The announcement that Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema will be working together again after settling their legal dispute, has fans everywhere rejoicing and looking forward to seeing his rendition of "The Hobbit," which will be a two-film prequel to "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy.
I bring it up here to reiterate the important part the Internet plays in situations like this.
First I want to mention, that it works especially well with the type of circumstances surrounding a strong brand like Lord of the Rings. The fan base is about as committed to and as deep as possibly any fan base for any brand or product. This plays to the strength of the converational and interactive side of the Internet.
With that strong connection to the brand, it made it almost impossible for anyone else to take on The Hobbit, but Peter Jackson.
He probably has fan clubs and fans all over the Internet to thank for the impasse being settled, than any other reason. Even with rumors of other popular and capable directors, like Sam Raimi, there never was a doubt as to who their major choice was.
I'm mentioning this because it's the strength of a brand that makes this possible. The emotional and passionate tie to the story and books makes the response to anything that happens with them a major event for fans. The Internet is the perfect platform to be an influencer in this area.
It also underscore how important it is to continually measure the pulse of your fans and core customers. The trick here is to basically learn how to ignore the ranters and detractors, while listening carefully to constructive criticism of those that are your true believers. If you don't, you'll end up chasing down every rabbit hole that talks about your brand in a negative way.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of people out there that rejoice to do nothing else but bash anybody or any company they can. They really aren't worth the time of day to respond to. They eventually fade away in influence with others, as their "voice" becomes unbelievable and just tiring.
On the other hand, riding the wave of true fan-based input is a valuable strategy and action for all of us to do. The bringing together of Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema, I believe, happened because of the enormous input of real fans everywhere - especially on the Internet - who wouldn't take anything less than what they wanted for their beloved story.
Today we see the end results of that passion, and the bringing together of two sides that looked almost impossible to make happen.
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