Some companies make the mistake
of attempting to smooth things over.
Porsche's 2002 launch of the Cayenne
SUV provides an instructive case in
point. Owners of 911 models refused to
accept the Cayenne as a "real" Porsche.
They argued that it did not have the requisite
racing heritage and painted Cayenne
drivers as soccer moms who did
not and could not understand the brand.
Die-hard Porsche owners even banned
Cayenne owners from rennlist.com, a
site that started as a discussion board
for Porsche enthusiasts and has grown
to include pages devoted to Audi, BMW,
and Lamborghini. The company attempted
to mend the rift through a television
campaign, complete with roaring
engines at a metaphorical starting
gate, aimed at demonstrating that the
Cayenne was a genuine member of the
Porsche family. The entrenched community
was not convinced. Positioning
the Cayenne as a race car was "a stretch
that only delusional Porsche market ers could possibly attempt-and a flatout
insult to every great Porsche sports
car that has come before it," one person
wrote on autoextremistcom. Smart
managers know that singing around the
campfire will not force warring tribes
to unite. Communities become stronger
by highlighting, not erasing, the boundaries
that define them