Commmunispace "was the market leader in creating and managing private, brand-focused online communities for major corporate clients." They developed a new way to successfully market products by taking advantage of Web 2.0. Communispace understood that Web 2.0 is an excellent tool to reach the customer since the customer is always accessible online. Reaching out to the customer online can make listening to customers much easier. Web 2.0 also makes WOM advertising more effective because customers can talk with one another and share ideas regarding a product. Communispace builds online communities for clients and these communities are where they inspire discussion and feedback on their client's products. These communities are more effective than focus groups or surveys because, "communities provide a continuous flow of information, not a snapshot in time."
I feel that listening to the customer is a huge competitive advantage. Today we live in a society where most companies don't listen to what their customers want. They feel that they know what the customer wants better than the customer knows themselves. This can be a positive or a negative practice. Nintendo for example always tries to be one step ahead of the customer by predicting what the customer wants. For example Nintendo always makes the customer scratch their heads when they announce a new game or system, but thus far Nintendo's risks have worked out in their favor. In 2003 Nintendo launched The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker which was a new installment in one of their most successful franchises. Nintendo was taking a huge gamble because players were expecting the game to look realistic but Nintendo flipped the switch and decided to make the game look like a cartoon. Many fans were not happy but the game still sold and gamers got over it since the product was still good. Nintendo took an even bigger gamble with the Wii. They decided to not compete directly against Sony and Microsoft and instead to make inferior technology that was more gimmicky. But the gimmick worked and ended up outselling the PlayStation 3 and the X-Box 360. Then there are times when a company goes against what the customer wants and suffers dearly because of it. For example Coke launched a new Coke in 1985 which was a huge marketing bust. Customers were not happy and Coke was forced to return to their original flavor. Coke listened and reverted back which is an example of how successful a company can be when they actually care what the customer thinks. I normally refrain from buying products from companies who think they know what I want and refuse to listen when me and others complain that we want the old thing back. My favorite video game of all time is Socom II USA navy seals which launched on the PlayStation 2 in 2003. Socom was an online shooting game that had a huge following. Socom III came out and was nothing like Socom 2, it was a different game. Users repeatedly complained on message boards for Zipper Interactive to return Socom to how it was but Zipper refused to listen and they brought out a few Socom's since the third installment. Today the entire Socom fan base is gone because Zipper would never listen to their customers and now the former fans play other games like Call of Duty. I see why Coke is the best marketed product in history because of their listening.
Online communities work well for listening because Communispace keeps the communities small so customers can know one another and therefore they will trust each other and feel comfortable sharing. Communispace does not want communities to be the size of Facebook; they prefer to keep them smaller, more like forums. Customers use these communities because incentives are often provided. Companies make marketing decisions from listening to customers. Take Nabisco's 100 calorie packs as an example. The success of that campaign is due to customer input and execution of what the customers want. I wonder how products would fair in a market where every company cared about what customers want? I enjoyed reading this case and I would give it a 9/10.
I agree with you totally about how a lot of companies don't seem to care what their customers want. I forget where this is from, but i remember about how marketing was about getting customers to buy a product. While this has succeeded in the past, I think it is much more effective to make a product that customers want. If a company does that then the product markets itself. I see the benefits of trying to guess what people want, so that you can bring the product to them in a timely manor but at the same time it is important to take feedback after the product is released. I can think of products that I have felt the same way you do about Socom, and those products have struggled as well. This is why I think it is important that Communispace does not become a marketing company that markets products. If they start to get communities for the purpose of getting them to like a product that is made then I believe they will fail. If they continue to be a company that takes information from their communities to help make products that they want, then I think they can continue to succeed.
ReplyDeleteCompanies in the past jurst produced products that they believed or assumed the consumer would want the products; however, as consumers become more invovled and create contents for the exact brand and company, the companies cannot ignore what consumers really want and what they are thinking of your company. one consumer will comment on the product they purchased and used and their word of mouth becomes world of mouth. therefore, the companies should effectively produce what the customers want or at least ask what they would think of the product they just made. I am not saying every company has to deal with this process. If the product is good enough, then you would not have to ask whether the customer likes it or not b/c it is the product that everybody wants to have; however, at least you have to think from consumer's perspectives and if you can is there anything that you would lose if you share ideas with your customers?
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