Communities Point of View

I feel that the Blog is starting to find its pace now and it is crytallising a number of areas that we will cover in the Seminar.

Let's look at Communities. The issue with Communities and research is one of value. And that plays out in two directions:

- How can we add research value to a Community?

A group of people discussing threads can be interesting if those topics are of interest to you. And you can build relationships. But the key thing is of what tangible value is that to you as a marketer beyond the relationships? (I don't underestimate that part alone). If we want to gain marketing research insight then we need to wrap a research design and research skill around the platform. In this case the design doesn't mean a survey of course. You don't need research for a discussion thread!

- How can the Community harvest some value for their input?

The participants will need to receive some value. That doesn't necessarily mean cash or points (but could do and probably will do). It could also mean fun and the chance to discuss things of real interest. Our Incubator case study will demonstrate one idea in this direction.

This is where the idea of building Social Networks for research only breaks down currently. Social Networks are horizontal communities, based largely on personal and kinship relationships to drive them. On a sustained basis you cannot build this for research only - but you can harvest the value from it. Harness that energy.

So it is really about right people, right platform, right insights.

Harvesting the value from Social Networks, building Communities of value and using a 'Community' to do qualitative research will all feature in the Seminar.

BTW One further point. Will we talk about Second Life? We will mention Virtual Worlds. Maybe. Maybe not. Ok, yes why not! But this is not a seminar about Orientation Island or anything like that per se.