It's
the age of empowered consumers. Enlightened companies get this, but most don't, particularly those who are used to being in total control... you know, the NBC's of the world, the Bank of America types and most of the classic corporate giants from the last century.
Consumers are armed with instant information, the entire history of a company, every good and bad word ever said. We no longer take anyone's word for anything without stopping by Wikipedia for a quick glance.
As
obvious as this new consumer strength may be, experience tells me that most companies
don’t get it. And that indictment applies to large and small alike. You’d think larger, multi-billion dollar corporations with
hundreds of marketing experts and social scientists on staff would see
the pattern, but they don’t.
Why? The Greeks had a word for it… hubris.
Why? The Greeks had a word for it… hubris.
It’s really the same principle you see in play with some politicians. They choose high-risk behavior – nights with prostitutes, illicit sex in men’s rooms, etc. – because they feel they are powerful enough to be above the law. Of course, they never are, particularly when that ‘law’ is in the court of public opinion.
Companies are the same – and the bigger they are, the more ignorant and arrogant are their actions.
But you would think that a huge media conglomerate like NBC and the social media darling Twitter would be one of the few that understands.
They don't and they didn't when it came to closing the blog of a reporter critical of NBC's (pretty bad) Olympic coverage.
NBC, the media giant and defender of first amendment rights, couldn't take the criticism from one, just one reporter's Twitter account. That tells me that all this crap about NBC being online and in-touch and part of the new media revolution is all... well... crap. They haven't a clue about how the billion or so of us who use the Net regularly feel about any type of censorship.
Even worse, the folks at Twitter -- who should be savvy about social media and its users -- responded just like a 19th century robber baron wanting to crush the unions. Twitter acting like US Steel? Sickening but oh so funny. So much for Twitter being cool. Yeah, they're cool, just like the Stasi.
Recall how in the past 12 months or so big companies have given in to consumer demands. Remember when Bank of America announced that it would charge a monthly fee for users of debit cards. Consumers hit the roof, then the Internet. One month before implementation (after swearing they would not go back on the policy) BofA scrapped the plan.
Netflix decided to raise its monthly charge several dollars and people were outraged. OK, says the CEO, then we’ll change the service plan from a combination of online and DVDs by mail to online only. Another public outcry. Netflix loses 250,000 customers overnight. They relent but too late. The damage has been done to the brand and its bottom line.
No
more. Yet companies continue to act as if they are in control... just like NBC and Twitter. And no
matter how many times the newly
empowered consumer wins, you can’t get 50-something executives to see
it. Instead they keep alienating consumers and scratching their balding heads as
to why ‘nothing in marketing works anymore.’ But you would think that a huge media conglomerate like NBC and the social media darling Twitter would be one of the few that understands.
They don't and they didn't when it came to closing the blog of a reporter critical of NBC's (pretty bad) Olympic coverage.
NBC, the media giant and defender of first amendment rights, couldn't take the criticism from one, just one reporter's Twitter account. That tells me that all this crap about NBC being online and in-touch and part of the new media revolution is all... well... crap. They haven't a clue about how the billion or so of us who use the Net regularly feel about any type of censorship.
Even worse, the folks at Twitter -- who should be savvy about social media and its users -- responded just like a 19th century robber baron wanting to crush the unions. Twitter acting like US Steel? Sickening but oh so funny. So much for Twitter being cool. Yeah, they're cool, just like the Stasi.
Recall how in the past 12 months or so big companies have given in to consumer demands. Remember when Bank of America announced that it would charge a monthly fee for users of debit cards. Consumers hit the roof, then the Internet. One month before implementation (after swearing they would not go back on the policy) BofA scrapped the plan.
Netflix decided to raise its monthly charge several dollars and people were outraged. OK, says the CEO, then we’ll change the service plan from a combination of online and DVDs by mail to online only. Another public outcry. Netflix loses 250,000 customers overnight. They relent but too late. The damage has been done to the brand and its bottom line.
Verizon announced that it would begin charging
customers $2 to pay their bills online (and not through direct
debit). Less than a day later, the outrage was so great the idea was
dropped.
Seeing a pattern yet?
Never
in my lifetime have such large companies been forced to give in to
consumers. Up until now it’s been all their way and consumers could like
it or lump it.
NBC -- big network still acting like big shots. So thin skinned it can't take even a hint of criticism... like politicians, like the old Soviet Union, like all bullies everywhere.
