11. People in Networked Markets …

have figured out that they get far better information and support from one another than from vendors. So much for corporate rhetoric about adding value to commoditized products.

Lost in Translation

Now the first sentence of number 11 is true. Just look back at my ideas on 1 – 10, you will see that we get better information from ourselves then from the companies. Where the authors of the Manifesto went wrong was in that second sentence.

Companies have to try much harder to make themselves stand out in the market. They have to show us they are better than their competitors, and Yes, they have to use rhetoric to do just that. The only difference now is that they really have to factually back up the claims, because we are digging.

Just because we don’t depend on companies for the sole source of information on their product, doesn’t mean they don’t have to fight for our attention.

Take Bounty and Brawny Paper Towels.

Both are paper towel companies, and what ever brand you go with isn’t really a life or death choice. We could survive without either of them existing, even if paper towels didn’t exist at all.

Now imagine Bounty launches a whole new Quicker Picker Upper Campaign, and Brawny cuts back on its Advertising to 10%. You see the Brawny once for every ten Bounty adds. They aren’t using rhetoric to capture the audience. So when you go to the store you reach for the Bounty Paper Towels because they are what is fresh in your head when you are at the store, and if you cared enough they probably are the first company you looked for their reviews. Unless you find something like “Bounty single handidly destroys 80% of the rainforest” you probably will still shop for them.

Brawny on the other hand fades into the background, and keeps its loyal clientel but eventually goes out of business. So we can see that it is important for them to still make a point that they are around and we should care because of x,y, and z. The only difference is that now we have to the power to make sure that x, y, and z are really present in their product. If they aren’t they certainly will be called out on it.