P R A I S E F O R FANOCRACY“ Fanocracy is a deep dive into the strategies to build a powerful culture that drives business success.
Fanocracy also explores the thinking of a new generation—one that values community and sharing. Davidand Reiko share surprising ideas you can implement immediately, such as letting go of your work andallowing people to make it their own, seeing the world as a gift and giving gifts in return, and celebrating—TONY ROBBINS (from the foreword)

your customers’ stories.”“Our customers are no ordinary customers; they are die-hard fans who bleed for us the world over. They lovecalling themselves Spartans—they bear Spartan tattoos and share their experiences with family and friends,
bringing hundreds of thousands of new Spartans to the brand each year. Fanocracy will teach you how to do—JOE DE SENA, founder & CEO of Spartan

the same for your business.”“In our three decades advising tens of thousands of CEOs and executives, I’ve learned that most spend too
much time internally. A focus on the customer is THE essential component for scaling up to build an industrydominating organization. In Fanocracy, David and Reiko offer surprising insights into how to put the needsof people ahead of all else, so that your customers become passionate fans of all you do.”—VERNE HARNISH, founder of Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) and author of Scaling Up“David and Reiko make the idea of fan culture real, accessible, and actionable for all business—big, small,
nonprofit, for-profit, B2B . . . and yes, even yours! Most of all, they shine a light on the joy of growing a business—ANN HANDLEY,
bestselling author of Everybody Writes and Content Rules

when you’re surrounded by customers who positively LOVE what you do.”

“The single most important force in my business is the relationship that I have with my fans. Yes, singing ability,
songs, and industry support help tremendously, but the direct fan to artist friendship is the most coveted tool in
the equation. Fanocracy truly emphasizes the importance and how-tos that are necessary to maximize that
all-important friendship. I just read it, it’s FANTASTIC.”—RONNIE DUNN of Brooks & Dunn

“The world is not changed by people who sort of care. Or companies who sort of care. The world is changed bythose who passionately, relentlessly care because your customers will too, and your brand becomes impossible
to resist. Fanocracy shows how to change customers into fans, so your brand can change the world.”—SALLY HOGSHEAD, New York Times bestselling author, and CEO of Fascinate®
“ The most wonderful aspect of David and Reiko’s book is how wide-ranging the examples are; nobody
can claim fanocracy does not apply to their line of work. When Andy and I started OPEN Cycle, our goal
was to work hard to stay small. That meant we only had time to do what was critical: Product development,
taking care of customers, and not much else. Despite forgoing all other ‘essential’ activities, OPEN is way
more successful than we ever thought possible. By talking to our customers so much, we unwittingly createda fanocracy and let me tell you, not only is it the most successful way I’ve ever set up a company, it’s also themost fun.”—GERARD VROOMEN, cofounder of OPEN Cycle and Cervélo Cycles

01

CONTENTS

02
03
04

F O R E WO R D B Y T O N Y R O B B I N S

05

xiii

06
07

PART I08

What’s a Fanocracy and Why Do You Need One?
CHAP TER 1: OUR STORY

09
10

3

CHAP TER 2: STRENGTH THROUGH FANDOM

11

12

12

The Boston Red Sox: Uniting the City of Boston

13

What or Who Is a Fan?

14

The Lonely Chaos of the Digital Age

15

This Is My City
CHAP TER 3: THE POWER OF FAN- CENTRIC BUSINESS

16

24

17

Go Beyond the Product18

MeUndies: The Story of a Subscription Underpants Company

19

Hagerty Insurance: It’s Not Products and Services, It’s People

20

Open House Party: The Radio Show That Beats the Playlist

21

Brookline Booksmith: Building an Entire Community of Book Lovers

22

A Restaurant in Bucharest

23
24

PART II

25

Nine Steps to Building Your Fanocracy
CHAP TER 4: GET CLOSER THAN USUAL

26
27

47

St. Vincent: How Going Offstage Made a Performance Go Viral

28

Degrees of Proximity Make the Difference in How You Connect

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01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15

Starbucks: Making Connections to Like-Minded People into a
Worldwide Success?
The Millionaire’s Magician: Bringing Audience Members into a
Performance
Re-creating the Entire Recreational Vehicle Industry
KOA: The Very Social Aspects of Camping Under the Stars
Josh’s Rainbow Eggs: Treating Customers and Chickens Right
Mirroring and Your Fans
Celebrity Selfies Are the New Autographs
CHAP TER 5: LET GO OF YOUR CREATIONS

77

Sleep No More: Facilitating Individual Interpretations of Macbeth
Adobe: Failing to See Through the Customer’s Eyes
What Is Fan Fiction?
Check, Please!: More Than a Comic Book
West Side Story, Hamilton, and Other Classics Transform Older
Works in Interesting Ways

16

Hot Rods and Land Rovers

17

The Voice of the Reader

18

Ubisoft: Embracing Fan Creativity

19

Star Wars: Backlash and Rules of Engagement

20
21
22

The Power of Engaged Business Communities
Microsoft: Partner Networks and Peer Communities Grow Business
No One Way to Tell a Story

23

CHAP TER 6: GIVE MORE THAN YOU HAVE TO

24

The Incredible Power of a Simple Gift

25

The Grateful Dead: Giving Away Music to Reach New Fans

26
27
28
29S
30N

107

Really, Truly, and Completely Free
When “Free” Becomes Coercion
Duracell PowerForward: Giving Away Millions of Batteries to People
in NeedCharlie’s Taxi: How One Man Can Compete with Uber

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01

MORE THAN THE PRODUCT

02

127

Coming of Age and Becoming Ageless03

MuggleNet: Where Harry Potter Fans Share04

Air Jordans: A Different Kind of Status Symbol

05

Magic: The Gathering—An Old-School Card Game That Succeeds in06

Our Digital Age

07

CHAP TER 8: BE SMART ABOUT INFLUENCERS

08

142

09

RVCA: How Advocates for a Clothing and Lifestyle Brand Influence
Customers

10

Brand Advocates Enjoy Spreading the Word About Your Brand

11

Famous for Being Famous

12

Nike: Controversy Sells. Or Does It?

13

Sarah Beth Yoga: Developing a True Brand Partnership

14

Reaching Business Influencers from Companies like Facebook,

15

Google, Kraft, IBM, John Deere, and Boeing

16

How to Work with Brand Ambassadors
McKinsey & Company: Tapping Alumni to Promote the Company

17

Experimenting with Chinese Internet Celebrity

18

CHAP TER 9: BREAK DOWN BARRIERS

19

162

20

Beyond the Transaction

21

IMPACT: Creating Emotional Context

22

Grain Surfboards: A Business That Invites Customers into Their

23

Inner Sanctum
Coldplay: Creating a Bigger Fan Base by Bringing People Together

24

Harmony: Letting Fans Influence Their Favorite Music Artists’25

Performances

26

The Rattle: Tearing Down Barriers in Music and Technology

27
28
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CHAP TER 10: LISTEN TO REHUMANIZE

186

02

The Alienation of Misdiagnosis

03

Era of Automation and Digitization: Why Your Customers Need You

04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15

Now More Than Ever
Dehumanization: When the Data Gets It Wrong
How Narrative Medicine Makes the Big Difference in Health Care
Raising the Influence of Teens to Take Charge
Hearing the Voice and Speaking Up for the VoicelessTriathlon World Champion Becomes a Coach Focused on Humanity
CHAP TER 11: TELL THE TRUTH, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT HURTS
IHOP: #IHOb and Lying to Your Fans
KFC: The Chicken Restaurant That Ran Out of Chicken
Blockchain Technology as a Critical Ingredient of Trust
Concert Ticketing: Establishing and Sustaining Trust with Your Fans
Stop Spinning, Start Connecting, and Begin to Change the World

16

CHAP TER 12: DEVELOP EMPLOYEES WHO ARE FANS

17

Are Your Employees Feeling Their Significance?

18
19
20
21

Passion Is a Habit
HubSpot: Building a Fandom Culture One Employee at a TimePART III

23

Enjoying Fanocracy

25
26
27
28

227

Creating a Winning Team!

22
24

208

CHAP TER 13: A PASSIONATE LIFE

249

Comic Con: Embracing My Fandom PrideCreating a Common Language of Connection
Jimi Hendrix Fans at a Flamenco Concert
When You Are a Fan of What You Do

29S

The Girl Who Found a Dinosaur

30N

The Sheer Delight in Other People’s Passions

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The Secret Language of Passionate People

02

CHAP TER 14: SHARE YOUR FANDOM
AC K N OW L E D G M E N T S
INDEX

03

270

04

273

05

277

A B O U T T H E AU T H O R S

06

285

07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
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0102

CHAPTER ONE

03
04

Our Story

05
06

by David & Reiko

07
08
09
10
11

David:

12
13

It was September 2007 and I’d been invited to meet the management

14

team of an early stage marketing software start‑up in their office in15

Cambridge, Massachusetts. They informed me in their invitation

16

email that their entire company of ten people read my newly published17

book The New Rules of Marketing and PR.

18

How could I not look forward to meeting them after an email

19

like that?

20

They said their company was developing software to help small

21

and medium‑sized businesses take advantage of the trends and tech‑

22

niques I described in my book.

23“We’ve been eager to meet you, David,” welcomed Brian, the co‑24

founder and CEO, as we entered the cramped conference room in the25company’s shared office space. “The concepts in your book are exactly

26

what we’ve built our company on. It’s uncanny how similar our per‑27

spectives are.”28

In those days, nearly every marketer on the planet spent buckets of

S29

money on traditional advertising and hired salespeople to cold‑callN30

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4fanocracy

01

prospects. My New Rules of Marketing and PR—released in 2007—

02

introduced a new perspective to the future of marketing. It described03

the enormous and far‑reaching power I saw with social media. That04

was back in the days when MySpace was more popular than Facebook,05

and Snapchat and Instagram didn’t yet exist. It was a thrilling experi‑

06

ence to be with people starting a company to help other businesses

07

implement the ideas I wrote about in my book.

08
09

I eased into a chair at a table across from Brian and several of hiscolleagues.

10“How did you come up with the idea for your company?” I asked.

11

Brian replied, “We were classmates at MIT Sloan’s MBA program

12

and always talked about how the way people buy products and services13

has changed so dramatically. Google is the first place people go, so, as

14

you said in your book, web content is more important than advertis‑

15

ing. We decided that after we graduated, we’d form a start‑up to16

develop software that helps companies get found in the search engines.

17

It’s what we call inbound marketing.”

18“Great timing to launch the company,” I said as I removed my Mac‑

19

Book Pro from my backpack and opened it. “There’s no question that20

people are beginning to realize the importance—”

21
22
23
24

“Hang on,” Brian said, pointing at my laptop. “This meeting can’t
go any further until you tell me about those stickers!”
I showcase my passions to the world by personalizing the stark alu‑
minum of my Apple notebook.

25

My computer is a billboard of what I love.

26“What’s with the Japan sticker?” asked Brian.

27

The Japanese script is not something most people recognize, and I

28
29S

was surprised he had placed it immediately.
“Japan is really important to me,” I said. “I was an exchange stu‑

30N

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our story

5dent for a summer in high school, I lived in Japan for seven years from01

1987 to 1993, and my wife, Yukari, is Japanese.”

02

Brian looked surprised. “Are you serious? I lived in Japan for a few

03

years in the 1990s too.” His finger moved to another sticker among the04

many spread across my computer.

05“What’s the deal with the Nantucket one?”06

My Nantucket sticker was rather subtle, a silhouette map of the is‑07

land. If Brian could identify it, he must have visited and knew the08

island.

09“I’ve got a house on the island. Have you been?” I asked, although I

10suspected I already knew the answer.

11

Brian nodded. “Have been going for years. This is weird. It’s like12

we’re long‑lost brothers. We both go to Nantucket, we both lived in

13

Japan, and we both saw the future of marketing early on.”14

He paused for a moment and then grinned. “And a Stealie! So

15

you’re a Deadhead too?”

16

Brian was right.

17

This is getting really weird, I silently agreed. If he knew what a

18

Stealie was, then Brian was big into the Grateful Dead too. Many peo‑19

ple recognize the half‑red, half‑blue skull symbol first used as a cover20

illustration on the band’s 1976 album Steal Your Face, yet only true21

fans use the word “Stealie” to describe it.

22“Absolutely! I’ve been to dozens of shows. They’re my favorite

23

band.”

24“They’re my favorite too,” Brian added. “I’ve been to over fifty

25

shows!”

26

By then, I realized that Brian’s colleagues were intently following

27

our animated conversation. They seemed genuinely happy to let us

28

geek out about the Grateful Dead.

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6

01
02

fanocracy“You going to the Phil Lesh show at the Orpheum in a few weeks?”
I asked Brian.

03

Lesh was the Grateful Dead’s founding bassist. Since Jerry Garcia’s

04

death in 1995 and the breakup of the band, the original members fre‑05

quently tour with their own bands and in various combinations.

06“I’m going for sure but haven’t finalized my plans.”

07

Right away I understood Brian’s Deadhead code. He wanted to go08

but didn’t have a ticket yet.

09

“I’ve got a spare ticket, want to join me?”10

In a matter of minutes, Brian and I went from being complete

11

strangers to talking like old friends because of the instant bond trig‑

12

gered by stickers on my computer.

13

After that first Phil Lesh concert in October 2007, we attended

14

some fifty more shows together. Brian and I even combined our Grate‑15

ful Dead fandom and our shared passion for marketing when we co‑16

wrote the book Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead: What Every

17

Business Can Learn from the Most Iconic Band in History. Interestingly,

18

the Japanese language edition of the book became the fourth most19

popular business book in Japan the year it was published, outselling20

the English language version that year. Were Brian and I unconsciously

21

channeling our experiences in Japan when writing? Who knows?

22

A few days after our initial meeting, Brian invited me to become23

the founding member of the HubSpot advisory board. It was a thrill to24

add a HubSpot sticker to my computer to mark the occasion. Over the25

years, I worked closely with Brian and the HubSpot team to help grow26

the business to a projected $650 million in revenue in 2019. The com‑

27pany is now publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange and has

28

offices around the world. When HubSpot opened a Japan office in

29S

2016, Brian and I both delivered presentations at the opening event.

30N

All of this happened because Brian and I found a common

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our story

7

language, common interests, common fandom. We shared our pas‑

01

sions with each other, first for the music we both loved, and then for02

our work.

03
04
05

Reiko:

06
07

For days I had been nervous to meet with Dr. Azra Raza, the director

08of the Myelodysplastic Syndrome Center at Columbia University Med‑09

ical Center in New York City, who was to be my new adviser. In 2013, I

10

had just finished my second year at Columbia and had dreams of being

11

a doctor, and this summer lab position would be another stepping‑

12

stone to that goal. That’s exactly how I thought about it—merely an‑

13other box to check on a future application or a résumé. I prepared14

myself for the kind of dismissive greetings I had experienced in previ‑

15

ous lab environments. Because of my past research experiences, as I

16

entered her office, I stepped into the academic persona I’d cultured to17

fit the cold and sterile rooms I’d become accustomed to, just as an ac‑

18

tress would, auditioning for the role of a laboratory scientist.

19

Instead, I was welcomed by a woman in an intimate library filled20with shelves and shelves of books. Not only medical journals but his‑21

tory books, autobiographies, and novels. I felt as if I had traveled back22

in time to the home where I grew up, where books overflowed from the23high shelves and were stacked on the floors because there was never24

enough room for all of them. I grew up with parents who passed their25

profound love of books on to me. As my eyes grazed the titles, my fin‑26

gers itched to flip through them. I was so dazzled that I didn’t think to27

introduce myself.

28

My new adviser caught me staring, captivated.

S29“Do you like poetry?” she asked.

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8fanocracy

01

I didn’t know what to say. In my two years of undergraduate lab

02

work, I never began a conversation like this. Science and art were two

03

separate things, not made to mix, right? That, at the time, was what I’d

04

believed, so I continually and unconsciously silenced the part of me05

that wanted both.

06“Yes,” I answered softly.

07

From previous interviews I learned not to out myself as being too

08

enthusiastic, as I assumed my love of stories and words was a weak‑09

ness, one a scientist would not relate to.

10

Dr. Raza picked up a book from her desk and read to me in a

11

language I didn’t understand. Then she followed with the English

12translation recited from memory. The words flowed musically as she

13

looked back to me. “I love this one,” she said. “I’ve been working on the14translation.”

15“It’s beautiful,” I said.

16

She smiled and gestured for me to sit. Although we had just met, we

17began talking about books and science. I felt as if I’d stepped back into18

a comfortable conversation we’d had many times before.

19

I felt as though I never wanted to leave.

20

Over the two summers I spent in Dr. Raza’s lab, I observed how her

21

unbridled passion for literature—her self‑professed obsession—made22

her a better doctor. Passion, I realized, wasn’t a distraction, it was a way

23

of connecting people on a deeper level. Just as it had connected us.

24

Her enthusiasm for translation from Arabic and Urdu to English

25

wound its way to the translation of her patients’ ills. She gushed to her

26

longtime patients about the Hannah Arendt movie that she had seen

27

last week and, in turn, encouraged her patients to talk about that which

28

gave them the most pleasure. She was curious about them. What made29Sthem feel good? What brought them joy? There seemed to be no end to

30N

the interest she had in each of her patients.

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our story

9“You can’t work with anyone if you don’t know who they are and01

what they love,” she said. “We treat the person, not the illness.”

02

Eventually, I learned that this kind of practice had a name: narra‑

03

tive medicine.

04

Dr. Raza helped me to nurture similar passions. I learned what05

was, to me, a profound lesson, how art could touch science.

06

It took a mentor who shared my interests—who encouraged me to07lean in to the activities I loved instead of dismissing them as mere08

hobbies—to change how I saw myself. Learning how to incorporate all09

of who I am into my professional life made me not only a better health10

provider but also a happier person. That has been the greatest and most11

lasting gift of our time together.

12

After I left Dr. Raza’s lab and graduated from Columbia in 2015, I

13carried those lessons with me to Boston University School of Medicine

14(BUSM). As a second‑year medical student, I created a syllabus and15taught a class on narrative medicine at BUSM. I found my way forward

16

because of the new way I labeled myself by modeling the way Dr. Raza

17

labeled herself.

18

I saw my experience as a complement to my father’s collaboration

19

with Brian Halligan. I saw how shared passions build lasting bridges

20that lead to professional success. These passions can be fostered in

21

communities that persist long after as each individual continues on

22

their professional path forward.

23

Being a fan builds close connections to others with whom we share

24interests. The behavior and its results can be a model for others to25

mirror.

26
27
28

The two of us, father and daughter, are obviously different; however,S29

our observations on the state of the world today are uncannily similar.

N30

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10fanocracy

01

As we discussed our experiences over the past few years, we were sur-02

prised at how important our passions and the fandom worlds we in-03

habit are to our lives. The father loves surfing because being out on the04

water and interacting with other surfers helps him relax and clear his

05mind. The daughter loves to draw and share fan art of the books she

06

loves for the same reason. And, over time, we both realized how alike07

our views are on growing a business by tapping into fandom.

08

Because of the changing nature of the world, it’s essential to under-

09

stand how to reach all kinds of people, including millennials and Gen-10

eration Z as well as those of all races and orientations. It is for this11

reason that we’ve researched and written together.

12

In the chapters that follow, we take deep dives into major elements

13

of developing fans, including the importance of proximity to customers,

14

letting go of your work, giving gifts without any expectation of some-15

thing in return, harnessing the power of transparency in business, and16other concepts. Through interviews, examples of success, and a set of17

strategies, we looked at how entities of all kinds—including companies

18

large and small, nonprofits, entrepreneurs, restaurants, artists, musi-

19

cians, teachers, health-care professionals, and insurance agents—can20

tap into fan cultures and connect deeply with followers.

21

As we discussed our experiences over many nights across the din-22

ner table, we began to consider the ideas that you will now find in our

23book. It was a sharp reminder to both of us that hobbies and passions

24

don’t disappear as soon as one steps into “adult” or “professional” life.

25

We both agree that the myth of unyielding professionalism

26

can obscure our genuine connections. That’s why we chose to write

27

this book.

28
29S
30N

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our story

11

Exchanging texts about television shows or comic books has gotten

01

daughter, Reiko, through study hours that extended far into nights

02that would have otherwise felt endless. And father, David, has forged03

deep, lifelong friendships with those who are as passionate about live

04

music as he is.

05
06
07

To love things outside work is to make meaningfulconnections with like- minded people.

08
09
10
11

To achieve the success that comes with developing passionate fans

12of your business, fandom culture is necessary. Yet there’s another im‑

13

portant reason to understand these ideas, as we said earlier: exposing

14

ourselves to people who share our interests leads us to live happier

15

lives. And when you can introduce your fandom passions and bring in

16

others who are completely different from you and they become fans,17

you create an ideal environment—a place where great things happen.

18

An understanding of how and why people become passionate about

19

a company, product, idea, or artist serves as a way to do business. This

20

understanding also delivers a blueprint to bring friends and family

21

together to celebrate what they love, a place everyone wants to be

22

part of because they can be their authentic selves and successful at the23same time.

24
25
26
27
28
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David Meerman Scott is an internationally acclaimed business strategist,
entrepreneur, adviser to emerging companies, and public speaker. He is the author of ten previous
books, including The New Rules of Marketing and PR (now in its 6th edition and in 29 languages)
and Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead. In his spare time he surfs and travels around theworld for great live music.

Reiko Scott earned a neuroscience degree from Columbia University and is now a
medical student at Boston University. In her spare time she writes and publishes fan fiction basedon her favorite fantasy worlds and loves to cosplay at Comic Con.

© Rogovin Photofanocracy.com

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