What brands can learn from the rise of Fanfiction
How fan communities can supercharge your digital strategy
In this Thursday’s email we’re sharing:
How fanfiction has evolved from niche “fanzines” in the ‘60s to mainstream blockbusters
In the full article, available for members, we detail:
What fanfiction can it teach us about building engaged, passionate communities
Opportunities to strengthen emotional bonds with audiences by supporting fan creativity
3 actionable takeaways for brands how how to tap the power of fanficton
Recent pieces: 🌎 Mom life, abroad: how expat moms are growing audiences & businesses, Emma Chamberlain, Pinterest & a trends-based marketing strategy that’s actually sustainable, Tenniscore: the new normal for athleisure
brands, you could learn a thing or two from the fanfiction community
What if your most passionate customers were also your most prolific creators? Fanfiction, once a niche hobby done in secret under nom de plume, has become a powerful indicator of an IP’s health and a goldmine of insights for storytellers willing to listen.
Fanfiction, often shortened to fanfic or fic, is a form of beneficial UGC: fans get to play in a world they love, and the brand gets free engagement and market research. Writers who are also fans of an existing piece of content are so moved by the original's characters, settings, and plot that they use it as a sandbox to create their own stories. From books to movies to TV shows and video games to–controversially–real-life celebrities, anything can be fodder for fanfiction especially in the digital age.
That said, while it's closely associated with the rise of the internet and the state of fandom today, the concept of fan fiction has a long history. Early examples of fanfiction as we know it can be found in the fanzines of the 1960s, especially within the Star Trek fandom. But, the practice of reinterpreting and rewriting popular stories predates the modern fandom we associate with trekkies. Depending on who you ask, works like Dante's Divine Comedy and Shakespeare's plays can be described as fanfiction, as both writers drew heavily from existing stories and historical figures. The current internet landscape has taken this behavior that was once nebulous and undefined and made it accessible to everyone with the potential to reach a huge audience. You don’t have to be as accomplished as Dante or Shakespear to write a fanfic that may be read by no one or more people than you ever thought possible.
Lesson 1: Fanfiction is a mainstream form of entertainment
To quote Pink Panthresses’ current viral TikTok sound, 🎶is this illegal? It feels illegal? 🎶 Because it uses copyrighted material without permission, fanfiction is considered a derivative work. This means monetizing it is complicated and therefore, it is almost always published for free on the internet, on dedicated sites like Archive of Our Own (AO3) and FanFiction.net, two of the largest and most influential fan fiction archives on the internet.
Both sites offer access and community but more importantly they offer a tagging language that allows users to find content that super-serves their needs. For instance, on AO3 there is a highly detailed, user-generated "folksonomy" of tags to describe their stories. Readers can use these tags to…
Beyond the paywall…
As you’ve read, fanfiction is no longer a niche hobby for mega-fans, but a real example to take inspiration from if you - or your brand - is trying to build a fandom. We cover:
More on the tagging / social media language - or "folksonomy" of tags - used among consumers of fanfiction
Fanfiction as a living feedback loop. In the hands of engaged fans, it becomes a masterclass in community-building and brand loyalty
Fanfiction as a focus group—revealing exactly what audiences crave and giving brands a low-risk way to test ideas and strengthen emotional bonds with their biggest supporters
3 actionable learnings for brands who want to move beyond traditional digital strategy and build deeper connections with their audiences
In addition to today’s piece, members also get access to our recent deep dives including 🌎 Mom life, abroad: how expat moms are growing audiences & businesses, Tenniscore: the new normal for athleisure, How to build a brand people actually want to follow, from a 4x Shorty Award winner, plus our community & platform how-to guides and the basics of digital strategy to make sure your strategy is sound.