We do a lot of brainstorming where I work. Occasionally an idea will be shot down because it won’t be applicable or helpful to the bulk of people. Something like this will be said, “That will only appeal to the fringe.” Good point. We’ve got limited resources and we want to impact as many people as possible.
But what constitutes a fringe?
Look at the circle below. What portion of it would consider to be the fringe?
I know, it’s not very scientific…but come on, play along.
I picture something about like this:
Close to what you pictured?
But here’s the deal, in terms of area the larger circle is actually 50% bigger than the smaller. 50%! If there are 150 people in that circle, I just called 50 of them fringe. If there are 3,000 people in that circle I just slapped that label on a thousand of them.
The world we live in is more diverse, more pluralistic, and more varied than it’s ever been. The fringe is growing. It could be time to target the fringe.
Do you buy that logic?
Any ideas about how to target the fringe? Leave a comment.
I absolutely buy into that logic. Here’s the deal – the inner circle tends to be a tightly knit group. It’s sort of a bound set; they tend to flock together and go with the flow.
The fringe folk tend to be wake-makers, REAL innovators, and and incredibly interesting. I’m quite confident that the flock folk follow the fringe folk (how’s that for alliteration?!)
So how do you target the fringe… maybe the folks on the fringe are comfortable in places most others are not and it may not be possible to target the fringe without making the flock a little anxious.
good thoughts, Rebecca! If they’re leaders, then maybe a good way to target the non-targeted is to let them lead. that’s pretty much what we’ve done with…you’re about as fringe as it gets!