Do companies follow online forums? The Economist says "yes"
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'08 AM Vantage V8 - '03 E500
Do companies follow online forums? The Economist says "yes"
Posters in the W211 forum often wonder if M-B management ever reads the pearls of wisdom posted there. An article in The Econmist for March 11-17 (Technology Quarterly, page 8), says that "Companies are eavesdropping on online dicussion forums to find out what their customers really think of them." Part of the article says:
This sort of thing has been going on, in an informal way at least, for several years. Sometimes public-relations teams are asked to keep an eye on online discussions, and switched-on company executives visit forums to stay in touch with the public mood. But companies are now looking to do it in a more systematic way. Initially, this involved throwing lots of computing power at the problem. Accenture and IBM have each built computer systems that trawl the web in search of trends and insights. But the extensive use of jargon, abbreviations and obscure slang can make it hard for computers to figure out what people are saying.
So smaller specialist firms, such as Wavemetrix in Britain and Nielsen BuzzMetrics in America, are now using a combination of computers and human researchers. They track general discussions and try to spot trends early, by identifying the members of online communities who are most likely to influence other participants. BuzzMetrics does this kind of work on behalf of 100 of the world's biggest firms, including General Motors, Ford and Microsoft.
The article doesn't actually mention DCX as one of the companies "listening in", but DCX sure is one of the top-100 world firms.
So smaller specialist firms, such as Wavemetrix in Britain and Nielsen BuzzMetrics in America, are now using a combination of computers and human researchers. They track general discussions and try to spot trends early, by identifying the members of online communities who are most likely to influence other participants. BuzzMetrics does this kind of work on behalf of 100 of the world's biggest firms, including General Motors, Ford and Microsoft.
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2007 CLK350 Sport, 2006 E320 CDI, 1978 Cessna 152
The fashion industry especially, and most if not all other companies try to identify what the customer wants and thinks of their products. I know the fashion industry finds trendsetters and follows what they wear to base their designs/styles off of. It seems to work alot of the time. It only makes sense that forums be used for the same strategy. MBWorld has so many members who enjoy MB both the good and bad parts it seems like it would be a perfect group to listen to.
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From: Michigan, USA
'05 E320 CDI, '07 VW Touareg V10 TDI, 2007 Porsche GT3
Several years ago, I bought a new 5-series BMW and began reading the forum for the car on Roadfly.org. Shortly after, I posted a question describing the contents of the car's toolkit, stating it looked like something might be missing. The following day, our dealership called to say that BMW had called them to let them know that my toolkit was missing its tow hook, and they'd have one ready for me to pick up next time I stopped by.
During the five years I followed the forum on Roadfly, this sort of thing happened again and again to others, although BMW's intervention wasn't always this helpful. Nevertheless, I was impressed to see that BMW clearly was listening to their customers. Alas, I've seen no such evidence of DCX's concern or helpfulness on the MB forums.
During the five years I followed the forum on Roadfly, this sort of thing happened again and again to others, although BMW's intervention wasn't always this helpful. Nevertheless, I was impressed to see that BMW clearly was listening to their customers. Alas, I've seen no such evidence of DCX's concern or helpfulness on the MB forums.
