Julian Cole, a well know Australian blogger, has been a good friend of mine through University days and has always been on the forefront of technology in marketing, for years he has been telling me about the potential benefits and alternatively liabilities that user generated content can cause.
Benefits and Damages?
Buying a new xbox360 game is a high involvement purchase for me, I have only scarce resources to stretch and must minimize the opportunity cost, so to avoid buyers remorse. Before I buy, I research value for money e.g will I like this for a long period of time?
To achieve this I look to google, my fav reviewers and of course the blogs and let me tell you the common trend between all the information I take on board; it is all from actual gamers, their opinions & experiences.
The traditional buyer decision process involves a 'research' phase where consumers actively seek the opinion of experts and peers. If we accept that bloggers can act as experts in many fields just like game reviews, then it is essential for every company to be aware of the online domain and potential impacts.
The obvious question:
Does a blogger's negative or positive feedback about a product, service or company have an actual effect on a large companies bottom line?
Would Nike have seen any larger effect on their sales if blogging had been prolific when they were in the midst of their 'cheap labour' PR crisis?
Josh's Conclusion:
There is no answer that is incumbent of every company, but if we look at Nike as the direct case study, the over arching brand of the shoes will weigh out the small amount of 'noise' created by bloggers when it comes to specific quality issues, but when it becomes a larger issue like 'cheap labour' blogging facilitates yet another communication channel with which to inform the public.
It is the multiplier effect that stems from the use of this communication channel that has the real impact on a company's bottom line. The actual blog may only reach 100 people, but if they mention that to 3 people each, then it is passed on again, the posts have been very effective.
In my opinion, we are only seeing the very beginning of an information revolution, the impact of the Internet has not yet been captured or understood to an nth of its potential. The future implication for consumers and company's alike is a more transparent corporate world, information will become freely available about products, services and everything within the parent organization. It is developing into a real PR issue and will be devastating if not handles correctly.
Kelv's opinion
I don't think this blog has had any effect on any company's bottom line...try harder next time
If you are interested in this article check out 2008 - The year 'Two-Way' got important
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