The 1/9/90 Rule

When you try to appeal to everyone, you’ll inevitably appeal to no one. 

Trying to create and nurture a small number of superfans for your brand can often be much more effective than trying to get one million average fans. 

However, according to the 1/9/90 rule, a lot can be said for turning average fans into engaged and active superfans. 

The consumer breakdown is roughly as follows: 1% creates, 9% shares and the other 90% consumes. 

Remember when you watched your favourite brand’s latest campaign video on Facebook but didn't press the share button? That was you being part of the 90%. 

Wendy’s Twitter love songs campaign is one of the best examples of a brand understanding the 1/9/90 rule and successfully running a campaign that led to many of the 90% actively sharing the campaign on social channels. 

Instead of asking fans to record their own song in appreciation for the new Pretzel Burger Bun, they capitalised on a behaviour their consumers were already engaging in - tweeting their appreciation of food. 

Wendy’s took these tweets and hired professionals to do the hard creative work of turning tweets into songs. Check out Nick Lachey’s Pretzel Bacon Cheeseburger Love Song. LOL.

If you’re interested in learning more social media tips and tricks from industry thought leaders, check out our Social Media course in collaboration with Ogilvy.