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BuzzMachine blogger Jeff Jarvis writes about the rise of the transparent corporation in the Guardian. 

Companies like Dell and Starbucks have taken the suggestion box into the digital era by asking their customers to generate ideas as to how they can run their businesses better, publishing these ideas on the web and encouraging fellow customers to vote on the ones that they'd like to see implemented.

This is content marketing with an edge. By inviting customers into the (virtual) organisation and by giving them the opportunity to drive the agenda - and allowing them to be constructive and critical in the process - Starbucks, at MyStarbucksIdea, has tapped into a rich vein of direct feedback whilst building a direct relationship with its coffee drinking constituency.

You may not care much about the differences between Venti and Grande but thousands of others evidently do. Which leads me to pose an interesting question - is content generated by customers more relevant and valued than content created by marketers?  It reflects real rather than invented perceptions of the business, and by harnessing and acting on the feedback - which Starbucks is apparently doing - it could also represent a really efficient and cost effective way of growing brand equity.

Be relevant, be valued and get your customers to act.

www.relevantandvalued.com

Comments

[Newt Barrett]

Pete,
I am totally in accord on authenticity. But I'm afraid that I come down on the other side vis a vis the Starbuck's idea thing. You can see what I had to say in the link above.
You've been quiet of late. I hope that means business is so good you have little time to post.
Newt

[Newt Barrett]

Pete,
Correction. The link below. :-)

[Phil Darby]

I have set up a few interactive initiatives with my clients over the years and the Internet is as valid a medium as any for this kind of thing.

However, I've also been witness to organisations who act solely on the feedback from their customers, which is as unhealthy as not listening to them. We still have to be "ideas organisations" and that means generating new ideas internally as well as facilitating or implementing the ideas our customers may have. After all, we would never have had Playstation if Sony had listened to the views of their customers.