The Customer is IN Charge! Part I
The internet is changing the way we do business.
Posted on March 22, 2007 | Permalink
By Lane Casteix
You may not realize it yet, but owners are rapidly losing control of their brands along with what they can sell, how they sell it, and what they can charge. The customer is in charge and in more ways than anyone has yet begun to realize. Here is a classic example.
The music industry has resisted pressure to change the way they market music, but sites like iTunes and the accompanying software are changing that. Customers no longer want to pay for ten or sixteen songs on a CD, when they only like three. They are willing to pay a premium for the three and skip the rest. iTunes downloads are only $.99 each, but the whole CD may cost $15 or $20. The customer is taking the $3 over the $15. As a result CD sales are way down and download sales are way up.
The internet is empowering consumers. This is impacting all kinds of businesses.
It is also impacting politics. The presidential election cycle has started a year ahead of the usual schedule, and still over a year and a half away from the election we are seeing the internet used in ways no one would have imagined a few years ago. I am referring to the Clinton ad on YouTube that was created by a "rogue" element of the Obama campaign.
There is a lot more of this to come, McCain/Feingold not withstanding.
On the "other side of the aisle," conservative Republicans are rejecting the RNC's moderate choices for president, who are currently the front runners, and an internet based, grassroots effort is rapidly gaining steam to draft Fred Thompson into the race, a person they consider a true conservative and someone they find acceptable. That has the RNC perplexed. This presidential election may yet see candidates from both parties that are brought into the race by such grassroots efforts, and they become the nominated representatives of their respective parties to the chagrin of the DNC and RNC.
That, folks, is the power of the internet changing EVEN election dynamics. The customer is IN charge! The question you need to be asking is, "How will this impact my business?" Because it will!