Technology enables us all to search on nearly every topic that we can think of, and it enables us to find information at the touch of the mouse. With the continued advancement of technology and movement into a well-established Web 2.0 where social media is growing a force that must be acknowledged, companies and brands alike need to remember the importance of transparency. Companies need to listen to their customers more than ever before, and they have to remain accountable for their actions, both good AND bad. When the companies make mistakes, as they all will, transparency can be the difference between customer forgiveness and understanding and losing critical market share and revenue.
If companies are going to find a competitive advantage, they must remain humble and transparent. Now, in the past, the larger, bigger companies had extra super powers that enabled them to claim themselves as exceptions to the rules, but today, in an age of advancing technology and two-way communication within the improving Internet, all companies have to follow the same rules. C?ter?s paribus all companies begin on the same level and playing field within the virtual world that we now identify as Web 2.0! With today’s consumers able to reach a vast array of companies in a quest to fill their every need and want, today’s companies need to monitor their brands, put out fires, and ensure that they remain transparent to their niche target market; otherwise, customers will pick one of the other ten million suppliers!
