News and Views
Influencing in the digital age
1 July 2008
Web 2.0 and its blogs, wikis and social networking sites have transformed the way we consume and deliver information. Open networks based on collaboration and knowledge sharing have re-written the rules on who shapes opinion.
No longer is it just the media who decides what we know about an issue or a company. Millions of voices, somewhere out in cyberspace, are telling us their own version of reality.
Companies must therefore change the way they engage and influence their stakeholders, and corporate communication must respond to the new world order that Web 2.0 has created.
For example, blogs are changing what were once ‘neatly packaged' messages into evolving conversations between people with similar interests. Companies should be joining in, or at the very least, monitoring these conversations where they relate to their sector, products or issues.
Or they can be more proactive, actually creating the platform for likeminded individuals to come together and exchange ideas. This presents an opportunity for companies to lead the debate and facilitate discussion, which can later be used for market research.
What many companies are struggling with, however, is the lack of control they have over this space. They can't control the way messages or information are used, and their brand can be discussed, even damaged, by commentators who have neither authority nor accountability.
Struggle as they may, however, this is now a fact of life for companies: it's simply something we need to deal with. Wishing it away won't help - but having a considered, informed and proactive digital strategy will.
Another important aspect of the digital world is that its inhabitants hate corporate-speak. Digital dwellers see through PR-speak, and roundly reject corporate white-washes; instead they crave openness, transparency and authenticity. Which is in fact a good model for all types of communication.
Companies must be aware of the internet's capacity to affect corporate positioning either positively or negatively. The biggest risk they can take, however, is to ignore the medium altogether.