The difference between an organization and a human being, it can be somehow explained by the DNA factor.
We are all born and somehow work and behave due to our DNA. That's why some people have blue eyes, dark brown hair, and pale skin. DNA also controls other facts, such as spots, allergies, fat-gaining-areas, diseases...
Technology nowadays and people's ideas and perceptions have made people alter their DNA, or at least make other people not aware of their original one: We see celebrities going for bigger boobs, eliminating their wrinkles etc., showing one day with a whitish skin and at the next 5 hours their skin is brown.. Cool ha?
A company is built with particular factors, a logo to start with, colours, etc. etc.. and allergies! They are able to "plastic surgery" themselves: they change logos, their colours and they use people's perceptions as an excuse for such changes. But at least they can do that, "plastic surgery" just costs money and time for researching about the change and waiting for it to go "live".
But allergies.. well.. they don't work that way: They just come out whenever; at different seasons, occasions, etc. As the digital world is evolving, allergies seems to spread out more with the most common ones being the "Web 2.0" with symptoms such as "social media" and "User generated content". Some suffer more and some less and the ones that are not able to handle them correctly and treat them properly might face the problem of having their allergies become death-threatening diseases.
But how do companies handle with allergies? Well.. Kind of similar to ordinary people, they have to visit a doctor, but not just ANY doctor a, specialized one to their allergy. That doctor cannot be found under the term "GP" but under the term "Digital Marketing specialist" and it can do a lot for them. And when I say a lot... I DO MEAN A LOT!
Web 2.0 is a jargon to state that companies do not longer operate online from their website but from different mediums, using social media and online intermediaries all depending on their current industry, sector and generally their mission and purpose.
Web 2.0 involves social media like Facebook, twitter, Flickr, LinkedIn etc., involves user generated content, Wikipedia, syndicating context and not just simple HTML. It involves SO SO SO many things and their usage is different and the way of integrating them is again different for different companies.
It is one thing to use all these as a way to overcome an allergy, but like a simple allergy, if the pill is not good, the dose is not as it should be or the brand or frequency of consuming it is not the correct one.. Then... what happens? You might be lucky... You might just have some side effect and are able to just get on track to the correct way of overcoming it or.. it might just be a little bit harder than that.
You wouldn't want your spots to go wild for long would you? Make-up does not help; it only covers up your spots and just makes them worse in the long-term. So you need to get good prescription and follow them. Don't just use the web 2.0, think about how to use each element, how does your already web elements work, if they need change to fit the 2011 digital era, if you need to alter or enhance a few elements, and have a reason and clear strategy for each of them.
How to handle allergies
- Have you checked what other companies are doing online that you are not doing?
- Have you ever wondered what other people are saying about you?
- Have you ever googled your name?
- Have you ever googled your industry sector? Yes? Well.. Were you on that list?
- Have you ever actually started to have those questions just recently? Why is it?
- What does your clientele say about your brand? about the fact that they are not allowed to buzz around your name as they buzz about Lady gaga doing plastic surgery, Acai berry as a weighting bill, yoga as a way for concentration and other staff..
The best cure is handling this from the start of any type of symptoms and just make sure that your DNA is healthy enough and ALWAYS up-to-date.
PS: Well.. I'm only blogging about this as I found it interested and hope you did too. Feel free to comment on my DNA ideas on companies and if you have an allergy yourself and want prescription for it feel free to email me