Tribe Communication Tools: HAIR the Musical Case Study

Since the show's debut in 1968, the cast of the show has been referred to as, "The Tribe." They did not take this idea from Seth Godin's book Tribes. They call themselves a tribe because of the characters they portray on stage. Their characters exude the freedom of ideas and expressions from the inside out. What they wore, how they moved, what they said, and ofcourse their hair created an easily identifiable tribe.

The show is about creating a movement and standing up for your beliefs. The main purpose of the web site hairbroadway.com is to sell tickets to the Broadway show. The secondary purpose is to make the fans of the show feel like they are a part of 'The Tribe.'

I had the pleasure to speak with the interactive agency who created the site and manages the marketing for HAIR, Situation Interactive. They are a full-service interactive marketing agency located in New York City and Las Vegas working with most of the shows on Broadway and touring companies.

I learned that they are working on the site and marketing in two phases. The site launched in early February 2009 so they are currently in phase 1 since the show has not yet premiered. You can read about more of the tools they are using in Phase 1 below. Phase 2 will include creating new wigits and banners for the fans to spread virally, applications for Facebook and promoting the music page once the full soundtrack is recorded.

The site speaks to hippies of all ages. The show's profanity, depiction of the use of illegal drugs, treatment of sexuality, irreverence for the American flag and nude scene cause much comment and controversy for the show and attract a certain person. The website depicts the hippie bright colors, sunshine and peace signs associated with the times.

The purpose of the show is to create a movement and encourage others to join their 'tribe.' There are three main community building features on the website. They are:

Spread the love

The Cast blog

Be part of the Movement

This section is for downloads, social networks, banners and other goodies. They have most of the major social networks covered. I have listed below the promoted sites and the number of members as of March 2009. I am sure this will grow tremendously once the show has debuted.

You Tube - Started December 2008. Has over 6,465 Channel Views

My Space - over 1352 channel views and 62 friends

Twitter Started January 2009 and 197 followers

FacebookStarted February 2008 1978 friends

As a way for their fans to promote the show, they have viral banners to "Spread the Love" on their their websites.

Instead of a traditional blog with one person writing about the musical, they have a video blog. It makes the community feel like they are behind the scenes and get an inside glimpse into their world.

This is in addition to the 'Meet the Tribe' section where they have video's of the cast and creative members instead of a static bio and photo.

This is the only section of the website that includes the fans as part of the tribe. The interactive flash site shows hands raised in the air representing people who are part of the Hair movement. The site ask to "Raise your hand and join the movement." or you can "Search the tribe to find member profiles."The main goals of this section are to allow the community to put a mark on the HAIR site and connect with like minded people through their posted URL.

When creating a profile the questions include, Nickname, URL (blog, facebook, twitter), Drug of choice? (multiple choice), Favorite song? (multiple choice from the show), Are you naked right now? Have you marched in protest? What do you celebrate? What are you thinking right now?

After a call with Situation Interactive the agency for HAIR I learned the following about the site HAIRbroadway.com.

The site launched February 12, 2007. It recieved immediate positive feedback.

Be Part of the Movement community section went live on February 27, 2009. They were able to attract 100 new tribe members right away, this is growing at a fast rate.

They track the their community through Facebook and UTube tracking systems.
And track the website through Google Analytics.

The video blog is a nice way to get an inside look to the cast and show, however, there is not a way to receive an RSS feed of updates. Plus, they do not have all of these posted on their external social media sites. My recommendation would be to use * to upload the blog videos to multiple sites at once.

On the Share the love social media section, they should add Flickr to their list of options. I bet there are some great photos out there of the cast and rehearsals.

They do have permission marketing on the website to 'sign up for the newsletter' however it is in the bottom right corner of the page. I would make this a larger action item.

They should have a way for the community to speak with each other. Be part of the movement is the only way they are allowing their community to speak-up. In addition, several of the options are contrived by multiple choice. The goal is to inspire people to speak-up about their standpoints. They should give them a platform to do so.

The viral banners are great and a smart feature to add. However, the main message of the banner is to sell tickets. If you want your community to 'spread the love' they may be more willing to do this if they were not blatantly selling for you. Try adding viral features that boast the meaning and excitement of the show. I would create banners that say they are 'Part of the Tribe' or 'I joined the movement.' Then, link to the main site rather than ticket sales.

The website is impressive and has the basic needs to spread the word and get people excited about the show. At the time I am writing this, the show has not made its official Broadway debut. I have a feeling the show will be a big hit and encourage hidden hippies young and old to come out of their shell. When this happens, they will need a platform. This website is a starting point for the community, however, I do not think it has enough features to grow with its popularity.