As many of you know, last week saw perhaps the third largest bursting of a bubble ever (behind the .com bubble of ‘99 and the recent real estate market crash). This bubble, upon implosion, secreted a substance referred to by many as “Cubbie Blue," a euphemism for the overwhelming enthusiasm displayed by North Side Chicago fans for their favorite baseball team which means they “bleed Cubbie Blue." Ironically the team they lost to, the L.A. Dodgers, also bleeds blue. So apparently what you had was a NLDS made up of Martians.
The passion that this fan base has for its team is on par with all the great team/fan relationships in history. I have friends who, over the course of the last four days, have refused to talk about baseball, who have spewed venom, the likes of which you don't hear in the most heated political or religious debates. I even had one friend who picked up the phone, called the Chicago Cubs and demanded an apology.
It is a fan base that relies on each other for a sense of calm to help with the relationship that has been established. In 1908, when the Cubs won the second of their back-to-back championships, fans read about it in the newspaper and talked about the team at the local tavern. It has been 100 years since that title and there have obviously been some advances in communication, although many people still spill into one of the many taverns that line the perimeter of Wrigley Field.
Here are some posts on Facebook over the last week in reference to the Cubs:
Steve is looking for answers.
Stacey is tired of what this team is doing to my husband.
Scott thinks it is going to get better from here.
Peter is off to L.A., although I have a new found hatred for the city after what they did to my Cubs.
Jamie offers a plot spoiler for Cubs fans. We never get off the island.
If you Google “Chicago Cubs Blogs” you get a very long list of results, the first and second results being very popular blogs.
The long tail (yeah, I’m sick of it too but bear with me) has clearly allowed for a much wider range and selection of communication channels. It means that no matter what you are interested in, you can find other people who share your interests and want to talk about it. Blogs like Bleed Cubbie Blue are very popular. They provide a point of view from the blogger and, more importantly, allow Cubdom to vent their frustration to thousands of other fans in real time. Go to this blog and just look through the comments. It reads like a group therapy session.
"And so when Soriano struck out for the third time, how did that make you feel?"
"I felt frustrated, disappointed and alone. Mostly alone."
And oh by the way, this and other blogs have a nice big list of advertisers. It isn’t just fans who flock to blogs like this. Many marketers see the upside for having their messages heard in an extremely high frequency destination.
Maybe instead of betting on technology by dumping millions of dollars into behavioral networks, the portals should recognize the unmitigated passion that consumers have for these topics and these blogs and add social communities to their stables instead. MSN did invest in Facebook, but that is the head, not the tail. These are niche environments where users are truly engaged.
In fact, I smell a new marketing approach: Group Therapy Marketing – reach passionate consumers on the edge of sanity. There is more than a statistically relevant sample size on the north side of Chicago.
