Scoble's Test

Whilst at Reboot 7.0, Scoble mentioned that a company that was prepared to let its customers add commentary to the front page of its website was a modern organisation.  For many seasoned bloggers that is a statement of the obvious but for the vast majority of marketing folk it's a novel idea....

Treating this idea as a simple test can tell you a lot about a company's mindset without getting caught up in the tech.  I've tried it as a question in meetings and the results have ranged from warm enthusiasm to moderate disgust.

Of course, it's always been the case that when dealing with an organisation or individual we ask around to get a bit of background.  It's also always been true that if we hit a brick wall or are sent up a blind alley we get suspicious that someone is trying to cover something up -- nothing new under the sun and all that.  The difference is the scale and speed at which the web lets it happen.

Companies that understand the simple fact that their customers are swapping notes about them regardless of their involvement are going to be at an advantage in many ways.  At the very least they will be living in the real world - at the very best they can embrace it as part of their marketing.

Scoble and Channel 9 are at one end of the spectrum but I think the test can be applied in all sorts of ways.  For some companies the idea alone will be enough to digest.  For others it may simply be about going 'comments on' on their blog.  For others it's a question of restraining them from getting up and kicking the doors wide open.

But it's a simple test and for someone, like myself, who spends time talking to marketeers about modern marketing trends, simple is very helpful.  Then I can move onto the slightly more challenging Outside-In world view...

Comments

[alex]

its interesting, i used to work at wharton in their mba admissions dept and advocated discussion boards at the front and center of our index page. this was about four years ago (after reading cluetrain) and now, as i depart its finally happening ... the next site (in august) will have a feed from the discussion board right on the index page ... pretty cool i think!