The Truth About What Customers Want

Chapter 32. Go tribal

Before it released the popular Xbox game Halo 2, Microsoft put up a Web site to explain the story line. However, there was a catch: The story was written from the point of view of the Covenant (the aliens who are preparing to attack Earth in the game)—and in their language. Within 48 hours, avid gamers around the world worked together by sharing information in gaming chat rooms to crack the code and translate the text. More than 1.5 million people preordered the game before its release. This cooperative effort illustrates a major trend in consumer behavior.

A brand community is a group of consumers who share a set of social relationships based on usage or interest in a product. Unlike other kinds of communities, these members ...