Don't Ignore Your Fans

Explicit content warning

08/08/23 • 46 min

Infinite Shelf - An Omnichannel Podcast by Future Commerce

Ingrid and Orchid sit down to dish out their hot takes on what is happening in the news. Does Threads have what it takes to survive? Did Instant Pot “sh*t the bed” when it came to customer retention and repeat sales? Did Vanmoof invest too much money into a niche market? Tune in to find out.

Battle for Attention

{00:11:32} “Whether or not Threads is going to be a place where legitimate discourse happens, based on pieces written by career journalists, or if it's just going to be an echo chamber all over again of people who have limited experience but tend to amplify each other, that's still to be seen.” - Orchid
{00:18:18} “You have to have an interesting relationship with the platform itself so that if users use it for something that is entirely different from what you intended or maybe envisioned for yourself, you have to be okay with that.” - Orchid
{00:20:27} “When you think about the cult of personality or when you think about innovation, most of the time folks lean into, "Oh, this thing has never existed before and now it exists." And if you look at the entire model in China, it is to copy and improve and optimize. And that is a type of innovation as well, which is to take one idea and apply it into another vertical or another industry, or to launch something that's a better version of X.” - Orchid
{00:24:58} “I really like the idea of the people who make that neighborhood Twitter what it is, if they're not treated with respect and understood that there's going to be another alternative that will allow them to have the platform that they want that they use.” - Ingrid
{00:40:58} “Instapot had this ability to be this cult product and lead this whole band of fans that they earned and they just didn't. And that to me is like, sorry, but whoever's like running marketing or community management there, you shit the bed.” - Ingrid
{00:41:42} “The takeaway is do not ignore your fans. Ignite that flame. Facilitate the conversations. They're going to buy the new version. They're going to buy the air fryer. They're going to buy all the other stuff if you're facilitating the larger conversation.” - Ingrid

Associated Links:

Follow Infinite Shelf on Instagram
Want to hear more? Check out past episodes here
Love your new co-host? Check her out on LinkedIn
Check out other Future Commerce podcasts

Have any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

Battle for Attention

{00:11:32} “Whether or not Threads is going to be a place where legitimate discourse happens, based on pieces written by career journalists, or if it's just going to be an echo chamber all over again of people who have limited experience but tend to amplify each other, that's still to be seen.” - Orchid
{00:18:18} “You have to have an interesting relationship with the platform itself so that if users use it for something that is entirely different from what you intended or maybe envisioned for yourself, you have to be okay with that.” - Orchid
{00:20:27} “When you think about the cult of personality or when you think about innovation, most of the time folks lean into, "Oh, this thing has never existed before and now it exists." And if you look at the entire model in China, it is to copy and improve and optimize. And that is a type of innovation as well, which is to take one idea and apply it into another vertical or another industry, or to launch something that's a better version of X.” - Orchid
{00:24:58} “I really like the idea of the people who make that neighborhood Twitter what it is, if they're not treated with respect and understood that there's going to be another alternative that will allow them to have the platform that they want that they use.” - Ingrid
{00:40:58} “Instapot had this ability to be this cult product and lead this whole band of fans that they earned and they just didn't. And that to me is like, sorry, but whoever's like running marketing or community management there, you shit the bed.” - Ingrid
{00:41:42} “The takeaway is do not ignore your fans. Ignite that flame. Facilitate the conversations. They're going to buy the new version. They're going to buy the air fryer. They're going to buy all the other stuff if you're facilitating the larger conversation.” - Ingrid

Associated Links:

Follow Infinite Shelf on Instagram
Want to hear more? Check out past episodes here
Love your new co-host? Check her out on LinkedIn
Check out other Future Commerce podcasts

Have any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

Previous Episode

What's in Your Closet?

Is it possible for a brand to actually change consumer perception? Are you thinking about your values before you hit the order button? Do influencers affect your purchasing habits? Erika Dyer, Producer at Future Commerce and Infinite Shelf, joins Ingrid and Orchid to offer a Gen Z perspective on what’s working and...what’s really not.

A Little Sus

{00:16:03} “We think about this all the time. Which age group influencer is the individual that we're trying to connect with whatever type of audience it is? We as marketers, maybe our egos get a little bit in the way of just allowing the consumers to make those determinations for themselves.” - Ingrid
{00:18:29} “There is no perfect answer because the category in which you operate, I think the nascency of your brand as well, all of that will actually shape the type of influencers or people you want to hear from when it comes to whatever that product is or recommending that product.” - Orchid
{00:21:16} “I think two things can be true at the same time. But I agree. What you're pointing out is that there is this inconsistency between language and actions.” - Orchid
{00:23:27} “I don't necessarily think anything she's doing is groundbreaking. People just like to see a pretty girl on their feed and they're like, "Everything she touches is so pretty." She's rich. That's a lot of rich girls, and she knows how to act in front of a camera. And I think she's our reality star, but instead of seeing her on a big screen, we're seeing her every single day on our phones.” - Erika
{00:35:27} “It's really, really difficult, in my view, to change a consumer perception of a brand, and a lot of brands I think have attempted to do it and spent absurd amounts of money and didn't probably get what they were expecting to get out of those investments. But there are some brands that are doing that.” - Ingrid
{00:39:21} “That's another new marketing thing where it doesn't have to be that people are just buying the actual product, but they're literally marketing it for you. They're showing how aspirational your product is. They're telling that story on your behalf. It's gold.” - Ingrid
{00:45:18} “I think Succession sort of debunked a lot of what the general public would have assumed a really, really wealthy family would dress like. They're not wearing the Chanel-branded sunglasses with the big CC on them.” - Ingrid

Associated Links:

Follow Infinite Shelf on Instagram
Want to hear more? Check out past episodes here
Love your new co-host? Check her out on LinkedIn
Check out other Future Commerce podcasts

Have any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!

Next Episode

A Season of Moments

From discussions on leadership, brand strategy, pop culture moments, and unique takes on how it’s all intertwined, Ingrid and Orchid brought a meaningful and fun season together. In this last episode of the season, Phillip and Brian join Ingrid to share their favorite moments and what made Season 3 so insightful.

Comrades in the Trenches

{00:07:55} “Season 3 with Orchid came together in this way where we started talking about how everything is intertwined and everything is intermingled like subcultures and cultures and how commerce creates that, sustains that, kills that, like that whole life cycle. That is truly the core of retail planning, marketing, building a brand, and all of the things that we hope and wish to do through the analysis and the media and all the things that we're trying to learn.” - Ingrid
{00:11:32} “Hearing your perspective on what not to do in an integration or what to buckle up for in an integration, I was able to bring my own perspective to it too. It's like, what are the four things that can ruin an integration with your brand? It felt very informative without being structured in a, "Okay, I'm going to tell you something. I'm going to give you a structure broken down and analyze this for you," which is something I'd never listened to, but instead it was people relating their actual life experience.” - Phillip
{00:13:26} “You nailed it that fans have more power and more influence than ever before and those that ignore them are missing out on the largest opportunity that there is right now.” - Brian
{00:24:28} “The whole idea is that the show talks about not just what we've been primarily focused on, which is consumers and brands and how do you grow and evolve and turn fans into customers. And all of that stuff is super relevant and I love talking about it, but that's 50% of what we talk about. The other 50% is how do we on the inside of organizations, how do we become good leaders.” - Ingrid
{00:32:19} “A brand is not design and it's not a logo and it's not fonts and colors. A brand is something that has endured and stood the test of time, and that means many market cycles and that means longevity. And it's something that has, despite all the odds, somehow found a way to persist. I don't think you can do that without profitability.” - Phillip
{00:46:36} “I'm the audience for this kind of conversational in the trenches, new insights, reframing things, highlighting things in a way that maybe I hadn't thought of myself. That is what I think I'm the most proud of with Season 3, all of our seasons, but particularly with this season, having weaved that in has been really great.” - Ingrid

Associated Links:

Follow Infinite Shelf on Instagram
Want to hear more? Check out past episodes here
Love your new co-host? Check her out on LinkedIn
Check out other Future Commerce podcasts

Have any questions or comments about the show? Let us know on Futurecommerce.com, or reach out to us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn. We love hearing from our listeners!