The Dragonfly Effect: Creepy or not?
- Amanda Bethany
- Oct 24, 2015
- 4 min read
Despite the title of The Dragonfly Effect: Quick, Effective and Powerful Ways to Use Social Media to Drive Social Change, this book did not give me the creeps I usually get when something involves bugs. That’s because while authors Jennifer Aaker and Andy Smith (with Carlye Adler) use the dragonfly as the construct for a plan to leverage the power of social media, they make the dragonfly out to be a majestic creature (I’ll still duck if one flies at me though). Each body part of the dragonfly is broken down and assigned an “action” or step to achieve positive results using social media. If you’re like me, you’re probably wondering why the dragonfly, which the authors do an excellent job of explaining:
“The dragonfly is the only insect able to propel itself in any direction—with tremendous speed and force—when its four wings are working in concert. This ancient, exotic and benign creature illuminates the importance of integrated effort. It also demonstrates that small actions can create big movements.”
The Dragonfly body is broken down into four wings:
Wing 1: FOCUS: How to hatch a goal that will make an impact
Wing 2: GRAB ATTENTION: How to stick out in an overcrowded, overmessaged, noisy world
Wing 3: ENGAGE: How to make people connect with your goal
Wing 4: TAKE ACTION: How to empower others, enable them—and cultivate a movement
A depiction of the body parts of the Social Media Dragonfly
Both of the books we’ve read this semester have emphasized the importance of powerful storytelling, something our client, Aspen Brewing Company, can really capitalize on to strengthen their presence online and on social media. The authors brilliantly quote a famous poet to exemplify the importance of the process of content creation:
“No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader.” – Robert Frost
While this quote is specific to writing, it can be related to the creation of all types of content creation – both visual and written. If the creator does not feel an emotion, how can one expect the audience to feel anything? And the emotion isn’t limited to sadness, the emotion could be anything to result in an action: Intrigue, delight, sadness, empathy – you name it, and there’s probably a way to turn this emotion into an outcome if done correctly.
My favorite parts of this book were the examples highlighting an outcome obtained using social media. I work for a nonprofit, so the examples of fundraising were particularly of interest to me. I’d heard of Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, but had no knowledge of its origin. A young girl, Alex, with cancer decided to make a difference and hold a lemonade stand to raise money for cancer research. Through her determination, she inspired a movement, raising more than $1,000,000 in her short life. What started as one lemonade stand spread first through her neighborhood, the town, the state and then nationwide due to its adherence to the four wings. Alex had a clear goal that grabbed attention and resonated with its audience due to its uniqueness and power, and most importantly empowered others to take action as well. As of January 2010, Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation has raised in excess of $27 million dollars. I love their blog, which does an excellent job of featuring a wide range of content from success stories to fundraising tips to facts about childhood cancer.
While Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation is a nonprofit, I think this is still applicable to the for-profit world. By solidifying a clear goal and accompanying strategy for messaging and achieving that goal, our client, Aspen Brewing Company, could increase their sales and build a stronger sense of community (and increase loyalty within that community). By doing so, they would create brand ambassadors that will help them tell their story without exhausting their extremely limited resources.
“Show, don’t tell. Don’t underestimate the importance of your visual identity. As a species, we remember 85-90 percent of what we see, but less than 15 percent of what we hear.”
I found this statistic to be incredibly interesting, and very relatable to real life. The saying “in one ear and out the other” is sadly probably pretty accurate. Creativity and a unique story are essential to success online and using social media (and really, just in general). The authors reference Volkswagen’s Fun Theory campaign, something I’d seen when it went viral but never really thought of as a marketing campaign. I think that’s key, and something Aspen Brewing Company should definitely consider since they have such a fun product in craft beer. They can definitely get creative and develop marketing plans that don’t come across as traditional commercials (like Coca Cola’s using names on their bottles and the #ShareACoke campaign – everyone is taking selfies and photos with bottles and promoting Coke without even realizing it, read the statistics from 2014..brilliant!).
Volkswagen: The Fun Theory - I want to use these stairs!
I think compared to Your Brand: The Next Media Company this book is a better resource for smaller organizations like Aspen Brewing Company. Throughout all four wings in the book, the authors provide simple diagrams for organizations to work through to determine where they are in a specific process, and providing simple action items for how to move through to the next step. It breaks the process down to be much more manageable.
Getting Started with Twitter: A Diagram
My one criticism would be that the book at times was a bit dry. I can’t put my finger on it, but I found myself getting distracted or wanting to skip ahead to other parts. It was a bit repetitive at times, which is great to drive home a point, but felt like it was a bit redundant and unnecessary. Overall though, I found the book to be enjoyable and it made quite a few excellent points. I'm sure my team will be referring to this as a resource as we work through our recommendations for our client this semester. If you're looking to grow your presence online, I definitely recommend checking this book out – and I can’t wait to hear your thoughts!
Until next time!
<3 ab
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