I’ve been writing a lot about the concept of the ecosystem lately (don’t worry if you haven’t been following, it’s explained again in this post), but only applied to the music business. Obviously, this can be applied to any type of brand, service or product which has a ‘fan’ potential.
A good example of this application of the ecosystem is with companies stimulating their employees to blog. In a reply to a question about this on Quora (GO SIGN UP!), I wrote the following:
What has been enabled in recent years, is the socialization of brands.
It’s no longer about one-way communication via TV and other media, not even about two-way communication (like customer service, mail, emails), but about non-linear many-to-many communication. This creates a new situation.
What few companies could successfully do pre-digital age, almost any company can do now. Starbucks had a massive following and ‘fanbase’ before the digital age, but now all of the members of this following (or ecosystem as I like to call it) can be connected to each other.
The following can be turned into a community. Now, why is it good that large organisations encourage their employees to blog?
These organisations have to be part of their own ecosystem. This works best when it’s done authentically and genuinely (such as via employees). This will strengthen the ties between your ecosystem and the brand, which adds tremendous value for the brand (as well as the customers). It’s a bit of a cliché phrase, oft-repeated by ‘social media experts’, but one has to be part of the conversation.
A brand that is well-connected with their users or customers, is a flexible brand. In times of rapid change, the greatest strength if flexibility. No matter how strong your pillars are… If they’re rigid and get torn down, they will break and shatter.
James Hargreaves made a good addition, which simplifies it even further:
Just to add in more laymen’s terms, a blogging employee adds the ‘human’ element to the ‘face’ of the business, showing a non-corporate means of communicating with consumers, clients, etc.
I firmly believe that anything that can be done digitally will change the system it’s part of, whether that’s a political, economic or social system. The ecosystem is one of the basic rules and models for success in the digital age (if one thoroughly understands the concept, which is easier for digital natives than others). This is not just about the music industry; if your industry has not been impacted yet and part of it is digitizable, then it will be impacted.
Comments
2 responses to “Companies, employee blogs and the ecosystem”
About 3 years ago I got into a debate with an art director over the topic of employees blogging. His take was you had to let them have free reign; mine was there needed to be a filter. I now think I was wrong, filtered communications just doesn’t ever feel persuasive — because it’s not.
As for the notion of an ecosystem, though, I think this is just jargon. Not too long ago it was community, I dunno, what is the definition of ecosystem the way you want to apply it? I’m not sure it’s all that easy to define as something new and uniquely digital.
Hey, thanks for dropping by, Jeff. Good points there. 🙂
There are a lot of synonyms, but I use the word ecosystem for a good reason.
Yes, it’s a tribe, movement, community, fanbase… But why I use the word ecosystem, is because that is the only word that conveys the organic nature of what’s going on. What it conveys is that when the ecosystem gets unbalanced, it will figure out a way to ensure its own existence.
An example of this is mentioned in the Shpongle case-study. The label announced they were in trouble and fans started devising ways in which they could help the label they loved so much. I.e. pre-ordering 2 CD’s, so they could give one as a gift to someone. Replacing that old merchandise sweater, etc. You could literally see the ecosystem striving for continued existence.
I also think that if an artist that is known for being genuine, suddenly makes a very commercial album and starts sending out a lot of marketing messages and sponsored messages, it will breach the trust with the ecosystem… which will then reject part of itself (the artist), break up into smaller groups and (some of those groups will) move on.
I think the increased interconnectedness and possibilities of non-linear communication between community-members has enabled this ecosystem. It was always there, but now its processes run so fast, that its reality has become clearly visible.
My background is in communication management (let’s say PR & marketing), so I’m quite picky with my words… As Mark Twain once said: “The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter – it’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.”
This is why I use the phrase ecosystem. 🙂