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Web 2.0 Expo: Audio of my talkApril 19th, 2007 |
Courtesy of f13, available here. At some point, I’ll transcribe it and match it up with the slides.
Edit: even better audio here, courtesy of the Agile Partners blog.
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Any chance of you clarifying your comments about hard core a requirement?
From the audio, it seems like you see hard core appeal as a requirement because they can be marketed to, and because they’re “influential end users”.
Is there any other reason?
Hardcore just means “devoted.” With no devoted fans of your work, you basically don’t have something people like. 
The mistake that we always make is equating hardcore with complexity, and that’s a mistake. Damion has a great rant on this subject.
For ANYTHING, you need to support hardcore users of whatever it is you are making. There have to be nooks and crannies for them to find, they have to feel rewarded for their devotion and interest and fandom.
I’m not a shill, but if you’d used ProfCast you wouldn’t need to sync audio and slides (it’s automagic). Ummm, that’s assuming you use a mac of course.
The problem with the word "hardcore" is that there are many different definitions in vernacular. In music, "hardcore" refers to forceful and energetic performance (usu. related to drumming), a subgenre of electronica, a subgenre of punk rock, or a punk-rock movement. In adult entertainment, the word refers to the explicit performance and cinematographic record of the entertainers. In reference to individuals, "hardcore" usually refers to toughness, arrogance, or narrow-mindedness. But the actual definition, which stems from the phrase "hard core," is all about intense loyalty. "Forceful" and "energetic" are the defining characteristics of the intensity of this particular type of loyalty, as well as all senses of the word "hardcore."
Strictly speaking, loyal consumers are not necessarily influential because they may just continually buy the products of brands they trust. "Hardcore" consumers are also not necessarily influential because they are aggressive (forceful and energetic) in their approach to communicating their opinions, and this may turn other people off. Opinion leaders have a lot of clout with their social networks, their readership or viewership, and other people with whom they interact; and their influence is not necessarily favorable to your side of the coin. Brand champions are in love, they want the world to know about their relationship, and they strive to ensure the world is not only aware but firmly assuaged by the love interest.
I don’t use a Mac for my laptop… nor did I record my lecture or even write it down, I improvised it, just as I always do. 
Morgan, one opinion I might offer (I’m going to listen to the podcast laterish) is that hardcore is good for having as a customer (solid, reliable revenue stream) whereas opinion leaders are good for getting more customers, but they also tend to be more transient (part of the reason they have the influence in the first place is their tendency to check out the latest thing).
That’s an intuitive, off-the-cuff thought; if you’ve got a refutation of some kind, would love to hear.
Michael, I think hardcore consumers (per my definitions above) are a solid, reliable source of revenue until they start having an adverse effect on your other customers. For example, let’s say you’re in charge of the Star Wars Galaxies online community. A hardcore consumer voices a strong opinion about the state of the service in painstaking detail. Their opinion indicates they are a guru on the service, and that they possess knowledge only the most veteran and most involved users could acquire. Despite their expertise, however, their strong opinion approaches the subject in a distasteful manner, insulting the developers and belittling the community for not speaking up about what they perceive as atrocities.
You discover that a recent and significant loss of subscribers can be measurably attributed to this hardcore consumer’s strong opinions. Would you rather retain a single, hardcore consumer or hundreds of loyal consumers? Would you rather retain hundreds of hardcore consumers or a single brand champion? There are opportunity costs associated with each type of consumer.
Hardcores and champions require heavier investments than do loyalists and leaders, but faced with such losses, the cost of retaining a hardcore consumer outweighs the potential of developing that hardcore consumer into a champion. In other words, there is point where a solid, reliable source of revenue can cross the line into enemy territory.
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Lesson: Older men act like women. Men are from Mars from the ages of 16-25. They appear to prefer being from Venus afterwards. =P — Raph Koster. http://www.raphkoster.com/2007/04/19/web-20-expo-audio-of-my-talk/
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