Truth or dare: We dare you [CMO, brand manager, PR-communications specialist, CRM manager, or whoever you are] to have your company authentically enter into the innovative realm of online social media, the world of Facebook and other networking sites [or as it is known in shorthand, Web 2.0].
Not ready yet? Afraid you won’t have control of what happens? C’mon, we double dare you.
Still, not that daring? O.K. If you won’t take the dare, you have to tell the truth. Is your company customer-focused?
“Yes, of course” [you answer without thinking]. Seriously now, be honest. Does your institution really care about its customers or only about itself? “Our customers,” you reply.
We believe you. But what we believe doesn’t matter. And the fact is, survey after survey says your customers don’t believe you. Ever.
The reason is obvious. Your organization is seen as a corporation, and corporations in the eyes of most people are evil. Large companies — with a 13 percent approval rating — rank just above Congress and law firms when people are asked to list the most admired institutions in America, according to Harris Interactive.
In fact, if people were to anthropomorphize your organization, your firm would be seen as highly antisocial at best and psychopathic at worst.
Reverse the Anticorporate Slant
The impassioned polemic, otherwise known as the movie The Corporation, asked people to describe big business.
Among their answers:
— “Self-interested”
— “Inherently amoral”
— “Callous and deceitful”
— “It breaches social and legal standards to get its way.”
— “It does not suffer from guilt.”
Sure, the movie has an anticorporate slant. But Harris Interactive chose its people at random — companies would not have scored at the bottom of the pack if those surveyed thought of workplaces in the same light as Mother Teresa.
So this is what you are up against. People think companies are inherently bad….