Opinion piece: Web 2.0: Profiting from the threat
- PDF / 77,033 Bytes
- 3 Pages / 553 x 794 pts Page_size
- 71 Downloads / 179 Views
words: Web 2.0, customer centricity, new internet models, customer intimacy, interactive internet services
Stefan Eikelmann Booz Allen Hamilton GmbH Zollhof 8 Dusseldorf 40221 Germany E-mail: [email protected]
Opinion piece: Web 2.0: Profiting from the threat Stefan Eikelmann, Jad Hajj and Michael Peterson Received (in revised form): 8 July 2007
Journal of Direct, Data and Digital Marketing Practice (2008) 9, 293–295. doi:10.1057/palgrave.dddmp.4350094
Introduction By all accounts, Web 2.0 — the second generation of web-based services and communities that emphasise online collaboration, networking and user-created content — is growing at a phenomenal pace. A recent Booz Allen Hamilton study shows just how prevalent this interactive consumer behaviour has become and, at the same time, puts to rest any notion that social networkers are all 17-year-old boys — or that ‘average people’ don’t read Weblogs. The study found that 50 per cent of all internet users frequent social media sites, and that more than half of the visitors to MySpace, the notoriously youth-oriented social networking site, are 25 or older. Among the many activities taking place on new technology platforms, such as blogs, wikis, podcasts and online communication pit stops, is one that should particularly pique the interest of corporate managers: More and more, consumers are sharing their opinions about products, services and the behaviour of companies. What this means for business is not always clear, but most executives have a sense that their company must respond to this phenomenon. They’re just not sure what to do or how to begin. One useful approach is to frame the issue as a challenge: How do internet-based social media change the marketing environment for companies? How do companies factor the hyper-connected marketplace into their brand and corporate promotion strategies? We have identified three ways that the internet is altering the landscape, along with the hidden opportunities in each.
Web 2.0 means companies are no longer solely in control of their message Corporations are unable to rely on traditional one-way methods of communication — for example, television and print ads — to reach and influence consumers. Web 2.0 has turbocharged the whole notion of ‘word-of-mouth’, circumventing traditional marketing by letting individuals talk directly to each other about their passions, their buying preferences and their pet peeves.
© 2 0 0 8 PA LG R AV E MAC MILLAN LTD 1746- 0166 $30.00 VO L.9 NO.3 PP 293– 295.
Journal of Direct, Data and Digital Marketing Practice
www.palgrave-journals.com/dddmp
293
Eikelmann, Hajj and Peterson Web 2.0 offers limitless opportunities for companies to engage their customers
Blogs
Fragmentation has its upside
294
Hence, instead of trying to ‘control the message’, companies should focus on joining in these conversations. Web 2.0 offers limitless opportunities for companies to engage their customers in meaningful dialogues and learn exactly what they’ve wanted to know all along: precisely what their c
Data Loading...
