Applying Web 2.0 for Conventional Businesses By Vishal Karki (Associate Vice President – Communicate2) at Web Innovations 2009 Mumbai

Posted by Ankesh Kothari

at May 13, 2009

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Vishal starts with a quote explaining what web 2.0 is all about: “Web 1.0 is about commerce. Web 2.0 is about people.”
Its all about making people passionate about your brand. And you have to be more open and transparent with your customers to achieve that.
Vishal gives the example of Jaagore.com - where high tea decided to meet the world of politics and did well in engaging customers.
To engage customers - its important to estimate the weight of public opinion. Social networks and blogs are direct feedback avenues.
Example 2: Geico.com - an insurance company - almost 55% of their renewals happen online. Geico melted their brand with commerce by coming up with a mascot - a gecko. Visitors can download the gecko mascots wallpapers and buy gecko memorabilia. The mascot engages people with the brand.
Learning: you’ve got to have the attitude like “I don’t know it all.” So that you can be open to ideas coming from external sources.
Eg: Tide.com - consumers shared with Tide.com the problems they shared with the product on their forum. This consumer input and consumer comparison on the forum with other brands helped Tide benchmark its product against its competitors.
Online forums and help in reducing the customer service costs too.
Example: ihatemycard.com - started by Kotak Cards - where people can tell why they hate various credit cards. The website helped Kotak learn a lot. And helped them position their card as the one with the least hassles too.
You can lead your customers with blogging and RSS feeds. Blogs helps in search engine results. Plus it helps connect with the consumer deeper. It improves customer experience and drives conversions.