Recently it is reported in media that fans of soccer teams are behaving strangely. Violence is nothing new, but this time the soccer fans direct it against their own teams! Why? Because they don’t think their team is performing in the way they should, so they transform from fans to enemy hooligans.
I think we will see the same phenomena repeat for many brands, their fans will turn against them if they believe their brand is not delivering what it should. If brands don’t deliver or score goals of innovation, fans will simple revolt online and offline in shops and perhaps even in the headquarters. Why? Brand leadership means never standing still, always run for the next innovation or development. If fans of one brand experience other brands as better they will transform into enemy hooligans and go against their own brand.
Brands that have seen this happen is MySpace, Ericsson and Lewis. Apple could become one of them because they do not in my opinion understand how fast they must run their innovation when they have as many and passionate fans as they got (a strategic competitor can use this to their advantage).