For this year’s election the conservatives have tried to compete in a popularity contest rather than a policy contest. They invested heavily in an outdoor campaign targeting Gordon Brown with unflattering photos and spoof captions – Seeing a comparison between their prime minister candidates as their primary edge over Labour. What they didn’t count on was just how much influence one person, Clifford Singer, could have by creating a site called MyDavidCameron offering users the chance to retaliate by creating their own versions of the David Cameron ads. In six weeks his site has already got over 250,000 unique users, which is nearly six times the amount of visitors of all of the UK Government sites combined (Comscore Stats).
Success stories like Clifford Singer campaigning are becoming more frequent, in December Jon and Tracy Morter successfully managed to overthrow the X Factor’s dominance on the Christmas number one by campaigning for users to buy Rage against the Machine’s ‘Killing in the Name’. These case studies show what remarkable feats can be achieved by just one person beginning a movement, with the internet eliminating barriers to social connections it is possible to reach those of a similar view and grow a tribe of followers – Generating substantial numbers to make an impact which otherwise wouldn’t be possible.
How does this affect Cadbury?
While politicians and Cadbury seem a million miles apart they do have similarities, both have loyal fanbases who will spread awareness if given a compelling reason to do so. We have already seen what Wispa fans can collaboratively achieve and for Trident Perpetual Festivals we’re seeing the job candidates self promoting and adding value to the campaign. For Spots vs. Stripes we will be looking to inspire users in a similar way, increasing participation exponentially allowing our fans to recruit team members. This way fans not only increase our awareness but increase the competitive element of the Spots vs. Stripes by creating two tribes.
For more information try Seth Godin’s book Tribes
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