Two tribes
Delighted to have bumped into two celebrities in recent days. I cannot claim to be an avid follower of every influencer or even every social media platform, but as with many of us, there some people with a public profile that I warm to.
These two make an interesting contrast.
Trinny Woodall – once known as one half of Trinny & Susannah, a fashion guru, now with her on skincare and cosmetics brand. Trinny London is growing nicely – maybe as it should with its deep pocketed venture capital backers. But Trinny is the name over the door, and she works extremely hard to promote it. She even has her own ‘tribe’ – and yes, that is what they are called. And they include my wife, Joanna – hence my awareness of her.
Her social media offers extensive free advice, and extensive opportunities to purchase from her brand. We met Trinny (and some of her tribe) at her pop-up shop in Bicester Village, a UK designer shopping ‘outlet’ hub.
Me Brewer is known as the ‘Wheeler Dealer’ from his Quest TV show where he buys, restores and sells on classic cars, alongside one of his mechanical maestros who have included Edd China and Ant Anstead. A keen exponent of negotiating The Deal, he uses a range of negotiation skills (with sometimes mixed results). He appears (often informally) at car related events and locations such as Caffeine & Machine
My accent has even been mistaken for his by some recent groups I was training (they were in America, so maybe that was a factor). I bumped into Mike while he was queuing to buy a drink in Stratford upon Avon. He has his own following on social media, though without the specific label of a tribe.
The two tribes are different:
| Trinny | Mike Brewer |
| Predominantly femaleLikely age range 35 – 70Focus on clothing, cosmetics, fashionConnects looks to feelings, also focused on wellbeing.They like many other fashion brands, mainly designer and premium names – but also product from chain stores. | Predominately maleLikely age range 45+They must be interested in carsMike does the dealing – so his followers like his focus on the looks, marketing, and pricing of carsThey like a wide range of cars, not just expensive supercars. But they should be ‘classic’ – not much discussion of contemporary mainstream cars. |
On the face of it these two are ‘chalk and cheese’, as we say in the UK. Yet I highlight their similarities:
- They do not appeal – or even attempt to appeal – to everyone.
- They aim at a defined market segment. That segment is not purely demographic, but behavioural.
- Their extensive social media is not just showing where they are but offer advice and comment. This does not always attract universal admiration: I am sure Mike Brewer uses a social media team to manage some less polite responses.
- They consistently use social media to promote themselves, but also have a team to help them. I saw that Trinny Woodall has a team of around 6 people with here.
- They are both unfailingly polite and patient with their followers.
- Maybe they see every interaction as an opportunity, but they pay attention to everyone they meet, listen carefully and understand what makes their ‘tribe’ feel good.
These contrasting personalities offer a glimpse of what makes for successful business in the 2020s: a target market defined by interests not just demographics, the opportunity to help people feel good, and a connection that works best when it goes beyond just social media.
What interactions are you planning this week – and how will they enable you to connect to your ‘tribe’, and build your brand?
Stat of the Week – £44,259. – the average price of each new car sold in the UK in 2022, according to What Car? Magazine, up 4.6% on last year.
What this stat does not say – is that around 90% of new cars are sold on finance – mainly PCPs for personal purchases – and therefore most owners (lessors?) will not actually pay that amount from their bank accounts.
Buzzword of the Week – Intangible Assets
Definition – Assets which have no physical form, which in businesses usually means intellectual property witnessed by patents, licenses, & royalties but also including brand names and goodwill.
Alternate View – Look carefully on a Balance Sheet at the fixed assets: with many large businesses most of these will be intangible these days, in contrast to a more industrialized era of plant, property and equipment – tangible assets. Like any other asset, in practice they are only worth what someone would be prepared to pay, so treat valuation with care. Often the cause of headline grabbing loss reporting is an adjustment to the value of intangibles e.g., AOL Time Warner. May indirectly contribute to collapse – e.g., Carillion. In a technology lead era though, probably a decent reflection of where the value is generated.