NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine explains how the agency built its massive following through Apollo's legacy, recent wins like the InSight Mars landing, and active storytelling on social media. He credits both historic achievements and the way NASA shares them now.
Questions this video answers
32 million Twitter followers.
48 million Instagram followers.
November 2018.
Eight times.
Jim Bridenstine.
Chapters
When we were looking around for examples of fandom, one of the things that was just massive is NASA. NASA. Oh, my gosh, you see people walking down the street with NASA T shirts all the time. Everyone knows about NASA, by the way. They're a government agency that has 32 million Twitter followers, that has 48 million Instagram followers. How crazy is that? We had an opportunity to interview Jim Bridenstine. He's the director of NASA. He runs the entire place out of Washington, D.C. and we spoke with him about how he and NASA builds fans.
I think it starts with the Apollo program, with the idea that we sent people to the moon. And that legacy lives on today in really significant ways, to the point where, I mean, even today, people are wearing NASA shirts. We've got professional athletes that have their own branded or their own branded shoes with the NASA logo. So I would say it seems like the brand is coming back in a big way right now. And I think a lot of it stems from social media and Facebook and Twitter and YouTube and so many other ways that we reach the public as an agency. But it also stems from, and this is, I think, the most important thing, it stems from stunning achievements. So, for example, back In November of 2018, we landed InSight on Mars. Well, that was the eighth time in human history that we've landed a spacecraft on Mars, softly, in a way that the spacecraft can actually operate as a robot or a rover. In this case, Insight was just a lander. But the important thing is that's only been done eight times in human history. It's always been done by NASA. Nobody else has been able to achieve it. It's really. I think it's a tool of national power that helps change the perception of young people all over the world towards the United States of America. And I think it's recognized. It is. It's absolutely recognized all over the world.
Oh, it absolutely is. And just the outward manifestations of what I call fanocracy, people wearing T shirts with the logo on it, and the fact that National Air and Space Museum is like one of the most popular museums on the planet. Tell me as how would you advise the CEO of any kind of organization could be a nonprofit. It could be a company to use the tools of social media to project an image and a message to grow fans in the way that NASA has done such a terrific job doing that.
So I think you have to have two things. Number one, you have to have a group of people that is starting with. That are interested in what you're trying to achieve. And then you have to achieve something significant. In fact, in the case of NASA, something magnificent. So I would say NASA is quite frankly unique in the sense that we are constantly doing very stunning things that captures the imagination of a very enthusiastic fan base. But it all comes back to look, we can do really amazing things if we're not communicating about it, nobody cares. But you have to constantly be sharing your victories. And NASA is really good at sharing its victories. It just so happens that our victories are quite magnificent.
They're amazing. My final question. When you were in Congress, before you became administrator, were you a fan of NASA?
Absolutely. I've been a big fan of just space exploration and space activities for a long time.
So you have the ideal job in the whole world now?
Without question. I do think that this is probably the best job in the world.
Thank you so much, Jim.
Thank you.
You've heard a lot about Phonocracy so far and hopefully you've learned that one of the best things about Phonocracy is that any business can tap into the power of its audience. It doesn't matter if you're NASA and have obviously magnificent achievements to share or if you're Hagerty Insurance in an industry everyone hates. At the beginning of the course, I told you we'd be exploring three themes from David Enrico's book. How you can get closer than usual to your audience, how to let go of your creations and give your fans control, and how to develop employees who are fans. Exploring these themes will help you start thinking about a strategy to build your own fandom. Whether you're a B2B company or a B2C company. Whether you sell tangible goods or services, or if your industry is easily understood and well loved, or if it isn't. The point is, with a little creativity and with a focus on who your customers are and what they want, any business can enjoy the same fandom as Heggerty Insurance and yes, even NASA.
