PR as an Instrument for Human Resources

In the search for the perfect employee, more and more German companies are participating in the “competition for talent”. Necessarily so. Due to demographic changes in the country, competition for the best brains has been heightened. As in many other European countries, Germany is experiencing steady population decline. Increasingly fewer young people as opposed to increasingly more old: the population is expected to fall by about 17 million inhabitants by the year 2060, according to forecasts from the Federal Office for Statistics. One in three will be over 65 years old. And one in seven, about 10 million people, will actually be over 80 years old.

These days, competence in communication and dialogue is playing a pivotal role for companies that want to differentiate themselves from their rivals in this highly competitive market. And so it comes as no surprise that a new term has found its way into the vocabulary of personnel: Human Resources-Public Relations (HR-PR). In light of the skill shortage, an increasing number of personnel departments are finding out that HR-PR is an important component of their employer brandings. If companies deploy Public Relations – especially when it comes to increasing the awareness level for their products – horizons slowly expand: The idea behind HR-PR is to present the company as an attractive employer to potential applicants.

So what do we actually mean when we talk about “HR-PR”? Essentially the term relates to external communication. PR is used to communicate content, messages and stories, where HR takes centre stage: the focus is on the working environment in companies, on organizations as employers. This primarily entails classical presswork. Active issue management regarding all current issues in the working and living environment means having to find what those current issues are. It also requires mid to long term topic planning. Other elements are, of course, the placement of interview partners from each of the relevant sectors, as well as active contact with journalists. The tools of story telling can also be sensibly deployed. Trust can be created by telling stories, such as how employees can find an optimal work-life balance or how the company and its employees are mastering the challenges of an ageing society. This trust will be in the company as an employer and also in its products. Companies often underestimate interesting details from their working organisation and thus miss out on opportunities to have their voice heard.

In many organizations, involvement in associations and other cross-company initiatives can also be considered as HR-PR, such as talks and publications, which go beyond the realms of classical recruitment.

Thanks to Web 2.0, other opportunities are available for HR-PR: direct contact as well as uncomplicated dialogue with potential colleagues. Career starters and young professionals in particular don’t just inform themselves via the official career network sites of the company; rather they also use the social networks and online communities to find out more about their potential employers. Having a presence on important professional networks such as Xing is now a norm. Although many potential employees are also available via Facebook, so far only a handful of companies are using this channel.

In this context, employer rating websites such as kununu.de, jobvoting.de and bizzwatch.de should be closely monitored. Poor ratings from (former) employees about the company climate, the bosses or colleagues can create an Internet crisis in no time at all. Let us not forget the assertion of Edward L. Bernays, Father of Public Relations, who in the mid 1950s claimed that “PR begins at home”: The best ambassadors for a company are its own employees. They remain the most important HR communicators. With maximum credibility and authenticity.

 

Author: Michael Zühlke is Managing Director relatio PR

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Change Management: Communication is vital!

Everyday there are media reports about mergers and acquisitions, reduction in the work force and restructurings of companies. Once an exception, change has become an everyday issue – especially in economically rough times. Today, change is – bizarre as it may seem – an on-going process. It is multi-facetted, involves all parts of a company and may affect anyone at any time. In this process, communication management is vital for the success of the operation.

Human beings are known to be creatures of habit. Usually they react with scepticism when confronted with something new. The reason: Change brings with it incertitude, the familiar coordinates are taken away, people regard a change in their routine as a possible threat. Often, this makes employees less willing to participate actively in the change process. In this situation, a professional communication management is vital for the success of change. There is no “patent remedy”, because every change process has its individual challenges. Nevertheless, there are some basic aspects to pay attention to when communicating change:

Common Mistakes

A survey run by the  German research centre Emnid underlines the importance of communication in change processes: More than 80 percent of change projects are bound to fail due to mistakes in communication. This is not surprising: Very often, there seems to be no common understanding of the challenges, no common set of values and, therefore, there is no common basis for communication within the company.

Moreover, the overall time frame and schedule of change communication seems to be triggering failure: Change is either communicated too early, too late or too soon within the process. When employees get the news about a change directly affecting them from the media first, they tend to interpret this as betrayal. If management decisions are badly explained and remain incomprehensible, people may feel  left out. This atmosphere is a major source for the spreading of rumours that may become harmful to the process and difficult to stop.

So what does this mean – effective communication management in change processes? First of all, it is not only concerned with the hard facts and figures, but includes the “soft factors”. Those affected by change must be prepared by transparent, timely and comprehensive communication.

Social Media – A New Tool in Change Processes

Social Media have been part of change communication for quite a while. Due to a recent survey of the University of Stuttgart more than 40 per cent of the respondents have personal experiences with Social Media (two years ago, it was only 20 per cent). Most popular in the context of change communication are online surveys, virtual communities and wikis.

The advantages of using Social Media in change processes are evident: timeliness, improved networking, user generated contents and dialogue functions get those affected by the change involved into the process. It is the people themselves that become active participants in the change project. At the same time, these new tools provide new challenges: Using Social Media means following their own rules. Only those that stick to the rules of Web 2.0 can profit from the potential of Social Media in change projects.

First of all, one must remember: Not everyone is a “digital native”! There are still quite a number of people around – especially the older members of staff – that prefer classical communication to Web 2.0. Therefore, Social Media cannot replace traditional communication; they are but one tool more within the communication mix. Newsletters, personal interviews and meetings are still – despite all the hype about Social Media – the “agent of choice” in business communication.

Successful Communication

There are three aspects to make change communication successful:

1. Strategy
   What are the overall objectives of the change process?
2. Corporate Culture
   What type of employees are needed in the new company? What kind of environment do they need to be productive?
3. Organisation
   How shall the new company be structured? Which communication instruments are required at which point in time? And what are the main messages?

The more confident a company is and the more it integrates people into the process, the more will employees be willing to trust their employer. And this means that change will be more easily accepted.

Five Success Factors of Change Communication

1.    Timely information policy!
Those in charge and employees must be informed on a regular and up-to-date basis. This helps to maintain the credibility of the board.

2.    Emotionalisation!
Good communication appeals to heart and soul – facts alone cannot counter fear.

3.    Customised Messages!
Define separate messages for individual target groups within the change process.

4.    Communication means Dialogue!
Dialogue must be in the centre of all communication – one-way functions will not do.

5.    Communication is Top Priority!
The will to change must be visibly supported by the whole board and must have a high priority. This includes setting practical examples by individual behaviour.

Dr. Thorsten Hofmann is academic director of the MBA programme “Public Affairs & Politics” of Quadriga Hochschule Berlin (www.quadriga.eu). He is managing director of PRGS consultancy (www.prgs.de) and chairman of the “Crisis Task Force” of the international communication network ECCO International Public Relations Ltd.

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An Educated Approach to Digital Marketing

In Finland, large industrial companies have been slow to adopt new digital media in comparison to their foreign counterparts. Finnish B2B companies are finally taking the plunge into the world of digital marketing and social media, but in true Finnish form, they are not taking these steps lightly. While many of their American competitors have been active on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and blogging sites for some time, this hasn’t meant that Finnish companies have blindly jumped on the bandwagon. They prefer to do their research first.

The University of Jyväskylä (Finland) has received a sizeable grant from Tekes, The Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation, for its research into digital marketing and communications. The university heads the million Euro research project that aims to increase the digital marketing and communications know-how of Finnish industry. The project is set to delve into the relationship between digital marketing and traditional communications and will work towards creating effective tools to utilise digital channels and social media in sales, marketing and R&D.

Finnish industrial companies are known internationally for taking their promises seriously. Customers consider these companies and their products reliable and high quality. This high quality is also expected in their digital presence and customer communications. “We are especially interested in finding out how the use of new media can help create savings and play a supportive role in sales and R&D operations, while simultaneously improving the quality and frequency of dialogue with customers,” explains Professor Heikki Karjaluoto of the University of Jyväskylä.

The research is carried out by The University of Jyväskylä, Aalto University, Jyväskylä Polytechnic University and Oulu University. There are 13 major corporations involved in the project. The industrial B2B companies represented include the likes of Elematic, Moventas, Rautaruukki, The Switch, UPM, Vapo and Wärtsilä. Radikal Advertising & PR, along with BrandSon, DiVia, Movya, Sanoma and Tieto are also actively taking part in the project.

“In the long run, we wish to develop our customer communications across new channels. This research project offers us a great way to do just that that. We are especially keen to find out about the opportunities that social media has to offer for the B2B sector. We are also interested in finding out how these digital channels will affect the traditional media mix,” says Pirkko Harrela, Chief Communications Officer, UPM.

“This project allows everyone involved to exchange ideas and it will help us develop our digital customer service concepts,” Kimmo Kanerva, Marketing Director of Rautaruukki explains. He continues by stating that he believes: “we will be able to gain a competitive edge through developing faster and more agile operational models.”

The Finnish B2B sector is serious about social media and new digital channels of communication. While it is too late for them to be the fastest to adopt these new approaches, we can expect them to become very efficient in utilising the opportunities they present. We are happy to be a part of this study that will, without doubt, provide valuable information not only for Finnish industrial companies, but also for the global B2B sector in the near future.

For more information:

• Professor of Marketing, Heikki Karjaluoto, University of Jyväskylä, School of Economics:

heikki.karjaluoto@jyu.fi

• TEKES – The Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation:

www.tekes.fi/en/

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Online communications in 2011

(Please scroll down for the Dutch version of this post)

A quick look back…

What do media, the general public, consumers and organizations all have in common? Their online activity grew significantly last year, in fact 2010 was a memorable year:

• Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter grew fast intheNetherlands.
• Facebook became the most visited website ahead of Google.
• Facebook welcomed its 500 millionth user, Twitter its 200 millionth.
• The Telegraaf Media Group took over the Dutch network site Hyves
• Apple transformed the PC and laptop markets by introducing the iPad.
• Old Spice doubled its turnover and enjoyed a rapid revival of its reputation via the social media campaign with Isaiah Mustafa.

We have 9 months left in 2011. What can we expect? Are organizations able to manage the dynamic social media? Or is social media already passé? Will this be the watershed year for mobile internet? In short:

What’s hot and not in 2011?

Bex*communicatie predicts certain trends and developments  in the coming months. We focused our long list on four macro trends:

1. inside becomes outside

2. minority becomes majority

3. physical becomes virtual

4. small becomes big

Trend 1 – inside becomes outside

The world gets more transparent every day. People expect you to act responsibly and be acountable. If organizations cannot bear the responsibility for themselves, then their customers will do it for them through user generated content via social media channels.

In other words: reputation is identity. Authenticity is more important than ever. What do you believe, what do you promise, how do you behave? Organizations are authentic if these three answers are aligned. Real-time monitoring is important to verify the match between inside and outside.

Over the past years, the Internet has become more of a social and interactive environment. Once the crowd trusts the online channel, sharing experiences, sentiments and reviews will become even more pervasive. Interaction will be more important than sending and pushing information. Both consumers as organizations are working to this end.

Brand loyalty and consistent, approachable contact moments are fundamental to the  growth of brands. In 2011, these contact moments need to lead to specific goals.

Social consumers want to be rewarded for their behavior. They are willing to visit FourSquare, and check in at StarBucks, in exchange for a free cup of coffee. Thanks to Groupon, social consumers join forces.

A mark of this development – say goodbye to privacy. With our online profiles we provide cut-and-dried information. A complex discussion concerning the ethical aspects of online privacy is waiting for us. Wikileaks is only the beginning….

Trend 2 – minority becomes majority

The web connects people with the same minds. They are chatting about their favorite brands and sharing experiences actively on a frequent basis. The opinion of the online community is critical for the creation of a certain image and to consumer purchasing.

Social media makes it possible for organizations to move into multiple networks. These networks activate cooperation, knowledge and innovation.

The explosion of blogs, social media postings, ‘likes’ and tweets lead to powerful consumers. Opinions and reviews are everywhere!  In the old days, marketing was about sending a message. Today, it is about making real contact, inclusion and involvement.

For communications we need a new kind of “control”. Be aware: the word control is written between quotation marks. We cannot control an online buzz.  The recent events in Egypt and other countries are clear evidence – but what we can do is listen. Take online monitoring as the first, essential component of a communication strategy.

Trend 3 – physical becomes virtual

The boundaries between the physical and virtual worlds are fading. With smart phones we can switch easily, for example with QR-codes, FourSquare or Layer. Location bases services (LBS) offer new opportunities to commit customers. And with these platforms, every consumer can become a marketer.

Trend 4 – small becomes big

Thanks to apps (user-friendly, small applications) mobile internet has exploded. GPS with mobile internet-access appears to be a crucial combination for (the future of) mobile applications.

Apps are making connection with internet, just like the browser. The difference? While the browser is answering your needs indirectly, apps will answer them directly.

Car manufacturers are installing apps that are able to measure tyre pressures, monitor oil levels and manage our favorite music. All these new functionalities become available in 2011.

As mentioned earlier, www.groupon.com will be a big success. Groupon combines the large internet network with the strength of social networks, adds regional characteristics and seduces people with interesting offers. It makes people think: “Damn, I made a great deal today”.

The future

We cannot end a summary of trends, without looking into the future. At the moment we have phones, laptops and desktops. In the future, these devices will be integrated in our bodies. All this separate equipment is pretty annoying, right? Contacts project virtual reality within real vision. Nano robots guard the health of our bloodstreams. In short: generation cyborg is coming!

All this makes it possible to generate hyper local information. This form of hyper individualism is called B2U: business to user. That is the new credo.

In short: generation cyborg is coming and B2B and B2C are old school.

Please, do not hesitate to contact Bex*communicatie if you have further questions about the four macro trends and online communications.

Hans Wagner

Robert Hexspoor

Ruud Kessels

Phone: + 0031 20 – 582 98 29

Online communicatie in 2011 en verder

Een korte terugblik

Media, burgers, consumenten en organisaties. Allemaal zetten ze sterk in op online communicatie. 2010 was het jaar waarin:

• Facebook, LinkedIn en Twitter snel groeiden in Nederland.
• Google voorbij werd gestreefd door Facebook als meest bezochte pagina op internet.
• Facebook zijn 500 miljoenste en Twitter zijn 200 miljoenste gebruiker mocht verwelkomen.
• Hyves werd overgenomen door Telegraaf Media Groep.
• Apple de PC transformeert met de introductie van de iPad.
• #TVOH trending topic werd op Twitter.
• De social media campagne rond Isaiah Mustafa de omzet van Old Spice verdubbelde en de naamsbekendheid vertienvoudigde.

We zijn nu drie maanden op weg in 2011. Hoe nu verder? Kunnen organisaties mee in dynamische wereld van social media? Of is social media over zijn hoogtepunt heen? Breekt mobiel definitief door? Kortom:

Wat is ‘hot’ en ‘not‘ in 2011?

In deze publicatie geeft Bex*communicatie een samenvatting van de trends en ontwikkelingen die zij voorziet in de komende maanden op het gebied van online communicatie. We hebben onze longlist teruggebracht tot vier macrotrends voor het jaar 2011:

1.       Binnen wordt Buiten.

2.       Minderheid wordt Meerderheid.

3.       Fysiek wordt Virtueel.

4.       Klein wordt Groot.

Trend 1 – Binnen wordt buiten

De wereld wordt steeds transparanter. Er wordt van je verwacht dat je verantwoording aflegt over je daden. Doe je dat als bedrijf niet zelf?  Dan doet je klant het wel; in de vorm van social consumer generated content. Anders gezegd: imago = identiteit. Authenticiteit is belangrijker dan ooit. Wat geloof je, wat beloof je, wat doe je? En komen deze antwoorden met elkaar overeen? Realtime monitoring is belangrijk om te toetsen of buiten overeenkomt met binnen.

Het internet ontwikkelt zich tot een sociale, interactieve omgeving. Het delen van ervaringen, sentimenten en waarderingen wordt algemeen goed naarmate de crowd het online kanaal meer en meer gaat vertrouwen. Interactie wordt belangrijker dan zenden en zowel consumenten als bedrijven doen daar aan mee.

Merkloyaliteit en herhaalbare, laagdrempelige contactmomenten vormen het fundament voor de groei van merken. Daar worden in 2011 dan ook concrete doelstellingen aan verbonden.

De social consumers verwachten anno 2011 voor gedrag beloond te worden. Zij zijn bereid om via FourSquare in te checken bij StarBucks in ruil voor een kopje gratis koffie. En dankzij Groupon bundelen social consumers hun krachten.

De kanttekening hierbij is dat we afscheid nemen van onze privacy. Het vrijgeven van onze profielen levert namelijk kant-en-klare relevante informatie op. Over dit ethische aspect is het laatste woord nog niet gezegd. Wikileaks is nog maar het begin.

Trend 2 – Minderheid wordt meerderheid

Het web verbindt gelijkgestemden. Zij willen continu in dialoog met hun favoriete merk en delen hun ervaringen actief. De mening van de community is cruciaal in de beeldvorming en het aankoopproces.

Met behulp van social media bewegen organisaties zich in een veelvoud van netwerken. Deze netwerken katalyseren samenwerking, kennisgeneratie en innovatie.

De explosie van blogs, social media postings, likes en tweets leiden tot machtige consumenten. Meningen en waarderingen worden ongevraagd verkondigd. Vroeger ging marketing over het verkondigen van een boodschap; nu gaat het om betrokken zijn en écht contact maken.

Communicatie wordt een proces waarbij een andere ‘controle’ nodig is. En controle staat bewust tussen aanhalingstekens. Want de online buzz valt natuurlijk niet te controleren. Dat hebben we recent gezien in Egypte. Wat we wél kunnen doen is meeluisteren; online monitoring als wezenlijk eerste onderdeel van je communicatiestrategie.

Trend 3 – Fysiek wordt virtueel

De scheidslijn tussen de fysieke en virtuele wereld wordt steeds vager. Onze slimme telefoons maken het wel erg gemakkelijk om via een QR code, FourSquare of Layar over te stappen. Location based services (LBS)bieden nieuwe mogelijkheden om aan klantbinding te doen. Elke consument wordt op die manier een marketeer.

Trend 4 – Klein wordt groot

Dankzij apps (gebruiksvriendelijke kleine applicaties) heeft mobiel internet een enorme vlucht genomen. De combinatie van plaatsbepaling door GPS met mobiel breedband speelt een belangrijke rol bij mobiele toepassingen.

Net als de browser maken ook apps verbinding met internet. Waar je via de browser zelf moet zoeken naar informatie, brengen apps je direct bij datgene waar jij behoefte aan hebt.

Autofabrikanten installeren apps in hun auto’s die bandspanning meten, oliepeil bewaken en onze favoriete muziek beheren. Dit alles is standaard leverbaar vanaf 2011.

Het al eerder genoemde Groupon www.groupon.com wordt hét MKB succes. Het combineert het grote internetnetwerk met de kracht van sociale netwerken, voegt er een regionaal karakter aan toe en speelt in op de behoefte van de mens om verleid te worden door aanbiedingen, zodat je denkt: “dat heb ik maar weer mooi verdiend vandaag”.

Toekomstmuziek

We eindigen met een blik vooruit. Wat we nu nog doen met onze telefoons, laptops en desktops zal straks geïntegreerd worden in ons lichaam. Al die losse apparaten zijn immers maar lastig nietwaar?  Contactlenzen projecteren de virtuele werkelijkheid op ons iris. Nanorobotjes bewaken onze gezondheid in onze bloedbanen.

Bijkomend voordeel zit ‘m in het kunnen aanbieden van hyper lokale informatie. Deze vorm van hyper individualisme wordt ook wel B2U genoemd: Business to User. Dit wordt het nieuwe credo.

Kortom: de generatie cyborg komt er aan, B2B en B2C zijn uit.

Meer weten?

Bex*communicatie

Hans Wagner

Robert Hexspoor

Ruud Kessels

020 – 582 98 29

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Mobile web – a silent (r)evolution?

You might have heard yourself or someone else say that mobile is the future of the Internet. Well, the future is already here. More and more of us access Internet via mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers and the generation that only accessed Internet via a mobile device is already hatched and in its early teens.

Implications

So what are the implications for communicators as ‘anywhere-anytime’ access to Internet becomes the norm? Where and how can we start to embrace the mobile web? Well, first off – did you ever look at your organizations website via a mobile device? Would you describe that visit as a highly uplifting and pleasurable experience or maybe you’re more likely to describe it as a clunky, time consuming experience which left you slightly frustrated and feeling a bit older. If you are in the latter category, please keep on reading. If you are in the former category, kudos to you!

The mobile implications for communicators are not only about fitting existing websites into smaller screens though. We have to view mobile web as an all together new approach and channel to reach audiences. We need to understand the context – i.e. how, when, and why our audiences access the mobile web. What platforms are they using at what time of the day at what location, and for what reason?

Context

The implications of mobile web are many but I will mention only one in this post which in itself has a number of implications – context. With mobile web comes a flurry of user contexts which are different from the contexts of the regular desk top user.

So far, many organizations are happy either leaving their website as it is, or try to squeeze their existing website into smaller, more mobile friendly formats. Having a mobile web friendly version of your website can be important but as Brian Fling points out in his book (Mobile Design & Development):”Create a product, don’t re-imagine one for small screens. Great mobile products are created, never ported.” This point of view is echoed by Nielsen a.k.a. Über Web Usability Maestro. According to Nielsen, user performance declines significantly when people attempt to access a general-purpose, desktop-targeted website from a mobile device.

These voices come from the design and usability side of things but should make sense to communicators as well. In order to cater for a growing mobile audience with different user behaviours, expectations and needs, the mobile channel cannot be ignored.

A few years ago, Google analyzed its mobile user-base to determine development strategies for its mobile apps. Google segmented three different behavior groups – ‘repetitive now’, ‘bored now’, and ‘urgent now’. The repetitive now group are the ones that keep checking sport results, news and other real-time based information. The bored now group are the ones who turn to the mobile web while waiting for the bus, doctors appointment etc. The urgent now is the crowd running down the street trying to find a café, restaurant, or place of appointment for example. These behaviour groups are wildly different from any possible behaviour segmentation of desktop users.

Further, Luke W points out in his presentation (27 min into the presentation) that the typical mobile web usages are short, quick bursts throughout the day . Add to this, the fact that smartphone users carry their devices with them at all times. They are in their pockets throughout the whole day and at arm’s length during the night or even under the pillow – and never turned off.

To sum up

So, we know that the best received mobile sites are those that have been designed specifically for the mobile web. We know that Google has categorized mobile users as: repetitive now, bored now, and urgent now. We also know that mobile usage tends to be short, quick bursts throughout the whole day.

Ergo, when planning your mobile content, think of possible contexts your audience might find themselves in. What are their most basic needs? Does your mobile site really need a ‘terms of service’ page, sitemap, careers page etc. or will the audience be happy to only have a couple of your core services available and scaled down e.g. services, contacts, products etc.? Maybe you should create a new exclusive mobile service for your clients e.g. an exclusive how-to guide relevant to your services or interactive city guide relevant to your products? The options are many and as technology evolves, there will be even more. This shouldn’t scare you away from embarking onto that mobile road since at one point or another – you will have to – but more importantly, its inspiring and fun!

Things to bear in mind:

• There are more than 200 million active users currently accessing Facebook through their mobile devices.
• People that use Facebook on their mobile devices are twice as active on Facebook than non-mobile users.
• During a typical day of smartphone usage 84% use these devices at home, 80% during miscellaneous times throughout the day, 74% in lines, and 64% at work.
• 45% of companies that participated in a recent Forrester research (later half of 2010) are beginning to work on a mobile strategy
• Mobile web will be bigger than desktop Internet in five years.

What are your thoughts on mobile web?

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An Age of Transformation

Wow, we made it to the end of the year! Never in my professional life I have seen so much value go up in smoke as in 2008 and 2009. The credit crunch and economic crises have hit us hard. Some economies more than others. And now what? Are we going back to the old ways or has something changed? Have we learnt anything? Are we now open to a new level of consciousness, to new ways of thinking? And what are the implications for communications? Content and media. Let me explain.

Last year, I followed the workings of banks and financial services firms in our part of the world closely. Multinationals and local players. My impression is that they are all recovering from near death experiences and heavy injuries. And now their natural reflex seems to be to return to old habits. Shifting product and looking for big margins to satisfy shareholders, playing at being the ‘ big boys’ again. And saying how important it is to regain consumer trust. Their reputations are shattered. Nobody trusts them anymore. Taxpayers across the Netherlands (and in many other countries too!) underwrote and financed the banks’ failures by injecting over €100 billion into the financial system. And rightly, citizens now expect them to serve society. President Obama just said this explicitly in his recent speech to bankers in the USA. It is time to transform and serve. That’s good company practice!

And if bankers, insurance companies and other established institutions don’t change by themselves, they will be forced by business sense or an innate sense of business survival – and transformed over the coming decades. The power is definitely shifting from supply to demand. We’ve seen this coming for years. And now, finally, it’s here. The 21^st century may have begun 10 years late but consumers, citizens and professional customers are now able to organize themselves, to unite their needs and ignite the power of new coalitions. Just one example: non-smokers and vegetarians collaborate to construct a low-cost life insurance for people with the lowest risk of heart-disease. Just think of the potential – zillions of other coalitions! The power of hidden potential. It is no longer the decisive power of numbers and the uninformed. We are racing down the future highway with empowered, informed, techno-savvy individuals who know how to connect. We are moving from the typical 20^th century ‘shotgun in the dark’ approach to the focused, pin-point laser-beam networked economy. Flash insights. Synaptic dimensions. Driving it? The internet of course.  New smart applications, new associations, new groups, new collaborative tools and as much bandwidth as you can handle. It enables individuals to become powerful. Together I am strong. That’s the mantra for the next 10 years. Rabobank, the good old cooperative Netherlands bank, has this at the heart of its strategy.

Organizations, brands, governments and their leaders should facilitate this. Bring the power and competences of their organizations into a totally connected world. Empower people and businesses and you’ll move up the value chain. Acting with a distinctive performance and delivering value in a loosely coupled layer that surfs on top of their generic infrastructures. Almost utilities. Soft humming computer centres, totally efficient and 24/7 reliable. The future is for the ‘connectors’, those individuals, directors and leaders that bring new coalitions to the stage. Social media are great. Guiding and educating people to unleash the potential of this whole new dimension is the challenge for professional communicators. Fully open and fully transparent in what you bring to, and take from, the table. Unfettered access to a world of digital information and practical business opportunities. A respected citizen contributing to society. And that is exactly where it all began. Happy 2010!

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