In today's consumer world, leaders and marketers are learning a simple lesson the hard way: the customer is always right.  In the past month or so, we've seen two debacles regarding organizations who made the mistake of undermining the voice of the consumer. 

Recently, Tropicana made the choice to rebrand it's packaging.  The look took on a more youthful aesthetic, mimicking what reminded me of the new Pepsi design.  The result: a flood of letters and messages demanding that Tropicana go back to the original carton.
 
What's probably cost Tropicana hundreds of thousands of dollars could have easily been avoided if they simply took into consideration the voice of the customer first.  Similarly, Facebook received a similar backlash the other week when they updated their Terms of Service.  Users concerned over the privacy and use of their content made their sentiments loud and clear.  They created a Facebook group bashing the new ToS that quickly rose to over 88,000 members in a few days.  Additionally, negative feedback was displayed across the Twittersphere and Blogosphere, which ultimately led Mark Zuckerberg to reverse the new terms. 

While Tropicana and Facebook were wise enough to act quickly in response to the customer feedback, it could have all been avoided.  Companies today need to treat their customers like employees, power focus groups, marketers, evangelists, and sales people.  It is only when businesses start thinking of the customers as part of their community that they'll avoid this common pitfalls of market research gone wrong. 

Luckily for Facebook users, this is finally sinking in for Zuckerberg and his team.  After last week's debacle, they've created a Facebook Bill of Rights and Responsibilities (It's reminiscent of the Jet Blue Passenger Bill of Rights that was created after the passenger fiasco on the runway in 2007).  Now, it's up to Facebook users to help determine what features and terms Facebook will implement in the future.  Can other company's follow Facebook's lead or does it take a twenty-something CEO to execute? 




Bottom line: If leaders today want to keep up with the times we live in, they're going to do the following:

1.  Listen to customers
2.  Give them what they want
3.  Use social technologies to facilitate conversations between company and consumer

[cross posted from Mzinga.com]

The lasting message of Barack Inc. is the message, "Be the change."  It's applicable to anyone, everywhere, but it's contingent upon one thing: listening.  How often do we really take the time to listen to those around us?  Too often, we see leaders who are in it for themselves or too busy prioritizing and planning, that they can't even take the time to recognize or hear the little voices around them. 

There's a reason why Twitter is hyped these days for a reason.  Those companies that use it well, all do one thing: listen to the little voices.  They pick up on the individual voices, whether it be partners, employees, or customers, who all have somethign to say and share.  While these individual voices might not necesarily sway big decisions, the cumulative effect can be enormous.  Just take a look at what happened with Facebook and Tropicana lately, who both reversed their company's messages as a result of customer feedback.  These two brands, had they just listened in the first place, would never have received the kind of backlash they did.  Again, it all comes back to listening in the first place.  With tools like search.twitter.com and services like Radian6, it's easier than ever to pick up on what's being said about your brand or industry. Company's these days really have no excuse if they're not even making the attempt. 


In the realm of politics, I stumbled upon an interesting site the other night while watching Obama's speech: tweetcongress.org.  There were a total of 5 Congressman "live tweeting" which made me feel optimistic as an American.  It made me feel like leaders today are starting to give these tools a chance in an attempt to better connect with citizens.  With sites like recovery.gov, it's clear that Obama's continuing his campaign to create an informed, engaged public.  The question is, can businesses learn to do the same? 

According to CNNPolitics.com, Megan McCain, daughter of John McCain, thinks the GOP needs to embrace online technologies in order to stay ahead in American politics.  In the article, she expresses frustration with the GOP and their failure to embrace the social web.  Apparently during the campaign her online efforts like blogging, were often met with skepticism.   

McCain acknowledges that Obama had a better understanding of how to engage constituents using social and mobile technologies, particularly young voters, and that gave him a competitive edge. 

The most memorable line from the article: "Until the Republican Party joins the twenty-first century and learns how to use the Internet, its members will keep getting older and the youth of America will just keep logging on to the other side."

These same sentiments can be applied to the business world. If companies don't utilize social tools to better communicate with their customers, employees, and partners, chances are their competitors will. 

It's no surprise that "Team Obama" is on top of Fast Company's list of the 50 Most Innovative Companies.  Like the article says, "The year's most successful startup took a skinny kid with a funny name and turned him into the most powerful new national brand in a generation."  In the process, they also raised an incredible $750M dollars and set a new standard for future political campaigns. 

When thinking about who "Team Obama" consists of, the answer is easy - everyone.  It was more than Obama himself, more than David Plouffe, and more than a group of politicians.  Team Obama's constituencies were represented by voters, young and old, investors both big and small, volunteers, and campaign staff.  How many other startups out there can say their companies are this inclusive? 
 
As we look ahead to companies trying to stay afloat and keep up in today's turbulent and unpredictable times, I think we're going to see a lot more of the "WE" message that Team Obama/Barack, Inc. executed.  We're going to see leaders who take risks but keep their cool, use social technologies to connect with their employees and customers, and ultimately think about ways to change systems that are clearly broken.