Opinion: 25% of your customers are scared about the credibility of the Internet.Recently the blogosphere has been
aflame with revelations that several "
independent" pro Wal-Mart blogs (or "flogs" as MediaPost reporter Tom Siebert has
called them) were actually bought and paid for by PR mega-firm
Edelman. And though Edelman president
Richard Edelman has promised to come clean about the fake blogs, to date, the "disclosures" have been a little less than
heartfelt, at least when it comes to any
official statements from Edelman.
The reaction that's come out since the revelations should be a wake-up call for all those in the corporate world who haven't woken up to the fact that the Web isn't print and that things have definitely changed in the world of communications. While "astroturfing" practices (fake grass-roots organizations) may have worked in the past for organizations who wanted to give the appearance that they had popular support, the days of being able to get away with it are over. Period.
The one thing that so many people who use the Web for commercial communications haven't figured out yet is that there's nowhere to hide. The Web's not a one-way publishing medium where access to the "senders" (the publishers or PR folks) and the "receivers" (the rest of us) can be controlled. No matter what you want the "official story" to be, how you want the "truth" spun, chances are that someone out there is going to take the time to fire up Google, do a little fact checking, and talk back...either to you or about you. Somewhere.
Doubt it? Take a look at what's going on in the world of politics. There isn't a political blogger in the world who doesn't burn the midnight oil hoping to score the next big Tom Foley-level scoop. And even if they do, they'd better have their facts straight...as this blogger looking into how the Foley story broke makes abundantly clear.
The fact is that bad people/companies/organizations really have nowhere to hide anymore. Of course, this has been pretty clear since the early days of the 'Net (witness the Pentium math problem debacle of 1997).
For those looking to do business and communicate online, it's imperative to recognize that (as the Cluetrain guys so aptly put it years ago) markets are conversations. This conversation has always been an implicit part of the marketplace since the first caveman ripped off an unsuspecting cave-rube with fake mammoth meat and had their reputation ruined when the rube spread the word, but it's even more of an explicit reality today when your customers (and your enemies) have a global forum in which to air their grievances and point the finger at deception.
And lest you don't think that consumer nervousness is having an impact on what you, honest person, do, take a gander at this study from Consumer Web Watch, Consumer Reports' online watchdog division. What they found is that consumers are scared about the credibility of the Internet and have changed their behavior as a result: 30% say they've reduced their overall use, 53% say they've stopped giving out personal organization, and 25% say they've stopped buying things online. Twenty-five percent. That's a major problem.
What does this have to do with Wal-Mart faking blogs? Simply this: fooling people online is bad business. For everyone.
So what to do? Be as transparent as possible. Spin less (or not at all). Deliver on your promises. Know your customers. Assume that everything you put on your site is going to be scrutinized by someone. Give up on "controlling" your brand...it was never all that much under your control to begin with. Think streaming, not "publishing"...the blog phenomenon comes directly out of a world sick of finely crafted, "polished" "stories" rather than honest communication. Acknowledge mistakes before anyone else does. Be honest.
Yeah, it really is that simple. And worth it.
Online Media 
