media such as Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr have become gathering grounds for fans to have discussions and stay updated on their favorite fandoms.
Cultural anthropologist Susan Kresnicka sees fandom as something that meets our human needs. “It helps us meet core human needs surrounding self-care, social connection, and identity,” she writes
Fandom has also infiltrated our economy.
According to Nerdist, a digital media company dedicated to all things fandom, Comic-Con attendance has grown by leaps and bounds since its inception in 1970. Comic-Con 2013 saw over 130,000 attendees, compared to approximately 30,000 in 1993 and 70,000 in 2003. This rise in attendance has correspondingly had a positive effect on the San Diego economy.
Today, Comic-Con has an estimated economic impact of $180 million on the city of San Diego and boasts commercialized booths selling all sorts of merchandise and collectibles for fans. Its popularity has led to the creation of other similar events in America and around the world.
The last 10 years have also seen the growing success of licensed merchandising companies such as Funko, Hasbro and Monogram International. Fans have the buying power and burning desire to collect merchandise related to their favorite movie franchise, book or TV show — and these companies know how to tap into that power.
For instance, while The Forces Awakens made more than $517 million worldwide during its opening weekend, the real money was in merchandise sales. According to Natalie Robehmed at Forbes, predicted Star Wars merch sales were $3 billion for just the film’s release year.
Kresnicka has an explanation for how powerful fans can be: “When we define ourselves as fans, we do more — we watch more, share more, buy more, evangelize more, participate more, help more.”
Even so, Brian Mariotti, CEO of Funko, thinks that the power of fandom is not fully understood or tapped into. “People understand being a sports fan and buying jerseys or coffee mugs of their favorite team,” he says. “This is no different. Instead these are fans of a video game or TV show. This is their passion.”
And passion leads to big bucks. In 2016, Funko earned $425 million in revenue.
Collecting Collectibles
The question to ask, then, is: What makes something a collectible?
The term “collectible” is often used in conjunction with antiques. Pamela Wiggins at The Spruce defines a collectible as “an item that someone takes the time to collect,” which means that the item could be something of high value or “simple things that may hold only nominal value to the person who gathered them into a collection.”
In the context of fandom, the same definition applies. Fandom collectibles can take many forms: posters, T-shirts, figurines, keychains, comic books, pins, bags, patches, and the list goes on.
For fans, collecting merchandise can be a pricey endeavor. According to the Back to the Movies blog, Star Wars fans spend an average of £800 ($1,040) on movie merchandise. As fandom grows, so does the demand for merchandise.
Limited-Release Patches As Collectibles
The economics of fandom collectibles are the same as other products: Create something that people want, and they will pay for it. Release limited quantities of the item, and chances are the demand for it will outstrip the supply.
As a clothing brand, how can you find your way into the fandom market? Tapping into fans’ passions and designing limited edition patches can be a fantastic way to celebrate fandom and bring in a whole new customer base to your brand.
Clothing patches date back to the 1800s, when they were used to patch up clothes. Then, during the American Civil War, patches were used to identify soldiers by rank. Over time, they have became part of fashion; a quick walk through an H&M or Forever 21 will show you racks of clothes with decorative patches on them.
In fact, Highsnobiety reports that patches have become a hot fashion trend, with high-end designers such as Gucci and Ovadia & Sons using them in their collections. Highsnobiety attributes the current “it” status of patches to “the ability to play off current cultural themes … [and] tapping into that popularity and adding a clever twist.”
Patches can be woven, embroidered or made of other materials such as leather or suede. Regardless of what they are made of, they add personality and individuality to one’s style. It is thus a perfect item for fans to display their love for their favorite characters, shows or books.
The wonderful thing is that patches are relatively inexpensive for brands to produce, and also for consumers to purchase. Patches can be added to different items ranging from bags to T-shirts to jackets to caps. It’s possible to add a patch to any item of clothing, and this widens your potential customer base.
Creating Clothing Patches That Appeal To Fans
With so much fan merchandise available on the market, how can you stand out with fandom-based patches?
Find the Right Fandom
The key is choosing a fandom that resonates with your brand and customers. Think about your core audience: who they are, what they like, what fandoms they could be interested in. The connection between your brand and the fandom you choose to celebrate can make or break the success of your clothing patches.
For instance, a brand that has a strong, independent woman as its buyer persona would benefit from connecting with the Wonder Woman fandom due to the convergence in values. This would resonate with your existing target audience, and also attract Wonder Woman fans who were not initially aware of your brand.
Andrew Nodell notes how brands, both mass market and high-end, are producing clothing items inspired by Wonder Woman. As consultant Kim Vernon tells Nodell, “People buying Wonder Woman merchandise are buying into the ideology of the strength of women.”
Keep Up With Trends
Tapping into the fandom market requires you to have your hand on the pulse of what’s currently resonating with fans. This means doing research into which characters are fan favorites, which movie moments got the most Twitter discussion, or what new releases fans are most looking forward to. If you’re able to tap into what’s hot with fans, and then create limited-release patches that match their interests, you’ve got a winning product.
Jeremy Goldman points to clothing brands like Welovefine, TeeFury and Her Universe as companies to look to when it comes to creating clothing that fans want to buy. Built by fans for fans, these companies use “obscure fan references and occasional crossing-over of multiple fandoms” to appeal to fans.
Go For Evergreen Fandoms
Pop culture comes in waves, but there are fandoms that are more evergreen in nature. Years after the last book in the series was released, the Harry Potter fandom is still going strong. Star Wars fans have only multiplied since A New Hope was released in 1977. The Marvel and DC fandoms have seen exponential growth since they introduced movies and a shared cinematic universe for fans to delve into.
Such fandoms that have developed a solid fanbase are excellent choices for brands to align themselves with. The strength of their fanbases mean that demand will always be there. Once a fan, always a fan.
One company that has done extremely well by appealing to fans is Black Milk Clothing, based in Australia. Samuel Hun credits their strategy of producing apparel based on popular movies, comics and TV shows as a key factor of their success. Whether it’s Star Wars-inspired swimwear or Marvel Comics leggings, Black Milk has successfully (and stylishly!) combined fandom and fashion. Their limited edition collections tend to sell out very quickly, showing that the demand for such products are high.
Nostalgia Sells
Nostalgia is another strong selling point. Popular bands, movies and TV series from years past evoke warm memories of good times and create a strong emotional pull. As Lauren Friedman puts it, “Aligning marketing strategies with emotion has already proven to be successful, but tapping into fond memories can be an invaluable tactic, especially for engaging millennials.”
Combining fandom and nostalgia can be a winning combination. Simply look at the rebooting of old cartoons or movie franchises such as the Power Rangers movie or the new Ghostbusters to see how Hollywood is leveraging on nostalgia to bring in dollars. When creating fandom-based patches, this could be a good approach to follow.
What it boils down to is congruence between your brand, the fandom you choose to celebrate, and your target audience. If all are in alignment, developing limited-release clothing patches could be a successful new venture for your company. You could even end up creating a new fandom for your patches!
Images by: tunechick83, 3dman_eu, tunechick83, NeuPaddy
The post How to Connect With Dedicated Superfans With Limited Edition Patches appeared first on CBF Labels Inc.
0 notes
Text
How to Connect With Dedicated Superfans With Limited Edition Patches
Downtown San Diego. More than 130,000 people convened in one area over a weekend. Shields, light sabers, elf ears, capes and masks.
No, it’s not Halloween — it’s the San Diego Comic Convention (SDCC), better known as Comic-Con.
For the uninitiated, Comic-Con is the premier event of its kind, a meeting place for superfans and geeks, many of whom come in costume, to bask in their love for comic books, TV shows and movies.
Since 1970, this annual convention has brought together hundreds of thousands of lovers of popular arts. If this kind of fandom, and how powerful it can be, is foreign to you, this piece is for you.
In this article, we examine the roots and power of fandom, and how producing limited-release clothing patches can be a great way to create collectibles and expand the reach of your brand.
Fandom is Family
So, what exactly is “fandom?”
Meredith Morrison at The Odyssey Online calls it “a subculture that celebrates a mutual bond formed between people over a book series, TV show, movie, band, or other form of pop culture.” Often, large fandoms self-identify by creating a group name: the “Potterheads” for fans of the Harry Potter series, “Trekkies” for fans of Star Trek and “Swifties” for fans of musician Taylor Swift.
Beyond popular culture and popular art, the term “fandom” can also be applied to sports fandoms. Think of the die-hard fans of the Lakers or the Patriots. They display most of the same qualities and behaviors as fans of popular culture:
An unwavering love for the source material (their team)
Following every instalment of the series (games, instead of tv episodes)
An emotional attachment to what happens within the fandom community
Essentially, fandom is a community of people with shared interests, bound by a love for something that is seemingly inexplicable to others.
The Power of Fandom
The ubiquity of the internet has added to the rise of fandom, making it easier for people around the world to connect with others who share the same love for a band, TV show, book series or sports team as they do. Social media such as Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr have become gathering grounds for fans to have discussions and stay updated on their favorite fandoms.
Cultural anthropologist Susan Kresnicka sees fandom as something that meets our human needs. “It helps us meet core human needs surrounding self-care, social connection, and identity,” she writes
Fandom has also infiltrated our economy.
According to Nerdist, a digital media company dedicated to all things fandom, Comic-Con attendance has grown by leaps and bounds since its inception in 1970. Comic-Con 2013 saw over 130,000 attendees, compared to approximately 30,000 in 1993 and 70,000 in 2003. This rise in attendance has correspondingly had a positive effect on the San Diego economy.
Today, Comic-Con has an estimated economic impact of $180 million on the city of San Diego and boasts commercialized booths selling all sorts of merchandise and collectibles for fans. Its popularity has led to the creation of other similar events in America and around the world.
The last 10 years have also seen the growing success of licensed merchandising companies such as Funko, Hasbro and Monogram International. Fans have the buying power and burning desire to collect merchandise related to their favorite movie franchise, book or TV show — and these companies know how to tap into that power.
For instance, while The Forces Awakens made more than $517 million worldwide during its opening weekend, the real money was in merchandise sales. According to Natalie Robehmed at Forbes, predicted Star Wars merch sales were $3 billion for just the film’s release year.
Kresnicka has an explanation for how powerful fans can be: “When we define ourselves as fans, we do more — we watch more, share more, buy more, evangelize more, participate more, help more.”
Even so, Brian Mariotti, CEO of Funko, thinks that the power of fandom is not fully understood or tapped into. “People understand being a sports fan and buying jerseys or coffee mugs of their favorite team,” he says. “This is no different. Instead these are fans of a video game or TV show. This is their passion.”
And passion leads to big bucks. In 2016, Funko earned $425 million in revenue.
Collecting Collectibles
The question to ask, then, is: What makes something a collectible?
The term “collectible” is often used in conjunction with antiques. Pamela Wiggins at The Spruce defines a collectible as “an item that someone takes the time to collect,” which means that the item could be something of high value or “simple things that may hold only nominal value to the person who gathered them into a collection.”
In the context of fandom, the same definition applies. Fandom collectibles can take many forms: posters, T-shirts, figurines, keychains, comic books, pins, bags, patches, and the list goes on.
For fans, collecting merchandise can be a pricey endeavor. According to the Back to the Movies blog, Star Wars fans spend an average of £800 ($1,040) on movie merchandise. As fandom grows, so does the demand for merchandise.
Limited-Release Patches As Collectibles
The economics of fandom collectibles are the same as other products: Create something that people want, and they will pay for it. Release limited quantities of the item, and chances are the demand for it will outstrip the supply.
As a clothing brand, how can you find your way into the fandom market? Tapping into fans’ passions and designing limited edition patches can be a fantastic way to celebrate fandom and bring in a whole new customer base to your brand.
Clothing patches date back to the 1800s, when they were used to patch up clothes. Then, during the American Civil War, patches were used to identify soldiers by rank. Over time, they have became part of fashion; a quick walk through an H&M or Forever 21 will show you racks of clothes with decorative patches on them.
In fact, Highsnobiety reports that patches have become a hot fashion trend, with high-end designers such as Gucci and Ovadia & Sons using them in their collections. Highsnobiety attributes the current “it” status of patches to “the ability to play off current cultural themes … [and] tapping into that popularity and adding a clever twist.”
Patches can be woven, embroidered or made of other materials such as leather or suede. Regardless of what they are made of, they add personality and individuality to one’s style. It is thus a perfect item for fans to display their love for their favorite characters, shows or books.
The wonderful thing is that patches are relatively inexpensive for brands to produce, and also for consumers to purchase. Patches can be added to different items ranging from bags to T-shirts to jackets to caps. It’s possible to add a patch to any item of clothing, and this widens your potential customer base.
Creating Clothing Patches That Appeal To Fans
With so much fan merchandise available on the market, how can you stand out with fandom-based patches?
Find the Right Fandom
The key is choosing a fandom that resonates with your brand and customers. Think about your core audience: who they are, what they like, what fandoms they could be interested in. The connection between your brand and the fandom you choose to celebrate can make or break the success of your clothing patches.
For instance, a brand that has a strong, independent woman as its buyer persona would benefit from connecting with the Wonder Woman fandom due to the convergence in values. This would resonate with your existing target audience, and also attract Wonder Woman fans who were not initially aware of your brand.
Andrew Nodell notes how brands, both mass market and high-end, are producing clothing items inspired by Wonder Woman. As consultant Kim Vernon tells Nodell, “People buying Wonder Woman merchandise are buying into the ideology of the strength of women.”
Keep Up With Trends
Tapping into the fandom market requires you to have your hand on the pulse of what’s currently resonating with fans. This means doing research into which characters are fan favorites, which movie moments got the most Twitter discussion, or what new releases fans are most looking forward to. If you’re able to tap into what’s hot with fans, and then create limited-release patches that match their interests, you’ve got a winning product.
Jeremy Goldman points to clothing brands like Welovefine, TeeFury and Her Universe as companies to look to when it comes to creating clothing that fans want to buy. Built by fans for fans, these companies use “obscure fan references and occasional crossing-over of multiple fandoms” to appeal to fans.
Go For Evergreen Fandoms
Pop culture comes in waves, but there are fandoms that are more evergreen in nature. Years after the last book in the series was released, the Harry Potter fandom is still going strong. Star Wars fans have only multiplied since A New Hope was released in 1977. The Marvel and DC fandoms have seen exponential growth since they introduced movies and a shared cinematic universe for fans to delve into.
Such fandoms that have developed a solid fanbase are excellent choices for brands to align themselves with. The strength of their fanbases mean that demand will always be there. Once a fan, always a fan.
One company that has done extremely well by appealing to fans is Black Milk Clothing, based in Australia. Samuel Hun credits their strategy of producing apparel based on popular movies, comics and TV shows as a key factor of their success. Whether it’s Star Wars-inspired swimwear or Marvel Comics leggings, Black Milk has successfully (and stylishly!) combined fandom and fashion. Their limited edition collections tend to sell out very quickly, showing that the demand for such products are high.
Nostalgia Sells
Nostalgia is another strong selling point. Popular bands, movies and TV series from years past evoke warm memories of good times and create a strong emotional pull. As Lauren Friedman puts it, “Aligning marketing strategies with emotion has already proven to be successful, but tapping into fond memories can be an invaluable tactic, especially for engaging millennials.”
Combining fandom and nostalgia can be a winning combination. Simply look at the rebooting of old cartoons or movie franchises such as the Power Rangers movie or the new Ghostbusters to see how Hollywood is leveraging on nostalgia to bring in dollars. When creating fandom-based patches, this could be a good approach to follow.
What it boils down to is congruence between your brand, the fandom you choose to celebrate, and your target audience. If all are in alignment, developing limited-release clothing patches could be a successful new venture for your company. You could even end up creating a new fandom for your patches!
Images by: tunechick83, 3dman_eu, tunechick83, NeuPaddy
The post How to Connect With Dedicated Superfans With Limited Edition Patches appeared first on CBF Labels Inc.
0 notes
Text
How to Connect With Dedicated Superfans With Limited Edition Patches
Downtown San Diego. More than 130,000 people convened in one area over a weekend. Shields, light sabers, elf ears, capes and masks.
No, it’s not Halloween — it’s the San Diego Comic Convention (SDCC), better known as Comic-Con.
For the uninitiated, Comic-Con is the premier event of its kind, a meeting place for superfans and geeks, many of whom come in costume, to bask in their love for comic books, TV shows and movies.
Since 1970, this annual convention has brought together hundreds of thousands of lovers of popular arts. If this kind of fandom, and how powerful it can be, is foreign to you, this piece is for you.
In this article, we examine the roots and power of fandom, and how producing limited-release clothing patches can be a great way to create collectibles and expand the reach of your brand.
Fandom is Family
So, what exactly is “fandom?”
Meredith Morrison at The Odyssey Online calls it “a subculture that celebrates a mutual bond formed between people over a book series, TV show, movie, band, or other form of pop culture.” Often, large fandoms self-identify by creating a group name: the “Potterheads” for fans of the Harry Potter series, “Trekkies” for fans of Star Trek and “Swifties” for fans of musician Taylor Swift.
Beyond popular culture and popular art, the term “fandom” can also be applied to sports fandoms. Think of the die-hard fans of the Lakers or the Patriots. They display most of the same qualities and behaviors as fans of popular culture:
An unwavering love for the source material (their team)
Following every instalment of the series (games, instead of tv episodes)
An emotional attachment to what happens within the fandom community
Essentially, fandom is a community of people with shared interests, bound by a love for something that is seemingly inexplicable to others.
The Power of Fandom
The ubiquity of the internet has added to the rise of fandom, making it easier for people around the world to connect with others who share the same love for a band, TV show, book series or sports team as they do. Social media such as Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr have become gathering grounds for fans to have discussions and stay updated on their favorite fandoms.
Cultural anthropologist Susan Kresnicka sees fandom as something that meets our human needs. “It helps us meet core human needs surrounding self-care, social connection, and identity,” she writes
Fandom has also infiltrated our economy.
According to Nerdist, a digital media company dedicated to all things fandom, Comic-Con attendance has grown by leaps and bounds since its inception in 1970. Comic-Con 2013 saw over 130,000 attendees, compared to approximately 30,000 in 1993 and 70,000 in 2003. This rise in attendance has correspondingly had a positive effect on the San Diego economy.
Today, Comic-Con has an estimated economic impact of $180 million on the city of San Diego and boasts commercialized booths selling all sorts of merchandise and collectibles for fans. Its popularity has led to the creation of other similar events in America and around the world.
The last 10 years have also seen the growing success of licensed merchandising companies such as Funko, Hasbro and Monogram International. Fans have the buying power and burning desire to collect merchandise related to their favorite movie franchise, book or TV show — and these companies know how to tap into that power.
For instance, while The Forces Awakens made more than $517 million worldwide during its opening weekend, the real money was in merchandise sales. According to Natalie Robehmed at Forbes, predicted Star Wars merch sales were $3 billion for just the film’s release year.
Kresnicka has an explanation for how powerful fans can be: “When we define ourselves as fans, we do more — we watch more, share more, buy more, evangelize more, participate more, help more.”
Even so, Brian Mariotti, CEO of Funko, thinks that the power of fandom is not fully understood or tapped into. “People understand being a sports fan and buying jerseys or coffee mugs of their favorite team,” he says. “This is no different. Instead these are fans of a video game or TV show. This is their passion.”
And passion leads to big bucks. In 2016, Funko earned $425 million in revenue.
Collecting Collectibles
The question to ask, then, is: What makes something a collectible?
The term “collectible” is often used in conjunction with antiques. Pamela Wiggins at The Spruce defines a collectible as “an item that someone takes the time to collect,” which means that the item could be something of high value or “simple things that may hold only nominal value to the person who gathered them into a collection.”
In the context of fandom, the same definition applies. Fandom collectibles can take many forms: posters, T-shirts, figurines, keychains, comic books, pins, bags, patches, and the list goes on.
For fans, collecting merchandise can be a pricey endeavor. According to the Back to the Movies blog, Star Wars fans spend an average of £800 ($1,040) on movie merchandise. As fandom grows, so does the demand for merchandise.
Limited-Release Patches As Collectibles
The economics of fandom collectibles are the same as other products: Create something that people want, and they will pay for it. Release limited quantities of the item, and chances are the demand for it will outstrip the supply.
As a clothing brand, how can you find your way into the fandom market? Tapping into fans’ passions and designing limited edition patches can be a fantastic way to celebrate fandom and bring in a whole new customer base to your brand.
Clothing patches date back to the 1800s, when they were used to patch up clothes. Then, during the American Civil War, patches were used to identify soldiers by rank. Over time, they have became part of fashion; a quick walk through an H&M or Forever 21 will show you racks of clothes with decorative patches on them.
In fact, Highsnobiety reports that patches have become a hot fashion trend, with high-end designers such as Gucci and Ovadia & Sons using them in their collections. Highsnobiety attributes the current “it” status of patches to “the ability to play off current cultural themes … [and] tapping into that popularity and adding a clever twist.”
Patches can be woven, embroidered or made of other materials such as leather or suede. Regardless of what they are made of, they add personality and individuality to one’s style. It is thus a perfect item for fans to display their love for their favorite characters, shows or books.
The wonderful thing is that patches are relatively inexpensive for brands to produce, and also for consumers to purchase. Patches can be added to different items ranging from bags to T-shirts to jackets to caps. It’s possible to add a patch to any item of clothing, and this widens your potential customer base.
Creating Clothing Patches That Appeal To Fans
With so much fan merchandise available on the market, how can you stand out with fandom-based patches?
Find the Right Fandom
The key is choosing a fandom that resonates with your brand and customers. Think about your core audience: who they are, what they like, what fandoms they could be interested in. The connection between your brand and the fandom you choose to celebrate can make or break the success of your clothing patches.
For instance, a brand that has a strong, independent woman as its buyer persona would benefit from connecting with the Wonder Woman fandom due to the convergence in values. This would resonate with your existing target audience, and also attract Wonder Woman fans who were not initially aware of your brand.
Andrew Nodell notes how brands, both mass market and high-end, are producing clothing items inspired by Wonder Woman. As consultant Kim Vernon tells Nodell, “People buying Wonder Woman merchandise are buying into the ideology of the strength of women.”
Keep Up With Trends
Tapping into the fandom market requires you to have your hand on the pulse of what’s currently resonating with fans. This means doing research into which characters are fan favorites, which movie moments got the most Twitter discussion, or what new releases fans are most looking forward to. If you’re able to tap into what’s hot with fans, and then create limited-release patches that match their interests, you’ve got a winning product.
Jeremy Goldman points to clothing brands like Welovefine, TeeFury and Her Universe as companies to look to when it comes to creating clothing that fans want to buy. Built by fans for fans, these companies use “obscure fan references and occasional crossing-over of multiple fandoms” to appeal to fans.
Go For Evergreen Fandoms
Pop culture comes in waves, but there are fandoms that are more evergreen in nature. Years after the last book in the series was released, the Harry Potter fandom is still going strong. Star Wars fans have only multiplied since A New Hope was released in 1977. The Marvel and DC fandoms have seen exponential growth since they introduced movies and a shared cinematic universe for fans to delve into.
Such fandoms that have developed a solid fanbase are excellent choices for brands to align themselves with. The strength of their fanbases mean that demand will always be there. Once a fan, always a fan.
One company that has done extremely well by appealing to fans is Black Milk Clothing, based in Australia. Samuel Hun credits their strategy of producing apparel based on popular movies, comics and TV shows as a key factor of their success. Whether it’s Star Wars-inspired swimwear or Marvel Comics leggings, Black Milk has successfully (and stylishly!) combined fandom and fashion. Their limited edition collections tend to sell out very quickly, showing that the demand for such products are high.
Nostalgia Sells
Nostalgia is another strong selling point. Popular bands, movies and TV series from years past evoke warm memories of good times and create a strong emotional pull. As Lauren Friedman puts it, “Aligning marketing strategies with emotion has already proven to be successful, but tapping into fond memories can be an invaluable tactic, especially for engaging millennials.”
Combining fandom and nostalgia can be a winning combination. Simply look at the rebooting of old cartoons or movie franchises such as the Power Rangers movie or the new Ghostbusters to see how Hollywood is leveraging on nostalgia to bring in dollars. When creating fandom-based patches, this could be a good approach to follow.
What it boils down to is congruence between your brand, the fandom you choose to celebrate, and your target audience. If all are in alignment, developing limited-release clothing patches could be a successful new venture for your company. You could even end up creating a new fandom for your patches!
Images by: tunechick83, 3dman_eu, tunechick83, NeuPaddy
The post How to Connect With Dedicated Superfans With Limited Edition Patches appeared first on CBF Labels Inc.
from CBF Labels Inc https://www.cbflabel.com/limited-edition-patches/
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