Corporate America Focuses, an Interesting Exercise

Aerosmith, however, puts an interesting spin on the concept of customer intimacy. Whereas much of corporate America focuses on strategies for knowing and understanding customers better, Aerosmith focuses on ways for fans to get to know the band better. Fans may be more likely to connect emotionally with a brand after having a personal experience with it, especially one that allows them to get to know the brand or company better than others do.

Aerosmith allows customers to get to know the band more intimately with remote staging, special tours, travel packages, and good old fashioned meet and greets. As a result, fans feel that they have a special relationship with the band, becoming more emotionally tied to the band and its success.

• It is known among concertgoers that the worst time to get food or a drink is

during a song from the new album the band is promoting-unless of course it is in fact a big hit single-because that is when the lines are longest. When a legendary rock band plays one of its classics, however, no one leaves their seats.

Not even Elton John is immune from this phenomenon-when he announced during his recent concert tour that the next few songs would be from his new album, customers and friends alike headed for the john, en masse.

How to Treat Your Fans At the heart of bands’ interaction with fans is Steven Tyler’s understanding of what it means to be a fan. In the early days, Tyler spent as much time and money as he could going to rock shows. He was, admittedly, starstruck, and reveled in being close to stars. An interesting exercise for brand managers charged with creating brands with fan appeal is to become one yourself.