There's a growing literature on the subject of fandom(s), ranging from the ways in which they are formed, to how they are exploited by corporations (there are more and more people who bemoan the ways in which fandom, especially "geek culture", has been monetized and diluted by corporations).

In SUPERFANDOM, Fraade-Blanar and Glazer take a look at how fans have started to demand more from what it is they are fans of. The growing avenues for direct access and engagement - social media, for example - have changed the ways in which fans and those who create what they like, or work in/with/for what they like interact. The authors take a look at large and small fandoms, examining the ways in which outreach, feedback, and other forms of interaction succeed or don't.

An interesting book, and definitely recommended to anyone interested in the shifting mores of economics, marketing, and more.

SUPERFANDOM

The book Superfandom: How Our Obsessions are Changing What We Buy and Who We Are is a surprisingly thoughtful examination of the myriad factors that galvanize popular support behind products or movements, as well as the potential social and commercial consequences that such may imply.

Written by Zoe Fraade-Blanar and Aaron M. Glazer, founders of plushie toy manufacturer Squishable (itself a company with a fan following), Superfandom is more than just a business book about generating customer engagement. It's a methodical deconstruction of how things achieve the status of “fan object,” what it means to be a fan, and the dynamics that necessarily govern such a complex relationship.

To their credit, Blanar and Glazer avoid many of the pitfalls that could cast doubt on the value of their book. Superfandom is not a “how-to” guide for customer engagement, although it provides many insights that executives can use to develop loyal customers. Nor is the book a vehicle for blatant self-promotion: while Blanar and Glazer do begin and end Superfandom with memorable stories from their work at Squishable, these only serve as bookends to the discussion and do not constitute the meat of the text. Instead, what is on offer in Superfandom is the equivalent of social anthropology as applied to commercial practice and made accessible even to casual readers.

In that regard it's hard to escape the fact that Blanar and Glazer have a philosophical streak about them as they discuss the mechanics of fandom:

"Fandom does not describe what someone is–it's something they do. It's a set of noncommercial undertakings in which enthusiasts participate...Their value is in the experience of participating. In fact, participation helps differentiate between a fan and a consumer. Consumers give their money to a brand. Fans give their energy and time."

Or as viewed from another perspective,

"A successful fandom involves a minimum required number of people who have enough of a positive emotional response to a fan object and access to a communications platform on which to express it. Or to put it another way: fandom is the natural output of enough people finding a place to express to each other how much they like a fan object."

From a commercial standpoint, however, the reason that all businesses desire the transformation of their clients into a rabid base of fans is because it makes the relationship between the product (and thereby, business) and the consumer of that product stickier, for reasons that should be obvious:

"Fandom is externally generated branding. It allows fans to channel their natural urges toward self-expression and communication into the service of creating this all-important context. In a sense, the purpose of fandom is to project a personal meaning into what would otherwise be a soulless commercial commodity."

"Fandom is social," Blanar and Glazer elucidate further, going on to say that "a fan who has no other fans with whom to fan doesn't stay a fan for long." Superfandom overflows with similarly astute observations whose implications businesses are only beginning to appreciate. That the book is able to convey such valuable insight in an unpretentious way is truly a remarkable thing.

I *LOVED* this book! As a superfan, I thought it was incredibly interesting and enlightening to read about what makes a 'successful' fandom, and how the things we love shape so much of what we buy, read, and become.

While this book sometimes felt a bit too scattered and perhaps tackled too many different examples too shallowly without building towards a clear conclusion, I enjoyed it very much. I learned a lot of interesting things from the book, which considers fandom more broadly than most conceptions I had encountered before. I am glad that I read this book and would recommend it to people interested in consumerism and fandom phenomena.

My full review appeared on my blog, Amanda Reads.

The cover, title, and summary of Superfandom grabbed me - what's not to love about an in-depth analysis of how fandom both effects its fans and affects the properties they love? But this book gets lost somewhere in the middle of trying to pander to both pop-culture junkies AND "business & investing" readers. From a general nonfiction standpoint, the introduction and first chapter were a slow bore to get through - with disjointed sections and no discerning thesis - and the preface just prompted a question of "...and what is the relevance of this???" From a business standpoint, where were the statistics or footnotes or anything else that would make this more of a subject read? (Did I just not make it that far? Does Superfandom redeem itself??)

Ultimately a disappointing read that I could only get 17% of the way through.