Can Companies Have Relationships?
After I posted my 3-part series - content has no value, attention has no value and influencers have no value - I received multiple messages from people who had some very relevant questions about my thesis that the only thing of value is RELATIONSHIPS.
"But, how do companies have relationships with customers?" "I know that there are fans of brands - like Apple and Nike - but is that the same as a relationship?" and "Doesn't a relationship mean that a brand actually cares? How can a brand care?"
These are very important questions that I have been ruminating over for almost 20 years now. Thinking about the "relationship" question is full of landmines. Many brands pay lip service to caring and loving their customers, but then act in opposition to this. Customers, themselves, can be very fickle. If there is a relationship, it seems like a terrible one!
In my video, I don't try to answer the question or justify this relationship, but I do talk about the important factors in this relationship:
And, because it's a relationship, which means it needs to go both ways, these factors are mutual. In my next few videos, I'm going to focus more on how you build respect, trust, benefits and communicate values with your customers in mind.
It's not sensational or "lovemark"y or more lipservice to caring about or loving your customers. It's simple, but not easy. If you're interested in following along, follow me on YouTube or here.
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The video embedded in this article is part of a much longer series that I've been publishing for >3 years called Truly Strategic with Tara. I've been "creating content" since the early 2000's and wrote one of the first books on how the social web is changing business.
Today, I run Truly. - a consulting firm that specializes in creating insights-driven marketing strategies for long-term growth. We also implement these strategies that include things like thought leadership platform development, brand publishing programs, customer community development and growth, loyalty programs, channel and content optimization, and word of mouth amplification.
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5 年Respect & Trust have emotional characteristics. They are more personal and personal relation has important role in rating them.?
Empowering businesses to innovate and streamline engineering
5 年Thanks! Good approaching and very clear.
Retired
5 年Relationship is too strong of a term for company associations.
Collections Librarian at Southern Utah University
5 年People in companies can have relationships with people in other companies, but that is as far as matters go.? That is one reason the founding fathers mistrusted corporations deeply.? "Relations" are limited to legal terms of mutual need or benefit.? There is no commitment between non-human entities.
Investing in People, Processes & Ideas that drive business forward
5 年Nice job addressing this word that can carry several definitions and nuances. Good content, Tara.