Inspired Ideas

I have this friend who enjoys playing Scrabble. No, she’s not retired and no she’s not my grandmother.

Let’s call her Dana. Last name, Gordon. Dana Gordon is often busy with “prior engagements” or at least that’s what she tells me. I have a sneaky suspicion that she’s actually busy playing Scrabble online with some kid from across the world. Sad, I know, dissed for Scrabble.

Apparently, Dana Gordon is not alone. There are close to 600,000 daily active users of the Facebook application “Scrabulous“. 600,000. Daily. Active. PLAYING SCRABBLE! A majority of these people were probably not what Scrabble would define as their core target market just 3 years ago.

This is what most brand managers dream of. We go to pointless meeting after meeting so that we can figure out how to replicate exactly this - a loyal community that is deeply passionate about our brand.

So, what do the geniuses over at Hasbro/Mattel do when they find out about Scrabulous and this community of 600,000 strong.

Cease and desist on their punk asses that’s what.

And all of a sudden Dana Gordon has a lot less “prior engagements”. Coincidence?

There’s a group that’s started on Facebook called “Save Scrabulous” - its has over 40,000 members. Talk about passionate users.

Am I missing something here? Shouldn’t the brand managers at Hasbro/Mattel be overwhelmingly giddy like a bunch of teenage girls waiting for the Jonas Brothers to perform?

There has to be a better solution then trying to shut-down the community. The problem, as I see it, is out-of-touch marketers making decisions based on the opinions of lawyers. Corporate lawyers are tasked with minimizing risk and that can be a problem when marketers and lawyers don’t communicate.

Scrabulous is just one, of what I am sure are many, examples of poor communication between marketers and lawyers. So, what’s the solution? To start, marketers and lawyers should sit next to each other. Corporations have made strides breaking down the silos between different departments but this should also apply to the legal department. If this is not possible or will take months of “planning sessions” to figure how to move everyone around then have a weekly mandatory working session between the marketing and legal department. This will allow each department to update each other on what they are trying to achieve, upcoming programs/initiatives, etc.

Matt Dickman over at Techno//Marketers also has some other interesting suggestions and how to look at all of the options inside of social networks like the Scrabulous community.

What are you waiting for? If you’re a marketer call up your legal deparment and vice-versa. Introduce yourself. Talk. That’s all I ask. Don’t do it for me. Do it for Dana and the millions of people just like her around the world.

- Nish

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