Literally. Geographic borders are of no consequence to today’s discerning customer. If you are not giving your customers what they want, they can (and will) find it elsewhere – anywhere in the world.
When was your last dialogue with your – existing and prospective – customers?
I had a rare snorckle (combination of a snort and chuckle) when I saw this YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPONTneuaF4
Like a great advertising/PR campaign, this hearts-and-flowers fantasy video had it all: Seductive sweet talk, brand name repetition (an impressive 17 mentions of “Candy Mountain” in about 3 minutes) overly plain propaganda, and a BIG PROMISE. The only thing missing was the “delivery” on the BIG PROMISE.
Sugarcoating a message is one thing. Disinformation is another.
Each may start with persuasive intentions but only one will end with a curiously painful conclusion.
My sister’s strategy for protecting my niece from Internet predators has been simple: No computer, no Internet. A single working mom, she doesn’t have the energy or time to deal with it. But these days my sister seems to be exerting just as much energy and time defending this strategy to her nagging 8-year-old daughter, who simply wants to be “connected” with her friends.
My sister, like many companies today, is gradually and grudgingly accepting the pervasive reality of social media.
By the time my niece enters the US labor workforce in 2020, she will be among almost 21 million 16 to 24-year-old workers (“A new look at long-term labor force projections to 2050,” Monthly Labor Review) who most likely cut their technology teeth in one form of social media or another.
It behooves organizations to genuinely embrace social media today with wide open arms, baring the soul of their brand for their future employees and consumers. The result will be mindshare on a mind-boggling scale.
As for my sister, she will eventually open the door to the rich world of social media…if only to keep her sanity.
“Dialogue is the yeast that lightens the bread…”
– Mark Twain in a letter to Richard Watson Gilder, 29 April 1898