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January 17, 2007
When amateur sites turn pro
When Armand Frasco announced last week that his fan site dedicated to the Moleskine notebook had been acquired, it marked one of the first instances in the sale of a citizen marketer site. The amateur had turned pro.
Since Armand is one of the people profiled here, we asked him this weekend about the acquisition and what it means for Moleskinerie.com and its 150,000 monthly visitors.
What does it mean to be "acquired?" What are the terms?
A: Kikkerland Design Inc. now owns the domain name "Moleskinerie.com" and rights to the blog. Essentially it is a transfer of ownership. I will stay on to run the site for at least one more year.
How much did Kikkerland pay for Moleskinerie?
A: Regretfully, I'm not at liberty to discuss this aspect of the acquisition. Suffice it to say it was fair and consistent with the time and effort I have invested on the project.
Are you now an employee of Kikkerland?
A: They're a cool company and I wish I was but no, I'm not.
How did the acquisition come together? Who approached whom and why?
A: As the blog grew, site housekeeping and maintenance required more of my personal time. Just responding to readers' emails and media queries takes almost a whole morning. The rest of the day is spent on site housekeeping and tending to our Flickr and Google groups. As I've been saying, it was still fun but it had also become a full time job. I had to ask for donations from visitors to the site and many came forward. It was very touching and I wish the proceeds would cover a year's maintenance. It came to a point where my personal finances became a factor so I explored the possibility of transferring ownership to Kikkerland Design Inc, the official Moleskine distributor to the U.S. and Canada. We signed the agreement last month.
You're transitioning from a volunteer citizen marketer to something of a paid community manager for Moleskine. Is that a fair assessment?
A: I would agree with that. Very early in this blog's three-year existence, I realized how significant the site and the communities it engendered had become and what loss it would be if I lost interest (or worse) and just left the blog to whither away. They may be a thrilling joyride for a while but in the end, I believe product sites belong with a company not individuals.
It's interesting that a fan site is acquired by a company associated with that fan's object of evangelism, but how much does it change the idea of amateur fandom and its authenticity?
A: Simply put, it was a tradeoff between survival of the blog and the dreaded "selling off". Fortunately we have a happy compromise with Kikkerland CEO Jan van der Lande. With a company that deals with designers and other creatives all the time, Jan is committed to respecting the independence of the blog much like Modo & Modo (Moleskine's previous owner) co-founder Francesco Franceschi. Believe it or not, I don't keep mailing lists and addresses and they have not required me start keeping them either.
As in any other dealings in life, as long as there is honesty (disclosure of ownership and purpose in this instance) mutual trust and authenticity will remain. Our audience is among the most creative people I've met and I don't see anything that would keep them from expressing their art and opinions in our blog and affiliated communities.
What, if anything, can we expect that's different on Moleskinerie in the months ahead?
A: Nothing much, really. Both Modo & Modo/SGS and Kikkerland have maintained cordial relationships with Moleskinerie for the past couple of years and have kept us abreast with latest developments from the company that would interest our audience. Both companies have also been forthcoming with quality control and other recent product-related issues.
What's your plan for a disclaimer on your site about the relationship with Kikkerland?
A: At the moment, I have updated our "About Page" with a note explaining the acquisition. A more detailed disclaimer will be up shortly citing the new ownership and standard decency regulations in submissions and participation. I'm proud to say that "Moleskiners" have always been a civilized bunch.
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