In and excerpt form the blog “church of the customer” i have copied and pasted an interview that they had with Armand Frasco about his Moleskine site being bought out by the manufacturers of the diaries. Below is the blurb, but also pay a visit to COC’s website, they have some great ideas and stuff going on there.
The blurb:
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.
