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Seventeen: Disclosing the Necessary

Business is still uncomfortable in a world where customers can get information about them from a wide array of sources, and many are still stuck in the era in which they decided what information to share, when, and with whom. Many feel naked, and customers are demanding even more transparency, but they cannot deny that they are no longer in control.

Some statistics from a 2002 JD Power study (EN: I replaced their figures with those I found in the 2012 study, as there was a significant difference.)

While customers do not disregard claims made by vendors, they place greater value on what others have to say about them, and grant more credibility to the opinion of everyday people than to media critics. They have become distrustful of those with an obvious personal interest in influencing them to purchase a specific brand. They are also more trusting of information they had to find on their own, as opposed to information that is pushed at them.

In addition, businesses are upset about people who speak negatively of their brands online, but often damage their own reputation and credibility further by overreacting to those who share negative opinions that are factual and justified. (EN: There's much more to be said on this matter, especially given the explosion of social media since this book was published, but it's best left to other sources that provide more updated and extensive information about managing online reputations.)

In the present day, brands need to accept a few uncomfortable truths:

The Johari Window: A Model for Self-Disclosure

The authors reference the Johari window, a personnel management tool in which a subject chooses words that describe himself from a list, then asks others to do the same, and finally compares what he thinks of himself to what others think of him, and organizes it into four quadrants:

  1. Open - thinks he thinks of himself with which others agree, which is the ideal
  2. Hidden - qualities that neither he nor anyone else thinks he has
  3. Facade - things he thinks of himself that others don't think of him
  4. Blindside - things others think of him that he doesn't recognize in himself

(EN: It's worth noting that the qualities in the list are all positive - so the most unflattering outcome might be along the lines of "you think you are smart but other people don't see that in you" rather than "people secretly think you are stupid".)

On the bright side, a company should not be caught by surprise - customers discuss brands online regularly, and merely by aggregating and analyzing the information, you should be able to have a fairly accurate idea of what people think of your brand.

Hidden Truths

While the blind quadrant (that which we think about ourselves, but the market does not) seems to be of great concern, the greatest source of trouble for brands is the hidden quadrant (thinks the market thinks that we do not).

For example, consider that customers consider a car to be economical while the firm thinks it is sporty. The language the firm will use to defend its perception disagrees and may alienate potential customers and disappoint those whom it is able to convince of its point of view. There is meanwhile great potential in recognizing that the market regards the car as economical and marketing it accordingly.

The traditional view is that marketing is done to educate customers as to the value of a product - and when the product is unknown it has excellent potential to do so. But when the product is in the hands of customers, they will make up their own minds as to what its value is - and communicating their evaluation to others.

Consider the way in which cigarette manufacturers continue to argue against research that smoking was detrimental to health. It's the height of irony that manufacturers such as Philip Morris nor operate web sites that seem like public health agencies that advise against their own products - yet have no intention of ceasing the manufacture and sale of those products. Customers who continue to buy cigarettes have heard the anti-smoking rhetoric and chosen to disregard it, and PM's site is an effective shield against lawsuits from those who claimed they did not know.

One More Car Scenario

The author paints a hypothetical scenario to support some of his points. Fundamentally:

In the scenario, the customer finds that what they learn from the manufacturer and dealer don't jibe with her expectations of what other people are saying. It's not that they contradict, but they speak to different qualities that she is seeking. In particular, they play up features that the customer doesn't care about, and do not mention drawbacks that everyone is talking about in social media.

Attempting to cover up or ignore drawbacks and emphasize features no-one values is plainly wrongheaded, especially in a world where information flows freely, but it is a common practice among many brands.