Superfandom

How Our Obsessions Are Changing What We Buy and Who We Are

By: Zoe Fraade-Blanar, Aaron M. Glazer

Narrated by: Josh Bloomberg

As fandom sheds its longtime stigmas of geekiness and hysteria, fans are demanding more from the celebrities and brands they love. Digital tools have given all organizations - from traditional businesses to tech start-ups - direct, real-time access to their most devoted consumers, and it's easy to forget that this access flows both ways.

This is the new "fandom-based economy": a convergence of brand owner and brand consumer. Fan pressures hold more clout than ever before as they demand a say in shaping the future of the things they love. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. In Superfandom, Zoe Fraade-Blanar and Aaron Glazer explain this new era of symbiosis, delving into the history, sociology, and psychology of fandom. From Polaroid to Maker's Mark to groupies of financier Warren Buffett, the consumer relationship has been transformed. Superfandom is an essential guide for those who care, contribute to, and live in this rapidly expanding fan-driven economy.

©2017 Zoe Fraade-Blanar and Aaron M. Glazer (P)2017 Tantor

Best book I have "read" in years

I was at the bookstore looking for something else and just happened across Superfandom. This was the best impulse buy I have ever made. This book is an incredibly insightful look into modern consumer culture and the people that drive some of its most interesting trends. I learned things I had no idea exec existed. Anyone with an interest in marketing, branding, or even popular culture will enjoy this book immensely.

An interesting insight to fandoms

This book provides interesting history to certain fandoms ( history of Renaissance Fairs, the attempts to revive Polaroid instant film etc.). It’s worth reading for those tidbits.

It does not reveal new insights in regards to the overall social, emotional, marketing, and economic impact of fandoms. But I really enjoyed the specific examples used in support of their claims.