Take this little quiz to see if your organisation is ready for a customer community or conversational marketing;
 

1. There is a process in place to constantly measure customer satisfaction&sentiment. Not just on-line and not the annual customer satisfaction survey. Regular sampling. Y/N
2. Management calls a number of customers, happy and unhappy each day or week as part of their regular duties. Y/N
3. You have a social media policy for staff that as a starting point assumes they are already participating. Y/N

[caption id="attachment_1139" align="alignleft" width="600" caption="ROFL: micro-blogging on micro-blogging?"] [/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1069" align="alignnone" width="297" caption="Smoking area ceiling mural"][/caption]

As we help; design, commission, analyse and manage online communities for a living, we are constantly on the look out for ways to convert the raw customer energy of a network into a more convertible currency - hopefully with pictures of famous Australians on the notes.

When we first started managing online communities for our clients we were often confronted with the question; "But how many customers will want to come online and have a conversation about _____ (insert your category here)?" mmmmm.... 'There must be some, you have customers right?"

One of the Seven Deadly Sins or myths about getting brand communities right is "Build the brand, and the community will follow". For most of us involved in social media, the myth is self-evident  - the brand lives more in the minds of customer advocates than in the Agency brand strategy. And a brand community exists to service the people in it (not to serve the business! - Myth #2).

  [caption id="attachment_566" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="West Australian Harley Owners Group"][/caption] I have just finished reading a great article by Fournier and Lee - the first of these authors was 'Vice President, Enthusiast Services' at Harley Davidson. Her advocates routinely tattoo the brand on their bodies!

Article #1 Warns about new forms of consumer skepticism and organisation and argues that this 'discontent' is something 'businesses cannot afford to overlook because it has already assumed the proportions of a real threat to producers and distributors of advertised brands.' The article suggests that listening to consumers is one way to solve the problem. Such efforts cannot be faked; 'if it is lacking in a sincere desire to do something for the consumer, that worthy will be quick to see through the disguise.' Business Week, 1939 Article #2

My link of the week has to go to www.brandtags.net recommended to me by Paul Kennedy over at mjw advertising.

The basic premise behind this site is that a brand exists entirely inside people's heads. Therefore whatever it is they say it is, is what it is. With over 760,000 tags submitted, this is a very interesting version of the "wisdom of crowds" - more like the "crowd speaks - it is what it is!".