Sutori: are you ready for feedback?
Looks like the agency’s are starting to explore social networking and community relations. Tara points us to a new online review site developed by Blast Radius (a Canadian agency) called Sutori. It’s a good concept and one that I’m sure I’m not the only one who has talked about ways to implement in recent months… community reviews and feedback on companies.
What’s really interesting about this, aside from the idea of direct and meaningful feedback to begin with, is that an ad agency is building it. Good on Blast for taking this chance. I get how, from their perspective, this can provide a wealth of information on what consumers think about a particular company, or product, which Blast can monetize and use in their client campaigns (sorry, I’m never one to think anyone does anything for altruistic reasons… not in the agency world at least…)…(I could see it as two levels of packages: free summary and aggregate data which the brand can then try and disseminate and manage themselves and the “premium” package, available free of charge to current Blast customers, and for a fee to non-Blast customers… the premium package will most likely provide metrics and analysis of the data for the company). But it’s still taking a chance nonetheless; you never know what people will tell you if you give them an easy way to do so.
I like that the “three j’s” are thinking in terms of how to maintain civility in the reviews, and the plea to “contain a certain level of goodwill towards the brand, product or company you‚Äôre writing about” is a noble one, but, like I said, people are people and if they’re pissed off they’ll say so… and that could make a Blast client cranky. So it’s a chance, but a good one.
Of course, as with anything social networking related that is initiated by a company, it will need to remain authentic and transparent. Consumers are getting wise to PR, marketing and ad agency folk jumping into message boards and saying positive things about a brand without disclosure… I hope Blast has a strategy for combating this inevitable trend.
[Update] John from Blast clarifies the issue surrounding their intent to monetize in the comments. And, I apologize for the muddy title… the “are you ready” refers to brands hearing from consumers, not Sutori from me ;)
Technorati Tags: Sutori, consumer feedback, reviews
Hi Tamera. My name is John Ounpuu and I’m one of the “three Js” from Blast / Sutori. We are definitely ready for feedback, and thanks very much for taking the time to offer it.
Some thoughts . . .
First, I should say that I don’t think Blast is really an ad agency. We don’t do TV commercials, billboards, print ads, or even online banner ads etc. If you wanted to label us, I’d say we’re a sort of a combination between an interactive agency and a strategic consultancy.
I hope this doesn’t sound nitpicky or defensive. The reason I think it’s relevant is that Sutori is tied very closely to the way we at Blast see ourselves.
For the last two + years, our focus has been on the whole idea of customer experience. Basically, we think the internet has shifted the balance of power away from companies and into the hands of customers, and we think that offering a better, more valuable experience based on what your customers really need is the only way to survive.
Which leads us directly to Sutori. In our pitches and marketing materials we talk a lot about customers having more power and companies needing to listen, so for us Sutori is a way to turn those ideas into something real instead of just talking about them.
To address your questions about motivation and altruism, we’re thinking of Sutori as a sort of calling card. It will hopefully be something that sets us apart and attracts a little attention to our company, our ideas, and even our web-development chops.
And at the same time it’s hopefully something that people will find useful.
At this point we don’t have any plans to monetize it beyond that. And if we ever did, they would need to be completely transparent. I couldn’t agree more that transparency is absolutely vital.
As for corporate folks getting in there and seeding the site with stories, this is something that might happen, definitely. We’re considering a few approaches to prevent it, but my hope is that the community will be able to sniff out things that are less than authentic and ignore them accordingly.
And finally there’s the matter of negativity. Yes we would like to encourage some variety and some positive stories, but we are fully expecting lot’s of negativity. If someone posts something that makes one of our clients cranky, we hope they’ll think of it as an opportunity to learn something that might be valuable to know
Posted on 29-May-06 at 2:16 pm | Permalink
Hey John, thanks for taking the time to respond in such depth. To clarify, my title was addressed to brands being ready for feedback vs. you guys in particular… ie. a quick way to describe what Sutori offers in terms of consumer reviews. Clarity is such a bugger in soundbytes/ titles sometimes ;)
In terms of labeling Blast an “ad agency”, I was definitely thinking of your work with BMW and Nike, in which case utilizing multichannels and media… kinda like an ad agency, albeit one focused on interactive and consumer engagement. I actually had a chance to catch Gurval speak a couple of years ago in Toronto & recognize you guys certainly aren’t an Omnicom. ;)
Now down to Sutori…
I like the idea. I do. But I also see it as a USP for Blast and said so. Traditional monetization methods aside, it is a value add and a differentiator which ultimately leads to selling your services. Nothing wrong with that, you’ve earned it. What form it took was my interpretation of how it could work… glad you clarified (I’ll update in the post to reference your response to my suppositions).
Glad to hear you guys are thinking about the potential pitfalls and are working on plans to address… and whew, glad we agree on transparency…
and this is bang on:
Basically, we think the internet has shifted the balance of power away from companies and into the hands of customers, and we think that offering a better, more valuable experience based on what your customers really need is the only way to survive.
Posted on 29-May-06 at 2:30 pm | Permalink