• When is it a Movement?

    Posted on October 16th, 2008 by and currently 10 commenting.

    A couple of weeks ago at one of the social events for BlogOrlando, Rob Williams totally stumped me with a question. In his quiet way, he asked, ‘You guys say that you create movements. So, when does it become a movement?’

    Great question.

    We talk a lot about movements around here if you haven’t noticed. And that’s just to emphasize the long-term sustainability of them. But when we start a new partnership with a client, we always tell them that movements start small. With a core group of highly passionate fans. And then it grows, engaged fan by engage fen.

    Which brings be back to Rob’s question: When does it become a movement?

    I posed this question to Geno last week. His response? A movement starts with the first conversation.

    If that conversation is filled with honesty, transparency, true interest and a LOT of listening, then the first seed is planted. The movement has begun in one mind and one heart. And that’s usually the beginning of something powerful, meaningful and full of potential that gets realized more every day.

  • http://www.brandidentityguru.com/wordpress BIG Kahuna

    Can’t a campaign cause that conversation if it is filled with honesty, transparency, true interest and a LOT of listening? A movement has to be bigger than that doesn’t it?

    I’m an iRobot brand ambassador. I tell anyone I can about how great Roomba’s are. Did I start a movement? Am I the movement maker? Wait, I just told you and all your readers….has a movement begun?

    Or did I simply pass along a conversation that is filled with honesty, transparency, true interest and a LOT of listening?

    p.s. Roomba’s rock, buy one! I have 11.

  • http://thebrandbuilder.worpress.com olivier Blanchard

    Beyond the first spark (the conversation around an idea) that ignites a movement, doesn’t an idea truly morph into a movement when a) people step forward to volunteer (time, opinions, endorsements, resources, etc.) and b) their numbers keep increasing until they reach some sort of critical mass?

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  • http://www.kristofermencak.com Kristofer Mencák

    I think what is meant is that what kicks off the movement is a conversation “filled with honesty, transparency, true interest and a LOT of listening”.

    Once that takes place, it starts into a movement, driven by passion. It doesn’t have to be huge to be a movement. Just like a “viral” doesn’t have to be a mainstream viral. It can be extremely viral in the right context, in the right target group.

    It’s still viral.

    @BIG Kahuna: Yes, I think a campaign can also start a movement, provided what you mention.

    My two cents… =)

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  • http://www.note-to-cmo.com Stephen Denny

    Brother Spike:

    Saying a movement starts with the first conversation is like saying a video becomes viral when you finish post production.

    I think we have to acknowledge that “movements” happen when the people we talk to start moving. It’s the effect, not the precursor to the cause, that we’re hoping to observe.

    We can create the spark — but regardless of an idea’s honesty or transparency, it needs to detonate in our audience’s imaginations and then make them act. I’ll get off the explosive metaphors now.

    Thanks –

  • http://brainsonfire.com Spike

    Stephen,

    Thanks, as always, for the thoughtful comment. I hear what you’re saying, but when we’re out there, sitting down, looking people in the eye and telling them what we think is possible, we see that light in their eye ignite. They get it. they begin to believe. And know. That it’s in their hands. They are the leaders of the movement. And so I truly do believe it starts with that first conversation. A dialogue. With thoughts and hopes and dreams and ownership.

    I see your point, but I think our contexts are from different POVs.

  • http://gretemangroup.com/blog Todd

    I think that retrospectively, once a movement has gained traction, one can point back to the first conversation and say, “Yes, this is when it started.” But whilst in the birth throes of a movement, I’m not sure one can so confidently declare that a movement has started after a single conversation.

    And I think this really digs to the heart of the question: At what point during its creation, can you declare an idea or cause a movement?

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