The Social Impact
Week 3
While catching up on blogs and reading the assigned literature this week, I started to see a consistent theme around the impact that social media has on businesses demanding transparency and conversation with customers. This ultimately leads to a constant pressure on businesses to make the right choices, in any aspect of their business, from their following.
One perspective most inspiring was a case study featured in Tomorrow's Natural Business on Adnams, a British regional brewery founded in 1890 in Southwold, Suffolk. Through one of their systems based approaches, they use their social media to ensure quality and customer satisfaction. "The system includes a productive role played by social media, with a large following on Twitter and Facebook. This is used as a feedback mechanism, rather than a marketing tool, as it creates an interactive dialogue and develops trust between Adnams and their customers" (Tomorrow's Natural Business, 21). As it seems social media is evolving into more than just a marketing tool and should be taken advantage of to build those relationships.
Corporations are now forced to face their customers and without being able to hide behind the walls of their business. This is, in turn, is transitioning corporations into transparent, reachable entities. From the article, Social Power And The Coming Corporate Revolution featured on Forbes, "This social might is now moving toward your company. We have entered the age of empowered individuals, who use potent new technologies and harness social media to organize themselves... most are ordinary people with new tools to force you to listen to what they care about and to demand respect. Both your customers and your employees have started marching in this burgeoning social media multitude, and you’d better get out of their way—or learn to embrace them," David Kirkpatrick , Contributor. With this new dynamic that social media has created businesses should embrace the access their customers now have into the high-level decisions made in the company, much like Adnams has. As part of the movement towards more sustainable models, businesses can effectively use social media to bridge the gap of communication between customer and business.
Blogs followed:
Kindling Ideas to Fire You Up by the DO Lectures, this blog summarizes and filters the must-read topics and videos weekly from across the web. What I love about this blog is that its content is pulled from a number of sources creating a mass exposure to multiple perspectives and topics.
Center for Creative Leadership Blog, focuses their content around best practices and innovative tools to becoming and sustaining as a creative leader. Topic range from gender issues, personal improvement, and industry trends.
Innovation Excellence, is a forum that brings together all the voices leading the way towards innovation in business. The blog features articles that serve as resources towards leading the innovation discussion and personal growth as an innovator.
