Citizen Marketers: Fanatics

 

While reading Citizen Marketers, I came across a section titled "Fanatics". Fanatics are citizen marketers who filter work, analyze the daily or weekly progress of a brand, product, organization, or person and prescribe courses of action. They basically critic brands etc. but also praise them when praise is deserved. These citizen marketers are just "fanatics" who blog etc. as a hobby. In the book, McChronicals.com is used as an example. McChronicals is essentially just a blog about McDonalds. I went to the website to explore further. I wanted a hands on, visual example of what a "fanatic" actually is. Upon my venturing the McChronical's site, I learned a lot of new things about McDonalds that I would otherwise not know. For example: Did you know that McDonalds charges you 5 cents extra every time you purchase a water bottle from their establishment? It is a deposit free. Interesting. Why not just buy a cup of water instead? It costs less (nothing) and keeps you from throwing away a plastic bottle. Yes, at McDonalds there is no other option then just throwing away your bottle. They do not provide customers with recycle bins! I also learned that the McDonalds in Iceland recently shut down due to soaring costs. They also have their own Monopoly game board. Yes, that's right! McDonalds Monopoly. You can also follow McDonalds on twitter! You know you want to. It goes on and on. It includes restaurant reviews, customer comments, and how-tos. It was really impressive. This blogger really goes above and beyond. I can only imagine he is a real McDonalds Fanatic (that can't be healthy). I find his cause very noble. I can see how blogs like this can really sway consumers opinions and open their eyes to the inner workings of a company. I think I will continue to read this blog, even though I don't eat at McDonalds ( I don't eat fried food). I find it very interesting. Citizen Marketers really do make a difference.