Here are the questions from our group for next Monday's class:
Amy:
1. Are/Were you a member of any online communities? If yes, what motivates you to join the community? What kind of members are you, seekers, educators, challengers, governors, appraisers, players or innovators?
2. As compared to online communities, nowadays social media is gaining marketing power as a platform of making people mingled and engaged together in brand activities. How online communities and social media (or SNS) are similar to and different from each other, in terms of their co-creation motivation and behavior?
Can you think of any examples of successful social
media campaigns? What do you think makes them successful?
Regina:
1) Do you have any experience of participating in co-creation activities (e.g. questing customized products [DIY], creating video advertisements for the product (UCC), actively participating in community)?
2) In article, the author emphasizes that consumers’ role and control have been important than ever. Do you think companies and consumers maintain balanced relationship nowadays in terms of the “control”? You can explain with interesting examples!
Summer:
1) The Fisher and Smith article mentions that consumers always talk about the mistakes from a company instead of talking about what the company brings to them. Mistakes and problems are catalysts that bring consumers closer together and foster common purpose for dialogue. Do you agree that? Do you have examples to support your idea?
2) “Control” increasingly passes from corporations to consumers. This is a shift from an old to new marketing model. What does the marketing gain or lose of changing from old to new models. Do you think the new marketing model brings too much challenging to corporations? How would you deal with the challenges?
Amy:
ReplyDelete1. I love online communities because they help people with the same interests share ideas. I’m very active on Pinterest and regularly check specialty blogs (psychology, religion); on Pinterest I’m a seeker, educator (hopefully :), challenger, and –when I have time to pin new stuff for the community– innovator; on blogs I’m usually a seeker (90% of the time) or challenger (if I comment).
2. In my previous response I listed Pinterest as a community because I don’t consider it social media. When you join, you may connect it to your Facebook account and have friends follow you, but if you unlink the accounts (as I have) Facebook friends are (no longer) notified if you pin something. In my experience, I don’t know most people who follow me on Pinterest, and I like to keep it that way. Pinterest is about sharing the things you love, not updating people on what you do, and this is, I think, the main difference between online communities and social media. Therefore, I think co-creation happens in online communities more than on social media, because communities integrate and play with inspiration connected to the brand. Social media promotion is usually awful, with few possibilities –like/comment/post– which make it difficult for people to show what they want.
Regina:
1) I’ve never done anything like that because I usually don’t have time, but I have written to brands suggesting different types of ads or community activities. I also always rate/review everything I buy, and if I have problems with retailers I e-mail objective (peaceful) comments about my experience. The only time I tried to co-create a product was Nike ID, but gave it up because I thought it looked lousy :)
2) I agree with the article. I think balanced control is what companies should strive for, allowing consumer input but also coordinating it. For instance, I think Nike ID is too consumer-controlled, which is bad for both brand and consumers. The website allows you to design and purchase your own shoe, and every time I tried it I was disappointed. I have a keen eye for color and know what I want from a shoe, but I'm no shoe designer. Rather than allowing me to fully design the shoe, I wish the site made more detailed recommendations. For instance, if you pick blue soles, it would recommend gray upper rather than present you with the full color palette (although it could feature that as well).
Summer:
1) Yes; I completely agree. Psychology tells us we never react when things are just right, so it makes sense people should mostly comment to complain, or, conversely, to overly praise something when it’s very, very good. Of the two, I think complains are the greater dialogue catalyst. One example was a big forum thread with extremely angry gamers. A game they were playing online had gated one of its levels, which meant the players had to ‘like’ the game on Facebook to keep playing. Consumers formed a negative attitude towards the brand because of such obvious promotion. Another example is product reviews on Amazon for a BIC “For Her” pen. The product went viral because it was considered sexist, and hundreds of people posted mocking reviews - http://www.amazon.com/BIC-Cristal-1-0mm-Black-MSLP16-Blk/dp/B004F9QBE6/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top.
2) It’s a huge challenge for corporations but they will have to adapt to survive – the best have already started (e.g. Nike ID). I think the greatest challenge of this model is that companies need to conduct extensive qualitative research to know their consumers better, and then enhance their infrastructure to always communicate with them. If I had a company, I’d integrate social media research in product development (not only advertising) to ensure that what I’m offering matches my consumer.
The reviews for the BIC "For Her" pen are interesting...some of them are even beyond what I could understand...
DeleteAmy
ReplyDeleteYes. I’m on Pinterest and Instagram. I think it’s obvious that I’m more into visual images than words :) In both communities I’m a seeker. I seldom upload pictures myself, mostly I just view others’ pictures and try to find ones I like.
I think the major difference is that people post on SNS to keep updated for their social circles, while in online communities people just share their common interest to total strangers (may become friends later).
Regina
No I haven’t…
Yes I agree. I recently saw the popular online advertisement of M&M, says that you can design your own chocolate on its official page, then have it mailed to you or to your friends and family. It’s really interesting! This kind of interaction, or say ”control” actually can builds a closer relationship. Between consumers and companies.
Summer
I agree. Companies always have to make efforts to reach beyond consumers’ expectations in order to impress them, while a simple mistake could easily cost them a customer forever.
It is a big challenge but also a great opportunity. By providing consumers chances to design products or services exactly like what they want, companies are trying to satisfy their individual need and this could build a more solid relationship between them.
Amy:
ReplyDeleteyes, I like blog, because, I would like to write some daily life in blog, share experience like travel with others, so I think maybe I am most time innovator. But other online community like Weibo, Facebook, I just a seeker.
Regina:
No, I haven’t participated such activities, because I really don’t like this kind of activities. I think I like brands show me the designed completed product, DIY is not always my pursuit.
Yes, I think the relationship between company and consumers are tending to balance which means share the power. Consumers become active to attend the design of product and improve the interaction between consumers and brands.
Summer:
yes, I agree with that. I think it is human nature. And sometimes, only mistakes can call consumers’ attention. A famous example is China’s public service organization Red Cross. A employee of that company showed her wealthy like car, bag and etc. in Weibo and people suspect the use of money the money people donate to Red Cross. At that time, Red Cross get the whole society’ s attention in a negative image. People before that in China seldom pay attention on Red Cross activity, what they bring to us. But after that, Red Cross is the hot topic, and majority of people pay attention on their mistakes, hold negative attitude toward it.
Yes, new things always bring challenges. New model brings more interaction and regards consumers as the center, cater their individual needs which change the past situation that consumers passive status, and it easier to find the common trend of consumers taste. .
To Amy:
ReplyDelete1. Yes. Usually I am motivated by curious, and other people's recommendation. I am always a seeker, mainly because I am too lazy to post stuff on the internet, also, I am award of the insecurity of exposure myself to marketers.
2. I think from the aspect of advertisers, in most cases, online community is an more ideal to target, because the members are sharing same interests. However, social media is a better place to analyze the details of individuals, and to gain senses about some general issues.
The Lucky Line Campaign of Uniqlo which I mentioned before in the class I think, it's still the best social media campaign so far in my mind. The most important reason of its success is that their online event is a daily activity which is related to the real brand image of Uniqlo, also it's easy to join in with friends.
To Regina:
1. No I never had such experience, maybe I would be interested in such campaigns and to see what other people will do motivated by curious, but I am too lazy to participate myself.
2. Yes and No. Companies are doing this be causes they have too many competitors, they don't have choice but do everything they can to make consumers satisfied, in this sense, consumers taking more control compared with old times, because their attitude influence companies' benefits, especially many consumers today are self-medias. However, on the other hand, companies and consumers maintain balanced relationship because it has to be, otherwise, no company will survive from some creepy consumers and more importantly, consumers are still persuaded by ads no matter they want or not, that's not "control" I believe.
To Summer:
1. This statement is true in most cases, in fact, it's just human nature, very similar to gossiping. However, consumers have brand loyalties towards some specific brands are likely to neglect their favorite brands' mistakes.
2. Yes. They have to do more researches which cost a lot, some corporations can not afford it. Also, they have to balance their relationships with consumers too, which is quite difficult since there are all kinds of consumers.
Starcy
Amy.
ReplyDelete1. No, I have never been a member of online community unless it was required to be one to have information from the site.
2. I would say it is similar in that they allow an active interaction among consumers and users, while different in their primary goals. The online community gathers to share information and the members' opinion regarding the brands, but the purpose of social media is on relationships not on brand activities.
Regina.
1. Sadly, I have zero experience of participating in those activities. I've always been a passive consumer and an observer.
2. I agree with the article's statement that there are only few relationships that are in a state of "balanced centricity" between companies and consumers. I think the active role of consumer and control emerges as an important issue in the field of marketing, but it is hard to find an ideal case of harmonious equilibrium in terms of control.
Summer.
1. I think this is similar to the basic nature of news. If it is not a problem, it can hardly be a social issue. People love to talk about problems and issues, and consumer community is no exception. They build a strong bond by having the same experience of dealing with the current problem regarding the brand. When CocaCola launched a new product, they gained a severe criticism from the core group and had to cancel it.
2. The new approach of the bottom-up helps marketers to have a better understanding of consumers' role and interactivity. The corporation can receive a trustworthy feedback from the consumer and reflect it on the production side of view. However, if consumers gain too much control over the relationship, it might put the autonomy of corporation in danger. I think this can be solved with reciprocal communication between consumers and producers by including this issue in their agenda.
ReplyDeleteAmy:
1.Yes, i am a member of a couple of fashion blog websites. I am motivated because i like to witness new innovations in fashion, and how other people can put different things together in a cohesive manner. I would say that i am a seeker. I do not post things myself, even though i am currently helping my mother set up her own website/blog.
2.I think that online communities and social media are similar in that they both share information. They both allow people to communicate and interact with each other. However, i would say that online communication is more one way than two way. Social media represents more of a complete communication between people rather.
Right now i cannot think of any successful campaigns on the top of my mind. But i probably have seem them before, however there is not anything that really jumps forward.
Regina:
1.I have some experience participating in these activities. But, i would have to say that i experience these things through social media like pinterest, and even on TV. The DIY term i can really relate to, because i love to put things together by myself, and participate in my community.
2) No i do not think that there is a equal role in term of control between companies and consumers. As we know there are only a handful of companies that really control everything, which leaves little room for control for consumers. It will be a difficult task to find a balance, and i do not know if it will ever be attained.I cannot think of an example right now.
Summer:
1.I agree with this mostly. Companies mistakes do bring consumers together, however this happens to an extent because consumers have specific ideas of what they think should happen, and no two consumers are the same. And in some cases, consumers do not even bring to light companies wrong doings because they are lazy.
2.I think that this new model highlights more of what consumers want and expect. Companies are beginning to tailor their ways to please consumers more and more. Companies can gain more consumers with this method, yet it is more costly in terms of economics. However, i believe that it will all even out in the long run because the number of consumers will rise. The feedback and new relationship with a consumer will help the corporation and the communication between the two will lead to future success.
Amy:
ReplyDeleteI am a member of Pinterest, but that is pretty much the extent of my online community membership. I love Pinterest and I am mostly a seeker, but sometimes I do add my own content. If I find something I really like I'll post it.
Regina:
I have some experience in the DIY aspect of these communities. I'll see something and try it myself and then add my attempt to Pinterest some times. Other times I'll just see what other people have done.
I do not think that there is a balance in control between the consumer and the company. I think that companies try to control everything in order to to maintain their position in the consumer's mind. It is hard to give all control to the consumer.
Summer:
I agree with this statement. Companies make mistakes and people point them out because it is a lot easier to be critical of something than to praise something. Everyone wants to interject their opinion and this is an easy way to do it. If we all said the good things about a company their would not be anything interesting to talk about.
Consumers want to be involved and this model helps marketers understand what they want. This is a huge shift for marketers. Communication between the two is becoming more and more important and this model highlights that.
Amy:
ReplyDelete1)Yes, I have been a seeker of Chinese Scholar and Student Association (CSSA) BBS. I joined in this online community in March when I received the offer of UIUC. This is a great platform for Chinese students at UIUC to exchange useful information about experience sharing, renting, shopping, second-hand sales and academic discussions. My motivation to join this BBS is that I want to find specific information about UIUC and get better prepared for my graduate life at Champaign.
However, in Weibo (Chinese Twitter), Renren (Chinese Facebook), Facebook, I think I am innovator and I always post my own writings and pictures. Especially in Weibo, I am crazy about posting my innovative pictures and getting a lot of followers. When I was rewarded as an honored membership in Weibo, I became more active in Weibo and interacted with my followers.
2)The difference between online communities and SNS is obvious. The purpose that people use SNS is to keep close contact with their social circles and make new friends here by posting their statuses and pictures about their daily life. However, even though people still make friends at online communities and your real friends are also your followers or fans, to be social is not the first goal at online communities. In online communities, to share what people love and to show their own personalities and their special tastes are most important.
Regina:
1) No, I haven’t. It is a pity. Actually, I would like to create my own products. The DIY products are more possible to serve my needs and the procedure to create new products will be interesting and exciting. However, this kind of opportunities provided by manufacturers is less and at least I didn’t have this experience. In term of creating UCC, there is no a kind of brand that can drive me crazy about it so much that I am willing to create a TVC to promote this brand in person. I don’t have much more involvement in any brand. About participating in communities, as I presented above, I am very active at Weibo (Chinese Twitter), Renren (Chinese Facebook), Facebook but I don’t join any communities about products and brands.
2)There is a classic example: at an early age, consumers can put their own favorite coffee cups at Starbucks shops and Starbucks can preserve customers’ coffee cups until they come to shops. And also baristas and waiters of Starbucks can remember every regular customer’s name. During some special promotion activities at Starbucks shops, customers can make their own coffee. Starbucks values this kind of consumers’ control and build a closer relationship with them. This is why there are so many Starbucks fans everywhere.
Summer:
1) Yes, I totally agree about it. There was a famous case in China. The high failure of HP laptops in China was exposed by CCTV in 2010. When an HP official was interviewed to explain why HP laptops of Chinese students had many technical problems, he just said because cockroaches in student dorms were too horrible. It was totally ridiculous and aroused the public angry nationwide. Chinese students even created “The Song of Cockroach” to satirize HP and the reputation of HP in China fell into a bottom. Then, HP posted its official apology on its website and launched the “Client Caring Plan” to console Chinese consumers’ rage.
2)In my point of view, it is really a good thing that advantages carry more weight over weakness. Companies have to learn to adapt a new marketing environment. One of challenges in this model is that companies have to make more efforts and pay more to understand exactly what they want and to satisfy them. Producers have to cast more expense to utilize all kinds of channels to communicate with consumers. Under this situation, the brand loyalty is more possible to be built. If I could lead a company, I will focus on the market research and the social media research in order to guarantee that the product strategy of my company and the corresponding advertising campaigns are suitable to my target market.
Hi Amy,
ReplyDelete1. I am a member of Instagram and Blogbus. I think I am a seeker and also a educators. At first, I just wanted to add effect on my photo through Instagram( such as lomo,HD…). But I found I could also share my photos even my lifestyle with others on it. Most importantly, a lot of fashion blogger share their photos about fashion stuffs there, it is really an effective way to follow the trend :)
2. This makes me think of the L'OCCITANE Facebook page. There was a promotion couple days ago. Anyone clicked the “liked” could get a 10ml free hand cream. If the fans of the page got to 500K, the gift could be ungraded to 30ml. Now, the page has 550,576 fans! I think this is a successful advertising campaign for it makes the brand more popular.
Hi Regina,
1. Oh I don’t have such experience…
2. Yes I agree with the article. This makes me think of the Tiffany&Co. The company can carve any word the consumer wants on necklace, and it is free! It is really a good idea if one wants to buy special gift for friend.
Hi Summer,
1. Yes I agree with that. When I was shopping online, I found there were lots of complains in the comments, but actually the product was the best seller!
2. I think it is the trend that corporations should follow. Corporations must accept the challenges. Of course, consumers should not take too much control, there should be a balance to reach a better interaction.
Amy
ReplyDelete1. Yes, I belong to a few online communities.
Youtube.com
EIUrunning.com
A Hyundai forum (learn to fix my car)
blogger.com (occasionally)
Khanacademy.com
Learning more about things that interest me. I am a seeker; I go to learn.
2. Yes! The Dark Knight Rises! Their campaign was awesome!
What made this campaign successful?
• Social media is well-integrated into the official website for The Dark Knight
• The official website, Warner Brothers offered an app that lets fans design their own Tumber, which is one of Batman’s vehicles.
• In addition to the teasers and trailers, Warner Brothers made the bold decision to release a thirteen-minute viral video clip on YouTube
• iPhone apps with sound track on App Store
• Facebook was a huge driver of traffic for The Dark Knight Rises campaign,
• Viral Twitter Campaign to Unlock Trailer
It continued to build suspense for the film. It made fans highly anticipate the movie. There was a shooting in one theater playing the movie (Colorado) and the Olympics kept many people glued to their TVs this summer, so the film advertised heavily over various social media mediums.
Regina:
1. Yes, I’ve been in feature videos promoting an organization at my old school.
2. Not many companies give consumers control. If I go to a company site, it’s more of a sit and get; some good company sites have more of an interactive, sign up, be involved feel to them. Great examples are interactive learning sites: Khanacademy. You get to sign up, play games and learn. You have a personalized section on their website for all your content.
Summer:
1) The Fisher and Smith article mentions that consumers always talk about the mistakes from a company instead of talking about what the company brings to them. Mistakes and problems are catalysts that bring consumers closer together and foster common purpose for dialogue. Do you agree that? Do you have examples to support your idea?
Summer
Yes, mistakes and problems allow companies to know what consumers think and how they feel. A great example is Dominos pizza. When Dominos recently revamped the entire approach on making pizza, they got suggestions from the public. They asked the public to tell them what they hate most about Dominos pizza and the public did so, and then Dominos made the corrections based on the consumers suggestions.
2) You risk staying behind in the times and not being noticed by consumers. If consumers have no control, then they don’t feel like they are part of a family with the company. New models do bring challenges to corporations; one way to deal with these challenges is to ask for consumer opinions. Seeking help from outside sources helps a company to see what they could not see before.
To Amy:
ReplyDelete1. No. I haven’t join any online communities. I usually just browse the website for everything.
2. Online communities has more incentives for participants to co-create activities since most of the members who join the communities have high interest in the theme of communities and often visit the site to seek for and share information. The connection between members are much stronger.
To Regina,
1. No. I am not an active participants in any online community..
2. I would not say the relationship between companies and consumers is balanced nowadays because there are still some conflicts between consumer and companies due to overpower consumer and so far there’s no specific control over how much “power” consumer could have to determine anything related to product or brand. (and I do not think there would be one either..)
However, there are a lot of companies hold activities for consumers to participate in. For example: product design contest, flavor naming of snack..
To Summer:
Yes. I totally agree. Friends always have more connections and get closer whenever they share their complaints on same issue. When I was working for Ogilvy PR, one of my task was to collect the opinions on online car forum. Based on the data I collected in 3 months, most of the popular discussion in forum was those which were criticizing something about the car or company.
Amy:
ReplyDeleteWell, I am not a member of any online community. In fact, I even didn’t “like” any product, brand or community.
Since I never use online communities, I am not sure what is the difference between online communities and social media. However, in terms of co-creation motivation and behavior, I think social media works very well. From the information shared by friends, you can understand each other better.
I think Starbucks is really successful in value co-creation with customers. I think the reason is because they care and appreciate customers.
Regina:
I have never participated in co-creation activities.
I don’t think that companies and consumers maintain balanced relationship in terms of control, because companies are manufacturer of products, not customers. They can decide how to make their own products by referring to customers’ opinion, but they are the ones that make the final decision. Most of the time, they cannot product products only according to customers’ ideas. It is understandable because as a company, they need to consider their profit, budget and the company’s culture and value.
Summer:
Yep, I agree with it and I think it is human nature. People get closer when they complain something and we tend to say bad things when we are with our friends, such as cursing.
The majority of this new model is beneficial to corporations. Companies don’t need to spend tons of money to get opinion and evaluation from customers; instead the new model provides free data for them. Such as the Hello Kitty example we saw in Qualitative Research class. However, the challenge is that the information can be gained and utilized by their competitors.
Amy:
ReplyDeleteYeah, of course. I guess I do so just because I want to keep in touch with my friends when we cannot see each other in person. It extends our social life. And I must act more like a seeker, not the challenger or governor. But when I comment, I could be the appraiser.
Based on my interpretation, what makes online communities and SNS different from the traditional mass media is the way information transferred. These new media act more mutually. The participants could be the poster and the receiver at the same time. The difference between SNS and online communities is the former one has no fixed topic when the later one does have. In this way people who go to the online forum may not necessarily know each other when they just share the same interest. But Social network is more for another kind of social life.
Regina:
No, not really. But this just reminds me of a very recent campaign “Do us a flavor” for Lay’s. We are talking about a million dollars for a new flavor. And according to what was written on the official webpage before the second phase started, “Thanks America, for all of the delicious submissions!”, one call tell that people must be crazy when driven by money and given a chance to be creative.
It cannot be an intuitive balance. Even though sometimes consumer can contribute ideas to the new product in design phase, most of the industrial productions follow the classic pattern: manufacturers take control at first, they produce goods base on their interpretation of market, and then consumers take over the initiative--- they choose. Those likable commodities survive when unpopular ones die out. And in this way the producer will learn a lesson and will apply it in future design when they take control again. Gradually a hidden balance will be gain, thus no one can really take control through the whole process.
Summer:
Yeah. This is a brilliant point. People will never get tired of judging things. It comes from human nature. There must be an illusion that giving a bad comment can make one looks more like a thinker than following the puffery given by the advertiser.
Yes, it should be a very commanding task. The corporations are looking forward to consumers’ comments but how can they do that right? There are a thousand Hamlets in a thousand people's eyes. So is the definition of a good product. This reminds me of the sentence Alan Snitow cited : “Positioning is the art of sacrifice. One should learn to be comfortable loosing people.” We should listen to the consumer, but not all of them.
Amy,
ReplyDelete1. No, I am not a member of any online communities
2. Similarities would include the ability for people to come together over brands and share brand experiences. The difference would be that in the communities you can remain anonymous while on facebook your identity is public.
Regina,
1. No
2. I feel as if the balence today is shifting more to the consumer
Summer,
1. I feel as if consumers speak out both positively and negatively about brands, but they are more likely to provide feedback and insights when they are dissatisfied.
2. I think the shift in control to the consumers just provides opportunities for companies to invest in the social interaction about their products
Amy:
ReplyDeleteI am a member on a sport jersey BBS. I joined it because I could gain updated information about this industry and find the promotion information about jersey. I think I am a seeker only, I am not governing anything.
I think both are good at building consumer-company relationship interactively.However,compared to social media,online community is even more interactive in terms of communication and participants would feel the responsibility as part of the community,more strong tie.Moreover, each online community has its own topic,focusing on one field like airlines or shoes.But social media doesn't.
Regina:
Yes, I think consulting is a kind of co-creation...If it is, then I participated in bank consulting and co-created my account and financial issue...
I dont think it is "control". Co-creation is a process to share information and co-create value in production. The close relationship between companies and consumers today could result in win-win situation, instead of one side lose control..
Summer:
Yes, I agree that consumers are more willing to share negative comments if they really. I think this is kind of human nature.
I think the new model is kind of sharing information between corporations and consumers. companies know more about what consumers need and want and consumers know what companies could do to satisfy them.So I think new model requires companies to have real good products and services.
Amy:
ReplyDelete1. Are/Were you a member of any online communities? If yes, what motivates you to join the community? What kind of members are you, seekers, educators, challengers, governors, appraisers, players or innovators?
A: Yes. Because all my friends were using this very community.
2. As compared to online communities, nowadays social media is gaining marketing power as a platform of making people mingled and engaged together in brand activities. How online communities and social media (or SNS) are similar to and different from each other, in terms of their co-creation motivation and behavior?
A: SNS marketing are more accurate than online community.
Regina:
1) Do you have any experience of participating in co-creation activities (e.g. questing customized products [DIY], creating video advertisements for the product (UCC), actively participating in community)?
A: Yeah, the Nokia tune competition.
2) In article, the author emphasizes that consumers’ role and control have been important than ever. Do you think companies and consumers maintain balanced relationship nowadays in terms of the “control”? You can explain with interesting examples!
A; I think its still balanced because no matter how highly involved the consumers are, the one who made the decision is still the brand.
Summer:
1) The Fisher and Smith article mentions that consumers always talk about the mistakes from a company instead of talking about what the company brings to them. Mistakes and problems are catalysts that bring consumers closer together and foster common purpose for dialogue. Do you agree that? Do you have examples to support your idea?
A:I don't think so. For Coca-Cola's carbendazim scandal makes no impression on me at least.
2) “Control” increasingly passes from corporations to consumers. This is a shift from an old to new marketing model. What does the marketing gain or lose of changing from old to new models. Do you think the new marketing model brings too much challenging to corporations? How would you deal with the challenges?
A: When they get involved more with the consumers, they have to deal with those whose advice are not adopted and could hence generate some negative feeling towards this brand.
Amy,
ReplyDeleteI am currently a member of ASOS.com. It’s the official website and online community for a UK online shopping website. My role in the community is basically a seeker. I search for the fashion trend and see other members’ discussion on the website.
I think the online communities tend to focus on royal customers. Customers write down their suggestions or experience about the brand and the brand will give them feedback. For example, My Starbucks is an online community for Starbucks and I see customers make a discussion about Starbucks policy. This seldom happens in the social media. Social media is more like an announcement board. It’s easy for customers to join because extra registration is not necessary. However, advertisers have to make more efforts to involve people to join the conversation.