Blogging, Web 2.0, Brands & Customer Insight

I am excited to join in this new community of blogging. I woke up this morning and started browsing my favorite blogs before my coffee or my workout. For those that know me, they know this is extremely rare.

As I browsed around learning more about this world, it has become increasing clear to me how important Internet discussions are to brands. In less than one hour I read about American Airlines, Microsoft , Lenovo, Dell , Google and Lego .

The opportunity for these companies to collect customer feedback and evaluate market sentiment toward their brand (and their competitors) is significant. Experiences with the brand, product feedback, and service experiences are discussed openly and offer so much for those companies interested in listening to the market. Today the market research market is $20B. Much of this is to collect consumer opinions, gain feedback on product ideas, and collect a better understanding of customer requirements. There is an increasing opportunity to leverage the web to accomplish these same objectives.

I also saw how video logging can put a human face on the biggest of brands. The Channel 9 interview with Steve Ballmer and Bill Gates was more like a home video than an orchestrated MSNBC interview. It "humanized" some of the biggest names in the technology market and made the news much more interesting to watch. For me, it showed the "softer side" of Microsoft as Ballmer talked about how he worked for Bill for 26 years and Bill has worked for him for 6 years. Clearly more than a professional statement, a statement of feeling.

After all isn't brand equity built on the feelings of a brand. The feeling of trust, the feeling of stature, the feeling of loyalty? Reading stories and watching interviews without all the production & packaging makes a brand real and creates feelings about that brand.

As for my own brand building efforts. I am on the journey. Today I found when I typed my name into Technorati, someone else blogged about a podcast I recently did with Jennifer Jones of podtech.net. Yesterday I received my first comment thanks to my new friend, Shel Israel. So far, my experience in this blogging world is a positive one. I think I'll keep on blogging.