Prelims

Franck Barès (HEC Montreal, Canada)

Bernard Cova (Kedge Business School, France)

Anicet Nemani (BIMSTR, Cameroon)

Start-ups and the Mobilization of Social Interactions

ISBN: 978-1-80455-609-2, eISBN: 978-1-80455-606-1

Publication date: 12 June 2023

pdf (1.6 MB) ePub (313 KB)

Citation

Barès, F., Cova, B. and Nemani, A. (2023), "Prelims", Start-ups and the Mobilization of Social Interactions, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. i-ix. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80455-606-120231011

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Half Title Page

START-UPS AND THE MOBILIZATION OF SOCIAL INTERACTIONS

Endorsement Page

“The world is suffering from a range of political and financial crises and organizations today fresh ideas to help them rethink social and institutional change. In response, many companies are moving to a purpose-driven model. This book is an unprecedented rallying cry for change that builds on over three decades’ worth of research and business ingenuity into the idea that business needs to operate with genuine purpose and community. Start-ups and the Mobilization of Social Interactions isn’t just for entrepreneurs, either. It is for everyone who wants to understand how to build a new way to do business that harnesses the power of social connectedness, community and the spirit of activism. Everyone who is excited about the positive possibilities of enterprise should read this book!”

Robert V. Kozinets, Professor, University of Southern California, USA

“With this volume, the three authors offer an approach that combines the development of a social movement and the emergence of an entrepreneurial project. The book offers an interesting and original key for understanding this combination that has not yet been sufficiently investigated, but is rich in implications for today's world. It also highlights the close relationship between consumption and entrepreneurship phenomena which are addressed separately in traditional management approaches but that are today increasingly connected.”

Simone Guercini, Professor, University of Florence, Italy

“Based on extensive research, this book's authors share a clear and simple approach to enable success in high-impact projects. This is an inspiring read for entrepreneurs and allies – coaches, consultants mentors – alike.”

Dafna Kariv, Professor, Adelson School of Entrepreneurship, Reichman University, Israel

Title Page

START-UPS AND THE MOBILIZATION OF SOCIAL INTERACTIONS

BY

FRANCK BARÈS

HEC Montreal, Canada

Bernard Cova

Kedge Business School, France

AND

ANICET NEMANI

BIMSTR, Cameroon

United Kingdom – North America – Japan – India – Malaysia – China

Copyright Page

Emerald Publishing Limited

Howard House, Wagon Lane, Bingley BD16 1WA, UK

First edition 2023

Copyright © 2023 Franck Barès, Bernard Cova and Anicet Nemani. Published under exclusive license by Emerald Publishing Limited. Adaptation of “Start up tribu. Comment entreprendre avec sa communauté” published in French by EMS, Caen (2021).

Reprints and permissions service

Contact: permissions@emeraldinsight.com

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without either the prior written permission of the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying issued in the UK by The Copyright Licensing Agency and in the USA by The Copyright Clearance Center. No responsibility is accepted for the accuracy of information contained in the text, illustrations or advertisements. The opinions expressed in these chapters are not necessarily those of the Author or the publisher.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-80455-609-2 (Print)

ISBN: 978-1-80455-606-1 (Online)

ISBN: 978-1-80455-608-5 (Epub)

List of Figures and Tables		ix
Introduction		1
1.	Understanding Brand Communities	5
	A Contemporary History of the Notion of Community	5
	The Prehistory: Subcultures and Fandoms	6
	The Era of Tribes	7
	The Invention of Online Communities	8
	The Advent of Communities of Practices	10
	The Rising Power of Brand Communities	11
	Support for Communities: Social Networks	13
	Brand Communities	15
	Constructing a Community Around a Brand	19
	Capitalizing on an Existing Community United Around the Brand	20
	Co-opting an Existing Community With No Initial Link to the Brand	24
	Creating a Community Around a New Brand	25
2.	Defending a Cause and Launching a Movement	33
	Why Are Individuals Today Attracted by the Opportunity to Defend a Cause?	34
	Why Do People Today Join a Movement to Defend a Cause?	36
	Improving the World	37
	Saving Whatever Can Still Be Saved	40
	Launching a Movement and Bringing About the Emergence of a Community	41
	The Difficult Transition to the Creation of a Business	45
3.	Recruiting Volunteers	49
	Volunteering and the Changes That It Has Undergone	50
	From Brand Ambassadors to Brand Volunteers	52
	Being a Volunteer for a Start-up Brand	56
	The Levers of Volunteering	60
4.	Encouraging Interactions and Sharing Stories	65
	A Brand Model Named N.A.M.E.	66
	N for Narrative: Stories Instead of Histories	67
	A for Ambiguity: Contradiction Instead of a Coherent Positioning	68
	M for Mystery: A Permanent Grey Area Instead of Full Transparency	69
	E for Entertainment: Giving Consumers the Pleasure of Talking About It	70
	Authentic Life Stories	71
	Online Rallying Cries and Hashtags	76
	Battles and Jackpot Fundraisers	79
5.	Developing Rituals	85
	Rites: From the Sacred to the Profane	86
	Commercial Micro-rites and Macro-rites	89
	Brandfests: A Contemporary Macro-rite Both Online and Offline	91
	Start-ups and the Creation of Rites	94
	The SoulCycle Micro-rite: The Collective Blowing Out of Candles	94
	The Tough Mudder Micro-rite: Swapping Photos of People Wearing a Brand Headband	94
	Silent Night, a Silent Macro-rite	95
	The Teddy Bear Toss, a Charitable Macro-rite	95
	Rewriting Rituals	96
6.	Adding Linking Value to the Value Proposition	101
	From Social Connectivity to Linking Value	102
	Linking Value: A Consumer Co-production	105
	Reasons for Doing Together With Others Things That a Person Can Do By Themself	107
	The Consequences of Not Generating Any Linking Value	111
7.	Evolving From a Community Movement to an Entrepreneurial Project	115
	Anicet, BIMSTR and the Z’experts’ Community	116
	Championing a Cause and Starting a Movement	118
	Recruiting Volunteers and Orchestrating the Work They Do Together	120
	Fostering Online and Offline Interactions	122
	The BIMSTR Challenge	122
	Facebook's Super Fan Badge	123
	Developing BIMSTR Rituals	124
	Making Connectivity Central to the Value Proposition	126
	Project Founder Feedback: Transitioning From Seminal Struggles to Hohaaa Marketing	127
8.	Community 1st – Start-up 2nd	133
	Guidelines: Key Process Stage Factors	134
	Stage 1 Milestones: Advocating a Cause and Launching a Movement	134
	Stage 2 Milestones: Recruiting Volunteers	136
	Stage 3 Milestones: Fostering Interactions and Sharing Stories	138
	Stage 4 Milestones: Developing Rituals	139
	Stage 5 Milestones: Inserting Linking Value into the Value Proposition	141
	Post-launch, the Community will Be Both Essential But Also Burdensome	142
	Glossier: When a Company Detaches From its Community	143
	Filoni: Ongoing Symbiosis With a Community	145
9.	Achieving a Different Kind of Entrepreneurship	149
	Contributions and Limitations of the Business Models	150
	The Business Model Canvas: Putting a Value Proposition at the Heart of a Business Model	150
	Lean Canvas: Iterative Dynamics Associated With a Business Model	151
	Community Models in the Service of Entrepreneurial Projects	153
	The Double Temporality of Community and Company Development	155
	The Junction Between the Two Models and the Social Value Proposition	157
	New Statutory Forms That Are more Adapted	160

List of Figure and Table

Figure

Fig. 1.	Combining Communal and Entrepreneurial Development.	156

Table

Table 1.	The Ducati Model of Tribal Marketing.	23

Book Chapters

Prelims

Introduction

1. Understanding Brand Communities

2. Defending a Cause and Launching a Movement

3. Recruiting Volunteers

4. Encouraging Interactions and Sharing Stories

5. Developing Rituals

6. Adding Linking Value to the Value Proposition

7. Evolving from a Community Movement to an Entrepreneurial Project

8. Community 1st – Start-up 2nd

9. Achieving a Different Kind of Entrepreneurship