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Tribe of Kylie Fans

Like-minded consumers 'forming tribes'
April 20, 2005 - 6:49PM

A UK financial services provider has said that like-minded consumers are clustering into "tribes".

Those institutions that people took for granted are now disintegrating, as church attendance declines, people disengage from the government and the traditional family breaks down said Paul Pester, chief executive of Virgin Money Group in the United Kingdom.

But humans were essentially social creatures and still liked to be part of a group.

"The key difference is that instead of building institutions through the church, through the state or through the school, we're starting as consumers to build communities based on who shares the same perspective as us," Dr Pester said.

"We're starting to building 21st century tribes... and those tribes are being based on people that agree with our view of the world."

And with the advent of the internet and mobile phones, people could now be linked with those on the other side of the world, he said at the International Consumer Credit Card Summit 2005 in Sydney.

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AdvertisementHe said one of the world's strongest tribes in the near future would form around Manchester United, which was not just a British football club but also the hub of a tribe of 50 million supporters worldwide.

"Manchester United understand that they're at the centre of a global franchise," he said, adding that the club had already taken steps into financial services with the establishment of MU Finance.

He dubbed another large tribe "The People's Republic of Kylie Minogue", noting that the Australian pop star was capitalising on her huge success with an online Kylie Minogue shop. . . .