Wal-Mart launched blogs written by individual merchandisers without corporate oversight, providing honest opinions on products. These "real blogs by real people" aim to build customer trust through transparency. The article argues that as social communication grows, trust becomes increasingly important for business success. Companies are recognizing the need to treat customers fairly and openly to gain and maintain trust, especially with the rise of interactive technologies.

1. Truth in Blogging - Think customers: The 1to1 Blog http://www.1to1media.com/weblog/2008/03/truth_in_blogging.html
Think Customers: The 1to1 Blog
Truth in Blogging
by Don Peppers
Couple of days ago in The New York Times
(Monday, March 13 in the Business section) I saw an article about Wal-Mart’s new blogs, being authored without Wal-Mart’s
corporate interference or editorial control, by the actual individual merchandisers at Wal-Mart. These blogs are full of their honest
opinions about various items of merchandise, including quality and price value, along with a lot of purely personal observations.
Real blogs, by real people, who just happen to be responsible for the products you find on Wal-Mart’s shelves. You can check
these blogs out at http://checkoutblog.com/.
This, I believe is further evidence of the fact that companies are truly getting the message about customer trust. Gaining and
keeping the trust of customers by acting fairly and openly with them, by treating customers like the intelligent human beings they
really are, is more vital to a company’s success today than ever, largely because of the proliferation interactive technology. Trust is
an important social good, and the more social communication we have, the more important trust becomes to all of us, including
commercial enterprises. This is a key point of Martha’s and my new book, Rules to Break and Laws to Follow.
I’d be interested to know if anyone else has some recent examples of corporate honesty and fair play designed to gain customer
trust…
By Don Peppers on March 5 2008 04:38 PM |
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