The document discusses creating successful online communities and introduces Open Mic, an online community created for BBC 1Xtra. It explains that online communities should complement, not replace, offline methodologies by understanding both online and offline drivers of participation. Reasons people participate include loving the subject matter, social contact with others, and feeling part of something special - none of which are limited to online spaces. Open Mic encourages participation by uploading relevant content frequently, allowing social contact, giving it a visual identity, and using offline outreach strategies. It features profile pages, freestyle sections, and a hall of fame. BBC 1Xtra benefited from Open Mic by obtaining creative insights, reaching a young audience, and informing its creative expression.

2. What we’ll cover today
Creating a
successful online
community
Understanding
online and offline
drivers
Introducing Open
Mic

3. What Sparkler does
Consumer-led brand Online and offline
strategy consultancy methodologies

4. We’ll be looking today at online communities in context

5. Who are we speaking to?
Participants? Respondents?
PEOPLE
Audience? Consumers?

6. Firstly, let’s define ‘online social community’
X X

7. What is ‘success’?
THE ‘OLD’ THE ‘NEW’
MODEL MODEL
Client
Researcher
Brief Ongoing Ongoing
participation participation
Researcher
Client Participant
Response
Ongoing
participation
Respondent

8. A guiding principle – people don’t change that much

9. How this influences our methodologies
Existing Digital
behaviours methodologies
Complementing, not replacing

10. Some thoughts
Everybody needs People
a reason to congregate (and
communicate)
participate
around content
People come and People (mostly)
go as they please police themselves
Participation
People can be
begets
trusted
participation

11. The question becomes ‘why should people participate?’
Love of the subject
Content
matter
Social contact with Being a part of
others something special
None of these things are limited to the online
world

12. Why people participate
“I love checking in every day. I seem to learn
something new each day or at least each week,
whether it’s discovering new music or finding out
facts about music and its true origin or being
introduced to new music. I also enjoy posting on
both pages too – I often post my favourite tune of
the day: new, old, classic or even unheard of, it
introduces other members to music they may or
may not have heard before!”

13. Why people participate
Kwame Lisa

14. So what do you do about that?
Upload relevant Show and share
content your love of the
frequently subject matter
Allow social
Give it a visual
contact with
identity
others
Don’t be too ‘Big Use offline
Brother’ contact strategies

15. The role of incentives
Mercenary?
Motivated by money?
Participation
Sociability
Relevant incentives

16. Introducing Open Mic

17. So what does this mean in the case of Open Mic?
Set rhythms
New
developments
Staying on topic

18. Profile pages

19. Freestyle

20. Hall of Fame

21. Benefits to 1Xtra
“Open Mic is a unique way of obtaining creative
insight, reaching out to a young underserved
audience who don’t communicate through
traditional means and are therefore hard to reach.
The community has also helped us build a
relationship with our core audience. The site has
informed the station’s creative expression and
been used as a strategic tool across 1Xtra”
Ade Adeluwoye, Research Manager, 1Xtra

22. Konrad Collao, Associate Partner
e: konrad@sparkler.co.uk m: 07886 203 863